Day 4

San went for her first toilet inspection at the Zagara Café. (I'm not sure if this was a reaction to seeing Montu on the way in!)
Rachel still had a cob on, so asked if she could do her own thing. Yes, please! We all agreed that was a good idea and made arrangements to meet later. I seem to remember reading somewhere that most visitors to Busch Gardens move counter-clockwise, so we did the opposite, and headed left, past Gwazi, towards the bird garden. Here we made our second mistake of the day, as we didn't go into the Koala display, but said we would return later, and of course - we never did! Instead, we had a quick look at Flamingo Island and a tropical bird aviary. Beth even found a long, pink feather that she proudly carried.
We headed straight for the Land of the Dragons, as this place looked cool on Chris Franklin's video, so that Beth could use up some of her energy. She had really been looking forward to going to Busch Gardens after seeing the video because Land of the Dragons was full of fountains and waterfalls, and looked like a great opportunity to have fun getting wet, (a bit like Shamu's Happy Harbour in SeaWorld). Unfortunately, even though the sun was cracking the flags, there was no water to be seen, and all of the fountains were dry. Beth was quite disappointed because she couldn't be daring on the stepping stones, or sit in a fountain like Glen had done, but she did enjoy the kiddie rides; Beth dragged Peter on the dinosaur eggs ferris wheel - where San had a close encounter with a BIG insect. (A man in the queue told her how much he liked the brooch on her hat - she told him she didn't have a brooch, took off her hat, and screamed as she found a bug that was at least four inches long!).

The dragon carousel was my personal favourite…I was so daring. Beth also enjoyed the mini-log flume; the go-carts, the boat ride, and of course the huge tree house with it's climbing nets, slides and bouncy castle -y bit!

The loudspeakers playing kiddie songs got really annoying in the end, but the worst thing about Land of the Dragons was that Beth made us sit through a really sad show at the Dragon's Tale Theatre called Captain Kangaroo's Roo Crew Live. This was really cheesy and the songs were awful. I think it was based on an American TV show called Captain Kangaroo, but as we didn't know the characters - Mister Moose, Bunny Rabbit (original!) and Captain Kangaroo - this proved to be a most tedious 15 minutes!
We let Beth play in Land of Dragons for about an hour, but by then we could take no more of the music, so we continued our way around the park, after promising to return later. I had the pleasure of pushing Beth up the steep hill by Lory Landing and after watching the Orang-utans for a while, we went to see what the queue time was for Tanganyika Tidal Wave. However, the TTW wasn't running - nor was any water! The park attendant told us the ride was closed for the day. Peter by now was starting to have a major sulk as he hadn't been on any of the big rides, (and also he had the humiliation of riding on the Dinosaur Eggs!!). So after checking out Claw Island, where we saw an orange tiger, along with a couple of white Bengal tigers - which Beth thought were normal tigers just going grey (like Daddy!) San took Beth to the toilet at the Vivi Restaurant and bought an ice cream at the Python Soft Serve, whilst Peter and I joined the 15-minute queue for Python. The yellow steel roller coaster was quite fast, and no sooner had we rode through the double corkscrew, and the ride was over. This must be one of the shortest rides in Florida, but served as a gentle introduction of what was to come later.
After riding Python, we met up with San and Beth (who had been joined by Rachel) at the Python Soft Serve, and we each had one of those huge waffle cone ice creams, served with a choice of real strawberries or chocolate. Whilst San and Beth had been waiting for us, they had been sitting on a wall watching what they thought was a vole, and were even throwing bits of their waffle cone to it. Although it was very clean, I didn't have the heart to tell them that it was in fact a rat, (as it probably would have induced another of San's many toilet trips!).
When we managed to finish our cones, we went to have a look at the Congo River Rapids. The queue board said that the wait was 90 minutes, and as this is virtually the same ride as the Kali River Rapids and Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges, we decided against joining the queue. We did see some Pratt, actually a man trying to impress his family, turning the wheel that changed the display on the wait time clock. As you cannot trust people to act responsibly and as the wooden sign was open to abuse from the public, this is another system that needs to be updated at Busch Gardens. Once again, Peter did his impression of Harry Enfield's teenager, Kevin, and stormed around sulking, because 'we should have expected to have to wait in queues!' This was starting to annoy San, so she suggested that we split up for a while, (no - not a divorce - just go our separate ways in the park for a while!!!). San took Beth to the kiddie rides by the Ubanga-Banga Bumper Cars, whilst Peter and I joined the 30-minute queue for KUMBA.
In my humble opinion, KUMBA, yes - I have to type it in capitals because it is so good, has to be The Best Ride in Florida! The 30-minute queue seemed to move quickly, and I'm sure we didn't wait that long. Whilst queuing, we got some great views of the turquoise steel roller coaster as it whooshed around the track and the noise it makes adds to the build up because it sounds so scary. As we took our seats on the second to last row, the harnesses were a snug fit, (was that the ice cream??)
KUMBA is not one of those 30-second rides - it lasts a thrilling three minutes, during which you are dropped, rolled and twisted! I think it must have the most loops, spirals and rolls than any of the other rides I have been on. At one point, you are weightless for about three seconds as you plunge into a loop whilst spiralling 360 degrees, before tearing through a huge vertical loop. Great!
