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Iron Gwazi

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Iron Gwazi
Previously known as Gwazi (1999–2015)
Iron Gwazi (11).jpg
An overview of Iron Gwazi
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
LocationBusch Gardens Tampa Bay
Park sectionMorocco
Coordinates28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°W / 28.03389; -82.42306Coordinates: 28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°W / 28.03389; -82.42306
StatusOperating
Soft opening dateFebruary 13, 2022 (2022-02-13)
Opening dateMarch 11, 2022 (2022-03-11)
ReplacedGwazi
General statistics
TypeSteel – Hybrid
ManufacturerRocky Mountain Construction
DesignerAlan Schilke
ModelI-Box Track
Track layoutTwister
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height206 ft (63 m)
Drop206 ft (63 m)
Length4,075 ft (1,242 m)
Speed76 mph (122 km/h)
Inversions2
Duration1:50
Max vertical angle91°
Trains2 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 24 riders per train.
Quick Queue available
Iron Gwazi at RCDB

Iron Gwazi (formerly Gwazi) is a steel-track hybrid roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, a theme park in Tampa, Florida. The ride was originally named Gwazi and was built as a wooden dueling roller coaster with two separate tracks; it opened to the public on June 18, 1999. Gwazi was constructed by Great Coasters International (GCI), and was named after a fabulous creature with a tiger's head and a lion's body. The two sides of the ride's wooden track were named Lion and Tiger. The 3,508-foot (1,069 m)-long roller coasters reached a height of 105.4 feet (32.1 m), and had a maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h). Following rising maintenance costs and declining ridership, Gwazi was indefinitely closed in 2015.

In 2019, plans to refurbish the ride into a steel-tracked roller coaster called Iron Gwazi were announced. Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) was hired to retrofit the existing layout with I-Box track using a portion of Gwazi's original structure. The refurbished ride was marketed as the tallest, steepest, and fastest hybrid roller coaster in North America. The new ride was originally intended to open in 2020 but its opening was delayed several times. Iron Gwazi soft-opened to passholder members on February 13, 2022, and opened to the general public on March 11, 2022. Iron Gwazi reaches a height of 206 feet (63 m), and has a maximum speed of 76 mph (122 km/h) and a length of 4,075 feet (1,242 m).

History

Development

In October 1995, Anheuser-Busch announced the closure of its brewery in Tampa.[1][2] The brewery closed in December that year and was demolished,[3] freeing up land in the middle of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.[1][2] The idea of building a wooden roller coaster rather than a steel one was chosen because of a growing preference for antiquated attractions.[4] The park used the selection to differentiate itself from other Florida theme parks that use modern ride technology.[4]

Mark Rose, then vice-president of the park's planning and design, chose the builder for the wooden roller coaster after he toured several amusement parks[4][5] over 17 days. Rose informally selected five roller coasters, seeking a prospective designer for a new Busch Gardens attraction. Rose selected Great Coasters International (GCI) for the project based on Wildcat, GCI's coaster at Hersheypark. Busch Entertainment (since renamed SeaWorld Entertainment) officials confirmed the choice and signed a contract with GCI.[4][6] The new roller coaster's name was conceived with the assistance of Washington University in St. Louis.[4]

In early June 1998, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay was considering an on-site expansion for a resort to rival other Florida amusement parks, and a projected $10 million attraction that was scheduled for a 1999 opening.[7][8] On June 16, 1998, Busch Entertainment, the owner of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, filed a trademark for the name "Gwazi" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[9] Groundbreaking began on July 15, 1998,[10] and Busch Gardens announced Gwazi the same day.[11][12] The dueling roller coasters were announced as the park's fifth roller coaster, each track being themed as a lion and a tiger.[13][14] It was also announced GCI would be building the roller coaster.[10][15] Photographs of the construction of the roller coaster's several hills were published in The Tampa Tribune in November 1998.[16] Gwazi was reported to have been re-designed "several times" over the months of construction.[6] By late April 1999, Gwazi was near completion[17] and test runs began in late May that year.[5]

Operation

To promote the opening of Gwazi, park officials sold "first ride" tickets for a preview event, which was held on June 17, 1999; 3,500 tickets of 5,700 were sold to pass-holders. Around 500 guests from American Coaster Enthusiasts were in attendance.[18][19] Construction of the roller coaster's theming and the removal of excess wood were still being completed during the preview event.[19] Gwazi opened on June 18, 1999, as Florida's first dueling wooden roller coaster.[20] It opened one month after another Florida dueling roller coaster Dueling Dragons at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure.[21][22] Gwazi was the first wooden roller coaster to open at any Busch Entertainment park.[10][23]

Pictured is the original Gwazi entrance from the plaza area with the adjacent lion lift hill in 2006
A view of the original Gwazi's entrance and lion lift hill in 2006

