Just saw Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is closing the Stanley Falls water ride after 52 years. Not my fave there but an old-school drop ride was fun on a hot day.
Stanley Falls was probably the first log flume that we ever rode back in 1996 on our first trip to Florida. It did seem a bit "raw" in the queue with nothing by way of theming and water dripping down on us. The sound amplified through the supporting steels where we waited in line added to a sense of impending excitement though. Particularly as we had no previous experience of this kind and were unaware of just what the ride entailed. So we're sad to hear of it's demise but it does have a place in our history while the design, theming and quality of attractions has improved so much in the last 30 years making this seem a bit out of place.
As a footnote we also miss the Tanganyika Tidal Wave which had a fantastic drop at the end. It was unique in that you could experience the ride without actually being on it. Standing on the bridge, either behind the protective panels or braving the tidal wave on the exposed area, was a real laugh. I recall meeting a guy from New York who was wearing a sweater and him asking me if you got wet on the ride. I said he should stand on the side and watch before going on. He still rode it so full marks to him.
I have been going to BGT pretty regularly for like 30 years and I don't think i've ever been on this ride. I don't like getting wet at parks to begin, with but also there's so many great water rides in Central Florida and this one just looks really old and janky. Can't say i'm going to miss it.
However the Rapids ride, which is now the one remaining water ride at this huge park in Florida, seems to be closed a lot and has problems as well, so hopefully they are going to put more resources into keeping that running. Water rides are expensive to build and maintain and don't draw crowds like new coasters so we've seen a huge reduction in the amount of water rides parks all over the country over the last decade, the good news here I guess is that Sea World has built Infinity Falls and Catapult Falls relatively recently so maybe they plan on doing something like that here as well.
In the survey we had, one of the options was a Mack style Poseidon coaster.
So, we wait and see ....
In four visits to BGT, I think I only rode Stanley Falls once. I remember it being fairly decent for a standard flume ride, though something easily overlooked given the water rides available at Florida's other theme parks. There are a lot of modern water rides on the market that would make a good replacement for this one, so hopefully that's what their mystery 2027 project will wind up being.
I've ridden this flume quite a few times, but it does seem like these are falling out of favor with parks around the country. Something more modern would be a good replacement, but it should still be accessible to smaller riders as well.
I went to give it one last ride on Sunday - thank God it was open. We deserved more time to make our way over to Tampa. It was painful to say the least, but I love it regardless.
Russell, if I do recall, this was on your "rides that need to close" list. I remember thinking that the Flume is a classic, that it has gotten a repaint fairly recently, but I understand the decision to get rid of it.
It was a bog standard early 70's flume but enjoyable nevertheless but needed to go. I just hope it is replaced with another water ride which gives us a better thrill.
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Okay, fine, it was rough and uncomfortable and kind of sucked. But it was also refreshing and fun for all ages.
However, I think it's no coincidence that the flume is right next to scorpion's old plot. Sure, they're divided by train tracks, but Busch Gardens could put a decent sized water ride right around here.
What I find odd is that Busch gardens has torn out three fairly major rides in three years, not to mention Kumba, which has been SBNO since early November. Get it together BGT.