Busch Gardens Tampa's SandSerpent Is Closing Very Soon!

© Busch Gardens Tampa

This was announced a while ago so hopefully you heard the news and got in your last rides on SandSerpent at Busch Gardens Tampa, for it is closing for good on July 9th!  Yes, that's just two days away at this point.  The family oriented Wild Mouse style ride will become a part of the park's history, after having opened at Busch Gardens Tampa back in 2004.   That means the coaster will have gotten in just about 20 seasons of operations while in Florida.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

The coaster actually opened as Cheetah Chase but was renamed in 2011 when it got a new neighbor coaster - named Cheetah Hunt.  Only enough room for one Cheetah themed coaster on the block, indeed.  The ride was created by Mack and features a typical Wild Mouse layout.  It stands 46 feet tall and features 1,213 feet of track.  The ride came to Florida after an 8 year stay at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, where it was named Izzy (for the Olympics mascot) and then Wild Maus.  

© Google Maps

Busch Gardens Tampa has already confirmed they are working on a new attraction that will reside where SandSerpent is located now, but they're not saying much about what it will be.  The above aerial of the park shows that there is not much land to work with at the spot, so perhaps another family coaster or a family thrill ride of some sort?  Time, as always, will tell!

Busch Gardens Tampa Opens New Serengeti Flyer Swing Thrill Ride

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa has opened their new thrilling swing attraction, Serengeti Flyer.  One of S&S's Screamin' Swings, the ride is being billed as the "world's tallest and fastest ride of its kind."  Busch Entertainment has built several of these rides at different parks in the past 5 years, with each one coming in as just taller and faster than the previous instillation.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

In the case of Busch Gardens Tampa, the Serengeti Flyer will swing riders up to 135 feet in the sky at maximum reach.  The ride, which is located in a part of the park's 65 acre Serengeti Plain area, swings at a maximum speed of 68 miles per hour.  Riders are arranged in back to back rows of ten across two gondolas, allowing for a maximum of 40 riders to ride per cycle.

 

 

© Busch Gardens Tampa

"Thrills are in full swing at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay with yet another exciting record-setting ride for our guests to enjoy," said Neal Thurman, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. "As the world's tallest and fastest ride of its kind, Serengeti Flyer joins a world-class portfolio of attractions, offering breathtaking views of the park and a one-of-a-kind experience for all our guests."

Serengeti Flyer to Swing Into Busch Gardens Tampa in 2023

© Busch Gardens Tampa

While not much a surprise, mostly since the park has featured plenty of photos of the ride under construction on their socials, Busch Gardens Tampa has announced a new S&S Screamin' Swing named Serengeti Flyer as the theme park's newest ride.  The new attraction is slated to open in 2023 - though the park doesn't say eactly when.  The ride is mostly complete, so we could see an early opening with relative ease if the park wanted.

“Serengeti Flyer’s thrilling ride experience is bound to provide riders with a pulse-pounding encounter that can only be found at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay,” said Neal Thurman, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. “We believe that Serengeti Flyer will be the perfect high-thrill addition to our world-class portfolio of attractions including Iron Gwazi, the Golden Ticket Award Winner for the Best New Roller Coaster in 2022.”

 

© Busch Gardens Tampa

The ride is being billed as the world's tallest and fastest of its kind.  Serengeti Flyer will stand 105 feet tall, but swing riders up to 135 feet in the air.  At the maximum, the ride's arms will swing passengers at a blazing 68 miles per hour.  The two arms each feature a carriage with 10 seats on the front and back, so a total of 40 riders can go per cycle - and Serengeti Flyer has a family friendly 48 inch height requirement.  Riders will have an amazing view of the park's 65 acre Serengeti when on the attraction as it expands below them as they reach higher and higher.

Worth noting is that Serengeti Flyer's statistics which give it world records also match those of Tidal Surge at Sea World San Antonio, which opened this year.  So, the two rides will share the worlds tallest and fastest title, it seems.

