{"id":340700,"date":"2026-07-15T09:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340700\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T09:56:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:56:29","slug":"busch-gardens-tampa-bay-to-retire-and-replace-kumba-coaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340700\/","title":{"rendered":"Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to retire and replace Kumba coaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has revealed plans to replace its 33-year-old Kumba coaster with the new Kumba&#8217;s Revenge attraction.<\/p>\n<p>The park in Florida said <a href=\"https:\/\/buschgardens.com\/tampa\/roller-coasters\/kumba\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kumba<\/a> will &#8220;take its final roar&#8221; on 2 August, although &#8220;the legend of Kumba will continue&#8221;, it added.<\/p>\n<p>Kumba&#8217;s Revenge will be an extension of the existing <a href=\"https:\/\/blooloop.com\/opinion\/best-themed-coasters-2020s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">coaster<\/a>, allowing &#8220;its spirit to live on as we enter a new era of thrills&#8221;, said Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While Kumba may be retiring this summer, Busch Gardens is dedicated to thrilling the next generation of coaster enthusiasts by continuing the Kumba story,&#8221; the park said.<\/p>\n<p>Kumba&#8217;s Revenge is part of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay&#8217;s $100 million investment programme focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/blooloop.com\/the-best-new-attractions-of-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new attractions<\/a> and park enhancements.<\/p>\n<p>This includes the 2025 opening of the Wild Oasis area, and this year&#8217;s launch of the new Lion and Hyena Ridge \u2013 the park&#8217;s largest and most immersive animal habitat in over 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>When it opened in 1993, Kumba was Florida&#8217;s tallest, fastest and longest coaster, featuring the world&#8217;s tallest vertical loop and seven inversions.<\/p>\n<p>Busch Gardens&#8217; $100m investment plan<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay named Jon Vigue as its <a href=\"https:\/\/blooloop.com\/busch-gardens-tampa-bay-president\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new park president<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The park has an extraordinary legacy of combining world-class thrills, inspiring animal experiences and <a href=\"https:\/\/blooloop.com\/busch-gardens-parks-drone-shows\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">immersive entertainment<\/a> unlike anywhere else,&#8221; Vigue said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I look forward to working alongside our passionate ambassadors as we continue building on that legacy, investing in the future and creating unforgettable experiences for guests and families across Tampa Bay and beyond.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Images courtesy of United Parks &amp; Resorts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has revealed plans to replace its 33-year-old Kumba coaster with the new Kumba&#8217;s Revenge&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[28,35165,2043,135,137,136,30362,30363,30364,62573,30361,1617],"class_list":["post-340700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-florida","tag-roller-coasters","tag-seaworld","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-theme-park-design","tag-theme-park-investment","tag-theme-park-management","tag-theme-park-rides","tag-themed-entertainment","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}