With all the talk about Busch Gardens lately I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about improvements that I feel would be best for the park.
#5 Remodel the Serengeti Plain
The only real way to even view the Plain anymore is on the train despite this section of the park still being considered a major attraction of the park. There needs to be more viewing area, possibly from the Edge of Africa. There is already one great viewing area in this walk through attraction, but another, ideally near the Rhino Rally or the lion exhibit within the Edge of Africa would add more attention to this unique section of the park.
On the train ride you see many fences, poles, and non African, man made items. BGT needs to take a cue from Animal Kingdom and hide these fences, poles, and other man made items better. I would love a plain that has more authentic plants, fewer visible barriers, and a greater mix of vegetation. The Rhino Rally section has done this very well, outside of one visible fence just after the elephant viewing.
My biggest issue with the modern version of the plain is that it's just not accessible. You can't really see it from the skyride anymore, the train has a great view of it, but those who don't wish to ride the train really have no way to enjoy this staple of the park. I miss the monorail but I understand why it is gone with that said a second viewing option is now greatly needed.
#4 Adding more indoor attractions
BGT is in Tampa (obviously). Anyone who knows Florida knows that it rains almost every day. BGT though has few places to go during these rainy afternoons. The only real cover in the park is in the resturants and in the shows. If the shows have already begun or aren't playing at that time and if you have already ate (which most people have by 2 or 3 when the rain hits) then outside of some shops there is really not much to do. The shops are more around the Timbuktu area, a land more designed for late morning and lunch time. When the showers hit around 3 the most active part of the park is Stanleyville, where there are few shelters and all the rides are outside.
The 3D theater is good option during the rain, but again it only has one showing an hour. What is needed are some basic indoor attractions. These are also great places to retreat from in the infamous Florida sun. The cheetah chase would be great covered and would also look nicer, fitting into the tent them of the area better. Adding a few fog misters, which would be harded to do now with it being opened on all sides and above, would make this ride all the more exciting and help cool riders off.
I think some indoor dark rides would be a great addition to the multiple outdoor rides that BGT offers. A ride through haunted house could easily fit into a land. As would a flat ride but indoors. One possible theme for this indoor ride could be the infamous African storms. This would fit perfect into Stanleyville.
Overall BGT has no real indoor rides. This could be a whole new area of experince to bring into BGT. Indoor rides have proven to go well with outdoor thrill rides when done right, as they are at Islands of Adventure or Animal Kingdom.
These rides can be built multi-story, thus taking up a small foot print than a traditional ride. Every other major Florida theme park has indoor rides for people to retreat too during the afternoon thunder showers, it is time BGT adds some also.
#3 Redo the Shows at BGT
I love theme park shows. KaTonga is AMAZING! The problem is most of the other shows as BGT aren't. KaTonga has an lively African theme throughout it, but then just down the path there is a Doo Wop show, then a few lands away we have an American music revue playing. Um, thats not very African! BGT needs to keep its focus on Africa. Sure American themed shows are great and I love them, but this is an African themed park.
The Pirates 4-D show could really be redone to fit the theme also, but I understand the cost issue with this show and why they instead chosen a cookie cutter show able to be used in multiple parks (thought SeaWorld would fit this show so much better!). Instead of the Doo Wop show, what about African Tribal dancing show? Or instead of the American Revue what about a show focused on the celebration of the multiple cultures within Africa?
#2 A reworking of the Egypt area
This one is harder to explain so I added some pictures. Right now when the Egypt area is at a dead end near the beginning of the park (meaning in the front right of the park).
Before entering Egypt there is a small area called Crown Colony that once overlooked the plain but now overlooks tall plants. What was once the plain is now the Edge of Africa exhibit, which has two somewhat hard to locate (for many people at least) entrances. Back at the main circular park path the gorilla exhibit is to the left, the entrance is in the front of the park, but once you walk the exhibit you exit one land away, causing you to either back track or completely miss both Egypt and Crown Colony as well as a few gift shops (heaven forbid you miss a gift shop!).In the Crown Colony area you also have the huge Skyride Station building that at one time held the monorail station, but with the Edge of Africa causing the monorail to be taken down the building is now half unused and very dated.
This area is a jumbled mess of pathways, buildings, architecture styles, and themes.
A better reworking of the area would to be to do away with the Crown Colony all together. The gorilla exhibit is what really messes this area up the most, by doing away with the Crown Colony the gorilla exhibit could then be looped around and exit near where it enters (#1 on the reworked map). This new exit would help alleviate the confusion that the current exit causes, plus dare I say this new exit is perfect for a gift shop, possibly even an inside one.
