Gwazi Will Close Forever on February 1st

[Paradox]

Screamscape has confirmed that in early 2015 Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa will close forever.

Screamscape sources tell us that GWAZI will be the latest item cut from the company budget. I??????m told that the last day for guests to ride GWAZI will be Sunday, February 1st, 2015. After that it will silently close, but don??????t look for it to be demolished anytime soon... as that will cost money that the park doesn??????t have. Instead Gwazi will sit as a silent sleeping giant until the park is ready to redevelop the site for a new future attraction. I have reached out to the park for an official comment on this, but so far have heard nothing back to officially confirm this. So for now, it is a rumor, but you??????ve got a few weeks left to get your last rides in before GWAZI goes extinct.
UPDATE - Screamscape has confirmed with Busch Gardens Tampa that they do plan on closing GWAZI on or around February 1st, 2015. The exact date may change between now and then however, but the park does plan to make an official announcement with a confirmed final date near the start of the new year.

Theres a couple ways for this to go. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Is the company that owns the Busch Gardens and Sea Worlds really that broke? It doesn't seem logical they would continually add new attractions to the parks if they were losing money

Well it's a good thing I'm going in 3 weeks then =)

[TTD03]

Thanks for posting this! School prevented me from grabbing it first!

[rcmaniac25]

I don't know how to feel... I almost want to say sad. Reminds me of when the Big Bad Wolf closed. I got on that like a week before it closed. I was last on Gwazi probably 4-6 years ago.

This is pretty sad, the ride was great as is, really fun and lots of airtime. But i have a feeling RMC is behind all this.. There is no plans for it to be torn down, just closed.
It is possible that gwazi could get a dueling I-box treatment. It would be really popular and can attract tons of tourists along with falcons fury

[TTD03]

^ Could answer what one of the 3 projects that RMC is working on in the next few years.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Personally I would love to see this ride just get a proper full re-track on both sides. The ride had some unique dueling elements, that would be a shame to see them go:

*points to face2face airtime in the back.

On the other hand. If RMC would do a makeover with their I-box track, I really hope they keep the spirit of the old ride up and leave the ride as 2 separate coasters.

[Paradox]

CKidd wrote:

Theres a couple ways for this to go. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Is the company that owns the Busch Gardens and Sea Worlds really that broke? It doesn't seem logical they would continually add new attractions to the parks if they were losing money

Yes and Blackfish didn't help them at all. The propaganda in Blackfish really ruined the company in some ways.
This is why we can't have nice things in the world.

EDIT: Here come Robb again making fun of people who are sad to see the ride go by calling them "fanboys" who don't care at all about the ride when in reality most of them are just saying "sad to see it go, I really loved this ride, but I know it's for the best." Robb needs to quit acting like a 12 year old jerk to others.

Robb is a wicked jerk.. He blocked me on YouTube because on a iron rattler video I commented, "it seems a little short but it looks amazing!". Like wow..

[Paradox]

Honestly they are just saying it is a good ride and it is sad to see it close, but Robb has some messed up theory that they are trying to keep it from being torn down and chaining themselves to it just because they are GP.

If only Oscar organized themepark trips, this site would have more people on it.

Paradox wrote:

If only Oscar organized themepark trips

It'd definitely second that! I wonder if we'd have more active members too? For all I know, I'm one of the newest members who's on nearly as much as you guys .

[TTD03]

It's an idea...
We actually kind of did plan a trip a few years ago.

Check it out here.

im actually pl;anning to go to fl now in early jan just to get one more ride in on this before it closes,
gwazi is my fav woodie to date

CKidd wrote:

Theres a couple ways for this to go. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Is the company that owns the Busch Gardens and Sea Worlds really that broke? It doesn't seem logical they would continually add new attractions to the parks if they were losing money

First off, Called it!


