Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[Stu K]

<

 

--Robb>>

 

Sure it will be a Holly crap in my pants moment on your POV!

 

Stu K

[SharkTums]

FYI - Remember, this may not be all on Intamin. There are lots of factors with this new ride.

[cfc]

Just got an update from Busch Gardens about Falcon's Fury:

 

Busch Gardens’ new thrill ride Falcon’s Fury includes first-of-its kind design elements, systems and parts. Due to a delay in the fabrication of key component parts, neither the manufacturer nor Busch Gardens are able to complete the lengthy testing processes needed to open the ride to the public. The safety of our guests and team members remains Busch Gardens’ top priority and none of these delays involve safety systems. The ride has been safely operated in the initial stages of the testing process, and all other elements of the park’s newest re-imagined land Pantopia are now open to guests. Busch Gardens will provide updates on the ride opening as events warrant. We are committed to delivering world-class thrills and the best possible ride experience, and we look forward to the launch of Falcon’s Fury, North America’s tallest freestanding drop tower, later this summer.

 

I realize this is disappointing for some because they really want the ride to be open, and trust me, no one wants the ride open more than Busch Gardens! But when you're building a ride that's never been done before, things can just take a bit more time. Personally, I'd rather them take the extra time to get everything working correctly and have it 100% ready for guests than rush to get it open and fall short of the initial expectations.

 

I'm sure the end result will be worth the wait!

 

--Robb

 

Exactly. And at least you're not waiting for them to open Mach Tower.

 

I'm looking forward to riding Falcon's Fury.

[Her0ofLime]

So, i' going to Busch Gardens in late June/early July, and i've been wondering, exactly how bad is Gwazi?

[SharkTums]

Bad.

[coastercoaster5]

Well considering that my phone was frozen before going on Gwazi, and Gwazi shook it up enough to fix it, so there you go. It was ROUGH.

[Cyrbuzz]

Gwazi rough? Try riding on a vehicle with square wheels on a pot hole laden road with gravel. Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

[cwgator]

Of all the coasters I've ever ridden (not that my count is anywhere near many on this site...lol); it is the LAST coaster I would willingly ride again. I would rather marathon an SLC or Togo Standup for 12 hours than endure another ride on Gwazi. It was great for a short time after adding the MF trains. Now it's worse than it was before they added them.

 

Don't let what I said detour you from riding. It may be your one and only chance to ride it since it may not be around much longer. I'd say get the credit....lol

[rcjp]

Well considering that my phone was frozen before going on Gwazi, and Gwazi shook it up enough to fix it, so there you go. It was ROUGH.

Well, at least that means it isn't completely useless

[glouthan]

Wow! Could there be some other uses for rough coasters?

[coastercoaster5]

^Yep. Keeps some crowd off the other BETTER rides!

[Comeagain?]

Charge glowsticks?

 

Activate those ice packs that you shake?

[Woodie Warrior]

A nice back and butt massage. Now you don't have to pay for one of those vibrating barrels that parks seem to have all over the place!

[SteveStL]

So what happened to Gwazi, how/why did it become such a train wreck? Is it just Florida's hot and humid weather conditions??

[jedimaster1227]

^The PTC trains were not designed to navigate the tracks' twisted turns, causing them rip up the track.

[cfc]

^But the Millennium Flyer trains didn't help, either.

[SharkTums]

^From what I understand and heard, putting the MF trains on an already ripped up, beat up ride could never help and Busch didn't want to spend the money on more than some simple retracking.

[Spideyfreak]

^Exactly. Look at Wildcat at Hershey. Still a POS.

[CPmillenia94]

^False

[rcjp]

^Nope. Very true.

[cal1br3tto]

^Exactly. Look at Wildcat at Hershey. Still a POS.

^False

^Nope. Very true.

I vote for splitting the difference and simply calling it "debatable."

 

As for Gwazi, I didn't hate it, nor find it completely airtime-less, but I won't cry when it's gone. Once was enough.

[cfc]

^From what I understand and heard, putting the MF trains on an already ripped up, beat up ride could never help and Busch didn't want to spend the money on more than some simple retracking.

 

Yeah, that would be like driving a Cadillac on a bumpy mountain road, then being surprised when all the tires blowout and the shocks give way.

[aCoasterStory]

^From what I understand and heard, putting the MF trains on an already ripped up, beat up ride could never help and Busch didn't want to spend the money on more than some simple retracking.

 

I will say, none of the GCI's I've ridden that have gone from PTC trains to MF's have been at all pleasant, but ROAR at SFA is actually running halfway decent this year with the PTC trains because of extensive retracking through the first couple of drops.

 

 

What sucks is that a great dueling wooden coaster is actually a perfect fit for the park and that specific location...the only problem is that they didn't use the MF trains (yet the SFDK ROAR that opened earlier in the same year *did* have the MF trains).

 

 

I see 4 options for BGT with Gwazi:

 

1) complete wood retrack (highly unlikely, IMHO, particularly due to the extensive continual maintenance required)

2) complete topper track retrack (the more practical option, which would likely result in an actually fun ride)

3) Iron Horse treatment (a dueling Iron Horse would be really cool)

4) tear it all down & build something completely from scratch (what they would do, I don't know, but they can't build another woodie right there w/o the GP thinking it was still Gwazi, even though that's what the park's coaster lineup would really be lacking)

[DoinItForTheFame]

3) Iron Horse treatment (a dueling Iron Horse would be really cool)

I vote this option! I would LOVE to see Gwazi made into a dueling Iron Horse coaster!!! Imagine the possibilities....

[cwgator]

Tear it Down!!!!!! Create something new. A nice new woodie would be nice....but I'd rather have a hyper or giga. Tampa is just really a harsh place for a wooden coaster to keep up to par; especially since it's a year-round park. Perhaps if they use steel supports maybe?