Saturday, June 7, 2014

Saturday Snapshots: Former Rides at Busch Gardens

Today we are linking up with Melinda at West Metro Mommy for Super Saturday Snapshots.



We live about an hour from Busch Gardens which is a theme park with 5 rollercoasters and many other rides. It is beautifully landscape and has been awarded the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park for many years. Over the years we have taken quite a few photos of the rides at Busch Gardens. As I was going through some of these photos I found some of rides that are no longer at the park and have since been replaced with other attractions.


The Big Bad Wolf was a suspended coaster that weaved through a Bavarian Village as you were supposedly being chased by the Big Bad Wolf. The ride was closed in 2009 and was replaced by a new coaster that kept some of the same features.

The highlight of the ride was the last drop as you would descend 100ft (33m) and coast just above the river before heading back to the station. The new coaster kept this feature as well to the delight of park guests.

 Le Mans Raceway was a vintage car ride around a 1/2 mile (800m) track. It was a very popular ride but the wait times were usually pretty long and it was ultimately decided that this part of the park would be ideal for a new coaster.

The attraction was closed in 2006 and was replaced by Griffon which is one of the tallest floor-less diving coasters in the world. It was fun to drive these little cars around but I was never a fan of having to wait in line so long.

The new rides are a lot of fun and are the best use of the space but it is always fun to relive the memories of the rides that are no longer in operation. What is your favourite theme park ride?







8 comments:

  1. My comment disappeared before publishing! Blogger!!

    Anyway...love the sound of The Big Bad Wolf...the images would be fun. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do not like amusement park rides. If I had to pick something, maybe the merry-go-round.??

    ReplyDelete
  3. We visited Busch Gardens in Tampa many years ago and rode every rollercoaster! Sounds like most of them are gone now. Too bad they replaced the LeMans Raceway. My husband and son really enjoyed that because my son got to be the driver. I remember it being a lovely amusement park with lots of animals and beautiful landscaping. After reading your post, I'm going to dig out my old Busch Garden photos too!
    My Saturday Snapshot post features WALLA WALLA, WA.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fun! I've never been to Busch Gardens, always getting drawn over to the mouse, but I would like to get there someday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We live about 2 hours from Disneyland so we went there a lot when the kids were growing up; it was always interesting to see what changes they were making and what rides were either being removed entirely or given an upgrade . That is a cute theme with the Big Bad Wolf . I wouldn't go on it because I'm not fond of roller coasters, but I think I would enjoy watching people while they were on it.

    I like Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  6. Went to Busch Gardens for the first time in 1980. Esp. remember the animals and winning a large bear that we had to drag around all day.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anything with water is my idea of an amusement park. Sadly, getting wet doesn't appeal to my husband. He prefers anything that makes his heart jump. :-)

    If I could get my nerve up to ride it, The Big Bad Wolf sounds fun. Unfortunately, roller coasters and me haven't gotten along in years.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ohhh I love a good roller coaster ride...and these ones look great - esp the water feature thrill in the Big Bad Wolf!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...