Gwazi to close for good Feb. 1st...

I don't buy everything on Screamscape (and don't even look at that other site, LOL)....

But this isn't really a "rumor" as much as a confirmation of something we already knew, along with a date-certain...finally. I'm a little sad, as Gwazi is the ride that got me into this hobby. I'm also a little sad because I know what a fabulous ride it once was. On the other hand, Busch was never going to really put forth the effort to maintain what was obviously a very maintenance-intensive ride...so maybe it is better off just going away. I'll head down for one more lap - since generally I can't stand more than one anymore.

Good night, sweet Liger, been good to know you.

The oddest thing I think with Gwazi is that they bothered to spend a significant amount of money on four new trains back in 2011 and only a year later shut down the Tiger side.

I guess they have a reasonable resale value.

I would think that the new trains were a last attempt to get the ride running well enough to prevent closure.

Sad news. Gwazi was a fantastic set of coasters at one time.

Is it too soon to dream of what will go in the ride's place?

We'll meet again,

Don't know where, don't know when,

But I know we'll meet again,

Some sunny day...

Ugh... I wish I could talk about this one.

LostKause said:

Is it too soon to dream of what will go in the ride's place?

Iron Gwazi? I kid, I kid.

The exclusive contract with Six Flags will keep that from happening, right?

Awww, how sad.

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Ok, I'm over it.

Gwazi was not by any means my favorite coaster, but it was decent. I only rode it on one visit, and while a lot of fun it was a bit tarnished by very slow dispatches... I'm sad to see it go, as it was something different in the coaster world. What I am wondering is if this is a sign that the Sea World / Busch Gardens parks are in even worse shape financially than was thought, given it is not going to be demolished.

I think they should tear it down and put up a brewery.

I must have missed something. Why exactly was Busch unable to maintain a run-of-the-mill wooden roller coaster? What is wrong with it?

Yeah, I have also wondered why it is so difficult for the park to maintain the ride. I know that there aren't many wooden coasters in Florida, but I would have thought that the weather there would actually have made it easier to maintain the coasters (but I am not a carpenter so this just a hunch).

I too wondered about the Iron treatment for the ride. Seems like a good candidate to me.

Gwazi was so bad two years ago that I decided to forego the other side's credit. There was so wait.

Gwazi had a significant number of hurdles to overcome: hot Florida sun is really terrible for treated lumber; an aggressive twister design means stresses and (esp. lateral) forces are applied to the ride in ways that out-n-back designs don't have; having two rides twisted in on each other makes major repairs and maintenance a little trickier to perform; Busch didn't really have experienced wood-coaster mechanics employed (remember when HW hired Jeff Hammersly away from CCI?); Busch didn't have experience budgeting for ongoing and continual wooden coaster maintenance; GCII provided training and manuals and such for upkeep - but they were apparently lost or thrown away during the first year; trains weren't routinely sent to PTC for overhauls (think SFA's Roar and Wild One); 12-months-a-year operation doesn't really lend itself to scheduling downtime for rehab (Ghostrider typically goes out of service for about one month a year - and still sucks by all accounts).

Given all this - somewhat a surprise that the ride operated as long as it did.

rollergator said:
Ghostrider typically goes out of service for about one month a year - and still sucks by all accounts).

Not to hijack this thread but when I rode Ghostrider back in 2007 it was my favorite wooden coaster... I'm always amazed to hear about its demise.

As for Gwazi, is it being torn down or is it "closing"? Makes me wonder if they are pulling a page from Six Flags' playbook with the wording...

Even worse than the hot FL sun is the ridiculous FL humidity. Wasn't that part of what led to Dania Beach Hurricane's demise?

I thought that place went out of business.

I did Ghostrider October of 2013 and thought it was great. A little rough, but still a solid coaster.

Thanks Gator for the background!

Although I have never been on the ride the layout doesn't look bad, just the ride looks rough.

My feelings about the ride and about it's closure: "Meh."

ShaneDenmark said:

Even worse than the hot FL sun is the ridiculous FL humidity.

On that, I'm going to disagree. Treated lumber is used in decks, docks, piers, etc. - all sorts of freshwater and saltwater applications. Water is an enemy of untreated lumber, but the process helps prevent water from entering the cells of the wood. Direct sunlight causes the wood to warp, split, and check...treating the lumber does nothing to help with that.