Busch Gardens Tampa's Montu Gets a Bright New Look

© Baynum Painting

If you do not follow Baynum Painting on socials you're missing out on a lot of great updates on some of our favorite rides making dramatic transformations via new paint this year.  One of the latest to get a fresh new look is Busch Gardens Tampa's Montu, a mighty B&M inverted coaster that opened in 1996.  Up top is a before and after look at the ride that Baynum Painting shared with fans.

Montu has ditched it's old support color in favor of a bright new yellow look, while the track has stayed a dark blue color.  It's a bold choice, as Montu is one of the taller inverted coasters out there so there's plenty of yellow supports to now show off.  

© Baynum Painting

The painting of the ride is nearly complete, with most of the supports now sporting the yellow color and the track refreshed and looking brand new.  Baynum Painting has been refreshing rides and attractions, including water parks, for years now.  There's a really good chance some of your favorite rides have been repainted by the company, as evident in their extensive catalogue of work.

 

As for Montu, the ride looks like a brand new one once again - at least for a while until that Florida sun gets its way!

SeaWorld Entertainment Posts Opening Dates for Three Coasters

© SeaWorld Orlando

We've had to wait an extra year for some of SeaWorld Entertainment's largest new roller coasters, and finally we're near to the grand opening dates for these attractions.  In the last week three parks have announced when we get experience new coasters at their parks, let's take a look at each.

SeaWorld Orlando will open Ice Breaker to visitors on February 18th.  The Premier Rides designed multi-launch coaster will actually have riders before that date, as pass members will get an opportunity to check the coaster out as soon as January 30th.

The theme park also released a new point of view ride on the attraction, the first we've had since the ride started testing:

 

 

Also in Florida, Busch Gardens Tampa has announced that Iron Gwazi will premier to visitors on March 11th.  

© Busch Gardens Tampa

This is the Rocky Mountain Construction hybrid redesign of Iron Gwazi, and fans have been salivating about their first ride on the coaster for far too long now.  Standing 206 feet tall and featuring a 91 degree drop, Iron Gwazi's trains will soar along the steel track at 76 miles per hour.  Similar to with Ice Breaker, pass members will start to ride Iron Gwazi as soon as February 13th, depending on their pass tier.  That's a lovely Valentine present if I do say so.

 

© SeaWorld San Diego

Last but certainly not least, SeaWorld San Diego will open Emperor, their custom B&M dive coaster, to the public on March 12th.   To celebrate, the park release this cool infographic covering the ride's layout and features - which include three inversions and a 14 story vertical plunge.  If only all that cool ice surrounding the ride really existed!

The coaster will have a pass holder preview set up as well, though right now the dates aren't set but expected to take place in March.

SeaWorld Entertainment Announces 2022 Opening Dates for New Coasters

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Over the past week SeaWorld Entertainment has announced that they will open several large roller coasters at their parks in early 2022.  Each of the rides were originally intended to have opened by now, and were delayed due to the pandemic.  With the SeaWorld Entertainment parks doing quite well in 2021 even without these new mega-attractions, the company has opted to give the rides opening dates to make them each parks' 2022 star attractions.

Busch Gardens Tampa will open Iron Gwazi, billed as "North America’s tallest hybrid coaster and the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster in the world," in March of 2022.  The ride is a conversion of the former Gwazi wooden roller coasters, which closed for good in 2015.  The new ride stands an impressive 206 feet tall, and features 91 degree first drop that sends trains roaring across the 4,075 feet of track at a maximum speed of 76 miles per hour.  The coaster also features two inversions and 12 moments of air-time.

© SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando will open Ice Breaker, a Premier Rides LSM launch coaster, in February of 2022.  Ice Breaker features four launches in total, both forwards and backwards, to send trains up over an 80 foot tall top hat element.  While getting up to its 52 mile per hour maximum speed the trains will soar up a 93 foot tall, 100 degree Jr. Scorpion Tail spike element.  The rest of the ride's 1,900 foot long layout includes several twisting elements and hills designed to provide air time for passengers.

© SeaWorld San Diego

Last, but not least, SeaWorld San Diego will debut Emperor, a B&M dive roller coaster, in March of 2022.  The dive coaster is the "tallest, fastest and longest" dive coaster in California according to the park.  Emperor takes trains up to 153 feet then hangs them over the edge of the 143 foot, 90 degree drop for a moment before they free fall down at a top speed of 60 miles per hour.  Emperor's layout includes 3 inversions, an Immelmann, corkscrew and a barrel roll.  When complete, riders will have travelled 2,411 feet of twisting track while riding Emperor.

