Busch Gardens Tampa has announced, Serengeti Flyer, the park’s all-new attraction set to open in Spring 2023. Once open, Serengeti Flyer will be the world’s tallest and fastest ride of its kind, a screamin’ swing, upon opening.
Serengeti Flyer will feature twin dueling arms that soar progressively higher reaching speeds of 68 mph and a maximum height of 135 feet at the ride’s peak, overlooking the 65-acre Serengeti Plain. Some seats will be even able to see as far as Downtown Tampa.
Guests will be seated back-to-back in rows of 10 across two gondolas, allowing for 40 guests to experience the ride at once, with an approximate ride time of 1 minute and 20 seconds.
“Serengeti Flyer’s thrilling ride experience is bound to provide riders with a pulse-pounding encounter that can only be found at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay,” said Neal Thurman, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. “We believe that Serengeti Flyer will be the perfect high-thrill addition to our world-class portfolio of attractions including Iron Gwazi, the Golden Ticket Award Winner for the Best New Roller Coaster in 2022.”
The attraction takes over part of the Rhino Rally area, which closed in 2014.
After the announcement, Busch Gardens took members of the media on a hard hat tour of the construction area.
The ride actually began construction in January 2020 before shutting down due to the pandemic, resuming construction in April of this year. As of yesterday, the ride’s structure is about 90% complete, with some wiring and other underground work needing to be finished before finally filling in the ride’s platform with concrete.
The swinging arms are expected to be added by the end of the year.
