Tigris is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

launched roller coaster The launched roller coaster is a type of roller coaster that initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanism ...

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa. Owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, the park opened on June 1, 1959. The pa ...

theme park in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, United States. Built on the former Tanganyika Tidal Wave water ride, Tigris officially opened on April 19, 2019 as the park's ninth roller coaster. Tigris is located within the Stanleyville section of the park. The roller coaster and surrounding area re-uses previous infrastructure and landscaping of the former attraction. Manufactured by Premier Rides, the roller coaster is one of ten

Sky Rocket II Sky Rocket II is a steel roller coaster model made by American manufacturer Premier Rides. The first Sky Rocket II was Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which opened on June 30, 2012, and the latest is Sky Loop at Riyadh ...

models built. Tigris utilizes a linear synchronous motor (LSM) system to propel the train through three launches. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of , a maximum speed of , and has a total track length of , though riders traverse around of track. Upon opening, the roller coaster received positive reviews from critics.

History

The Tanganyika Tidal Wave, an African-themed shoot the chutes water ride, closed in April 2016. In March 2018, SeaWorld Entertainment (owner of

) filed trademarks with the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

for the name "Tigris", in addition to "Twisted Tiger" and "Uproar". In April 2018, demolition permits were filed for the water ride's deconstruction. Demolition of the former water ride began in June 2018. An environmental resource permit was submitted on June 26, 2018, to the Southwest Florida Water Management District revealing the location of a new attraction to be within the confines of the

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

exhibit and section of Jungala. The documents and permits, reported in July, discussed upcoming developments on the site of the prior water ride under the working title "Project TEEL". The project proposed to construct a building within a area consisting of the attraction and paths and to remove within the existing area. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced Tigris, a Premier Rides

, model on September 12, 2018. The announcement revealed the roller coaster would be themed to the tiger and open in 2019 along with a development for a Gwazi area attraction in 2020. In October 2018, the concrete footers for the roller coaster were completed and the first construction updates by the park were published. During the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) exposition in November 2018, the design of Tigris's cars were revealed by Premier Rides in the form of a cake. The roller coaster's track began arriving at the park on November 29, 2018, with vertical construction of the track pieces taking place on December 3, 2018. The park detailed the support structure of Tigris was around three-fifths complete by January 2019, with construction of the roller coaster complete by February. The train for Tigris was observed being lifted onto the track on February 20. Busch Gardens announced a media event to present the roller coaster's car alongside additional information on the Gwazi attraction. The train for the roller coaster was publicly displayed for parkgoers beginning on March 1. The roller coaster's opening date was announced by the park on April 4, with Tigris soft opening on April 16, 2019, and officially opening on April 19.

Ride experience

Queue

The

queue area Queue areas are places in which people queue (first-come, first-served) for goods or services. Such a group of people is known as a ''queue'' (British English, British usage) or ''line'' (American English, American usage), and the people are ...

of the ride was repurposed from the previous attraction, Tanganyika Tidal Wave, though the water rides station was not reused. The roller coaster's queue uses a part of the water ride's pathway with landscaping intact from the previous layout. The queue of the ride features educational pieces of the tiger's living conditions in the wild and actions

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

ists take with the species.

Layout

Tigris launches out of the station up into a partial twist. The train then falls back through the station, where it is accelerated backwards into another twist. Once again, the train falls forward into the station and riders are accelerated to a top speed of . It then travels up to a height of where it completes a half-loop and a heartline roll before exiting in a second non-inverting half-loop. It then enters a full non-inverting loop before returning to the station.

Characteristics

Tigris operates within a small footprint of the former attraction and is located within the Stanleyville section of the park. For the construction of the roller coaster, existing infrastructure in the land was reused for the purpose of the ride. The landscape was preserved with recycled materials from the previous Tanganyika Tidal Wave water ride and other byproducts from the construction of

Falcon's Fury Falcon's Fury is a free-standing Sky Jump drop tower attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Manufactured by Intamin subsidiary Intaride, the ride reaches a maximum height of , making it North Amer ...

and Cobra's Curse attractions. Tigris was the third Sky Rocket II model to be constructed at

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment United Parks & Resorts Inc. (formerly SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. or SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) is an American theme park and entertainment company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates twelve recreational destina ...

-owned theme parks, the first being Tempesto at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the second,

Electric Eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae, of which they are the only members of the subfamily Electrophorinae. They are known for their electric fish, ability ...

, at

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by Un ...

. The roller coaster is one of ten Sky Rocket II models built by Premier Rides. Tigris was the ninth roller coaster built at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in operation. The roller coaster features black-gray supports with bright orange track. The roller coaster uses a linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch system that adjusts the speed of each launch by timing the train's position through sensors. The LSM launch system is cooled by air blowers beneath the track. The roller coaster has a total track length of , though riders traverse around of track because of the forward and backward launches. Tigris operates one train featuring three cars, with each car having a row of two seats across in three rows for a total of eighteen riders per train. The cars have a lap bar and over the shoulder restraint system. The roller coaster train features an orange color scheme with tiger print.

Reception

Upon opening, Tigris received positive review from critics. A writer for the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

'', Daniel Figueroa IV, enthusiastically remarked about the roller coaster's overall intensity and its "visually impressive" speed. Figueroa IV further commented that any seat on the roller coaster had favorable moments to experience, with the front being more visually notable and the back for more intensity. A writer for the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', Dewayne Bevil, noted overall about the thrilling experience of the roller coaster, being both "confusing and...exciting". Bevil also remarked about the ride experiences from different seating position and the restraint system having positive and negative aspects. Haley Coomes of

WKMG-TV WKMG-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Graham Media Group. The station's studios are located on John Young Parkway ( SR 423) in Orlando, and its transmitter is located o ...

described the "good first impression" the roller coaster operations left on her experience and personally added it earned "a top approval rating" between "the other Busch Gardens coaster giants". Andrew Stilwell of ''Coaster101'' categorized Tigris as a mid-tier attraction for "thrill seekers" among other Busch Gardens roller coasters while praising its overall speed and different seating experiences.

References

External links

* {{BGT Coasters Roller coasters in Florida Roller coasters in Tampa, Florida Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Roller coasters operated by United Parks & Resorts 2019 establishments in Florida