Theme Park Outsider

Busch Gardens Tampa opened their new Animal Care Center on Monday. I haven’t made it to Florida yet to have a look at it, but what I saw under construction on my last trip looked really interesting. I think it’s a great concept to see the care that goes into taking care of the animals. In a way, it’s like going on the backstage tours they offer without the price of the backstage tour.

Seaworld released a construction update video on the new Manta coaster at Seaworld San Diego last week. It’s a shame it’s not a flying coaster like Manta in Orlando, but it does look like it’s got the great queue line aquarium which makes the one in orlando so much better than your average coaster. I just hope it’s better than Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens. That one was positively lame for what they were promising.

I call BS on this story.  First off, those are mannequins, not water dummies like they use to test coasters.  Second, the dummies on both sides are damaged in exactly the same way with limbs cleanly cut.  If they were ripped off by forces of the ride, it wouldn’t be a smooth cut.  Lastly, this is the park that banned lifting your arms on rides to protect others from the smell and asked for visitors urine to come up with the right smell for one of their horror mazes.

This smells like just another cheap publicity ploy.

Seaworld Orlando has released a short webisode with some concept drawings and background information on the new exhibit.  It really looks like they’re doing a good job on it, and I look forward to it’s opening.

Busch Gardens Tampa has a preview of their new web site available for you too look at and comment on. It looks good to me. they’ve really cleaned it up. I’ll have to try it on a mobile device to see how it does on those because the old site was unusable on iPhones/iPads/iPods.

I can’t say that this is really a surprise. They’ve put a windseeker in just about every other Cedar Fair park. I’ve never been on one, but personally I think it looks like fun. I would love another coaster, but they can’t do a big coaster every year.

More info is at the carowinds site.

Disney has released a short video highlighting some of the advanced technology that is going into the design of the new fantasyland section of the Magic Kingdom. It’s really quite interesting.

I laughed at some of the scenes in this, so I had to share.

Cinderella’s castle had a small fire break out on July 19th. Below is a youtube video as it was happening. Needless to say, it was put out quickly.

Busch Gardens Tampa has released on ride footage from Cheetah Hunt, and it is spectacular to see.

Cheetah Hunt has started operations for Employees. Hopfully this means that there will soon be a soft opening for the general public. With the 27th right around the corner, I’m really looking forward to my next trip to Florida. BGTNation has posted a short video of it running with employees, which I am embedding below. Be sure to visit BGTNation.com to see the many other pictures they have of the ride and it’s surroundings.

Disney has released a short video interview with the imagineers behind the new Little Mermaid ride.  The behind the scenes stuff is always interesting.

Busch Gardens Tampa has announced exclusive ride time for season passholders during the month of june.  From what I can find on the web, there is no mention of a soft opening and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be finished in time for a soft opening.  My next trip is scheduled there right before it opens, so we’ll find out.  I just wish I lived closer to Florida.  The drive from SC just takes too long.

Passholder Mailer

Busch Gardens Tampa has announced a new animal clinic where park guests can watch as the various animals are treated. I think it sounds like a great idea and am really looking forward to this.

Busch Gardens Tampa has started making runs with the new Cheetah Hunt coaster. They’ve posted a short video of it on their blog.