This all combines to make the Incredible Hulk coaster look tame! My measure of how good a roller coaster really is, depends on how ill it makes you feel afterwards! KUMBA was the only ride where we actually saw somebody puking after riding.
We found San and Beth waiting on a bench on the bridge by the Congo Train Station. Apparently, the man controlling the flying swings kiddie ride wouldn't let Beth on because he said she was too big, (our first miserable git of the day!). When we went past again however, there were kids bigger than Beth riding it, but the operator had now changed. Beth didn't seem too upset though because she went on the teacups instead.
We decided to ride the Trans-Veldt Railroad, so we headed for the Congo Train Station. After waiting only five minutes, whilst munching Pringles, our yellow train arrived, an authentic steam locomotive. As we pulled out of the station, we caught sight of ……..(Carron - are you reading this?)… a small, lime green snake which slithered along the side of the railway embankment - and NO - it wasn't a piece of hose pipe - it was moving!
We left Beth's pram at the Congo Station, as we wanted to go all the way around, which took about 20-minutes, and included a tour of the Serengeti Plain. This gave us the opportunity to put our feet up, and have a good rest, but in my opinion, the Kilimanjaro Safari is MUCH better.
After touring the thrill ride area, we entered the plain, where we saw camels, lions, hyenas, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, baboons, meerkats, flamingos, giraffes, zebra, antelopes and some bison. We had to use our map to find out which animals we were coming up to because our train driver was too busy telling us about Busch Gardens' forthcoming attraction - Rhino Rally, which was currently under construction, and explained why the Plain was like a building site. There were earthmovers everywhere and half of the Serengeti Plain had been dug up.
Following our ride on the train, we sat on the wall by the Vivi Restaurant, and ate our packed lunch. As we ate, San tried to call home, but without success - she felt like ET! So she decided to go to the toilet instead!
It had now become quite windy, and large black clouds were forming overhead. We could now hear running water so thought it may be a good idea to try the Tanganyika Tidal Wave again, as we got there the wait was only 5 minutes as it had only just started up. Just as we joined the queue, it started piddling down VERY HEAVILY so we stayed in the queue to shelter. We didn't see the point of moving, as we would have got soaked, but lots of people left the queue, so when the ride eventually opened again some 40-minutes later, we were close to the front.
This is where we made our third mistake of the day. When we had joined the queue, Beth was wearing her platform Barbie sandals, and whilst waiting we had changed her into pool shoes. After queuing for over 40-minutes, whilst waiting for the rain to stop, when we got to the front of the queue, we met Miserable Git Number 2, who was adamant that Beth was too small to go on the ride!
I must admit I got quite annoyed with her "I have the power" attitude because we had seen smaller children pass her by and go on the ride. I couldn't help myself and told her exactly where she could stick her height measurement, much to San's amusement, and Rachel's embarrassment. (Peter stood behind me, and joined in!).
Do they have a Miserable Employee of the Week Award at Busch Gardens? I would like to nominate her!
If there had been a huge difference in the required height size I wouldn't have been so bothered, but Beth was as tall as the line, until Mrs Misery flattened her curly hair. The difference was less than half an inch! (About the same size as her Barbie shoes!) - Another lesson learned.
I insisted that San and the other two should still go on the ride, or else our time spent queuing up would have been completely wasted. I then had to let Beth stand on the viewing bridge and dodge the tidal wave in order to stop her crying. YES - someone made my baby cry!!!!
When San and the others came off the ride, the next boat was coming down the drop, so Peter tried to hold San in the centre of the bridge. Luckily (for Peter) she managed to escape, and was safely behind the Plexiglas when the wave came……and got Peter! This cheered Beth up, and she ran to make sure Mummy was OK. San said that she couldn't see any reason why Beth couldn't go on the ride, because it was just a gentle boat ride, with one drop at the end, and was very tame. The theming was poor - a few vines, and some skulls, and nothing else that anyone can remember. This is something else that Busch Gardens needs to improve on - the theming on rides, and in the queuing areas.
All the water must have inspired San, because she rushed straight to the toilets by the Stanleyville Theatre, (San here - I must add that my visits to the toilet will be explained in a later post!!!). While we were there, we joined the 30-minute queue for Stanley Falls, and once again the display time for the queue wasn't accurate - we only waited about 15-minutes. This is a nice gentle log flume ride - and YES, we did get soaked! (Poor theming though - it was no better than the log flumes in Blackpool.)
For some reason, I bought the ride picture, probably because it was only $6.00, which is a lot cheaper than other ride photos.

We then continued around the park, but as we got to the Skyride it had been closed because the wind was getting up again. We continued on to Timbuktu where Beth took San to the kiddie rides and got straight on to the giant carousel, which was empty. All of a sudden, the heavens opened - just as the dolphin show was letting out - and the area became very busy. Peter and I went off to queue for Scorpion, whilst San, Rachel and Beth stayed in the kid's area. Beth had rode the mini pirate ship, the little train, and the motorbikes several times, whilst awaiting our return, and by now, San was getting rather anxious. The yellow ponchos were out, and the lightning was tearing across the stormy sky.
