Ranking the Busch Gardens Roller Coasters – From Tame to Truly Wild in Tampa Bay!
Since 1959, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has been delighting visitors, first as a brewery and expansive gardens, a wildlife park, and now as a mecca for coaster enthusiasts. After all, these Busch Gardens roller coasters provide some of the biggest thrills and widest ride variety in Central Florida!
Indeed, the park is a paradise for thrill-seekers, offering everything from launch coasters to hybrid steel-wooden coasters and even a coaster featuring an elevator lift! But which coaster soars above the rest?
Today, we’re counting down our favorite Busch Gardens Tampa Bay roller coasters based on a combination of speed, coaster design, and (most importantly) how much fun they are to ride! Read on to find out which one’s #1!
9. Sand Serpent
We’re starting our list with Sand Serpent, a wild mouse-style coaster and family-friendly ride.
This ride originated in Busch Gardens Williamsburg before being brought to Tampa in 2004. About two minutes of ride time takes the cars through a series of parallel switchback turns, a small drop, and a series of hills. It’s cute – and great for the kiddos to start on – but it doesn’t offer much for the adult riders.
8. Scorpion
This ride is an absolute classic!
Scorpion is the oldest roller coaster in Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It originally opened in 1980 as part of the Timbuktu section (now Pantopia).
However, it’s also the slowest and the shortest coaster at Busch Gardens, which is why we’ve ranked it so far down. Nevertheless, the ride has its fans and is still an intense experience!
(Photo: Michael Welsing via Flickr)
Scorpion features a great dive followed by its signature vertical loop and extreme triple helix that brings fans back time and time again. Don’t let our rankings discourage you from experiencing this coaster – you should totally give it a chance when you visit Busch Gardens!
7. Tigris
Tigris is a steel launch coaster with a twist – you get both forward and backward launches!
It’s one of ten Premier Rides’ Sky Rocket II coasters in production worldwide and launches guests up to 62 MPH. The train uses a linear synchronous motor (LSM) system to launch riders forward and into a partial twist. However, the train then travels backward through the station and up into a non-inverting loop.
On the next pass, the trains launch back upwards again, eventually moving through the slow-moving barrel roll – so much airtime! – and a deep dive back into that non-inverting loop.
While the total track length is only 863 feet, riders traverse around 1,800 feet of track with the launch and subsequent backward fall. The design of the overhead comfort collar and compact seating makes Tigris a tight fit for many riders, so it can be uncomfortable.
6. Cobra’s Curse
Have you ever ridden a roller coaster that combines an elevator lift with spinning cars? Probably not! These mechanics are just part of what makes Cobra’s Curse such a unique experience.
The ride is split into three sections. It starts as a normal roller coaster, then rotates backward for a section before the end where the cars begin to spin – almost as if they’re out of control!
The biggest drop is 70 feet, and the coaster reaches speeds of 40 MPH. As a slightly more intense family coaster, this is one everyone can enjoy together. The queue of this line is a step up from the usual Busch Gardens fare with a story that follows an Egyptian king who placed a curse upon his lost kingdom. This fun theming boosts it up on our list to a solid mid-range coaster for the park!
5. Kumba
Another oldie (and goodie) at Busch Gardens!
Opening in 1993, Kumba was the third roller coaster constructed at Busch Gardens, signifying a greater shift into thrills, and putting the park on the map. The B&M steel coaster is a classic at the park (and also the first one designed by the company to feature interlocking corkscrews).
The cars roar across the tracks, giving the experience a distinctive feel that riders won’t soon forget. That rush is coupled with a fantastic design! The highest drop is 135 feet and the coaster tops out at 60 MPH. When it comes to inversions, Kumba has you covered. There’s the vertical loop followed by a zero-g roll, a cobra roll, and then those interlocking corkscrews. Talk about a lot of airtime!
This old-school coaster definitely gives you a lot to love.
4. Cheetah Hunt
Cheetah Hunt – an Intamin steel launch coaster – is the longest coaster at the park, running 4,429 feet long and reaching speeds of 60 MPH.
There are three launches in Cheetah Hunt and a single inversion – a heartline roll that comes directly after an airtime hill – that gives riders little chance to catch their breath at the end of the line.
Cheetah Hunt also combines a roller coaster and an animal enclosure with the nearby Cheetah Run. Visitors can check out the habitat of over a dozen cheetahs that live adjacent to the coaster after the ride.
This is a great coaster for riders who are ready to move beyond the family coasters and experience their first real inversions and more intense thrills. It’s also just plain fun!
3. Sheikra
Considered a favorite for many Busch Gardens visitors, Sheikra regularly ranks among the best coasters in Florida for its big drops, great splashdown, and Immelmann loop.
Before this dive coaster drops riders 150 feet at a 90-degree angle, it pauses right at the top so riders are forced to confront the sheer distance between them and the ground they are about to go hurtling towards. Sheikra is a floorless coaster, letting your feet dangle the entire time. With the open design, you really feel the airtime.
2. Montu
At 150 feet tall and reaching speeds of 60 MPH, Montu is an inverted B&M coaster that parkgoers love.
Why is it so popular? The ride boasts seven inversions: two vertical loops, an Immelmann loop, a zero-G roll, a batwing, and a corkscrew. Montu is also one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the annual Golden Ticket Amusement Awards Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters for all 15 years. Not a bad achievement!
This ride is light on theming but heavy on thrills and excitement. It’s one of the most intense rides at the park, which is why it’s so high on our list.
1. Iron Gwazi
Could anything else take the #1 spot on our list? With its opening in early 2022, Iron Gwazi is Busch Garden’s newest (and most exciting) coaster.
Since it opened, coaster enthusiasts have done nothing but rave about this fantastic – and fast – thrill ride! This wooden-steel coaster hybrid is actually a retrofitted version of the original Gwazi (1999-2015) dueling coaster. Standing at 207 feet and reaching speeds of 76 MPH, it’s currently Florida’s tallest and fastest coaster!
Three inversions, a delightful death roll, and unrelenting energy take you for a real ride the whole time you’re on board. Not only that, but it drops riders a staggering 200 feet at a 91-degree angle. Ready to scream? You will be!
That’s our ranking for Busch Gardens Tampa roller coasters! Let us know how it matches up with your picks. What’s your favorite coaster at the park and which ones would you recommend skipping?
Let us know in the comments below!
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