Despite continued maintenance, Gwazi developed a reputation for delivering a rough ride.[21][24] The lion side of the roller coaster was re-tracked in 2009, as was the tiger side in 2010.[25] The last part of the overhaul included the installation of four GCI-designed Millennium Flyer trains to replace the roller coaster's original Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) trains.[25][26][27] Even with the re-tracking and new trains, Gwazi remained difficult to maintain and ridership continued to decrease.[24] At the end of the 2012 season, the tiger side of Gwazi closed and soon after, a bridge was built across its loading platform and one of the its trains was relocated to the lion track.[21][28]

In December 2014, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay confirmed Gwazi's lion track would close due to low ride attendance, operating costs, and negative guest feedback.[29][30] After 15 years of operation, the roller coaster's last train was dispatched on February 1, 2015, and Gwazi indefinitely closed.[21][31] Gwazi's trains were reused on other rides at other SeaWorld park locations including InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Texas Stingray at SeaWorld San Antonio.[32][33] Wooden planks from Gwazi were reused within Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and at other SeaWorld Entertainment Parks including SeaWorld Orlando.[34]

Refurbishment and relaunch

At the time of Gwazi's closure, Mark Rose, now the vice-president of park services for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, stated there was no decision for the site but possible replacement attractions were being considered.[35] A park spokesperson said Busch Gardens engineers were proposing ideas to add new elements, manufacture steel parts, or completely demolish the structure.[36] Within three years of the closure, rumors about a remodeled roller coaster, a new attraction, or an amphitheater replacing the Gwazi structure circulated.[37]

During a conference held on September 12, 2018, for the announcement of the park's ninth roller coaster, park officials stated future construction plans involving Gwazi were planned for 2020.[38][39] On the same day, SeaWorld Entertainment filed a trademark for the name "Iron Gwazi".[40] In December 2018, updated construction applications sent to the city of Tampa listed Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) as the ride manufacturer of an upcoming attraction in the Gwazi area.[41][42] On-site preparations and construction started in late 2018 for an attraction that was code-named "BGT 2020". A crane was visible from the site in January 2019.[43] The park said more information about a new attraction was to be announced in March 2019 after the completion of track work for Tigris.[44][45]

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced Gwazi would be replaced with a hybrid roller coaster conversion by RMC on March 1, 2019. The new ride was promoted as the steepest, fastest, and tallest hybrid roller coaster in North America.[46][47][48] Permits uncovered in March 2019 reported the new roller coaster would be around 210 feet (64 m) tall.[49] Placement of the roller coaster's track began on August 10, 2019.[50] On September 12, 2019, the park announced its newly refurbished roller coaster would be called "Iron Gwazi".[51][52] Iron Gwazi was stated to be 206 ft (63 m) tall with a 91-degree drop and speeds of up to 76 mph (122 km/h).[53] During the 2019 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Exposition on November 19, 2019, RMC revealed the trains for Iron Gwazi.[54][55]

Iron Gwazi as pictured in July 2020 under construction, the façade of the main queue building from the entrance plaza can be seen. The lift hill is on the right with a construction crane on the left
Iron Gwazi under construction in July 2020

Local media were given a tour of the site on January 30, 2020, to detail the progress of site construction.[56][57][58] Track work for Iron Gwazi was completed on March 8, 2020,[59] and testing began a day later.[60][61] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the initial opening date was missed and construction was halted at the testing phase on March 16, 2020.[62] RMC filed a lien against SeaWorld in May 2020 for $3.5 million out of $9 million the company says it was still owed for work on Iron Gwazi, delaying further construction.[63] In SeaWorld Entertainment's preliminary second-quarter reports, as a response to the pandemic, all attractions scheduled to open in 2020 were postponed until the following year.[64][65] In September 2020, the park updated its website to reflect a new anticipated opening date for Spring 2021.[66] In November 2020, the park released a point-of-view shot of Iron Gwazi.[67][68]

On August 23, 2021, Busch Gardens announced a new opening date of March 2022 for Iron Gwazi, postponing the launch a second time.[69] On January 20, 2022, the park announced Iron Gwazi would open on March 11 that year.[70][71] On February 9, 2022, the park hosted a media day for Iron Gwazi.[72][73] A soft-opening for passholder members began on February 13, 2022,[74] and the ride opened to the general public on March 11 that year.[75][76]

Characteristics

Wooden roller coaster

Gwazi as captured from the park's transportation Skyride with the full layout
A view of the original Gwazi from the Skyride in 2006