No official word yet on Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but I would assume a 2022 opening for that ride as well.

Busch Gardens Tampa Releases Iron Gwazi POV

© Busch Gardens Tampa

While we do not know an exact date that we can take a ride on Busch Gardens Tampa's new Iron Gwazi roller coaster, we now can take a virtual ride!  The theme park has released the highly anticipated point of view virtual ride on the monster coaster, which is North America's tallest, the world's fastest and the world's steepest hybrid roller coaster.

Iron Gwazi is the rebirth of the former dueling Gwazi wooden roller coasters.  The new ride stands 206 feet tall and features a 206 foot first drop at an amazing 91 degrees.  The trains hit a top speed of 76 miles per hour as they traverse 4,075 feet of track, encountering two inversions and some of the most devious elements that Rocky Mountain Construction has cooked up to date.

Iron Gwazi is scheduled to open at Busch Gardens Tampa Spring 2021, with more information coming as we get closer to that date.  For now, have fun on your virtual rides!

Busch Gardens Tampa Details Attractions for This Year's Howl-O-Scream

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa has added more details to their website for this year's Howl-O-Scream event, taking place from September 25th and running select nights through November 1st.  The event is one of the few large scale Halloween events that are still taking place this year, so it's nice to be able to see what the park will offer visitors.

They previously released that this year's Howl-O-Scream will not feature any indoor haunted houses, instead focusing more on scare zones, socially distanced live entertainment and an overall spooky atmosphere.  Limited attendance, only outdoor attractions and a focus on social distancing are key components of the event which has been designed with safety in mind.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

In total there will be 10 different Scare Zones and Haunted Trails, as the park is calling them.  As a special bonus, 4 of these attractions will be brand new.  These include The Junkyard, a trip through a scary "scrap site," The Escape, with menacing escaped penitentiary inmates, Lycan Landing, a campsite overrun with werewolves, and The Shortcut, a seeming easy pass through a cemetery that turns sinister.

These new experiences will join 6 returning favorites: Dia De Los Muertos, Hell on Wheels, Deadly Toys, Manic Midway, Little Nightmares and First Fear.  As previously announced, the super popular Fiends Show will move outdoors to a spacious area to allow plenty of distancing.  Visitors will also be able to check out Busch Gardens Tampa's thrill ride collection, getting in rides in the dark.

Howl-O-Scream will take place on 18 nights in total.  With limited capacity, the park urges those interested in visiting to make reservations as soon as possible in order to select their date.

Busch Gardens Tampa to Scare Up a Modified Version of Howl-O-Scream this Fall

© Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens Tampa has announced that they will hold their annual Halloween event, Howl-O-Scream, this year running the event on certain nights from September 25th to November 1st.  The park is making it quite clear up front that this year's event will be a "modified production" and "will be unlike any other, including significantly enhanced safety and health measures at the core of the event."

 

Many parks have already cancelled their annual Halloween events in light of COVID-19 concerns, and Busch Gardens Tampa is stressing that their event will be safe and respect all current health and safety guidelines.

The event will feature only "open-air scare zones," no haunted houses, along with entertainment all with strictly limited capacity and reservations required.  Howl-O-Scream will run 18 nights this year, still as a separately ticked event, each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

© Busch Gardens Tampa

The park is only advertising the popular Fiends show right now and has no details up on scare zones.  The Fiends show will be moved to the expansive outdoor Festival Field Stage, with socially distanced seating for guests.

Browsing the frequently asked questions page, we can also see that the park plans to only offer "physically distant" scares this year, so no ghouls will be in your face.  Busch Gardens Tampa will also have employees making sure that face mask wearing is taking place properly.  As for the scare actors, they will indeed be wearing face coverings.

This is the first large theme park Halloween event we've seen moving forward so far, though it appears that the Six Flags parks that are operating will be holding some version of their event.

