New Details Emerge for Busch Gardens Tampa's Massive 2020 Rocky Mountain Coaster

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Last night Busch Gardens Tampa held their 60th Anniversary Celebration Kickoff, and it included some new details and a brief preview of their new for 2020 roller coaster.  There is still a lot being kept secret about the coaster, but we do know that it will be breaking records, and the concept image released by the park (up top) makes it look pretty massive.

Here is the teaser that the park released:

Over the last 60 years, we’ve made a LOT of history... & we’re not done yet. This spring, Tigris will debut as Florida’s tallest launch coaster. In 2020, Busch Gardens will be home to North America’s tallest hybrid, & the fastest, steepest hybrid coaster in the world. #2020Rising pic.twitter.com/MWfMQpEh9Q

— Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (@BuschGardens) March 1, 2019

As the tweet says, the Rocky Mountain Construction conversion of Gwazi into a new steel-track ride will be "North America's tallest hybrid, and the fastest, steepest hybrid coaster in the world."  From the wording used by the park and the concept art, it appears as though the new ride will use one track, not two like Gwazi did. 

Currently North America's tallest hybrid ride is Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point, which reaches 205 feet in the air.  That means that the Gwazi transformation (using #2020Rising on social media since a name has not been revealed yet) will have to stand at least 206 feet tall.  The park's release only confirms that their new ride will feature "a maximum height of more than 200 feet tall."

The title of steepest hybrid will require moving beyond Steel Vengeance's 90 degrees, meaning Busch Gardens Tampa's ride will technically go beyond vertical.  Finally, being the fastest will also have to beat Steel Vengeance's 74 mile per hour top speed.

No other real details have been released yet, but we can tell the ride has at least one inversion from the concept art.  The park says that the coaster will "feature all-new thrill elements, as well as restored elements of Gwazi."

Naturally the park will release more on the coaster as the opening draws closer - plus with crews already working on removing Gwazi track we'll be able to see the ride come to life in the coming months.

New Details Emerge for Busch Gardens Tampa's Massive 2020 Rockly Mountain Coaster