Gwazi's footprint covered eight acres (3.2 ha) of land the Busch Brewery once occupied.[10][14] Gwazi was Great Coasters International (GCI)'s third project.[77] The individual wooden tracks were 3,508 ft (1,069 m) long[28][78] and the maximum height of each side was 105.4 ft (32.1 m).[28] When it was first constructed, Gwazi used 1,250,000 board feet (2,900 m3) of treated southern yellow pine, two million bolts, and 4.4 million nails for the tracks that consisted of 20-foot (6.1 m)-long, 2-by-12-foot (0.61 by 3.66 m) planks in eight layers.[5][79] The structure of Gwazi was said to withstand winds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) without riders.[5]

Gwazi was originally supplied with six-car PTC trains that were arranged with two seats across in two rows, accommodating twenty-four riders per train.[28] According to designer Mike Boodley, brand-new GCI Millennium Flyer trains were offered but Busch Gardens was unwilling to risk using an unproven train design.[25] Following the 2011 season, Busch Gardens replaced the PTC trains with Millennium Flyer trains.[25][28] The four GCI trains had twelve cars with a single row of two seats across, accommodating twenty-four riders per train.[28] Both PTC trains and the Millennium Flyer trains had a lap-bar restraint system.[5]

Gwazi's trains were commonly known as Lion and Tiger. Lion trains were mainly yellow and Tiger trains were mostly blue.[21][28] Gwazi was themed around the struggle between territorial wildcats; the African lion and the tiger. The plaza surrounding the area was similarly themed for each cat; the Lion side included a desert-like atmosphere and the Tiger side had landscaping and streams.[10][23][28]

Steel roller coaster

A view of Iron Gwazi's various support structure and track from a footpath in 2022
A view of Iron Gwazi from a footpath in 2022

Iron Gwazi was built on the land Gwazi occupied.[80] Iron Gwazi occupies the same station that once housed both Gwazi tracks.[81] Iron Gwazi was designed, manufactured, and constructed by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC).[82] Alan Schilke designed RMC's I-Box track.[24][53] Andrew Schaffer, the director of design and engineering for the park, stated; "about 25% of the original wooden structure has been re-utilized, and 75% of the foundations".[80] An additional 375,000 board feet (880 m3) of lumber was added to support the structure.[83] Rather than reusing the wooden structure of its predecessor, Iron Gwazi's lift hill was constructed using steel.[84] The steel track reaches a total length of 4,075 feet (1,242 m).[53]

The roller coaster's theme is the crocodile; other attractions at the park have similar animal theming.[80][85] The queue area has educational elements about the species and their conservation, and includes reptile-themed graphics and paint throughout the area.[80][86] Iron Gwazi operates with two RMC trains, each of which has six cars. Each car is arranged with two seats across in two rows, accommodating up to twenty-four riders per train.[53][87] Each car uses a lap-bar restraint.[88] The lead car is themed as the head of a crocodile; its trains are green, purple, and blue; and the track has a purple color scheme.[80][89]

Ride experience

Gwazi

The ride experience of both the Lion and Tiger sides of Gwazi followed similar paths to those of other dueling roller coasters. Gwazi was promoted as the first dueling roller coaster with six fly-bys,[90][91] in which the two roller coasters pass each other in opposite directions at high speeds, giving the impression they will collide.[21] Gwazi was also promoted as the largest-and-fastest dueling wooden roller coaster in the southeastern United States.[92] One cycle of each ride took around two-and-a-half minutes to complete.[28]

Lion

The lift hill of the lion track as it ascends 105.4 ft (32.1 m) and turns to the right towards the 91.8 ft (28.0 m) drop
Lift hill of the Lion track

After leaving the station, the train moved forward before dipping into a right-handed U-turn to pass the other train. The train slightly climbed to the left then ascended the 105.4 ft (32.1 m) lift hill. Once at the top, the train entered a pre-drop and turned right before descending the 91.8 ft (28.0 m) drop and reaching its maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h) near the bottom. The train slightly banked right before ascending into a left-banked turn through the lift hill of the tiger side, exiting downward, and entering a right-banked turnaround. The train then banked up into a left turn before traversing downward into the outer region of the layout, making multiple, slight-banked right turns. Afterward, the train entered a series of hills parallel to the opposite train, passing by the station before banking to the left into a downward spiral. The train descended before rising into a slight right turn, transitioning into a left turn and into the brake run. Completing the course, the train then turned right and then a slightly left before entering the station.[6][28][93]

Tiger

Departing from the station, the train traversed forward into a slight right turn before dipping into a U-turn to the left to pass the other train. The train slightly climbed to the left before ascending the 105.4 ft (32.1 m) lift hill. Once at the top, the train entered a pre-drop turning to the left before descending the 91.8 ft (28.0 m) drop and reaching its maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h) near the bottom. The train slightly banked right before ascending into a banked right turn and into a drop. Continuing the banked angle, the train then climbed before dipping down and then climbing into a left-banked turn. The train made a series of curves before turning towards the outer region of the layout in multiple slight banked left turns. The train then entered a series of hills, running parallel to the opposite train passing by the station and entering a right-banked downward spiral. The train descended slightly before ascending into a slight banked left turn, transitioning to a right turn and into the brake run. Completing the course, the train then makes a left turn and then a slight right before entering the station.[6][28][94]