SeaWorld Entertainment Showing Signs of Delaying 2020 Rides Until 2021

© SeaWorld Entertainment

We haven't had a good confirmation yet from most of the SeaWorld Entertainment parks about whether or not they would still be opening their new-for-2020 rides this year, or pushing them back until 2021.  This is of course with the exception of the Texas Stingray at SeaWorld San Antonio, which has already opened.

Some recent developments have me thinking they are looking to open the new rides (most of which are roller coasters) next year.

Social media has been buzzing the last couple days with news of a multitude of liens being placed on the company, many of which are coming out of Florida.  The liens are being placed by contractors and other vendors that have done work for the company but not been paid for it, some have even escalated into lawsuits against SeaWorld.

The Orlando Sentinel has published a story on the liens, which they report total $16 million in Orange County, Florida alone.   They include Rocky Mountain Construction still being owed $3.5 million for Iron Gwazi, and Premier Rides owed $2.7 million for Ice Breaker.  Out in California they have been sued for non-payment of work done for SeaWorld San Diego's new Emperor dive coaster.  I have not heard of any recent news related to Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, though I've also not seen any parks in Virginia be allowed to reopen or even set a date to reopen.

© SeaWorld Orlando

It sounds like although SeaWorld Entertainment technically has the funds to pay these bills, they're holding off until the parks open and they start to generate revenue again.  At least they try to politely say that in the Sentinel story.  However, that's a hard financial crush on all the vendors who still have to make ends meet and employ good people regardless - hopefully the company makes this right, and soon.

But the point of all that is that the parks that have reopened, like SeaWorld Orlando, are not showing any progress on these new for 2020 rides and if the vendors aren't being paid you can be sure they're not showing up to help, either.

As such it feels like the rides that were supposed to all be open by now very well may be new for 2021 rides, or at the least open much later in this year.  While all the new rides are exciting to have at the parks, that would probably sadly include Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa, easily one of the most anticipated new coasters of the year.

Honestly, the delay makes sense.  With attendance levels still capped for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19, it makes no sense to open a ride that is built to draw in tons and tons of visitors.  There's really no bang for the park's buck in that sense... however it doesn't justify not paying the companies who helped create it.

Busch Gardens Tampa to Open June 11th

© Busch Gardens Tampa

After receiving approval from the state over this weekend, Busch Gardens Tampa has been cleared to reopen on June 11th.  That will come after a preview day for employees on June 10th, which is similar to what SeaWorld Orlando is planning.

Fingers crossed that Iron Gwazi will be able to open soon!  We know the park was testing it before the pandemic closure, so construction of the ride was very far along.  There were also some billboards put up right as the park closed advertising that the ride was open, so obviously we were really, really close to seeing that coaster open to guests.

The park got its final approval over this weekend so the park's website hasn't really been updated yet, so we will have to wait for more information on Iron Gwazi.  It's certainly one of the most anticipated new coasters of 2020, advertised as the North America's tallest and the world's fastest and steeped hybrid roller coaster.

As for changes to the park, it appears as though at least initially all SeaWorld Entertainment parks will have the same COVID-19 practices in place.  That means Busch Gardens Tampa will be the same as SeaWorld Orlando, more information on their plans can be found here.

Iron Gwazi Has Started Testing at Busch Gardens Tampa

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Praise the roller coaster gods!  Iron Gwazi, one of the most anticipated new for 2020 roller coasters, has started testing at Busch Gardens Tampa.

As expected, the trains on this Rocky Mountain Construction creation are absolutely flying through the course, powered by a 91 degree, 206 foot tall drop that pushes trains at 76 miles per hour.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

It was just a few days ago that the theme park shared news that the ride's final pieces of purple track were installed.  The last pieces appear to have been at the base of the towering first drop, which allowed construction vehicles to access the interior of the ride's layout.

The park has been working on the ride's station, transfer and brake programming for some time now, so they were ready to go when the course was complete.  Just yesterday the ride started running, and thankfully the park shared video below!

No opening date has been announced yet (outside of "spring"), but it shouldn't be long until we hear more on that topic.

Busch Gardens Tampa Shows Off Impressive Iron Gwazi Progress

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Towering 206 feet over Busch Gardens Tampa, Iron Gwazi is a site to be seen... literally probably from miles around the theme park.  The track instillation is getting close to the final stages, and to celebrate the park is starting to show off more of the ride - but we're still missing an official point of view animation!

