Why did Gwazi close, only to rise again? Gwazi Park at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has a story as twisty as its namesake roller coaster. Gwazi Park is where the thrilling Iron Gwazi stands today, but it wasn’t always steel and fury. The park originally housed Gwazi, a wooden dueling coaster named after a mythical creature – part lion, part tiger, all turmoil. Opening in 1999, Gwazi boasted two tracks, Lion and Tiger, each a 3,508-foot odyssey reaching 51 mph. The dueling aspect offered the illusion of a near-collision, a thrilling spectacle. But wood, unlike steel, is a fickle beast. Maintenance became a constant battle. The Tiger side succumbed in 2012. Then, in 2015, with dwindling ridership and mounting costs, the Lion fell silent too. Gwazi Park became a graveyard of wooden memories. But the story doesn’t end there. From the ashes of Gwazi, Iron Gwazi was forged. In 2019, Rocky Mountain Construction took on the challenge, transforming the wooden skeleton into a steel behemoth. Iron Gwazi retained the Gwazi name, but this time, it’s a crocodile theme. Educational elements about these powerful reptiles are woven throughout the queue. And the ride? 206 feet tall, a 91-degree drop, and a top speed of 76 mph. The tallest, fastest, and steepest hybrid coaster in North America. Gwazi Park transformed from a wooden coaster graveyard to a steel colossus’s domain.
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to