u/Jkjunk

Arrived at 10:15. Set foot into the park at 11:05. Not a great start. We walked into SWO, operated by the same company, with our Fun Passes with no drama yesterday. Today BGT we needed photo ID to use our Fun Card. Thank God my wife stashes a copy of her license in her phone and they believed the kids were too young to need a license. The ops here are unreal, in a bad way. I was at SWO yesterday and their not-particularly-good ops blow this park away. From the top of Monty we could see that the parking lot was maybe 1/3 full at 1:45pm. This place must be an absolute hellhole on a Saturday after Memorial Day. Dining was an absolute shit show. Probably 50 people in line at the Zambia Smokehouse and there was ONE poor dude serving the food. God help him.

Iron Gwazi: App wait said 5 minutes. Sign at ride said 30. WTH, BGT? The line to get in line for IG MOVED at a snail's pace. Once in and locker secured it was barely more than a station wait. Maybe close to 5 minutes than 30? Maybe not. Train dispatched were averaging FOUR MINUTES, and this was with 2 train ops. Thank god we got a new dispatch crew for the last 5 trains or so. If not the total wait could have approached and hour. On a Monday at 11am. Ugh. IG the ride, off course, hits HARD as you would expect from an RMC hybrid. It's great, but it's no SteVe.

Cheetah Hunt: It's a multi launch with a hearty live roll, but it's no Maverick. I could do without the slower sections between elements, but it's still a good time. Very long as well, which is appreciated. OP's were pleasantly good. Wait much shorter than the 35 minutes advertised.

Montu: Another station wait that was MUCH too long. Single train ops. Fun! The wait was every bit of the 45 minutes advertised. Fora station wait. On a coaster that sends 32 riders each lap. Just abysmal. The ride itself is a very good B&M invert. It's very long and the underground elements add to the experience.

Cobra's curse: Excellent theming in the queue. An extremely tame ride overall. The reverse/spin adds a bit of fun. Wait was much shor y ter than advertised.

Tigris: This is an often cloned Premier Rides Sky Rocket. It started with a gentle swing launch building to just enough to get you up the straight vertical hill. At the top is a very slow roll, slow enough to make you nervous. A couple more trips up and down and this ride is over. Short & sweet. Not my favorite, but the wait was short enough to make the ride worth it.

Kumba: For its age it is an absolute masterpiece. The vibration/head banging is an unfortunate sign of this coaster's age but for being under 150 feet tall Kumba punches well above its weight class. The events and pacing are top notch.

Sheikra: It seems like all of the B&M dive coasters are nearly the same. You get the sale elements and they are generally forceless. This ride was in the back row which in think I prefer. You get a couple of pretty good pops of air time as you start to dive.

Overall a miserable experience outside of being physically on a ride. It's a Monday, before Memorial Day, and we got here 10 minutes after Park open. We stopped for one meal break and barely had enough time to ride each big ride once. As a final slap in the face they close the sky ride station at the back of the park at 5pm, so after a long hot day you are rewarded with a long hot walk. Thanks, BGT!

Went on a Sunday and arrived early afternoon. Despite the light crowd the parking lot was nearly full. Odd. Ops were horrible as expected, but crowds were light, so it wasn't a big deal. Despite the ops, every ride had a significantly shorter wait than advertised on the app. Shout out to the BG/SW app, which actually shows you ride times even when you are outside the park. We may not have gone today if we didn't know about the short ride waits. The park itself is not straightforward to navigate. We got lost trying to find Pipeline, even with the map.

Pipeline: An excellent, if short ride. The airtime is greatly enhanced by the fact that your seat is allowed to float during the ride. I'm 6'1" and my feet came off of the floor several times. This is a fun unique aspect to this coaster. This coaster is more "fun" than "thrill". Only ran one train.

Ice Breaker: Despite the multiple launches, this coaster also leans more toward the family side of the spectrum. My problem with swing launches is the lack of intensity you get from a zero to max speed launch. It's a fun ride though and the top hat at the beginning is a great element.

Mako: It's a giant people-eating B&M hyper. You get exactly what you expect, tons of quality air time. The overbanks add some fun. It's a great ride. The first hill seems to give even more air time than its height (200') would suggest.

Penguin Trek: A high quality multi-launch family coaster. The "dark ride" portion at the beginning adds absolutely nothing to the ride experience. Bonus points for the Antarctic themed super chilly queue. You get a live Penguin exhibit at the end!

Manta: So much better than the B&M Flyer in SFOG! A super intense ride. That dive bomb pretzel loop is NUTS! Love, love, love.

Kraken: Wow, this ride punches above its weight class. I don't understand why B&M floorless coasters don't get more love. Sure the restraints are awful but the elements on this coaster just hit BAM BAM BAM with no chance to catch your breath. It reminds me of the Incredible Hulk. This ride is tied with Mako and Manta for the best ride experience for the wait time invested.

Headed to BGT and SWO this week. Any insider tips? Does anyone know if rides have generally been open? How have operations been lately? I know there posts that aren't open 12 months/year are a bit rough going. Are the Florida parks better? I'm hoping that Monday-Friday crowds will be manageable since it's before Memorial Day. Is that a reasonable expectation? How is the loose article/bin/locker situation? Thanks in advance!