originally posted on 3/4/2022 1:39:00 AM
Photo: Courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. View full-sized image.
Iron Gwazi is the newest thrilling roller coaster to open at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (Florida). After patiently waiting for this anticipated ride, thrill seekers and ACE members can enjoy a ride on this wild beast starting March 11. Iron Gwazi will take the park’s coaster count into double digits, as it is the 10th roller coaster currently in operation. It replaces and reuses some of the structure used for the original Gwazi roller coaster, which opened in 1999. It is now themed to an American crocodile.
Photo: Hunter Dez. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
The original Gwazi opened as the first dueling wooden coaster in 1999. Gwazi was a mythical beast of a mixed lion and tiger, created by the park in collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis. The dueling aspect of the ride shut down in 2012 with the closure of the tiger side owing to continual complaints of roughness. Even after the park attempted to retrack the coaster and install updated Millennium Flyer trains from Great Coasters International, Inc., the outcome wasn’t an acceptable solution. On February 1, 2015, the final train was dispatched, and the original Gwazi closed for good. There was no activity in the area for years with only rumors of what would replace such an iconic ride.
In 2018, the park announced plans to install Tigris, a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model coaster, and also hinted that something was coming to the site of Gwazi for 2020. That same day, the park trademarked the name “Iron Gwazi,” and construction plans were submitted to the City of Tampa that listed Rocky Mountain Construction as the ride manufacturer. In March of 2019, the official announcement labeled Iron Gwazi as a new record-breaking hybrid roller coaster that would reuse some of the original Gwazi structure but be its own unique beast. It was also confirmed that Iron Gwazi would not be a dueling roller coaster; instead, it focused on height and speed records. Little did anyone know that it would be almost three years before this new coaster would take on riders.
Photo: Jeremy Silver. View full-sized image.
The twisted elements have been praised for their smoothness and wild action.
Photo: Michael Christopher. View full-sized image.
Construction began shortly after the completion of Tigris and a media tour of the construction site was provided in January 2020. During the construction tour, ACE met with Andrew Schaffer, director of design and engineering for SeaWorld Parks, who confirmed that only about 40 percent of Gwazi’s, original structure would be reused, which included the original station building. Not counting the station, he estimated that less than a quarter of the original wooden track support structure would be reused to support the new steel IBox track. Construction was completed in March 2020, and the ride started testing for only a week. Busch Gardens was then forced to close for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the park reopened, there was no sign of any work or testing being done throughout the rest of 2020.
Photos: Brandon Anderson. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Sporadic testing restarted in 2021, and the park announced an “anticipated 2021” opening. Throughout the entire year, coaster fans and park enthusiasts eagerly awaited an official opening date. In August 2021, the park pushed the opening date even further but narrowed the opening to a specific month, March 2022. In January, the official opening date of March 11 was announced, with passholder previews starting February 11. A multiday media preview event was held on February 9 and 10 with many lucky ACE members assisting with filling trains on both days.
Iron Gwazi is the steepest of its genre in the world.
Photo: Courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. View full-sized image.
Iron Gwazi attracts attention with its purple IBox track and a bright green train with hints of blue and purple. The first car of the train is shaped like a crocodile’s head, showing bright and pointy teeth and menacing yellow eyes. Riders load on the original Gwazi’s lion side of the station. Dispatched trains turn left and slowly drop under the queue into the chain lift. At 206 feet high, Iron Gwazi holds the record for the tallest roller coaster in Florida and the tallest hybrid coaster in North America. The chain lift slows to a crawl over the crest of the hill to build up suspense of the drop, then riders experience a 91-degree plunge, the steepest and first beyond-vertical drop of any hybrid coaster. Iron Gwazi then roars through multiple elements of intense outer- and overbanked turns, leading to great floater and ejector airtime moments. The second element is what Busch Gardens proclaims the “death roll,” a 540-degree spiral with the train hauling toward the ground and through the lift hill. The rest of the ride includes a zero-G stall and a sideways camelback airtime hill over the back of the station. The speed of the ride is consistently maintained, and the airtime moments continue to the end.
Photo: Courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jeremy Silver. View full-sized image.
“The whole ride is nonstop!” says Kalin Profitt, a member from the ACE Florida region. “The elements are taken at such a fast pace that it all feels like one fierce flow. You slam into the final brakes unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.” For coaster enthusiasts, any seat on the train will give them a great ride, but Profitt’s favorite seat is either side of the back row.
Chris Kraftchick, regional director for ACE, agrees about the speed. “The unrelenting speed that never gives up makes for a truly fantastic experience,” he emphasized. His favorite element is the 540-degree “death roll” that “sneaks up on you and really takes you for a spin.”
Photo: David Fake. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jeremy Silver. View full-sized image.
While the original Gwazi was notable, Iron Gwazi is a proper upgrade that acknowledges the old legacy and introduces a new one. ACE will host the 2022 Spring Conference in Florida, which will include Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and SeaWorld Orlando on May 6-8. Attendees can expect two massive ERT sessions on Iron Gwazi, along with many other roller coasters throughout the event. ACE looks forward to having its members experience this new Florida attraction. It will be a ride you can sink your teeth into!
— Michael Christopher, ACE Florida Regional Representative
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
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