Gwazi

Gwazi
A view of Gwazi's entrance and the Lion lift hill.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Park section	Morocco
Coordinates	28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°W / 28.03389; -82.42306Coordinates: 28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°W / 28.03389; -82.42306
Status	Operating (Lion) Closed (Tiger)
Opening date	June 18, 1999
Cost	$10,000,000 USD
General Statistics
Type	Wood – Dueling
Manufacturer	Great Coasters International
Lift/launch system	Chainlift
	Tiger (Blue)	Lion (Yellow)
Height	105.89 ft (32.3 m)	105.89 ft (32.3 m)
Drop	91.57 ft (27.9 m)	91.57 ft (27.9 m)
Length	3,508 ft (1,069.2 m)	3,508 ft (1,069.2 m)
Speed	51 mph (82.1 km/h)	51 mph (82.1 km/h)
Inversions	0	0
Duration	2:30	2:30
Max vertical angle	50°	50°
G-force	3.5	3.5
Capacity	2880 riders per hour
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Quick Queue available
Gwazi at RCDB Pictures of Gwazi at RCDB

Gwazi is a dueling wooden roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida. The name Gwazi originates from a fabled creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a lion. Accordingly, the two sides are named "Lion" and "Tiger". Often, the two tracks are called "yellow" and "blue", (yellow being the primary color of the Lion trains, blue being the primary color of the Tiger trains). It includes almost 7,016 feet of combined track and reaches speeds of 51 m.p.h. Both tracks have similar but nonidentical track layouts.

The roller coaster opened in 1999, a few months after Florida's only other dueling roller coaster, the Dueling Dragons at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure. Gwazi holds the record for most fly-bys on a dueling roller coaster, with six. A fly-by is where the two roller coasters pass each other in opposite directions at high speeds, giving the psychological impression that the two will collide. It is the largest and fastest double wooden roller coaster in the Southeastern U.S.

Due to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company designed trains, which have been known to deliver rough rides on GCI designed coasters, Gwazi was previously known for giving rough (and at some points, painful) rides, similar to ROAR! at Six Flags America. At the beginning of the 2010 season, Gwazi was spotted with what appeared to be Millennium Flyer trains on the track, with water dummies on board. Starting in 2011, the ride has run with the new cars, which were designed to greatly decrease the roughness of the ride.^[1]

In 2006, a 52-year-old Palm Springs resident collapsed and died shortly after riding Gwazi. It was determined that the ride (which was functioning properly) had aggravated an existing condition of high blood pressure. See Incidents at SeaWorld parks for more info.

At the end of the 2012 Summer season, the Tiger side of Gwazi closed for budget purposes.^[2] As of April 11, 2013, Gwazi Tiger is still closed,and that there is speculation that the trains of Gwazi will be sent to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for a possible new attraction and that Gwazi is expected to close within the next couple of years to make way for a new coaster opening in 2015 or 2016, according to a park employee.^[3]

A view of Gwazi from the Skyride. Only the Lion side is operating in this photo.

Awards

Full Roller Coaster

Tiger

Lion

References