Busch Gardens Tampa
Tampa, FL
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(8/22/2026) Bad News For Cheetah Hunt Ride Seekers
(8/11/2026) Get into Busch Gardens Tampa and Adventure Island For Special 2027 Fun Card Sale Price
(8/1/2026) Last Weekend To Ride KUMBA at Busch Gardens Tampa
(7/31/2026) Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg To Add Anaconda Themed Haunted House at HOS
(7/23/2026) Iron Gwazi Locker Promotion
 General Park News - (8/22/2026) It’s been a bit of a sad summer at Busch Gardens Tampa, especially now that Kumba has closed for good. That isn’t all however, demolition crews are removing the park’s Stanley Log Flume and a number of popular park attractions have been persistently closed for much of the summer on any given day, including Falcon’s Fury, Congo River Rapids and Cheetah Hunt.
Unfortunately the rumor going around is that Cheetah Hunt may be closed for awhile… and depending on who you talk to they say it will be closed at least until late September while others say that the issues may last even longer than that. Exactly what these issues are however, I do not know…
(8/11/2026) Like its sister park, SeaWorld in Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa has launched their 2027 Fun Card program, offering admission to the park for all of 2027 as well as for the entire remainder of 2026. Prices start at $114.99 for a BGT Fun Card that will get you not only into Busch Gardens but right now it will also get you into the Adventure Island waterpark as well.
(8/1/2026) Just a reminder, this weekend is your last chance to ride Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa, as the coaster that really changed the way that modern roller coasters could be designed will close for good at the end of Sunday, August 2nd.
I really wish the park would have picked a timeline closer to the end of the year to close it, as August is both extremely hot and potentially wet on a daily basis in Tampa this time of year, making any attempt for those from further away to travel to visit for one last ride problematic. It would have been nice to have Kumba available for last rides during Howl-O-Scream or even through to the Christmas season when the weather is cooler and more predictable, and of course, it would have given everyone much longer notice to make their trips happen.
Goodbye Kumba… lets hope Kumba’s Revenge will surpass your reputation.
While we’ve been focused on the fate of Kumba, elsewhere in the park they have now opened the new Lion & Hyena Ridge exhibit space. This is a new 38,000 sqft habitat designed to resemble the African savanna that is now home to five African Lions and two Hyenas. Guests can view the animals through a series of shaded pathways and through several expansive glass viewing panels.
(7/23/2026) While the subject of the mandatory lockers added to Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa has been a sore subject over the past year or so, it seems the park experimenting with some promotional changes to the system. I’m told that for those who purchase the $4 single use lockers, the park is now offering a refund of sorts… good for either a $4 gift shop credit you can apply towards a purchase, or you can exchange it for a free one-way skyride admission. (If the skyride is open of course…)
From what I’m told, the Skyride is already free for passholders, so the locker exchange really doesn’t help them at all, but is this a step in the right direction? Or, as I’ve always said, in the Florida marketplace especially, ride locker systems really need to just be free if they their use is mandatory, especially when Disney and Universal have been offering their use for free for years now.
(7/14/2026) Today is a very very sad day for roller coaster fans everywhere… as Busch Gardens Tampa confirmed that Kumba will close forever after taking a last roar on August 2nd, 2026. Kumba lasted 33 years… so it’s hard to think of it leaving so soon when the park was able to keep Scorpion up and running for 44 years, only to close it less than 2 years ago. The trauma digs in a little deeper when you realize that Montu is only 3 years younger than Kumba… so what will happen when Montu turns 33?
Now, Busch Gardens does leave us with a tiny ray of hope however, as they confirm that Kumba’s story will continue as part of an upcoming $100 million investment into the park that will include a little something called “Kumba’s Revenge!”, which they describe as “an extension of an already legendary coaster, and it will allow its spirit to live on as we enter a new era of thrills.”
Now… not to rain on the parade, but United Parks hasn't had the best track record with their initiative of “sequel” coasters over the past decade. Sure, Iron Gwazi is fantastic… but when Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge is a tame family coaster compared to the original Big Bad Wolf. DarKoaster, while fun, is a shadow of the DarKastle dark ride that came before it. And latest, the chain has been more focused on building pint-sized coasters like Penguin Trek, Barracuda Strike, Arctic Rescue and Phoenix Rising, rather than the kind of monster coasters the chain was once known for.
So, while I have my hopes up for something special from Kumba’s Revenge, with a return to form for the company… I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high just yet until we know more. It is a shame however, as Kumba was such a legendary coaster that really helped change the world's roller coaster landscape with the premier of B&M’s ultra modern sit-down coaster design with new elements. It is safe to say that roller coaster design changed forever after Kumba was built in 1993.
(6/20/2026) United Parks has announced the arrival of Jon Vigue to Busch Gardens Tampa who will serve as the new Park President. Jon comes to BGT from his previous position in the industry where he served as the VP and General Manager of Herschend’s Wild Adventures theme park in Georgia since 2020. Prior to that he was also the Director of Operations and Assistant GM at Wild Adventures, and prior to that was Assistant GM at Lake Compounce.
 Howl-O-Scream 2026 - (7/31/2026) Busch Gardens has announced that they will open new haunted houses themed to the horror film, Anaconda, at both the Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg theme parks at this year’s Howl-O-Scream haunt event. The full name of the haunt will be Anaconda: Dead on Arrival at the Williamsburg park and Tampa’s haunt will be called Anaconda: Fear has No Escape.
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(6/20/2026) Howl-O-Scream Tampa has released their first teaser for the 2026 haunt season… confirming that “The Doctor” will be returning this season. Combined with the pinkish nurse hat, this can only mean one thing… the FIENDS musical show featuring sexy nurses and monsters dancing about with Dr. Frankenstein, will be making a much appreciated return to the park.
FIENDS was last performed way back at Howl-O-Scream 2022 before being quietly retired at the Tampa, while a similar FIENDS show has continued to thrive at Busch Gardens Williamsburg all these years.
2027/2028 - New Water Ride - (5/12/2026) Rumor has it that initial permit requests have been filed by Busch Gardens Tampa to build an estimated $16.5 million water ride attraction that is expected to replace the former Stanley Falls log flume ride. It isn’t known yet what company is behind this, though United Parks has traditionally used either Mack Rides or Intamin for all of their water ride projects to date. The last two built were from Intamin however: the Catapult Falls launched flume ride that opened at SeaWorld San Antonio in 2024 and Infinity Falls at SeaWorld Orlando in 2018.
However, if we flash back to the new attraction concept survey the park sent to guests in July 2025, one of the proposed concepts was for a unique sounding new water ride experience. It was described as “an outdoor, multi-environment, dynamic adventure where they will traverse uncharted jungle trails, explore hidden caves, and plunge into the whitewater of a raging river.” If I didn’t know better, they may have uncovered an unused description for the park’s former Rhino Rally attraction, but after seeing the new technology put to use by Mack Rides for Mission Bermudes at Futuroscope in France this year, using their new Rocking Boat ride concept, this does indeed sound like it could be another version of this new ride concept.
???? - Kumba’s Revenge - (7/14/2026) Busch Gardens has confirmed that Kumba’s story will continue as part of an upcoming $100 million investment into the park that will include a little something called “Kumba’s Revenge!”, which they describe as “an extension of al already legendary coaster, and it will allow its spirit to live on as we enter a new era of thrills.”
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