Busch Gardens Tampa: Stanleyville

Tampa, Florida: Home to the newest attraction at Busch Gardens, SheiKra and site of two of the three water rides, Stanleyville is one of the busiest lands of the park. From diving on the country’s first dive coaster to getting soaked on one of the water rides, Stanleyville is the home of thrills for all ages.

The area was added to the park in 1973 with the opening of the Stanley Falls Flume. The Stanley Falls Flume is a traditional log flume water ride in which riders experience a 43 foot drop into the lagoon.

In 1977, Stanleyville added the Queen Africa Boat Ride, a boat ride that takes you through an African Village. By 1989 the park decided the ride needed a facelift and added a 55 foot splashdown drop and renamed the ride the Tanganyika Tidal Wave.

Stanleyville remained mostly unchanged until 2005 when Busch Gardens introduced SheiKra, the first dive coaster in the United States. SheiKra takes its riders on a floorless, stadium seated coaster train on a 200 foot drop at a 90 degree angle right into a 140 foot loop. The coaster reaches speeds of 70 miles per hour before taking riders on a splash down to end the ride. In 2007 SheiKra saw an upgrade as the floor was removed from each train and the coaster became floorless, further enhancing the appearance of flight. SheiKra was developed based on the African bird that is known to dive straight down for its prey, the roller coaster simulates the hunt for food.

While Stanleyville was closed to build SheiKra, the entire area received a facelift, including the addition of Zambia Smokehouse. The Zambia Smokehouse is a counter service restaurant featuring barbeque chicken and ribs. The barbeque is slow cooked over a varying type of smoke woods that changes periodically.

Stanleyville is also serves as stops of two of the parks transportation systems. The Skyride has a station located here. The Stanleyville Train Station is also one of the three stops along the Serengeti Express train system.

For more pictures, visit my Busch Gardens Tampa photo page.

Updated: November 6, 2009

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