Regardless, the image up top showing the ride's massive layout and towering features comes from this video, which you should definitely check out if you haven't already.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Not long ago the park started to add the Iron Gwazi trains to the track, aren't they good looking?  I love the color choices that the park has gone with for the coaster.  Anyone who's been on an RMC coaster before knows just how needed those lap restraints are once riders encounter all those forces!

These two photos are really just a taste of what the park showed off today, however.  They held a tour of the ride, which included the entrance, queue and station plus a ton of new details about the experience.  There's several great stories out there featuring pics from today, one of which can be found here over at Expedition Theme Park.

Busch Gardens Tampa Tops Off Iron Gwazi With Dizzying New Photo

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa has topped off Iron Gwazi's 206 foot tall lift hill, and to mark the occasion released the above photo capturing the moment the purple track was placed.  The ride is the tallest Rocky Mountain Construction coaster in North America, and one of the most highly anticipated new rides of the 2020 season.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

With the apex in place fans of the park are able to see just how stunningly tall the ride looks as it towers over the park.  The ride uses a steel lift hill that doesn't require an awful lot of supports, making the first drop look even more precarious.  The ride's 206 foot first drop is 91 degrees, yes one degree beyond vertical, and the trains will be propelled to 76 miles per hour as a result of it.

Midway Mayhem has shared some additional photos of the ride with the lift hill being completed.  Check them out below!

BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY IRON GWAZI CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 11.27.19

📹:https://t.co/F8YKXRt8Ld

The skyline for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will never be the same again as Rocky Mountain Construction crews have partially topped out the lift hill for Iron Gwazi! pic.twitter.com/l4U71KawAt

— Midway Mayhem (@Midway_Mayhem) November 28, 2019

Busch Gardens Tampa is using Rocky Mountain Construction to make the old new again with Iron Gwazi!

Here are a few construction photos from the Christmas Town opening night on 11/16/2019.

                                                                                 

                 

Below is the unedited version of the press release from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 

Iron Gwazi™ – Opening Spring 2020

A new legend is surfacing in 2020 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay with the evolution of Iron Gwazi™, North America’s tallest hybrid coaster and the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster in the world. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, Iron Gwazi will be 206 feet tall, feature a 91-degree drop, and reach top speeds of 76 miles per hour. The journey will include 3 inversions and 12 airtime moments as it races along more than 4,075 feet of purple steel track. With a 48” height requirement, Iron Gwazi will be an exciting thrill attraction that families can take on together.

While elements of the former wooden attraction will be integrated into the new ride, the steel track and re-imagined layout of Iron Gwazi present an entirely unique experience that tells a different story. Iron Gwazi will highlight the best of both worlds — the classic nostalgia of a wooden coaster and the bold innovation of a steel coaster. Thriving and adapting over millions of years, this evolutionary crossroad is perfectly represented in the crocodile, the largest living reptile and the animal inspiration for Iron Gwai

Iron Gwazi Fast Facts

Opening Date: Spring 2020

Maximum Height: 206 feet

Maximum Speed: 76 mph

Drop Angle: 91 degrees

Track Length Traveled: 4,075 feet

Number of Trains: two

Number of Riders per Train: 24

Minimum Rider Height: 48 inches

Ride Elements: 12 airtime features, including three inversions

Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction

And here are a couple photos of  the awesome front car of the Iron Gwazi Train

More Track for Iron Gwazi Installed Including Crazy New Turn

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa has installed a ton of new track since formally announcing Iron Gwazi a few weeks ago, and all of it is looking amazing. The park hasn't been sharing much of the construction on their socials, sadly, but Midway Mayhem has got everyone's back.

Check out this tweet from their latest update:

BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY IRON GWAZI / GENERAL PARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 10.2.19

📹: https://t.co/cb6p7Gchsr
📸: https://t.co/W5yTWyfFxj

OH. MY. GWAZI.....things are getting interesting at @BuschGardens Tampa Bay for their new 2020 roller coaster Iron Gwazi! pic.twitter.com/e3oSjCqmcD

— Midway Mayhem (@Midway_Mayhem) October 3, 2019

That's a lot of new purple track installed in a short time!  We've seen the giant turnaround that's immediately following the first drop going up in previous photos, but now most of the inversion that follows it is in place.  Trains will climb up that highly banked hill only to roll downward in the opposite direction, it's going to be a heck of an element.

