Amusement Park News

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has finally reopened its iconic 50-year-old SkyRide attraction, originally installed at the park back in 1974. The ride had not reopened when the rest of the park returned after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic closures, leading fans to believe it had been eliminated.

But fortunately, they were mistaken. The ride is back, offering guests the ability to sail over the park's lush Serengetti Plain area to its Stanleyville area, all while suspended 50 feet above ground.

The long closure of the ride was the subject of much debate as to the attraction's possible permanent closure. At least it was until last August, when the park finally posted a video showing a worker wiping down a freshly painted SkyRide car. The image of the sparkling new gondola car came along with the teasing message “Don't worry! It's not going anywhere— just receiving a little TLC. Stay up to date on our social media and website for more details and information regarding the SkyRide!”

Earlier this year, the park finally let the SkyRide soar again, after that four year wait. The gondolas look sleek and spiffy, re-painted in a glossy green powder coat with new Busch Gardens logos, their gondola numbers in white. But not only the paint is new. The ride has received a complete top to bottom refurbishment with its cables replaced, the cars' interiors restored, and new safety sensors added. At the ride's two boarding stations, there is a new floor coating. And of course, the state of Florida inspected and certified the ride for operation.



The four-year closure was worth the wait for excited park guests who are now once again, per park literature, invited to “Take in the breathtaking and beautiful views of the park from a different point of view aboard the SkyRide. Embark on a sky-high Serengeti adventure as you soar above the Serengeti Plain and marvel at the amazing animals that call Busch Gardens Tampa Bay home. As you continue your journey, venture into the Stanleyville area, catching glimpses of thrilling rides like Kumba, Congo River Rapids and the family-favorite Stanley Falls Flume...”

The ride is one of the longest running available at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It's also among the largest scale gondola rides still around, a Von Roll VR 101. Founded in 1803, Von Roll is a Swiss industrial group that at one time was well known as a skilled manufacture of sky rides, monorails, and observation towers. Today the company is best known as a maker of electrical components for power generation and transmission.
The SkyRide was created and installed during an era in which Von Roll installed some 43 VR101 large-scale gondola rides internationally, all between 1952 and 1995. Among those installed were rides created for Disney parks.

Today that number has very much dwindled: there are only 13 VR101 installations still in operation, including the Busch Garden Tampa Bay ride and another at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

When the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay SkyRide opened initially, it carried park attendees from a dual station that operated alongside the park's Monorail. The monorail has long since been replaced by a loading platform used by guests boarding the Cheetah Hunt roller coaster.

Due to the coaster's introduction, the SkyRide itself needed some modifying in 2010-2011, requiring a closure at that time, and resulting in the coaster's impressive flyover across the SkyRide's cableway.

While the thrills of the SkyRide itself may be a bit tamer than that of the coaster –they're still impressive, offering both a great view and a fun glide across the park. The ride's 1.1-mile-long cable carries guests above the park's veldt with its herds of animals, as well as passing over other attractions.

Riders need to be 56 inches tall or accompanied by a companion over that height with the companion required to be a minimum of 14 years of age. It operates from the park's opening to dusk.



There is one caveat to the reopened ride excitement. While it used to be free with park admission, the ride now costs $5 per trip in each direction for guests – unless you're a passholder. Passholders still get a free ride. Tickets are available only at the ride's two boarding stations in the park's Stanleyville and Cheetah Hunt Plaza.

Why the additional cost? According to the park, the upcharge is due to the high operational costs of the ride. No other attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will have an upcharge. While some parkgoers have complained about the fee online, most are understanding. The consensus appears to be that just having the ride back in operation is worth the additional small fee.

Attractions similar to the SkyRide have been closed one by one at many other parks, due to the costs of refurbishment and operation, and with that in mind, the fee becomes even more palatable.

That said, SeaWorld branded parks frequently charge for older rides. They do so at their SkyRide at SeaWorld California, and the SkyTowers in their California and Florida parks. Before Busch Gardens theme parks merged with SeaWorld – which itself is now United Parks and Resorts – the rides were free. While the Busch Gardens Williamsburg SkyRide location remains a free attraction, how long that will be the case is unclear.

Regardless, the reopening is a coup for amusement park fans steeped in tradition.

While there were once several hundred similar attractions to the SkyRide nationwide, today there are only 66 all around the world. Among these ropeway attractions, there are less than 25 as large in scale as Busch Gardens' attraction still in operation. Most of those still in existence are considerably smaller, run closer to the ground, and travel shorter distances. At Hersheypark, that park's large gondola Sky Ride from Intamin was originally installed in 1974, just like Busch Gardens' SkyRide, but Hershey removed the ride back in 1992. While Hersheypark replaced their original gondola ride with their current Skyview, the latter is a much smaller and shorter attraction.

All in all, given its unique and historic nature, having Busch Gardens' SkyRide revamped and soaring again is cause for rejoicing, newly added upcharge or not.