Busch Gardens Tampa | Iron Gwazi | RMC Gwazi | 2022
- Thread starter MakoMania
- Start date
FistedColossus
Hyper Poster
Can't see this beating Steel Vengeance tbh. SteVe has the length advantage.
Zadra is definitely the closest comparison but I think this will kick its arse on the airtime front.
Zadra is definitely the closest comparison but I think this will kick its arse on the airtime front.
TPoseOnTantrum
Giga Poster
No clue who's photo this is or where it came from, but red B&M track has shown up at Busch Gardens Tampa, assumedly brand new replacement track for the resident dive coaster. It's also worth noting that Sheikra is presently closed for its annual maintenance session through to March 4, shouldn't be an issue piggybacking it in this thread.
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
Interesting... The coaster only turns 17 years old this year, it surely shouldn't need track replacement already?
TPoseOnTantrum
Giga Poster
It's a ride that operated closer to 365 days a year than most coasters do for nearly 17 years in the hot Floridan sun, there are parts of it that are getting very rough and this is also a day and age where B&M now makes coasters with 15 year lifespan.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
I can't be the only one who finds this gobsmacking, right?
I get that coasters are complex and go through lots of stress, and maybe this is just a price to pay for the smoothness that B&M offers. But still, for one of the premier coaster manufacturers to offer rides which have 15 year life spans, given the millions they cost, and the other options in the market, just blows my mind.
Projektion
Mega Poster
Only the section of track immediatly following the splash down is getting replaced as far as I know which, between the wear down on the paint and the constant bombardment of water every cycle, is understandable.
Matt N
CF Legend
This is interesting, not least given Kumba and Montu have had no track replacement whatsoever as far as I’m aware, and Kumba is over 10 years older than SheiKra. Even Montu is the best part of a decade older than SheiKra.
Also, where are we getting it from that B&M coasters only have 15 year lifespans, out of interest? We have some of their rides hitting their early 30s this year without having had any track replaced, and even in Florida, Kumba is now 29 with no obvious signs of it needing replacement any time soon. Surely lifespan is determined on a case-by-case basis, as well as by things like how well the park maintains the ride?
EDIT: I started writing this before the post that @Projektion made… that would make a lot of sense, as the splashdown would provide a different level of stress on the track to the likes of Kumba and Montu.
Also, where are we getting it from that B&M coasters only have 15 year lifespans, out of interest? We have some of their rides hitting their early 30s this year without having had any track replaced, and even in Florida, Kumba is now 29 with no obvious signs of it needing replacement any time soon. Surely lifespan is determined on a case-by-case basis, as well as by things like how well the park maintains the ride?
EDIT: I started writing this before the post that @Projektion made… that would make a lot of sense, as the splashdown would provide a different level of stress on the track to the likes of Kumba and Montu.
You know what... I'm actually not that surprised. As I've touched on before, I work on lots of large engineering projects tens, hundreds, and in some case thousands, of times more expensive that the average coaster. A decent rule of thumb is for the structural elements to have a 50yr lifespan and the architectural/services elements to have a 20-30yr lifespan. That is, assuming regular good quality maintenance, after those timescales the cost/effort/scale of the maintenance work becomes prohibitive when compared to more full scale replacement.
I would definitely put coasters on the lower end of that scale as they are such massively dynamic things. When you factor in the year-round operation, and climate, that the Florida coasters operate in - 15-20yrs doesn't seem so bad, really.
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Howie
Donkey in a hat
Yes it's quite a moment, your first RMC. We all remember our first RMC. You're gonna love it, I'm sure, and IG looks like a really good one to pop your cherry on.
Can't wait to see the reviews coming in, make sure you post a critique.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Nothing really prepares you for it does it... They're just 'so' different...Yes it's quite a moment, your first RMC. We all remember our first RMC. You're gonna love it, I'm sure, and IG looks like a really good one to pop your cherry on.
Can't wait to see the reviews coming in, make sure you post a critique.
Especially to people from Europe like me, who didn't get to ride any of their earlier (and less revered) models first.
I think IG looks like it would be an insane first RMC. Although, I am keen to ride Velocicoaster, and see if it's as close to that RMC feeling as it looks like it might be.
Intamin Forever
Mega Poster
Oh god please no.
No!
Nooooooo!!!!!
No!
Nooooooo!!!!!
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
Full POV:-
Lightning2
Roller Poster
This ride is probably the closest we'll get to the RCT3 Cover art coaster:
Popular vlogger Tim Tracker gives it a whirl in the below video:
Reading between the lines, his tone / body language suggest that it’s not his out and out favourite coaster. If he thought that, he would say so without mincing his words, despite him claiming that Iron Gwazi is “at the top”.
Looking at the above newsreader videos, I’m tempering my expectations slightly. The drawn out turns and elements look ace and intense in isolation, but I think it might lack the perpetual out of control feeling of Zadra; the latter just seems to have ‘more going on’ (other than perhaps speed).
Lower expectations means a better chance of being blown away, so here’s hoping…
Reading between the lines, his tone / body language suggest that it’s not his out and out favourite coaster. If he thought that, he would say so without mincing his words, despite him claiming that Iron Gwazi is “at the top”.
Looking at the above newsreader videos, I’m tempering my expectations slightly. The drawn out turns and elements look ace and intense in isolation, but I think it might lack the perpetual out of control feeling of Zadra; the latter just seems to have ‘more going on’ (other than perhaps speed).
Lower expectations means a better chance of being blown away, so here’s hoping…