Video: Serengeti Flyer Takes Fans Of Thrill Rides To New Heights

TAMPA, FL — Thrill ride fan Joy Lewis discribed it as "a fun big kid swing that goes wayyyyyy up high! Can’t wait to go on it again!"

Carlie Buck said she couldn't wait for the official opening day on Monday. "Went to the pass holder preview this weekend and it was amazing! Such a great addition to the park!"

"It is so much fun," said Deb Szymczyk. "We rode it several times last Friday."

That was the general opinion of the intrepid visitors who tried out Busch Gardens Tampa Bay's Serengeti Flyer, a pendulum ride billed as the tallest, fastest ride of its kind, during its debut over the weekend.

Others took one look at the 105-foot-tall thrill ride and uttered an emphatic "not a chance."

Thrill ride fans admitted to having their doubts about Busch Gardens' ability to top the heralded Iron Gwazi roller coaster, which opened a year ago and received the coveted Golden Ticket Award for Best New Roller Coaster of 2022 from Amusement Today.

However, the hundreds of visitors who tested out the Serengeti Flyer said it's an entirely different kind of ride, complementing rather than taking away from Busch Gardens' award-winning coasters.

Officially classified as a "screaming swing" by its designer, S&S - Sansei Technologies, the first pneumatically powered pendulum ride opened in 2004 at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. That ride, which has since been removed, was 62 feet high.

In the years since, more than a dozen "screaming swings" have been installed at theme parks around the world including the 103-foot-high Skyhawk at Cedar Point in Sanduskey, Ohio, which opened in 2006; the 105-foot Tidal Surge at SeaWorld San Antonio, which debuted in March 2022; and what many thrill seekers claim is the scariest ride in the world, The Giant Canyon Swing, opened at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado in May 2010, which swings riders out over a steep canyon 1,300 feet above the Colorado River.

The Serengeti Flyer gets its momentum from the swinging arms propelled by compressed air. The compressors disperse air into tanks within the arms and the movement triggers actuators and cables to produce the motion.

Riders of the Serengeti Flyer are seated back to back in rows of 10 across two gondolas, allowing for 40 guests to experience the ride at once. Once the ride gets underway, its twin dueling arms soar progressively higher, reaching speeds of 68 mph and a height of 135 feet and giving riders a unique view of the 65-acre Serengeti Plain while experiencing multiple negative-G moments before plunging back toward Earth.

“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.”

That portfolio now includes 11 thrill rides, more than any other theme park in Florida.

Related:

• Wild New Ride Coming To Busch Gardens; Tallest, Fastest Of Its Kind
• Iron Gwazi Prepares To Invade; Anticipated Coaster Opens Friday
• Iron Gwazi To Open March 11 But Pass Holders Can Ride Feb. 13