Kumba closes August 2 — get your last rides in

A goodbye guide from someone who's been riding it since the '90s

Busch Gardens Tampa's Kumba runs its last rides on August 2, 2026, and then one of the most important coasters ever built goes quiet for good. If it's ever been on your family's list — or if you have a kid who just cleared 54 inches — you have days, not months.

Why this one matters

Kumba opened in 1993, one of the earliest coasters from Bolliger & Mabillard, and it's a big reason every steel coaster since sounds and rides the way it does. Seven inversions, 143 feet, 60 miles an hour, and that roar — the deep growl you can hear across the park, so distinctive that coaster fans call it out everywhere B&M track shows up. Thirty-plus years on, it still ranks with the best in the state: it carries a 90 curator grade in our dataset, top-five at a park with far newer hardware. Losing it is losing a piece of coaster history you can still actually ride.

The practical part: riding it before it's gone

• Go on a weekday, and go straight there at opening. Closing announcements pull enthusiasts from everywhere, and the line will only grow as August 2 approaches. Everything in our beat-the-crowds guide applies double for a farewell tour.
• The height gate is 54" — firm, measured at the entrance, no exceptions on the last day of all days. Measure at home first (our height-check tool tells you who clears it).
• Ride it more than once. Front row for the view and the roar; back row for the airtime through the loop. You will not get another chance to compare.
• Check the day's crowd level before you pick. The Rideable app shows a predicted crowd level for every Busch Gardens date and flags closing rides like Kumba with a last-chance banner, so the plan makes itself.

If part of your crew is under 54"

Busch Gardens is unusually good for split families: while the tall half queues for Kumba, the Congo area around it has river rapids at 42" and a full kids' zone within a few minutes' walk. Our Busch Gardens Tampa family guide lists every ride at the park with its verified height requirement, so you can plan both halves of the hour.

Log the goodbye

However you track your rides, count this one. In the app, everyone in the family gets a Kumba credit on their permanent ride log — after August 2, those logs are the receipts that say we were there.