Iron Gwazi (General Discussion)

[krazyhorrorkid]

TLDR: The last roof inspection is set to be completed tomorrow, thus closing out the last permit and allowing BGT to finally get a Certificate of Occupancy. After that, they can start ride ops training.

Oh boy. It's at least a step in the right direction.

 

[Magic-Man]

Oh boy. It's at least a step in the right direction.

I'm going to stick to my prediction for a Memorial Day opening for now, just because it's what makes the most sense. If COVID cases continue to drop, I don't see it opening later than that.

 

[rwinger24]

Still nothing. The anticipated opening is corporate cover up nonsense. It will likely open in 2022. But possibly the coaster could be destroyed in a Category 4-5 hurricane hitting Tampa in the future.

 

[Tbad556]

Still nothing. The anticipated opening is corporate cover up nonsense. It will likely open in 2022. But possibly the coaster could be destroyed in a Category 4-5 hurricane hitting Tampa in the future.

Patience. VelociCoaster is opening this summer and there's still no opening date. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure opens this year and just got an opening date today. Etc. Things are incredibly fluid right now with tourism as vaccines become more and more available suddenly.

And what's with you constantly assuming the coaster is going to get destroyed This isn't the first time you've brought up a way that could destroy the coaster. It's fine.

 

[rwinger24]

Patience. VelociCoaster is opening this summer and there's still no opening date. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure opens this year and just got an opening date today. Etc. Things are incredibly fluid right now with tourism right now.

And what's with you constantly assuming the coaster is going to get destroyed This isn't the first time you've brought up a way that could destroy the coaster. It's fine.

So far, Busch only tests the ride when the park is closed. And they do not have the operation staff hired to run the ride. They really want big numbers and can't risk a financial failure despite positive reactions from tourists. So opening it in 2022 despite the Anticipated Opening wording is likely the best move for them. Better to leave passholders angry than to risk another outbreak of COVID. They do not want to operate the ride with limited capacity. And they want a grand opening.

Have Velocicoaster open first and then Busch loses a big gamble. Same goes for Ice Breaker. They won't open this Spring despite the autobot direct messaging saying it would.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Still nothing. The anticipated opening is corporate cover up nonsense. It will likely open in 2022. But possibly the coaster could be destroyed in a Category 4-5 hurricane hitting Tampa in the future.

You must be fun at parties.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I do think it's possible they wait until 2022. Unlike Universal with VC I think Busch is going to want to wait until the pandemic is deemed COMPLETELY over.

Re: Hurricanes, repealing the 200' height limit did make me raise an eyebrow. Not going to get political but...yeah.

 

[ParkRumors]

Re: Hurricanes, repealing the 200' height limit did make me raise an eyebrow. Not going to get political but...yeah.

There is no 200ft "height limit" and never was.

 

[shiekra38]

There is no 200ft "height limit" and never was.

I believe Busch Gardens is butted up against a residential zone which requires structures to be less than 200 feet

So, while there isn't a "limit" per-say there is a process to approval...If they were to ever pursue...let's just say...a B&M Giga coaster *prays to coaster gods*

 

[ParkRumors]

The park's proximity to the airport is the only thing that requires structures exceeding a certain height to undergo review, but this is the case almost everywhere tall structures are built thanks to FAA regulations.

Falcon's Fury is 330ft tall, so if they ever pursued a giga they would have little issue getting the necessary approvals.

 

[shiekra38]

The park's proximity to the airport is the only thing that requires structures exceeding a certain height to undergo review, but this is the case almost everywhere tall structures are built thanks to FAA regulations.

Falcons Fury is 330ft tall, so if they every pursued a giga they would have little issue getting the necessary approvals.

Falcon's Fury is a free standing tower though, which is different...A 300ft coaster would be a much bigger deal

Iron Gwazi is barely over 200ft so it wasn't necessarily a problem

There is an ordinance for 200ft tall structures where they are located

 

[ParkRumors]

Busch Gardens is located in a PD (Planned Development) zoning district - anything built there is subject to review, and is bound by FAA regulations just like anywhere else, but there is no hard and fast "you cant exceed this height" rule.

