Gwazi (roller coaster)
| Gwazi | |||
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A view of Gwazi's entrance and the Lion lift hill.
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| Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | |||
| Park section | Morocco | ||
| Coordinates | 28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°WCoordinates: 28°02′02″N 82°25′23″W / 28.03389°N 82.42306°W | ||
| Status | Closed | ||
| Opening date | June 18, 1999 | ||
| Cost | $10,000,000 | ||
| General Statistics | |||
| Type | Wood – Dueling | ||
| Manufacturer | Great Coasters International | ||
| Track layout | Wood | ||
| Lift/launch system | Chain Lift | ||
| Tiger (Blue) | Lion (Yellow) | ||
| Height | 105.4 ft (32.1 m) | 105.4 ft (32.1 m) | |
| Drop | 91.8 ft (28.0 m) | 91.8 ft (28.0 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) | ||
| Trains | 4 trains with 12 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 24 riders per train. | ||
 Quick Queue available |
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Gwazi at RCDB Pictures of Gwazi at RCDB |
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Gwazi was a wooden dueling roller coaster located at the Busch Gardens amusement park in Tampa, 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 of the roller coaster's track are named "Lion" and "Tiger". Often, the two tracks are called "yellow" and "blue", with yellow being the primary color of the Lion trains and blue being the primary color of the Tiger trains. The ride, which reaches a maximum speed of 51 miles per hour (82 kilometres per hour), utilizes over 7,000 feet (2,100 m) of track when taking both sides into account. Though both sides are similar, they are not completely identical.
Construction on Gwazi began sometime after the closure of the Busch Brewery which closed in 1995. Gwazi opened soon after on June 18, 1999 as Florida's first dueling wooden roller coaster constructed by Great Coasters International (GCI) and operated with Philadelphia Toboggan Company's (PTC) trains starting with six of them. At the time, the Dueling Dragons inverted coasters (currently known as Dragon Challenge), at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure, and Gwazi, at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, were the only dueling coasters in Florida just opening a month apart.
Due to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company designed trains and other aspects, which have been known to deliver considerably rough rides on Great Coasters International designed wooden coasters, Gwazi was well known for giving rough ride experiences to park visitors which was a constant problem plaguing the ride since the park first opened Gwazi.
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. In 2011, the ride's original "old" Philadelphia Toboggan Company's trains were subsequently removed and replaced with Great Coasters International's Millennium Flyer trains in efforts to try and improve what little smoothness Gwazi had, and to try and fix the ride from its notorious roughness.
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