Also new is that extremely overbanked turn that is the second element.  Some of Midway Mayhem's photos show just how banked the track is at the top of that turn, and in my book it's definitely an inversion on its own.  I don't think the park is counting it as one, but riders will be more upside down than right side up at the top!

Here is the full update from Midway Mayhem, make sure to follow their socials for more updates as construction continues!

Record Breaking Iron Gwazi Roars Into Busch Gardens Tampa in 2020

Today was the big reveal for Busch Gardens Tampa's new for 2020 Rocky Mountain Construction hybrid conversion of the dueling Gwazi wooden roller coasters... which will now be a single track ride named Iron Gwazi.

The coaster will be North America's tallest hybrid coaster, and the world's fastest and steepest hybrid coaster.  The statistics that allow Iron Gwazi to hold that record include a first hill of 206 feet tall, a top speed of 76 miles per hour, and a first drop at a harrowing 91 degrees, one degree steeper than vertical.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Iron Gwazi will be themed around the mighty crocodile, with amazing looking lead cars that feature the face of one of the largest living reptiles on the planet.  Elements of the former wooden Gwazi roller coasters will be used in Iron Gwazi, but all new purple steel track will allow for twisted elements that the former ride could not dream of.  Iron Gwazi's track will feature three separate inversions and 12 airtime hills spread among 4,075 feet of track.

“Iron Gwazi is the evolution of a classic wooden coaster into a modern icon,” said Stewart Clark, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. “From the bones of the original Gwazi, a new legend rises, reaching taller heights and faster speeds, delivering the next-level thrills that our coaster fans crave and expect from Busch Gardens.”

This teaser video for Iron Gwazi was released along with today's announcement, and while it doesn't give a full view of the layout it does show many of the elements previously discovered.  We've already seen a large descending barrel roll and a stall element, with one more inversion hiding in the layout as well.  I'm sure it won't be long before the park releases a full look at what Iron Gwazi will offer.

No doubt, coaster fans will want to make Busch Gardens Tampa one of their stops once the ride opens in 2020!

Busch Gardens Tampa Gives New Peek at 2020 RMC Hybrid Coaster

© Busch Gardens Tampa

There are so many exciting projects going on in North America for 2020, one of which is the massive Rocky Mountain Construction conversion of Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa.  The theme park has revealed that they are indeed transforming the dueling coasters into one record breaking hybrid ride, but haven't shared all the details just yet.

Previously the park released only one image of the ride, showing a massive first drop and a sharp uphill climb that morphs into a downhill barrel roll.  And some "ests," the tallest, fastest and steepest hybrid roller coaster in North America.

Thankfully, on the recent National Roller Coaster Day, the park released a fun teaser clip on social media.  North East Coasters put it on YouTube, check it out:

There are some great point of view animation clips mixed into the "est" titles at the start, one of this shows the view from the top of the lift with a lot of the layout below.  The later clip shows a very large stall element before it ends.

There's still so much more to know about the Gwazi transformation, and the clip does promise that they will tell us soon.  Can't wait!

Take on Tigris at Busch Gardens Tampa Starting April 19th

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Tigris, Florida tallest launched roller coaster, will officially premier at Busch Gardens Tampa on April 19th, the theme park has announced.

The coaster has been seen lately with test riders on it, leading to speculation that the ride will open soon, and it turns out it will!  The park will be able to offer visitors a thrilling new ride well before the summer season, which is a huge benefit for them.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Tigris features multiple launches that take the trains up to 150 feet above the park at a maximum speed of more than 60 miles per hour.  A sure highlight of the ride experience is a slow heartline roll that fully inverts riders at the maximum height of 15 stories above the park.

To announce the grand opening date of Tigris, Busch Gardens Tampa released a new promotional video showing the coaster in action.  Check it out below and happy riding!

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