New Busch Gardens Tampa Coaster

[dkny6363]

So I think we've all heard the rumors that BGT is getting a new coaster soon, probably in 2011.
I think we've all also heard the rumor it will be a B&M Hyper. But rumor has it now that it will not be a B&M hyper, but still very large in size. Mind you the rumor is from screamscape...  Assuming this is true and it's not a BM hyper, and that it is still large, what do you think it will be? Imagine a double GG at the two Busch parks next year. Here's to dreamin.

[GADVwow]

Given the experience Busch has had with their GCII set down in Florida, I would not hold my breath expecting any wooden coaster there in the near future....

[WadeJ]

I can pretty much guarantee that it won't be wood. Is Florida finally about to get a substantial Intamin?

[AV Matt]

They should expand the megalite layout and include longer trains (8-9 cars) with better restraints and roomier cars though. But it wouldn't be very Busch-like to go the cheaper route and buy an Intamin when they could have a more reliable B&M. Of course with the new owners I wouldn't expect them to be as anal-retentive in the quality department as the Busch entertainment company of old was known for.

BGT already has an awesome woodie. They just need to figure out how to keep awesome and enjoyable for the masses.

Edited to clarify. The new owners are more likely to do a better job than the most recent owners, but I doubt anyone will treat the parks the way they used to be treated. There was always a little extra something under the old ownership.

[GADVwow]

Uh, it's not this new owner I'd have been most worried about.  While InBev owned AB, that's when cuts were made and decisions that may or may not have been good for the longterm but certainly were good for the short term financials were made...

[GAcoaster]

I don't think it will be an INTAMIN. The last INTAMIN ride they installed at at Busch park was Escape From Pompeii, and apparently they swore off working with them after that experience.  Of course things can change, but I wouldn't bank on them working with INTAMIN.

[AV Matt]

Edited above for clarification. The new owner is likely to do great things, (Inbev was slowly killing the parks), but I don't think any new owner from this point on will hold the parks to the original extra high level of quality--the likes of those stories about the coasters' maintenance areas always being spotless for example.

[Mike13]

How could you be worried about Blackstone owning the parks,when they own parks like Island of Adventure who have even more theming than Busch Parks,and they maintain the parks well.

[WadeJ]

Have you been on spiderman lately?  Blackstone is 100 times better than Inbev for the Busch parks but trust me, they are a money company and the Universal parks are really showing it.

[nitrorox1414]

Mhm they should get a B&M Hyper and puti it in BBW place and name it Riding hood

[GADVwow]

Uh, Big Bad Wolf was in Williamsburg, this discussion is about the Tampa park...

[dkny6363]

B&M flyer is going where BBW I predict. About the Tampa thing, it could really only be intamin or B&M. Who else makes "big" steel coasters?

What exactly makes a megalite? Matt you mention expanding on it. I thought being small, compact, and affordable was the whole point. Is Farenheit similar to a megalite?

[GADVwow]

Which brings up an interesting question...is ChanceMorgan ever going to sell another large steel coaster?  Are they even really trying to?

[AV Matt]

I completely forgot that there is an extremely good Morgan coaster at a Busch park... Steel Eel at Sea World San Antonio. I'd be up for giving Morgan another shot at building a killer steel coaster. Something on the scale of Apollo's Chariot, but with the punch of Steel Eel and Phantom's Revenge would beat any Intamin or B&M.

Intamin Megalite layout is this:  http://cache.rcdb.com/pictures/picmax/p24331.jpg

It's a little small and low on capacity for this park, hence lengthening the trains and making the layout larger.

[dkny6363]

I've seen a megalite before I just don't overly get what the differences are between then and something like Fahrenheit, or even maverick really. They don't have inversions, and they seat about 2/3 the ppl/train. But what else? What do they cost approx? Fahrenheit was 12 mil.

Morgan hasn't made any coasters since 2004, but still listed as in business on RCDB. On their website they still offer 300,200, and 150 hyper coasters.

I'd bet the chances of seeing another are about as good as seeing another B&M stand-up. Ha maybe more like seeing a B&M floorless in N.A.

[nitrorox1414]

Uh, Big Bad Wolf was in Williamsburg, this discussion is about the Tampa park...

Haha oops.

[AV Matt]

I've seen a megalite before I just don't overly get what the differences are between then and something like Fahrenheit, or even maverick really. They don't have inversions, and they seat about 2/3 the ppl/train. But what else? What do they cost approx? Fahrenheit was 12 mil.

Not sure how much they cost (might be listed on one of the RCDB pages), but being an Intamin product, they will cost less than a comparable B&M.  It's a mini-hyper style coaster in a compact layout. Fahrenheit is similar, but focuses on inversions. Megalites focus on airtime hills.

[B-mac]

megalites are anywhere from $7.5 mil to $10 mil. They come in different sizes and that's the big price factor for them.

[AV Matt]

So far they all (four) come in the same size.

[B-mac]

I must be including piraten and exped. ge-force in this then. Cause I thought they were mega-lites.

[AV Matt]

Piraten is a megalite (a production model). Expedition Ge-Force is a larger, custom hyper coaster.

[B-mac]

Yet again, I'm getting my coasters messed-up.

[nitrorox1414]

So far they all (four) come in the same size.

What are they called?

[GADVwow]

Here you go:

http://www.rcdb.com/r.htm?ot=2&mo=8556

[nitrorox1414]

^Thanks.

All four of them are foreign. We should put one in Kentucky Kingdom!