Update April 2025: So the construction walls ended up being for a new area of the park called Wild Oasis. It is sort of a reincarnation or Jungala complete with a new version of Wild Surge called Tree Top Drop. Is the Giga still coming? Maybe. The future of Kumba is still uncertain and there’s also the area of Scorpion that could be used as a station to have a Giga sprawl all over the park like Goliath does at Six Flags Over Georgia. We’ll have to stay tuned.

There have been rumors for years of Busch Gardens getting a Giga coaster and this especially heated up with the upcoming 2025 competition from the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe. People like Youtuber Theme Park Recommendations have speculated for some time about the old Jungala area being the perfect spot for a Giga coaster station with the majority of the track going along the drainage area similar to how Mako does at SeaWorld Orlando. We may finally have our first indications of this potentially happening with work walls going up, Tree Top Trail signs being removed and survey markers in the ground in Jungala! Thanks so much to u/railfan_andrew for the great pictures and info he posted on Reddit!

NEWS! Busch Gardens Announced on 9/17/24 the New Wild Oasis Realm retheme of Tree Top Trails in Jungala set to open in spring 2025

The Jungala area has been dormant since Covid and never really fully reopened with the exception of Wild Surge (which operated for a brief period before it was permanently removed after a still officially unconfirmed fire). It was a neat area with climbing structures that actually interacted with some animal habitats and a small splash pad. Admittedly it was repetitive with what you could find in the Sesame Street Safari of Fun area though with the exception of Wild Surge. There were also still remnants and a station for the Jungle Flyers ride which closed in 2018.

I frequently look to the City of Tampa building permits for clues as to what might be happening, but the only recent Busch Gardens demolition permit I see is for a kettle corn stand. According to u/railfan_andrew the only thing really being done so far is removal of a sign, so probably no demo permit is required as of yet. However, Universal kept saying that velocicoaster was just a churro stand, so maybe a kettle corn stand demo turns into a giga coaster? We’ll have to keep an eye on the work here and hopefully an announcement in the fall about what may be coming to Jungala!