Park section Morocco Opening date June 18, 1999 Type Wood – Dueling Capacity 2,880 Material Wooden | Status Closed Closing date February 1, 2015 Park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Cost 10 million USD Inversion 0 | |
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Manufacturer Great Coasters International Similar Kumba, Montu, SheiKra, Cheetah Hunt, Sand Serpent | ||
Gwazi roller coaster front seat pov on ride new gci trains busch gardens tampa fl
Gwazi was a dueling wooden roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa in Tampa, Florida. The name Gwazi originates from a fabled creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a lion. Accordingly, the two sides are named "Lion" and "Tiger". Often, the two tracks are called "yellow" and "blue", (yellow being the primary color of the Lion trains and blue being the primary color of the Tiger trains). It included almost 7,016 feet of combined track and reached speeds of 51 miles per hour. Both tracks have similar but nonidentical track layouts.
Contents
Gwazi tiger front seat on ride hd pov busch gardens tampa
History
Construction on Gwazi began sometime after the closure of the Busch Brewery which closed in 1995. Gwazi opened soon after on June 18, 1999 as Florida's first dueling wooden roller coaster constructed by Great Coasters International (GCI) and operated with Philadelphia Toboggan Company's (PTC) trains starting with six of them. At the time, the Dueling Dragons inverted coasters (currently known as Dragon Challenge), at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure, and Gwazi, at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, were the only dueling coasters in Florida just opening a month apart.
Due to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) designed trains and other aspects, which have been known to deliver considerably rough rides on Great Coasters International (GCI) designed wooden coasters, Gwazi was well known for giving rough ride experiences to park visitors which was a constant problem plaguing the ride since the park first opened Gwazi. At the beginning of the 2010 season, Gwazi was spotted with what appeared to be Millennium Flyer trains on the track, with water dummies on board. In 2011, the rides original "old" Philadelphia Toboggan Company's (PTC) trains were subsequently (yet rapidly and discretely) removed and replaced with Great Coasters International's (GCI) Millennium Flyer trains in efforts to try and improve what little smoothness Gwazi had, and to try and fix the ride from its notorious roughness.
At the end of the summer season during 2012, the Tiger side of Gwazi closed due to budget constraints. Soon after the closing of the Tiger side, a bridge was built across the Tiger sides loading platform, and one of the Tiger's trains was relocated onto the Lion sides track. Later, Busch Gardens confirmed that Gwazi would officially close on February 1, 2015 due to low ride attendance and guest feedback. After 15 years of operation, the attraction's last train was dispatched around 6:00 PM (EST) and Gwazi closed permanently February 1, 2015. Busch Gardens still has yet to confirm on what (if any) will go in the place of Gwazi, and as of its current closure, the wooden roller coaster remains closed with the slightest possible announcement of what's to come for the ride's future only being rumors.
Incidents
In 2006, a 52-year-old Palm Springs, Florida resident collapsed and died hours after riding Gwazi. It was determined that the ride (which was functioning properly) had aggravated an existing condition of high blood pressure.
Records
Gwazi holds the record for most fly-bys on a dueling roller coaster, with six. A fly-by is where the two roller coasters pass each other in opposite directions at high speeds, giving the psychological impression that the two will collide. At the time, Gwazi was the largest and fastest double wooden roller coaster in the Southeastern United States.
Awards
Gwazi has received numerous placements from Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards and Mitch Hawkers Best Roller Coaster Poll being in the top 50 wooden roller coasters from both lists.