Day 31

The Story Of A Junkie

Hi. My name is Dave. And I have a problem. I'm a junkie. A coaster junkie. I just can't get enough. Ever...

The Top Four Things That Might Mean You Have A Coaster Problem

1. You stay in the park so long and you spend so much time at one ride that you meet all the staff that work the ride. Both shifts.

2. You are walking around the park and see a woman, on break, on the other side, miles away from the ride and say, "hey look it's your one from that ride."

3. You queue for the front cart for about 45 minutes, even though you could just walk on to any of the other carts.

4. You skip a meal because you want to do that ride just one more time.

We went to Busch Gardens today and I realised that I am in fact a coaster junkie. After getting a taste on Tuesday, I was ready to jump head first into things.



I bought the tickets and upgraded to a fun pass - good for the rest of the year. Oh yeah, I'll be going back again.

On Paulo's advice we went into the park and right to ShieKra. Partly to attempt to avoid the long queues but mostly to get it over with. He had ridden it before and didn't want to be thinking about it all day. While we were queueing, I convinced him to sit in the front row. As we got closer, he seemed a bit edgy and stopped talking. I just shuffled along, oblivious to what we were about to encounter.





It's a 200 foot ascent up the ramp, then a short little u-shaped turn around. Then the ride stops. It stops after they just tip you over the edge. For about five seconds that feels like a year. And in the front row you are looking straight down at the drop and 90 degree bend which leads to the first loop, which leads to the first twist, etc.

After you have had enough time to question why you chose the front row, why you even got on the ride and why you are sitting on a contraption that is about to drop you and let you free fall 200 feet, they drop you. And it scared the bejaysus out of me. I screamed, not because you are meant to but because I was fucking terrified! But what a rush! As I said before, once you go front row you can never go back. Ever. The rest of the ride wasn't all that great (see - told you I have a problem) but we got off feelin' all out of sorts anyway. We checked our gobs on the screen as you leave because of course they take a picture of you when you totally horrified and laughed at our expressions.

We decided to cool off for a bit on the water rides. So we rode Stanley Falls Flume, Tidal Wave and Congo River Rapids where we got wet, wetter and absolutely soaked.



Then it was time for our second fix - Kumba. While it doesn't offer a terrifying drop, it does offer a couple of loops and non-stop twists and turns. Since it is a bit older, it does have a floor but it was still a total rush. We were soaked to the bone and still reeling from SheiKra but we loved every second of it. Afterwards we decided that Kumba gets the nod over SheiKra.







All of the 'rush' of the first couple of hours was making Paulo pecky so we stopped for a bit to regroup and eat.

Since it is not wise to eat and then get high, we decided to chill on the train ride around the Serengeti Plain. It was relaxing but the amount of animals were a bit underwhelming to say the least. As we pulling back into Nairobi station a thunderstorm rolled in. We took cover in the snake house.

After waiting out the storm for about half an hour we reemerged and ran into this fella.



We made our way over to the next coaster on our list - the almighty Montu. Now this ride is the real deal. Floorless, more loops than a nut house and never ending twists and turns. In typical fashion, we queued for the first cart and were blown away. This was the best coaster I have ever been on. Full stop. Man, the kick, the rush, the euphoria. It was great but we wanted more.







We took another breather and then decided to go with a little curve ball - Cheetah Chase. The queues were long, so we had to break out our 'free passes' that we received due to a bit of hassle while trying to purchase tickets. They basically let you cut the queue, since you go into the ride from the exit. I kept saying to Paulo that it was only a kid's ride but was I wrong! The fecking thing drives you along in a little cart that gives you the sensation you are going to go off the edge of the track as you go through each of the 180 degree turns. And there are a lot of them. There's even a bit off a drop thrown in as well. It was a brilliant little ride!



Since Cheetah Chase is so close to Montu, we decided it would be rude to not have another go. Again - queue, front row, unbelievable rush and another hit.

By now, time was getting on but he convinced me to have one more go on Kumba. We got the Skyride across the park to Kumba. When we arrived, there was no queue. Happy days! One more front ride to finish the day and had home feeling good.

Except when we got off Kumba we looked at each other and decided that we had to finish the day off on Montu. Back on the Skyride across the park and into the queue. We had to wait a while and I was starting to fade but once we got on it was worth every second of the wait.

So for those of you counting, it was one SheiKra, two Kumbas and three Montus. Sweet mercy.

On the way back to the car, I had a go at one of the carnie games and scored an 87 with the hammer to win a small Batman doll. He now hangs happily in the back of our Dodgy Dodge along with the Mario that Paulo won in the wiffle ball toss.



We drove home wrecked, stopped for a take-out and went back to my parents house waiting for the hang over to kick in.