Busch Gardens, after two year-delay, opens latest thrill ride

TAMPA — Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has opened, at long last, its highly anticipated Iron Gwazi rollercoaster.

The park made the ride available to annual pass-holders, members of the media and other VIPs in mid-February, with a grand opening for all guests scheduled for March 11 — approximately two years after it had been scheduled to debut. The pandemic shut down theme parks for much of 2020, and although SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Busch Gardens’ Orlando-based parent company, had said Iron Gwazi would open in November 2021, that date came and went with no new coaster, leaving fans in the dark.

Industry news website Coaster101.com rated Iron Gwazi, which is a “hybrid” coaster made of both wood and metal, the most anticipated rollercoaster of 2022. Built by Rocky Mountain Construction on the footprint of the original Gwazi ride, which ceased operations in 2015, Iron Gwazi is being hyped as the steepest and fastest hybrid coaster in the world and the tallest in North America. It climbs to a height of 206 feet and, starting with a 91-degree first stop, reaches speeds of up to 76 mph over more than 4,000 feet of track, with three inversions and 12 “airtime” moments.

"Iron Gwazi has been highly anticipated by roller coaster enthusiasts around the world since we first announced this new legend,” Busch Gardens Tampa Bay President Neal Thurman states in a press release. “Due to the unprecedented challenges over the last two years, Iron Gwazi was delayed, and we recognize the delay has disappointed our fans. We appreciate the patience our guests have shown.”

While the design of the original Gwazi coaster incorporated a lion and tiger theme, Iron Gwazi adopts the crocodile as its mascot, and Busch Gardens says the revamped ride’s high-speed whiplash effect is meant to be reminiscent of the brutal “death roll” that crocs use to tear their prey to pieces.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (NYSE: SEA) is banking on Iron Gwazi to help make up for significant declines in attendance and revenues in 2020. The company's sales plunged from $1.4 billion in 2019 to $431.78 million in 2020, and attendance cratered across its parks, from 6.6 million to 1.6 million, as the pandemic decimated the tourism and hospitality industry.