Second, Gwazi takes up a hyooooge amount of space. Even if they were to replace it, there would be a massive vacant lot where it stands without either several new attractions or a new land. I'm betting they don't want to drop that much capital just yet, OR they already have a plan for the site and are waiting to see when to finance it

I never understood the mentality of TPR when they make fun of fans. It makes zero sense to me. Do Broadway fans want bad shows to stay open? Do movie buffs want terrible movies to get made? Do sports fans not want bad players to get traded off their favorite team? Why do some coaster enthusiasts want bad rides to stay open? Does TPR respect their fan's opinions? That concept seems to flawed and illogical to me.

[Paradox]

Most people are just saying that it is sad an that they had good times on the ride. Robb is immature and always acts as if he rules everything that has to do with coasters when in reality, the rollercoaster industry doesn't give a flying f*ck what he thinks.

Honestly, when Robb Alvey breathes, the world gets closer to the apocalypse. What can I say about the true born "coaster king?" It's disgusting that he is probably the most known coaster enthusiast out there. He treats his "fan base" like a pile of steaming hot poop. I usually don't take this kind of tone, but I'm sick of seeing him treat people like dirt just because they don't agree with him. The only person I can think of that is comparable is Jeff Putz. Both of them are so ignorant.

[mkingy]

I'd like to see it retracked like Drik said but that's pretty unlikely - and its just a self centered plee to have an opportunity to ride a dualing woodie

Paradox wrote:

Yes and Blackfish didn't help them at all. The propaganda in Blackfish really ruined the company in some ways.
This is why we can't have nice things in the world.

Nice things as in keeping extremely social and active (swim up to 160 kilometres a day) mammals in comparatively small pools of water. Because no - in my opinion Orca's shouldn't be kept captive as you cannot provide a rich enough environment for them.

As for TPR, case of a good thing happening to a bad person. Best way forward is to not give him too much attention as it just boosts his profile (:

[Oscar]

Paradox wrote:

If only Oscar organized themepark trips, this site would have more people on it.

I've gauged interest before and there wasn't much of it. We even considered buying a travel bus to bus you guys around XD

Maybe in the near future we'll poll again. It seems our demographic has increased in age and hopefully money too

[Paradox]

Rickrollercoaster wrote:

Honestly, when Robb Alvey breathes, the world gets closer to the apocalypse. What can I say about the true born "coaster king?" It's disgusting that he is probably the most known coaster enthusiast out there. He treats his "fan base" like a pile of steaming hot poop. I usually don't take this kind of tone, but I'm sick of seeing him treat people like dirt just because they don't agree with him. The only person I can think of that is comparable is Jeff Putz. Both of them are so ignorant.

Who wants to make a troll account on TPR and see how far we can push Robb?

[Coasterkidmwm]

Paradox I had more GP people tell me Mantis was their favorite ride at CP before they announced it was closing. Ride closings always bring the bugs out of the woodwork.

Paradox wrote:

Who wants to make a troll account on TPR and see how far we can push Robb?

[/quote]
Who wants to not stoop to his level?

Oscar wrote:

Paradox wrote:

If only Oscar organized themepark trips, this site would have more people on it.

I've gauged interest before and there wasn't much of it. We even considered buying a travel bus to bus you guys around XD

Maybe in the near future we'll poll again. It seems our demographic has increased in age and hopefully money too

I'm not too strong in the money aspect here

[Dirk_Ermen]

Oscar wrote:

Paradox wrote:

If only Oscar organized themepark trips, this site would have more people on it.

I've gauged interest before and there wasn't much of it. We even considered buying a travel bus to bus you guys around XD

Maybe in the near future we'll poll again. It seems our demographic has increased in age and hopefully money too

I recall that poll actually having some interest in trips, but most people who had interest just couldn't afford it. I'm afraid we will have the same issue now, because most of the older members who would be able to afford such a trip, have left due loss of interest or time. But maybe if you'd announce a trip on time you'd could spark interest to some and others may be able to save some money for it.

I would be up for a trip, if the schedule is interesting enough of course.

Holiday World trip.....?