USA Today has named Busch Garden Tampa Bay’s Tigris as 2019’s best new roller coaster in their popular 10 Best New Amusement Park Attraction poll.Kicking off December 5, 2019, USA Today held their annual 10 Best contest to determine the Best New Amusement Park Attractions. Readers were allowed to vote each day from December 5th-December 30th for their favorite new amusement park attraction.
Tigris opened at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay ahead of schedule in April of 2019. With guests racing along more than 1,800 feet of steel track and a 150 foot skyward surge, Tigris is Florida’s tallest launch coaster. Featuring a triple launch, forward and backward motion, breathtaking vertical drops, and unmatched views from the thrilling heartline roll, Tigris gives riders an experience unique to any other in the world.
“Tigris is unlike anything we had in our coaster collection and was the perfect addition to our unrivaled collection of adrenaline-pumping attractions" said Stewart Clark, president and general manager of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. "This new attraction is a testament to our continuing investment in the park and brings new and innovative experiences to our guests."
The Tigris queue includes educational content about the plight of tigers in the wild and what conservationists – including the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund – are doing to help save them. In addition, the purchase of any merchandise in the Tigris gift shop helps make a difference, with 5% of the sales price donated to the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund to protect tigers and their habitat.
“Premier Rides was honored to work with the dedicated team at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to deliver Tigris, despite being located on one of the most challenging sites in the park,”commented Jim Seay, President of Premier Rides. “The team’s hard work resulted in the coaster opening early, giving Florida their tallest launch coaster weeks ahead of schedule.”
Seay continued, “We are very proud of the recognition by the USA Today poll, considering they have the widest circulation of any newspaper with millions of daily readers. I am personally thankful to all those who voted.We also encourage voters to experience Premier Rides’ new 2020 attractions, including the highly anticipated Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando!”
ABOUT BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA
Located in Sunny Tampa Florida; Busch Gardens Tampa is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The park features 8 roller coasters and 2 water rides amongst other rides and animal attractions. Before TIGRIS the most recent roller coaster was Cobra’s Curse which opened in June 2016. Busch Gardens is known for their 29-acre Serengeti Plains, which allows African wildlife to roam freely. Their continued focus on its tropical landscape, exotic animals, and amusements is what draws millions of visitors each year. Read more: buschgardens.com/tampa
ABOUT SEAWORLD PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is a leading theme park and entertainment company that owns and operates 11 theme parks in the United States, including the Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Sesame Place brands. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainments is also an accredited zoological organization with the largest zoological collection on the North American continent. More information can be found at www.seaworldentertainment.com.
ABOUT PREMIER RIDES, INC.
Premier Rides is best known for its high-tech magnetic launch roller coasters. The company is also a global supplier of traditional roller coasters, observation wheels, towers, water rides and custom designed attractions. Premier’s service division offers engineering support, complete ride and train rehab, and it maintains and offers spare parts supply on a 24-hour emergency basis. The company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and has additional U.S., European, and Asian offices. For more information, please visit www.premier-rides.com or call +1-410-923-0414.
