In the Moroccan Village was added to the park. It featured craftsmen and various performers, there were still no rides at the park however. Busch Gardens added its first roller coaster just one year later. It was a groundbreaking coaster designed by a young company named Arrow Dynamics that would go on to measured success in the Busch Gardens parks.
It has been removed for further expansion of the park. Scorpion was designed by Anton Schwarzkopf and was much longer than Python. This ride is also one of relative few coasters that are looping but only have lap bars. The became the decade that was a roller coaster arms race and Busch Gardens was not shying away from the competition. However, the young company could only focus on one coaster.
The sister of Kumba was named Drachen Fire and would eventually be closed the history of this ride is discussed in depth in Part Three of this article, which covers the history of the park in Williamsburg.
Kumba featured several groundbreaking and innovative features including a massive vertical loop that wrapped around the lift hill, a cobra roll and interlocking corkscrews. When this coaster opened it set a new standard for future rides to be measured against and held the record for the longest coaster in Florida until Montu opened in three years. I have a personal interjection regarding Kumba.
My parents planned a vacation to Florida and made sure we could spend a day in Tampa at Busch Gardens. Incidentally, this was very soon after Kumba opened up. On the drive down I picked up a brochure for Busch Gardens and was butt-cised to go on this ride. My parents kept encouraging me, kept bringing Kumba up and making sure every day that I was still going to ride it. Well, when I walked up to the entrance of the ride and saw that bright green track with that yellow train flying along the track, sounding like a jet, I figuratively dumped in my pants.
There was no way I was getting on that death trap. Unfortunately, the only other time I went to the Busch Gardens in Tampa was just after Montu opened and the day I went, Kumba was closed down, so I have never had the pleasure of riding this classic coaster, but, believe me, I will.
Speaking of Montu, in , the park opened the at the time tallest and fastest inverted coaster. Millions visited, and in a stroke of brilliance wildlife-lover August A. Busch Jr. The gigantic Serengeti Plain allowed the African wildlife to roam freely and became the largest, free-roaming habitat outside of Africa. It remains one of the most unique features of the park to this day and has received numerous upgrades and expansions. What seemed to be the world's longest escalator known as "the stairway to the stars" rode you to the rooftop where you began the brewery tour.
Click to enlarge. The "Stairway to the Stars" which led to the brewery tour. Notice the Hospitality House at far left. Those who wanted to skip it used the bridge in the foreground. More of his work can be found on this website: www. The only thing free here now is the air and a seat. T he original section of the park which opened in for the most part today remains to be mostly gardens, animal exhibits and shows.
The traditional, educational bird show was replaced with a newer, more entertainment-based show, including a number of mammals. The popular attraction that once stood in this section was the brewery which closed in Gwazi now sits where the brewery was located.
Land of the Dragons is a children's section filled with scaled down versions of popular thrill rides and a massive tree house playground. The section opened in and replaced the Dwarf Village, a smaller kids area. See old post cards of the old Fairytale Land. Busch Gardens focused progressively on its tropical landscape, exotic animals, and amusements to draw visitors. Busch Gardens began charging admission as the entertainment became more complex, with extra fees for the thrill rides, such as the roller coasters for which Busch Gardens is now known.
Original Dwarf Village exhibits. The monorail at Busch Gardens opened in This small suspended system operated boxy trains that used two propane fired, air cooled, aluminum Corvair engines per train to produce the AC power necessary for the electric motors. The gardens had everything you would expect from a garden, exotic plants, but it also came with exotic animals from far away. The train takes guests on a two-mile perimeter ride around the now acre park with stops at the Congo, Stanleyville and Nairobi areas.
Along the way, guests on the train ride can see hundreds of African animals on the Serengeti Plain, and other fascinating attractions at the park. The Serengeti Express in showing its U. The four locomotive engines are fueled by clean-burning propane gas. Two engines are replicas of the ones used in Africa in the early s, while the remaining two are similar to those used in the American Old West.
The section of the park known as "Stanleyville" opened in and is home to the park's first water ride, the Stanley Falls Flume. In , Busch added the Moroccan Village, with cafes and Moroccan craftsmen. Acrobats, belly dancers, sword swallowers, magicians and organ grinder monkeys were also featured. The Stanleyville Log Flume, In the 70's, a Sky Ride and more African areas were added and in , the corkscrew roller coaster, Python, opened.
Although lackluster by today's standards, it was revolutionary at the time. Four years later, the Scorpion, a classic looping roller coaster was added. As was the Python, the Scorpion was a small coaster, but still quite a thrill at the time. Thirteen years passed before Busch Gardens added another roller coaster. It was removed in late when the Congo section began renovations. The African Queen jungle ride, Busch Gardens circa Special thanks to "Budman" for these 4 photos. Stanleyville Flume ride Moroccan village.
Timbuktu section of Busch Gardens opened in May of and is themed after the malls and bazaars of Africa. In the "Congo" section of the park opened with the Congo River Rapids, a water ride that simulates raging whitewater rapids. In the "Phoenix" was built in Timbuktu and remains a popular ride to this day. Congo River Rapids, I n the monorail closed to allow for a complete overhaul of the system, and re-opened in February of Intamin Inc.
Bus bars retro-fitted to the overhead track provided power for the six car trains. Better air conditioning was aided by deeply tinting the windows on each car.
Seventy two passenger trains were capable of six mph, making their round trip in 10 to 12 minutes. In , Stanleyville's African Queen Boat Ride was transformed into Tanganyika Tidal Wave with the addition of a foot drop that generates a huge splash.
The section remained essentially unchanged until , when SheiKra opened up and the surrounding area was renovated. In , the Myombe Reserve opened. It is a 3-acre home for six lowland gorillas and nine chimpanzees located in Nairobi. In , Busch Gardens built their largest coaster yet in any of their parks, the Kumba located in the Congo section. The park continued towards becoming a thrill park with the addition of the inverted roller coaster, Montu, in Both Montu and Kumba featured completely original design.
Many of the elements they introduced have been used on roller coasters elsewhere.
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