New Serengeti Flyer swings into Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
TAMPA — Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is swooping into springtime with a big, swinging ride named Serengeti Flyer.
The new attraction has attributes of a playground swing set yet amplified dramatically. It stands 105 feet tall, and the dueling pendulums reach speeds of 68 mph as they pass one another.
And unlike a traditional swing, there’s no buckling of the structure as passengers find airtime, there are no dangling feet thanks to built-in flooring, and a lap belt keeps riders securely in place.
“It’s a pretty thrilling attraction,” said Andrew Schaffer, director of project management, during Thursday’s media previews. Serengeti Flyer, which has a 48-inch height requirement, opens to the public Monday.
Here’s how it works. Gondola at the end of each arm seat 20 people apiece: Two rows of 10 riders, backto-back. From ground level, each arm begins swinging but in opposite directions, gradually building height and speed and getting that bit of airtime at the peaks. Eventually, folks are 135 feet from the ground, sometimes facing the sky, sometimes facing the Earth.
It’s to and fro, to and fro, to and fro, with the two arms passing one another at ground level. The experience lasts about a minute and a half, Schaffer said.
While many thrill rides are scream machines, Serengeti Flyer is smooth and pretty serene. Passengers tend to have mouths agape and eyes open.
“We’re surrounded by rides and animals … so we intentionally made it a little bit quieter,” Schaffer said. “We relocated all the compressors for the ride — because it’s run by air. They’re way down in the distance … so that we could kind of keep the area quieter.”
The new ride takes up part of the footprint of a previous attraction called Rhino Rally, which closed in 2014. It sits by the far reaches of the theme park’s Cheetah Hunt roller coaster, and the motion of Flyer’s arms runs parallel with a stretch of the Skyride. It’s the first major addition to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay since its Iron Gwazi coaster opened in March 2022.
The back-to-back seats, which do not have overthe-shoulder harnesses, give differing views beyond sky and soil.
“The one direction looks out into our Serengeti Plain, which is 65 acres of property that we’ve got up there with all of our free-roaming animals. So it’s a pretty cool view out that direction,” Schaffer said. The opposite direction looks you into the ride areas … Cheetah Hunt, you can see Iron Gwazi. On a really clear day, you can actually see all the way down to downtown Tampa.”