[Rumor] Half of Gwazi headed for Williamsburg?

[hyyyper]

I'm at the park today eating lunch as I type this. When I was at Gwazi earlier I asked an employee why one track of Gwazi was barricaded at the station and their is a platform ontop of the track for fast pass riders for the only operable track. They said that it's being dissassembled and shipped to Williamsburg. Possible situation, there are rumors of a drop tower for Tampa. The one track might be assembled behind verbolten in the place of drachen fire.
Looking for more information.

Did you talk to the Dipping Dots person? If so this must be true. I don't know though, it just seems too convenient to be real. Who knows though, that'd be neat to see.

So, BGT would pay to have this ride removed from the park, shipped to BGW, and assembled there?

I like these ideas more:

1. Tear down Gwazi altogether and put something better in.
2. Give that ride the RMCG treatment!

Removing one side of a dueling coaster will make for a terribly boring experience.

It didn't make much sense to me but the ride attendent I asked said Lion (or Tiger) is being dissassembled and shipped to Williamsburg. To add to the rumor, I could only find one yellow train and one blue train on the premises. Bormally they have two of each. I don't really like this ride so I'm not very pleased about this.

I heard on "InTheLoop" a few weeks ago that they have taken the trains off the Tiger side of Gwazi. They may be doing work on the Lion trains so they are using a spare Tiger train for now. I agree with rcking though in that I believe the ride is on its way out. I dont think they like wooden coasters at "Sea World Parks and Entertainment" because they require more upkeep long term and Gwazi has been damaged by the PTC it used to use. Possibly damaged beyond repair for what they would do, or be able to do, to fix it.

yeah, pretty sure it would be cheaper to just build a new GCI in williamsburg.... Head of PR at Dollywood told us that they were originally considering buying the Zippin Pippin, but decided it was much cheaper to get a new woodie instead.

I have to agree with you, Tetsu. Although, I don't think that the extra maintenance is the entire issue. BGT is in league with Universal, whose biggest competition is Disney. While Universal, SW, and BG get more of the thrill seeker crowd, that's not the entire audience they want to reach. In order to compete with Disney, they need to draw more families. It's not like they don't draw enough families already, it's just that their image is slowly becoming more and more "family friendly". This means a wooden coaster like Gwazi is on it's way out because it can be better appreciated elsewhere. Instead of selling such an iconic ride, they're probably moving it to maintain their investment. I think BGW is looking to draw more thrill seekers than families, in regards to local competition.

They wouldn't sell it. Why would anyone buy an outdated GCI when they can buy a brand new GCI for the same price?

Dismantling the dueling half would suck, but I hope to god they don't move that dueling half to Williamsburg. It'd be such a waste of money because you'd have a (literally) half-assed ride that is kinda meh and doesn't fit at all with more maintenance. A new GCI would be ace, though I don't think Busch wants to try GCI again because Gwazi didn't turn out all that great.

But a new GCI behind Verbolten would be fantastic. Honestly a GCI *instead* of Verbolten would have been way more amazing and have targeted the "family + thrill seekers" demographic in one swoop.

I mean now that I'm going off topic and thinking about it, I'm really sad BGW didn't go with that route. A forest terrain woodie with that kind of finale? (And hitting the target demographic?) It would have been the new Big Bad Wolf for sure. I just don't care for Verbolten - it really looks lackluster IMO.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't Griffon in Drachen Fire's spot?

On another note, just don't do this. All said the exact point I was going to say...

[Mikey]

It would seem quite cost prohibitive for this to be true. For the cost to move a ride that size, disassembling it with out affecting the structures next to it, not to mention a few segments which have shared load baring features. You could certainly build a new ride for that.

Decommissioning it, could be. I hope that the new owners of the Busch parks aren't getting advice from Six Flags who is principally responsible for cheapening the industry as a whole.

The trains didn't even duel to begin with, so it's not a big deal. I whole-heartedly agree that an RMCG makeover for this ride, or a complete demolition and replacement, is in order. They were two of my favorite rides, and somehow the new trains made the experience less exciting for me. Whatever happens, I doubt they'd send a track this old to the sister park. But it's their choice... the Busch company isn't really known for tossing around material.

The ride did duel for a good while when it opened. Now, it's just pathetic. Even when the trains depart at the same time, the chain lifts are at different speeds... It's so stupid.

[coolbeans326]

Glad I got the credit is all I can say.

-edit-
I actually have more to add.

http://www.screamscape.com/html/busch_gardens_tampa.htm

Screamscape has no clue what's going on, but whether or not they remove one side, I think it can be pretty safe to say that they will not be sending the other half to BGW. And I'll tell you why for 3 reasons.

#1. Geography of the park is not flat. In fact it is very hilly. Especially in the area by verbolten. They would have to completely redesign the supports anyways.

#2. As others have said, it would just be TOO expensive to try and save the ride to be rebuilt elsewhere and not really worth the investment. They would get more out of having GCI build something completely brand new with more improved methods of construction that would preserve the coaster's experience for a significantly longer timer.

#3. No rumors on screamscape's BGW page about any new additions in the form of a coaster.

The end.

Originally posted by coasterdave

Correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't Griffon in Drachen Fire's spot?

On another note, just don't do this. All said the exact point I was going to say...

Griffon is on the opposite side of the park. So no.

Originally posted by Mikey

I hope that the new owners of the Busch parks aren't getting advice from Six Flags who is principally responsible for cheapening the industry as a whole.

Criticisms about SF make me smile because it makes me feel not quite alone.

As much as I love gwazi, this just not gonna happen. I would rather they built a new gci anyways.

[AyTrane]

New, Old, or New-Old?

[Coasterkidmwm]

Wow a used GCI. That would be even worse than a new one.

I don't think they should build a GCI, and whoever made the comment about the SeaWorld - Busch Gardens company not liking wood, LOL- spot on, spot on. I wonder if they ever will get another one.

If they maintenance is the only reason for not having wood coasters I would say RMC is a possibility though because of their low expected maintenance costs

[Coasterkidmwm]

I don't see how rides with like half a dozen trains and half a dozen launches are cheap to maintain.

Personally I always figured that they went for what was relatively high tech at the time and what looks flashy.

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

I don't see how rides with like half a dozen trains and half a dozen launches are cheap to maintain.

Personally I always figured that they went for what was relatively high tech at the time and what looks flashy.

I have to agree here, the parks to have their minor degree record breaking coasters. I hope something happens to BGW though, as Verbolten was a big disapointment, it did draw the family crowd though but they're loosing the thrill seekers. I hope the rumor is not true, but they could use a thrilling coaster back where Deachen Fire was.

Originally posted by Yaminub

I have to agree here, the parks to have their minor degree record breaking coasters. I hope something happens to BGW though, as Verbolten was a big disapointment, it did draw the family crowd though but they're loosing the thrill seekers. I hope the rumor is not true, but they could use a thrilling coaster back where Deachen Fire was.

So Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, and Alpengeist are not enough for thrill seekers?

I mean, sure SheiKra and Montu top Griffon and Alpengeist respectively, but they're still big thrill rides!

I think he meant something more like Verbolten specifically did not attract thrill seekers, but this statement isn't really a valid one to make. BGW has paid nothing but attention to the thrill seekers for awhile and if they're going to lean more towards 'family oriented' for one ride, Verbolten really shouldn't be that disappointing of a choice.