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 must be at least 48 inches tall.
Those between 48 and 54 inches tall must be accompanied by someone 14 years or older who stands at least 54 inches tall. It is also known for only have a single lap restraint, rather than a shoulder harness. The well-loved coaster went viral on social media in 2023 after a woman shared a video of herself and her daughter on the ride.
Although the motto of Disney playlands is to be the Happiest Place on Earth, tragedies have occurred at its theme parks over the decades. 1967 Disneyland, Peoplemover: The first death on the Peoplemover ride came in 1967 when the ride had only been open for about a month at the California theme park. A 16-year-old jumped between cars and fell onto the tracks, where he was struck by another train.
2019 Disney World, Humunga Kowabunga ride: One woman hurtled down a waterslide at 40mph and was left with a "wedgie so bad she was gushing blood" in 2019. Emma McGuinness sued Disney World Florida for over $50,000 following the shocking incident, a lawsuit alleges. The grisly accident occurred when Emma hit the water at the bottom of the Humunga Kowabunga slide, which stood 214 feet above a pool.
2020 Disney World, Contemporary Resort: Police said multiple people saw a woman falling from a Disney hotel room on an upper floor. Emergency workers found the victim unresponsive and soon declared her time of death. Officials said they believed that she died by suicide.
2021 Disney World: A schoolgirl died after suffering an allergic reaction to a hot dog bun while on a dream family holiday to Disney World, an inquest heard. Ava-Grace Stevens, 9, had spent the day with her family at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, when tragedy struck. Ava's dad Geoffrey Stevens said they had taken care to meet their daughter's dairy-free dietary needs but US food labels were not as clear to read as those in the UK.
The woman claimed her young daughter was finally tall enough to climb aboard when they had a scary experience. After the first steep turn and drop during the 90-second ride, the young girl can be seen slipping below the lap restraint, the video shows. The woman claimed her daughter was left unprotected the rest of the ride.
Soon after the incident, the mother said officials with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay informed her that the coaster was temporarily shut down for an investigation. As just days remain for park visitors to ride the coaster one last time, Busch Gardens has urged thrill-seekers to take advantage of the time left. Read More on The US Sun "Time's ticking! Don't miss your LAST CHANCE to take a ride on the iconic Scorpion roller coaster before its final run on the track on Labor Day, 9/2," the theme park wrote in a post to X.
"And stay tuned...
this closure paves the way for future thrills.".
