Iron Gwazi and Busch Gardens Tampa Update

Busch Gardens photo update of Iron Gwazi, Rhino Rally and more as we explore the park and what is coming.

A few days after our hard hat construction tour of Iron Gwazi we popped back to Busch Gardens, Tampa to explore the park on a quiet Monday.

Scroll down for photos of (in this order):

Iron Gwazi from around the park.
Rhino Rally construction update with some groundwork being done.
Work being done near Garden Gate Cafe and the flamingos.
Scorpion repaint.
The Phoenix still behind walls.
Mardi Gras Event.

The bulk of this update will be Iron Gwazi because it is shaping up amazingly. Check out the photos below.

Iron Gwazi Photos

Iron Gwazi Looms — Iron Gwazi looming over Zagora Cafe

Iron Gwazi Station — Lift hill peaking out behind the station.

Iron Gwazi Working on a banked section — Working on a banked section of Iron Gwazi.

Iron Gwazi Walls Down — Walls down in front of the station providing a better look of the Quick queue line.

Iron Gwazi Entrance Walls — Still walls around the main entrance to the ride. We entered through this door last week.

Iron Gwazi Drop — View of the drop and a barrel roll.

Iron Gwazi Closer look at roll — Closer look at that inversion. Behind you can see the main drop has not been completed.

Iron Gwazi Working on the track — Working on the track. Look at those curves!

Iron Gwazi Back Portion not complete — No track on this part yet. View down the Gwazi Garden Event pathway.

Iron Gwazi Drop view — Drop looking ominous over a walled up Gwazi Gliders.

Iron Gwazi Gwazi Gliders Closed — Gwazi Gliders closed today and behind walls. Workers working on that track behind.

Iron Gwazi Outward Banked — Interesting outward banked track section.

Iron Gwazi View of the drop and banked turn — View of the drop and another banked turn.

Iron Gwazi Incomplete Drop — View of that 91 degree drop not yet complete.

Inversion — Looking at one of the Iron Gwazi inversions.

Outward Banked turn — Looking at the outward banked turn.

Overview from Sesame Street — Overview from the Sesame street area.

View of an airtime hill — Little look at one of the Iron Gwazi airtime hills.

View from the skyride. — A view from the sky ride near to the Log Flume. Track not yet complete on the outward banked turn.

Outward banked turn not yet complete. — View of the incomplete track before the outward banked turn.

View of the drop from sky ride — Viewing that 206 ft drop from the sky ride.

Over view from the sky ride — Wide angle from the sky ride.

View near the train station — view near the train station. Outward banked turn.

Look at another banked turn — One last look at Iron Gwazi. Lots of banking.

That is it for our Iron Gwazi update. Now to a look around the park starting with Rhino Rally.

Rhino Rally

Some rumors are circulating that a screaming swing style of ride could be coming to the old Rhino Rally area. There is definitely some ground work being done in the area.

Rhino Rally Station Construction — Rhino Rally Station Being worked on.

Rhino Rally Station Overview Friday — Overview of the ground clearing.

Rhino Rally Station Old pathway — Old view of the route the safari used to take out of the station.

Rhino Rally Groundwork — Ground being cleared from the old ride entrance.

Path down to the old entrance — Walkway from the old entrance.

Old Entrance to Rhino Rally — Old entrance to Rhino Rally.

Ground View of Rhino Rally — Ground view of the work being done.

As you can see in the above photos there is work being done on the area, they do have a lot of space to work with back there.

Baby Cheetahs

On a side note, in the vet center the two baby cheetahs were having playtime.

Garden Gate Cafe

Unsure what the work is being done in the photos below but some ground work is taking place. This space was used for an event stage for the Three Kings over Christmas Town.

Dirt being moved. — Dirt being moved behind the work walls.

Large area — Nice amount of space back here. Could be for use during the food or beer festivals.

Scorpion

Scorpion is currently closed for a fresh repaint. This old coaster is looking good with its fresh coat of paint on.

Scorpion paint2 — Looking good in the sun.

Scorpion paint 4 — Scorpion behind work walls.

The ride looks mostly repainted now and it should not be long before it is reopened.

The Pheonix

Having been closed since 2018 and still listed as an attraction on Busch Gardens website. The ride remains closed with no signs of it opening soon.

Still standing — The ride is still standing, it apparently tested last year.

Mardi Gras

Finally, I haven’t seen this before but apparently Busch Gardens Tampa do have a Mardi Gras Event.

That concludes our Busch Gardens Tampa update and Iron Gwazi. We will probably be back before the ride opens this Spring so keep an eye out for more updates.

Thanks for joining us.