You can read about the restrictions in all the different zoning districts here:

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/RtljEzFKGmktnLU9pT2bY9UA18mIZsogOwSWVFElJAo/document.pdf

And the PD district specifically here:

Municode Library

MunicodeNEXT, the industry's leading search application with over 3,300 codes and growing!

library.municode.com

And you can see the interactive zoning map here:

ArcGIS Web Application

tampa.maps.arcgis.com

Anyway - back to Iron Gwazi. The last open permit passed its final inspection on Monday and the permit was marked as Complete - hopefully this is a good sign?

 

[Magic-Man]

Still nothing. The anticipated opening is corporate cover up nonsense. It will likely open in 2022. But possibly the coaster could be destroyed in a Category 4-5 hurricane hitting Tampa in the future.

 

[shiekra38]

Busch Gardens is located in a PD (Planned Development) zoning district - anything built there is subject to review, and is bound by FAA regulations just like anywhere else, but there is no hard and fast "you cant exceed this height" rule.

You can read about the restrictions in all the different zoning districts here:

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/RtljEzFKGmktnLU9pT2bY9UA18mIZsogOwSWVFElJAo/document.pdf

And the PD district specifically here:

Municode Library

MunicodeNEXT, the industry's leading search application with over 3,300 codes and growing!

library.municode.com

And you can see the interactive zoning map here:

ArcGIS Web Application

tampa.maps.arcgis.com

Anyway - back to Iron Gwazi. The last open permit passed its final inspection on Monday and the permit was marked as Complete - hopefully this is a good sign?

That doesn't matter

There was no gripe with Falcon's Fury because it's a free standing tower

They still have to get permission

It's not to level of say Alton Towers where they will *never* do it, but they can't just plop a 300ft coaster down wherever they want either

For PD districts it states

Flexibility in building height will be allowed provided that they are compatible with the surrounding neighborhood; and provide increased setbacks to compensate for added building height.

They're literally surrounded by houses lol

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Re: Hurricanes, repealing the 200' height limit did make me raise an eyebrow. Not going to get political but...yeah.

What even in the world? That lift hill is built to withstand a hurricane. It'll likely be standing while the rest of the park is totally flattened.

 

[HandsomePete]

Weren’t the coasters basically the only thing that survived Katrina at Six Flags New Orleans?

I’m guessing the biggest reason for the delay is the they’re cheap, followed by them trying to figure out when they’ll get the biggest bump in attendance.

 

[shiekra38]

What even in the world? That lift hill is built to withstand a hurricane. It'll likely be standing while the rest of the park is totally flattened.

Yeeah I'm not concerned about that in the slightest

I don't know what happened with Zadra, but it definitely wasn't that

 

[rwinger24]

Someone was told that the park does not know how to operate a new coaster with the current COVID guidelines in place.

Iron Gwazi is opening in 2022. And it is a stupid PR failure for the company.

I’m angry at Busch for delaying the ride from its spring opening. By then, no one will be interested to ride it at all. All the anticipation has died.

You have to hire new staff to operate the ride and test it regularly. But what they are doing is to purposefully delay it until COVID restrictions ease off.

I am never visiting Busch Gardens ever again until they open that coaster. I want it open now!

 

[shiekra38]

Someone was told that the park does not know how to operate a new coaster with the current COVID guidelines in place.

Wut

 

[Alicia]

I honestly don’t fault any company from holding off opening anything right now. Whether it be a new theme park attraction, a theatrical released film, or anything else.

Sure, it’s for business reasons, but they’re businesses.

I’m bummed, but I’m not going to be mad about it.

Alternatively, there are folks upset that Universal Japan opened Nintendo when international visitors aren’t allowed to visit. Some were upset they opened some HHN houses last year when out of towners couldn’t visit without two weeks of quarantine. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.