Trip to BGT at the end of July, RIP Kumba

[Master of Puppets]

I know I don't post here a lot and I hadn't ridden a rollercoaster since 2014 but when instagram informed me in mid July of Kumba's August 2 permanent closure I was devastated. Kumba has always been my favorite, since I live a long ways from Florida but still managed to see it getting built, riding it when it was new, then riding it hundreds of times over the years every time we'd go to Tampa to visit my grandparents.

Needless to say on a farm in Canada in July I thought there was a zero percent chance I'd ever get to ride it again. But my wife had other plans.

She basically threw me out the door with a "you're going to Florida and that's it"

So I did. I got on a plane on July 27, flew into Orlando, got a rental vehicle, got a room next to Sea World and in the morning of July 28 I drove to Tampa and went into a park I hadn't seen in 12 years.

I skipped everything upon entering, I just went straight to the roped off area where you have to wait an additional 30 minutes to get to the back of the park. This Canadian in Florida in late July was already soaked in sweat and wondering if he'd survive the day. (Although my brother texted me and said it was like 110 degrees F with the humidity back home too, so basically the same.. lol)

Me and a handful of other people all had the same plan. We got on Kumba right when they allowed us in, I was on the first occupied train of the day in the front row. It was every bit as good as I remembered it. Then got to ride it another 9 times without even leaving the station.

I meandered around the park, ducking in and out of air conditioning and stuff througout the day, I rode all the coasters a few times, Iron Gwazi is something to behold, I'd never been on an RMC before and that thing is something else.

But I kept going back to Kumba. I rode it 33 times that day, one for every year of it's existence. I left the park completely wiped at 8:30 or so and got back to my hotel around 9:45.

So, you may wonder why I'm an idiot and flying into Orlando instead of Tampa, well it used less of my points for some reason and I booked 2 days there in case of weather or mechanical issues or something to make sure I could get on Kumba. Because I accomplished this on day one, I went to Sea World on day 2.

Rode all the coasters there a few times, Mako the most but by about 4:30 I was done with the heat and the people and everything.

My original plan had me leaving Sea World mid afternoon and darting up to IOA to check out Velocicoaster but I just didn't have the energy. Plus that one is relatively new so when my kids get bigger I'll go back and they can ride that one with me. Plus by then Kumba's Revenge should be built. I did go to Universal Citywalk though, had to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe... Haha.

Then on the 30 I jumped on a plane and came home. Back to work on the 31.

This was quite the experience, I just don't do stuff like that. First time I've ever gone to a theme park solo as well, which honestly was a lot of fun. Being able to do whatever I wanted was something I hadn't experienced in awhile. No way anyone I know woulda ridden 50+ coasters in 110 degree heat/humidity with me. At least I highly doubt it.

I can always say I got to go give Kumba the send off I felt I owed it. Hoping Kumba's revenge doesn't suck.

Cheers!

[Oscar]

I am jelly of you. I would have liked to go out there and ride it one more time. No can do though. I'm glad to hear you got out there to ride it again!

[mkingy]

Yeah that's basically another bucket list coaster kicked into the long grass for me too, glad you had a good time!

[Mikey]

Think everyone is holding their breath on what replaces Kumba but with the knowledge that SeaWorld probably won't go the route Universal did with Hulk. It's always cheaper to fly into Orlando and out of Tampa but you will pay more for a one way rental car. If you are in the region for more than 3 days then the higher cost of flying into Tampa is worth it for the cheaper rental car picking up and dropping off in the same location.

[mkingy]

Was there overall sentiment it was a waste of money to retrack?

Honestly the Nemesis retrack hasn't generated anywhere near what Alton thought it would - and that's a difficult area to repurpose.

[Mikey]

I am not under the impression that Seaworld gets sentimental about their rides. I think they will choose to invest new capital improvements in development of an attraction that will move turnstile numbers over buying good will with park fans. Seaworld is still on the clock to replace the Shamu shows as the star attractions at their parks and the pivot to more rides and other animal experiences requires consistent investment year over year.

When you retrack the ride you aren't gaining a new attraction. The average park goer will not care and thus there won't be as great of a return on that investment than a whole new thing. I think every park should keep the best of their old rides, not only because they mark the passage of time and bring generations of people together.

[mkingy]

Yeah - Nemesis got a retheme (although even this was to the same overall theme) so it had a little more impact, but not much. I also hear that it's not actually gotten that better in terms of performance which might align with B&M's drop off in recent time. That said I think there were also some fairly major foundation and support intervention that was required so they'd have had to invest anyway.