A POPULAR Florida theme park has announced it will be closing its oldest standing roller coaster, but fans of the ride still have one chance to take it for a spin. On Friday, Busch Gardens announced that its Tampa Bay park would be shutting down the Scorpion attraction that had been open since 1980. “This closure paves the way for exciting new future attractions, with more details about what’s coming to be revealed soon,” a news release obtained the Orlando Sentinel .
A replacement for the ride has not yet been announced. The last day to ride the 44-year-old coaster will be on Labor Day, September 2. It is currently located in Busch Garden Tampa Bay's Pantopia section of the park.
Read More on Busch Gardens The Scorpion was reportedly the second roller coaster built in the Florida Park, which is less than a two hour drive from Disney World in Orlando. It reportedly cost around $3 million for it to be built. Its closure will make the Kumba coaster, opened in 1993, the oldest standing roller coaster in the park.
Fans of the attraction have found that the ride only reaches a top speed of around 50 mph and a peak height of just over 60 feet. Most read in Family The total time it takes to ride the coaster is around 90 seconds. It is most well known for its large 39-foot-tall 360 degree loop.
The coaster has a total of two trains with five cars, seating 20 people during each ride. Its bright orange paint stands out on a clear blue-sky day. To ride the coster, park visitors mu.