There have been so many rumors as to what will replace Sand Serpent. These include everything from a Giga coaster to an indoor ride using the Pantopia Theater to a wing coaster to family coaster. Busch Gardens isn’t exactly known for its theming, however the Egpyt area of the park is highly themed including the men’s bathroom! Whatever replaces Sand Serpent, however, I’m just hoping a little time, money and effort are spent theming the new ride, at least as much as this restroom.

SeaWorld parks aren’t known for their ride theming, story or immersion. There are a few notable exceptions of course (such as Cobra’s Curse which will be discussed later or the new Darkoaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg), however they mostly occupy a spot in the spectrum slighty above Six Flags, but below Disney and Universal for theming. With each new attraction comes an opportunity not only for a great ride experience, but for theming, story and immersion that feel like you’ve been transported out of Tampa and to another place. Nothing is totally devoid of theming at Busch Gardens of course (and I do love roller coaster masterpieces like Iron Gwazi), but we call them theme parks for a reason and I’ve never heard anyone say, “that ride had too much theming.”

One of the places I’ve most felt this immersion at Busch Gardens is riding the train. After leaving the Nairobi train station when the train turns left and passes Montu you can almost believe you’re on the African Serengeti as you look across the landscape. A great ride can do this too in both ride and queue such as the Forbidden Journey at Universal studios or the Tower of Terror at Disney. These are of course the paragon of theming, but there is a lot of middle ground between this and no theme carnival rides. I think an excellent example of what is realistic and attainable for Busch Gardens is Cobra’s Curse with its prop filled line, video pre-show, queue and line audio and theming alone the course.

I recently had a chance to visit Dollywood and ride the new Big Bear Mountain by Vekoma. This ride wasn’t over the top themed either, however there was care to have a story told by audio and props in the queue line. These little touches told us we were going on a search for Big Bear and not just riding a non-descript roller coaster. Hopefully Busch Gardens has looked at things like Big Bear Mountain and DarKoaster and will not only deliver us an awesome ride (thanks for Iron Gwazi!), but also a bit of story and theming as well.