This tweet I think captured a lot of people’s feelings when they heard the Phoenix was testing. Could the Phoenix, closed since April 2018, be reopening? There has yet to be any official announcement from the park, but walls have come down and the ride has been seen in action several times including with human analog sandbags. However, there were also rumors that the ride had been offered for sale, so although this could be a prelude to a reopening, it also be a test for a potential buyer. The great folks at Theme Park Express posted these great pics of the ride testing (used with permission).
There’s been the recent reopening of the Congo Train Station and the expected reopening of the SkyRide later this summer, so maybe this is up next? The Intamin “Looping Starship” is a classic ride and below is an excellent video that talks about the Busch Gardens install extensively. The Phoenix was one of the first of its kind and fans had a bit of a love hate relationship with them as the restraint system wasn’t always the most comfortable for some. The rides also had a bit of reputation of being a maintenance headache. However a reopened ride certainly would be a way of generating some pseudo new ride buzz without a lot of extra cost.
BGT Safari 