With this new exit, the main pathway would then be linked through Egypt and Edge of Africa and then could go along the train path up to Nairobi.(Personally Nairobi is by far the worst named land at BGT, the actual city of Nairobi is a bustling city of over 3 million people, whereas the land Nairobi looks like an outpost in the African jungle, little to no actual connection to the real Nairobi) The new pathway (#2 on the reworked map) would be a great place to move the Kenya cafe (K on the map) since its current location is way to small and very crowded, though this may not work due to limited backstage access, though the current Crown Colony restaurant also deals with this limited access. (More on this restaurant in point #1) This pathway would also be a great place for a few interactive fountains, since the closest ones currently are in Jungala and Stanelyville, on the other side of the park.
With this reworked pathway and removal of Crown Colony; Egypt could then be expanded. (#3 on the reworked map) An expanded Egypt could feature more rides (whatever happened the motion theater here anyways?) and could also feature a few more shops, games and possibly a new restaurant. I picture a nice two story building with some shops, a good dark ride. A dark ride instead of the almost never ever visited, almost always overlooked, never running right King Tut exhibit would make a lot more sense and maybe a restaurant (it could share a kitchen with the new Kenya cafe). This area has no family friendly rides, and few things for kids to do (outside of digging in the sand and playing carnival games.) The reason why I think a dark ride is good for this area is because again they can be built multi-stor, loading and unloading on the ground level though most of the ride could actually be on the second floor.
So that leaves the horses, well I think with all this the horses should be moved over to the Bird Garden. This would make more sense because the Bird Gardens is the area with a AnheuserBusch focus. The bird gardens host the hospitality house, the huge AB crest topiary and the American Eagle exhibit.
Put the horse where the Gwazi Pavilion currently is, then move the pavilion where the horses were. The pavilion would then be located directly beside the special park entrance, just off the parking lot with much easier access to the special events pavilion also. The Special Events pavilion could then also share the Kenya cafe kitchen, making this one huge kitchen, but remember this area is huge right now also. The horses would just fit the bird gardens so much more then where they currently area. The special events pavilion could, in the new location, easily be turned into a cafe when its not rented out, something the current location struggles with. Or even a meet and greet with the KaTonga cast, since its right next door. The special events pavilion being directly beside the theater also would attract more groups since they could then rent the theater for presentations and what not.
#1 A remodeling of the Timbuktu Desert Grill.
This huge restaurant is by far, in my opinion at least, the worst used space in the whole park. The picnic tables and poorly themed cafeteria style restaurant is hard to maneuver, especially for strollers and wheelchairs, the show is awkward due to it being in a restaurant, and the high ceilings cause a bad echo.
Something that BGT is missing though is a finer sit down restaurant (didn't Crown Colony House used to be a fine restaurant). The Timbuktu location would be perfect for a sit-down restaurant, its about halfway through the park, perfect spot for rest for families. A nice restaurant themed around the universities, mosques, and libraries of the actual Timbuktu would be a fun alternative to the current cafeteria. This upscale restaurant should feature a separate bar (much like the Shark Underwater Grill at SeaWorld Orlando) and alcohol would be a selling point of the restaurant. Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Animal Kingdom have all proven these restaurants work and this one could top them all in its architecture and food. (Mud Bread ovens could be a fun feature out front!)
With this sit down restaurant taking the place of where the cafeteria style one currently is there would be a need for a cheaper food alternative in the immediate area. I would do away with the camel/rhino exhibit (where the elephants used to be) in Nairobi and make this into the cafeteria style restaurant. An indoor/outdoor restaurant would go good right here (only issue would be the elephants across the pathway, mattering which way the wind blows, so maybe indoors only, but with big windows). This could be a counter service restaurant that would be a great place to also animal watch from.
One issue with this location is the buildings right behind it, so another idea would be to remodel the log flume ride (which really needs a touching up anyways, not themed at all and sticks out like a sore thumb in the park), then add a bridge across the road/train tracks from near the exit of Scorpion to this area. Have the new indoor/outdoor counter service restaurant built around the log flume ride, it could actually have entrances from both Stanleyville and Timbuktu then also, though the signage would have to be REALLY good for people to pick up where they entered and exited. I would prefer to see it just accessible from either Timbuktu or Stanleyville for the purpose of keeping the pathways simple and circular. Either way a nice dining area integrated into a new rocky lakeside area with viewing of the log flume from the dining room would be a far better alternative than the current Timbuktu Desert Grill.
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So thats my 5 Ideas for BGT. I didn't mention the kiddie area due to the current highly probable rumor of it being rethemed to Sesame Street. I also left out a few other ideas that I will cover in future posts. But overall I think these 5 ideas would transform BGT into a world class park, that would better themed, easier to navigate, more profitable, and more enjoyable throughout the day. What do you think? Anything you would do different? Is there anything on my list you disagree with? Add a comment and tell me.
Thanks for reading
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