Credit: Photo via SeaWorld

Credit: Photo via SeaWorld
This morning, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and SeaWorld Orlando released new details on three rides coming to the Central Florida theme parks in 2020.

Busch Gardens announced that the re-imagined Gwazi coaster will now be called “Iron Gwazi,” and will be “the fastest, and steepest hybrid coaster in the world.” The coaster will be slightly shorter than its predecessor, at 206-feet tall, and reach top speeds of 76 miles per hour over a journey along 4,075 feet of purple steel track. The ride will feature a 91-degree drop, three inversions and 12 airtime hills, says the park. 

“Iron Gwazi is the evolution of a classic wooden coaster into a modern icon,” said Stewart Clark, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in the statement. “From the bones of the original Gwazi, a new legend rises, reaching taller heights and faster speeds, delivering the next-level thrills that our coaster fans crave and expect from Busch Gardens.”

Across the street, a new water ride is also coming to Adventure Island. The new family raft slide, “Solar Vortex,” will be “America’s first dual-tailspin water slide,” says the company. Manufactured by Whitewater, the new ride combines “high-banking rotations and rapid descents, sending sliders on a swirling journey through two open tailspin features,” as well as “three dynamic AquaLucent™ elements.” These elements, the company says, will “harness the power of the Florida sun into colorful patterns that shine through the slide as riders reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour.” 

SeaWorld Orlando also released some deets on their new upcoming coaster, “Ice Breaker,” which will be the area’s first launch coaster. “Named after the icy Arctic summits, Ice Breaker will feature four launches, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida — a 93-foot tall spike with 100-degree angle,” said SeaWorld. As the name suggests, the ride is themed after icy Arctic summits, and will be located near the park’s Wild Arctic Attraction.

No exact opening date was given for any of the new rides other than they hope to debut sometime next year.

Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.

This article appears in Sep 12-19, 2019.

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent...