Negative-G - Busch Gardens Tampa 2013 Page Seventeen

Busch Gardens Tampa
Tampa, Florida
January 28 2013
Page Seventeen

It's time for SCORPION!!!

The Scorpion Rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Tampa, Tampa, Florida

This is the first looping coaster I fell head over heels in love with back in 1981 when I was nine years old. No back then I was not the racing coaster nut. They fascinated me especially after getting to crawl all over and under one of the cars for the Chicago Loop from the long gone Old Chicago Theme Park and Shopping Center. Whenever I saw one I couldn't keep my eyes off of it but the out of control aspect of a coaster just scared me beyond belief. Being forced on several didn't help matters any but when we visited Florida back then I gave Big Thunder Mountain at The Magic Kingdom a try because "it was on the ground" and I loved it. So when we visited Busch Gardens my step-father asked if I wanted to ride Scorpion and for whatever reason I agreed.

Both of us sat up front and I held on tightly. Half the way down the first drop the urge took me to put my arms in the air and that's where they stayed through Scorpion's loop and all the way around until we got back in the station. The whole ride was such a relief from all of the anxiety and panic that filled my troubled childhood. Back at the station Rick grinned at me and asked "Again?" and I didn't need to answer as he saw the grin on my face so we ran around and got on the next train. We did that four or five times laughing, grinning and riding with our arms in the air the whole time.

Rick and I butted heads more than a few times during my adolescence. Things happened that shouldn't have happened. For quite a bit of it we didn't get along but for those rides I felt like what I am to him...a son. Sometimes a Dad isn't who made you it's who wanted you.

Moments like this are one of the many reasons why I love coasters and amusement parks. They are more than just thrill rides or a business they are memories and they are moments that define us.

The Scorpion Rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Tampa, Tampa, Florida

While Scorpion was an important coaster for me...it was an important coaster for Bond as this was his 200th coaster.

The Scorpion Rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Tampa, Tampa, Florida

So why Scorpion for his 200th? Well it was the first looping coaster that I fell in love with AND it's a masterpiece designed by the master himself...Anton Schwarzkopf!

The Scorpion Rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Tampa, Tampa, Florida

Schwarzkopf was a significantly better coaster designer than businessman otherwise his creations would have filled parks all around the world in the 1970's and 1980's.