Look forward to a new thrill-ride over at Busch Gardens – due to join the exciting line-up of coasters and rides in Spring 2021.

We don’t have an exact date yet, but Busch Gardens have announced that the new hybrid roller coaster being developed by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is opening on the site in the Morocco area of the park next year!

A wood and steel construction, the new coaster, which will be called Iron Gwazi, is set to soar a dizzying 200ft (61m) into the air – making it North America’s tallest hybrid coaster, not to mention the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster in the world when it opens!

Who remembers Gwazi at Busch Gardens?

Promising plenty of thrills, the new ride is under construction on the site of the former Gwazi attraction. The original roller coaster, which opened back in 1999, and closed to riders in 2015, was a duelling coaster – where two roller coasters whizz past each other as in a duel, giving the impression to the thrill-seeking riders that they would collide! Although the duelling nature of the coaster has been removed, restored elements of the original ride have been incorporated into the new coaster.

When it opens it will join the most recent roller coaster addition to the park, to tempt thrill seekers to Tampa – Tigris! This only opened in April this year, and is the latest extreme ride in the area. The tallest launch coaster in Florida, you loop around at more than 60mph, with both forward and backward motion not to mention a 150ft (46m) upwards surge and inverted heartline roll.

There are plenty of other coasters at Busch Gardens – small children will love the coaster in the Sesame Street Safari of Fun area, the kid-friendly Air Grover – headed up by Sesame Street favourite Grover! SandSerpent in Pantopia offers a family-friendly curving and corkscrewing roller coaster which climbs five storeys high, while the looping Scorpion is bound to get your pulse racing! Scorpion is one of only three coasters of its kind left in the world, so take the opportunity to get in a spin on its 360-degree loop! There’s a bite to Cobra’s Curse – Florida’s first spinning roller coaster, which lifts you up to face a terrifying giant cobra, before you set off on a three and a half minute spin around the tracks at 40mph – featuring both backward and forward motion!

If these aren’t pulse-racing enough for you – more extreme thrills await as you board Cheetah Hunt – a triple-launch coaster which is the longest ride in Busch Gardens. Zoom high above the park, before hurtling down through a rocky gorge! Continuing the big cat theme, Kumba – which is named after the distant sound of a lion’s roar, features an initial 135ft (41m) drop, plunging the riders into a diving loop and a 360-degree spiral. You’ll feel three seconds of weightlessness as you spin round!

Your heart will be left in your mouth on SheiKra, as you climb 200ft (61m) in the air, then after an agonising crawl forwards to build the tension, are tipped 90 degrees to face straight down! You’ll then wait for the plunge to come, before you dive at 70mph down into a loop and a second drop hurls you into an underground tunnel. Montu is the final roller coaster on the Busch Gardens list – and it is by no the means least! Popular amongst coaster enthusiasts, Montu boasts seven inversions, including the heart-shaped ‘Batwing’ element that turns riders upside down twice! Montu was also the first coaster in the world to make use of the now-popular Immelmann loops – a loop and roll at the same time.

As you can see, the new coaster will be among thrilling company – not to mention the host of other rides and attractions that you will find around Busch Gardens, including plenty of opportunities to see the park’s animal population! If you are a roller-coaster fanatic, you might be interested in the Quick Queue Unlimited add-on – which gives you front of the line access to all of the most popular rides, excluding Tigris, though for an extra fee you can add a one-time queue jump onto the ticket as well. Prices vary depending on the date of your visit, so check online or ring us for more information!

We’ll let you know all of the information we learn about Iron Gwazi when we hear it! For all the latest updates on the new coaster’s progress, keep an eye on our social media channels.

Are you excited to see the new ride in action? What’s your favourite ride or part of Busch Gardens? We love hearing from you, so drop us a line!