Iron Gwazi

The lift hill of Iron Gwazi with various parts of the layout imaged
Lift hill of Iron Gwazi track

After leaving the station, the train takes a left turn before dipping under the queue line, and then takes another left turn to climb the 206 ft (63 m) lift hill. Once it climbs the hill, the train goes down the 91 degree drop and reaches its maximum speed of 76 mph (122 km/h) near the bottom of the 206 ft (63 m) drop. It then climbs up another hill and makes an over-banked left turn before another descending left turn. Afterwards, the train makes a banked right turn leading into a downward barrel roll, and then takes an over-banked left turn. It then continues into a series of banked turns. The train then passes through a zero-g stall before climbing a small hill, then takes a long right turn. It finally makes one final left-banked turn before hitting the brake run. Upon completion, the train makes a left turn passing the car barn, and one final right turn before entering the station.[53][87][95] One cycle of the roller coaster takes about two minutes.[53]

Comparison

Statistics Gwazi[28] Iron Gwazi[53]
Years 1999–2012 (Tiger)
1999–2015 (Lion) 		2022–present
Manufacturer Great Coasters International Rocky Mountain Construction
Designer Mike Boodley Alan Schilke
Track Wood Steel
Height 105.4 ft or 32.1 m 206 ft or 63 m
Drop 91.8 ft or 28.0 m 206 ft or 63 m
Length 3,508 ft or 1,069 m 4,075 ft or 1,242 m
Speed 51 mph or 82 km/h 76 mph or 122 km/h
Duration 2:30 1:50
Inversions 0 2
Max vertical angle — 91.0°
Trains PTC (1999–2011) GCI (2011–2015) Rocky Mountain Construction

Incidents

Main article: Incidents at SeaWorld parks

In 2006, a 52-year-old Palm Harbor, Florida, resident collapsed and shortly died after riding Gwazi and being rushed to a local hospital. It was determined that the roller coaster (which was functioning properly) had aggravated an existing condition of high blood pressure.[96][97]

In 2022, a guest riding Iron Gwazi during the roller coaster's preview hit their hand on a beam prompting Busch Gardens to remove two unspecified beams. The guest refused medical treatment after reporting the incident.[74][98]

Reception and legacy

Gwazi received generally positive reviews upon its debut. In a St. Petersburg Times report, guests reaction to the roller coaster was positive with many taking into account its twists and turns, air time, and smoothness.[99] A writer for The Tampa Tribune, Levin Walker, similarly noted that among guests the roller coaster was praised for its speed and initial drop, with some commenting upon the partial rattle accustomed to wooden roller coasters.[100] An editor for Park World, Paul Ruben, stated that Gwazi had "everything a good coaster should have," and adding "it never slows down" which makes it a "good coaster".[99]

The opening of the Gwazi in 1999 coincided with several other major roller coasters debuting in the Florida-theme park market, including that of Dueling Dragons and The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios.[101][102][103] Likewise, Gwazi was one of several wooden roller coasters that opened in North America during a resurging interests in older-styled attractions.[104] Dueling Dragons and Gwazi were mentioned comparatively because of their similar dueling aspect.[105][106][107]

Iron Gwazi received initial positive reviews from critics upon its debut. A writer for the Tampa Bay Times, Sharon Kennedy Wynne, described the new roller coaster as "glass-smooth" while noting its numerous air time moments.[88] A writer for the Orlando Sentinel, Dewayne Bevil, remarked about the steel roller coaster's anticipation and sustained pacing.[89] American Coaster Enthusiasts members praised the roller coaster's speedy maneuvers, smoothness, and its ability to be re-ridden.[88] A writer from Theme Park Insider, Bobbie Butterfield, commented that from any seat, "Iron Gwazi is a winner".[87] Butterfield further praised the signature "barrel roll drop" and later air time moments.[87]

Awards

Prior to its closure, Gwazi had received several placements from Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. In its debut year, Iron Gwazi received the Best New Roller Coaster distinction by the Golden Ticket Awards.[108]

Golden Ticket Awards: Top wood Roller Coasters
Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2010
Ranking 34 (tie)[109] 44 (tie)[110] 38[111] 43 (tie)[112] 46[113] 40 (tie)[114] 46[115]
Golden Ticket Awards: Top steel Roller Coasters
Year 2022
Ranking 4[116]

See also

References

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External links

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