New Trains For Gwazi

[Ace]

http://www.seaworldparksblog.com/gwazi-opens-new-trains-busch-gardens-tampa-bay

New trains look nice. I didn't really care for gwazi when I went last summer, maybe these will help.

[Demon_07]

That rumor was going around for quite some time. Not unbearably rough with the PTCs but I'm sure it'll still be quite an improvement.

[6Flags4Evr]

What took them so long!!!! . This will make this ride much better and smoother and hopefully the Gwazi will get a better reputation.

[monsterfan99]

Last time I rode Gwazi in November it was awful. Hopefully the MF can bring Lion from a bottom 3 coaster to something better. If nothing else, it adds more padding and eliminates the ankle-bitting the PTC trains do. I'll be there to check them out on the 24th.

[Cole]

Gwazi easily has my favorite layout of any GCI, but its just so damn rough. Hopefully it'll be a great coaster again after these.

[tp41190]

It's been the rumor since day 1. Bush didn't want to go with a prototype train. But it took them how many years to finally say "ok lets do this"?

[Coaster Justin]

About 12 Years.

Guess Busch Needs alot of Convincing to Decide on Something.

[FParker185]

Or they wanted to get their moneys worth on a million+ dollar investment of 4 PTC trains before spending a million + again on 4 new trains.

[BP317]

/\ Only took 2 years before they bought several new B&M trains for Sheikra and revamped the station to accomidate floorless trains.

Anyway it's great to see Gwazi getting the attention it deserves. Sadly it was a case of great layout/bad maintenance, and no question the millennium flyers are the best trains for these types of coasters. It's a shame they let the ride deteriorate itself running the PTC's and I hope it still won't be rough with the new trains (from what i've heard, Wildcat at Hersheypark is still pretty rough even with the millennium flyer trains running now), so the re-tracking aspect of this rehab should not be overlooked. Gotta give some props to Busch here on doing this one right, looks like the grill of the train is themed also and i'm sure will have some cool graphics.

[monsterfan99]

Got a chance to ride Lion side today. The trains take the ride from god awful to a great ride. There is still some shuffling in one section and the trains need to be broken in but over all a great job.

The downside to this is the operations on this ride are even worse than before. In my two rides it took 5 and 7 minutes to send each train from the time we sat down to the train leaving the station. Even worse was the new ultra strict "No cameras, not even in your pocket" rule. My friend was forced to put his video camera in a locker and not a zipped pocket.

Also dumbfounding was the fact Tiger was not even open. You spend around 4 million on trains and only run one side. The park was not even dead either with lines for everything. If you are spending the money to improve the ride, try running it.

Thankfully the awful operations was kept only to Gwazi today. Cheetah Hunt looks amazing and the new Cirque Dreams show is great.

[BLADE]

Glad to hear the ride is improved!

[BP317]

The downside to this is the operations on this ride are even worse than before. In my two rides it took 5 and 7 minutes to send each train from the time we sat down to the train leaving the station.

Do they still check seatbelts the DejaVu way? (belt first then go back and check the bars). All the coasters i've been on with Millennium Flyers have quick load times and good capacity.

[monsterfan99]

^They do indeed. It also doesn't help they have the single seatbelts instead of the one per row. The loading process now (both rides we were on) includes everyone has to be out of the exit side of the station before they start to load people as well. Add to that the stupid rule being enforced on no cameras of any type allowed in pockets and the load times were awful. Due to this most of the time the other train was back before people were even in the seats.

[BP317]

That's sad but not surprising, operating rides have never been one of Busch/SWPE's strong points. Have you seen Manta's operations? Complete and utter disgrace to theme parks everywhere, they make Tatsu's snail paced operations look fast. I havent even ridden Kraken the past few times i've been to SWO because it always seems to be running 1 train with slow load times. Last time I was at BGT Montu was stacking every train with 2 train operations (how is that even possible) and Sheikra was only running 3 trains/1 station with a pretty long line and quite a bit of stacking there also. Also whoever was grouping was pulsing the station and not filling 8 per row which meant when the gates opened, like 10 people would walk in then the last group that entered would have to confusingly walk back through the air gates all while the employees stood there and didn't pay any attention to what was going on.

But those are the kind of things that happen when you cut pretty much your entire management staff.

[monsterfan99]

^The Montu crew was doing all right with no stacking. Same with Sheikra, which was stunning. The Kumba crew was it's normal good self.

Kraken has zero hope and the same for every ride at SWO except Journey. The fact they stack Kraken on 2 train operations for 2-3 minutes is a disgrace.