The queue for Scorpion was only 15 minutes long, but we had to wait whilst the ride operators, who were all about 15 with spots, searched around the bottom of the track for somebody's keys that had inadvertently been dropped. Needless to say, they couldn't find them, but they didn't really look that hard.
The rain wasn't heavy enough to close the ride, and as we climbed the orange steel construction, we could see more lightening in the distance. This ride is FAST - but very short, and sends you through a 360-degree loop at over 50 miles an hour.
Peter and I then tried to win a Powerpuff Girl for Beth, in the Timbuktu games area, by trying to throw a basketball into a hoop. Unfortunately, we were both unsuccessful, and after six goes at $3 each we gave up, and decided we would buy one in Belz instead!
The rain had passed, so we went on to Phoenix, which is a pirate ship that swings back and forth, going higher and higher, until it actually goes all the way over the top without the aid of a safety net, or even a sick bag!
When you are my size and suspended upside down, the safety bar doesn't half dig into your gut, and the ride duration of about 2 minutes is a long time to keep your eyes closed!
Whilst we were on Phoenix, Peter did his infamous "girlie scream" which is very loud, and very annoying (Carron can vouch for this!). This seemed to disturb the kids sitting next to us, and he screamed so loudly that San heard him, and instantly recognised his bright yellow Brazil shirt. So when we got off the ride, she was waiting for us.
We then headed for the Elephant Display, which was very fragrant! It was quite entertaining, as the elephants were playing with a tyre and a ball suspended on a tree (the ball, that is, not the elephant!). As it started to rain again we headed for the Tortoise Display, and also watched the alligators snoozing in their pool.
It was now raining steadily, but Peter and I wanted to ride Gwazi before it closed, so San took Beth to the Animal Nursery and the Reptile House, where they saw a HUGE boa constrictor that had jaws so big, it could have swallowed Beth whole. They arrived just at feeding time, as the snake demonstrated its ability to dislocate its jaws!
As Peter and I got to the twin wooden roller coasters of Gwazi, we were disappointed to see that some people were leaving the queue as the ride had been temporarily closed due to the weather. We joined the queue anyway as it was now pouring down because the storm was directly overhead. Whilst we waited, even more people left the queue, and when the ride started again, about 30-minutes later, there were only three people in front of us in the loading area, (we thought "Great - they can dry the seats out!").
When it was our turn to board, we clambered into the car with our backpacks in tow. When the ride operator came to check our lap bar, he spotted our bags, and refused to let us take them on the ride. Fortunately, this guy wasn't one of Busch Gardens' specially trained Miseries; he actually held the car whilst we put our bags into the lockers located between the two tracks, much to everyone else's amusement.
Our plan hadn't quite worked, because when we sat down the seats were still wet, and we both got wet butts! As we emerged from the loading bay, it was still raining heavily, and by the time we had climbed to the top of the first drop my glasses were so wet that I could hardly see.
We had chosen the Lion track, and as the car edged over the crest of the hill it really started to shift! Gwazi is a wooden roller coaster that goes really fast. It is so rickety I could literally feel my fillings rattling inside my teeth. As we thundered around the track, we went past the other car (the Tiger) about five times, as it sped in the opposite direction, and passed within a couple of feet. This made the ride seem even faster, and the rain really did hurt my face! By the time we got off, we were soaked, so after checking that my filings were secure, we headed for the Zagora Café, where we should have met San about an hour earlier.
The rain was now coming down in sheets so we decided to call it a day, as we were all soaked through. San did a final rain dance in the Zagora café toilets, whilst the kids skated across the floor in the puddles, inspired by the music coming from the World Rhythms on Ice in the Moroccan Palace Theatre.
Having learned our lesson earlier, we took the tram back to the car park and it sloshed through rivers of puddles. When we got back to the van it was parked right in the middle of a big lake, but by now we couldn't have got any wetter, (my shoes still squelch now, honest, ask San!).
We drove back towards Orlando in the piddling down rain, and as we headed East on the I4 we were treated to an electrifying lightning display which helped to keep me awake!
We arrived back at the Westgate with mixed views about Busch Gardens. It had definitely been worth the trip, and I am glad that we went, as Busch Gardens has some great rides. (KUMBA is definitely the best ride in Florida).
However, our day was not only spoiled by the weather, but also the fact that we had not got there early, there were long queues, and we were also unfamiliar with the layout of the park.
Peter and I were sorry that we hadn't rode Montu earlier in the day as due to the weather it had closed early. This just means that we will have to go back again! On reflection, Busch Gardens definitely needs a Fastpass system, and I don't think we would return until it has one. With regards to the animal exhibits, it is certainly a poor relation to the Animal Kingdom, but that's just my opinion.
San didn't like the fact that the park was full of unaccompanied teenagers in large gangs, (not tour groups). It seemed to be the local hangout place, instead of a place for a family day out.
In the end, our day had started off very wet and ended up getting even wetter! CHEERS CHRIS!!