The shuttered wooden rollercoaster, Gwazi, at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is set to come back to life in a big way!
The park, as part of their 60th-anniversary celebration, officially announced that Rocky Mountain Construction will covert the coaster, which closed in 2015, to a wood-steel hybrid model which will shatter a few records.
According to the park’s press release, the yet unnamed coaster will feature “a maximum height of more than 200 feet tall [and] all-new thrill elements, as well as restored elements of Gwazi.”
When opened in 2020, the roller coaster will be the tallest hybrid coaster in North America and the fastest, steepest hybrid coaster in the world.
Roller coaster fans won’t have to wait long to ride a new coaster at Busch Gardens. The park is set to open the latest addition, Tigris, this spring. Once open, Tigris will be Florida’s tallest launch coaster and will take riders “through an exhilarating array of looping twists with forward and backward motion, breath-taking drops, a 150-foot skyward surge, and an inverted heartline roll, all at more than 60 miles per hour.”
Tigris is the same coaster in place at other SeaWorld owned parks including Tempesto at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the brand new Electric Eel at SeaWorld San Diego.