TAMPA, Fla. — SeaWorld and Busch Gardens announced Thursday morning new details about attractions coming to Florida parks.
Both the announcements at the parks in Orlando and Tampa included new details about the future of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, including two new roller coasters and two new water rides.
Iron Gwazi will open in spring 2020 at Busch Gardens and Ice Breaker will open next year at Seaworld.
USA Today spoke with Jonathan Smith, the director of rides and engineering for SeaWorld Parks, who said both coasters will put a focus on wildlife and environment conservation.
Iron Gwazi, being built where the original wooden Gwazi use to be, will be themed after the Florida alligator. At 206 feet, it will surpass Cedar Point's Steel Vengeance to become the tallest hybrid wood-steel roller coaster in North America.
SeaWorld's Ice Breaker will be a more family-friendly coaster while promoting conservation issues in the Arctic. It will have a quadruple launch and reach top speeds of 52 mph, USA Today said.
Busch Gardens also hosted a hard hat tour at the Iron Gwazi construction site, and SeaWorld showed off an Ice Breaker ride element at the news conference.
Busch Gardens in Tampa opened its newest roller coaster Tigris in April. The more than 1,800-foot long coaster is the eighth thrill ride at the park and strengthened Busch Gardens' nickname as Florida's roller coaster king.
Busch Gardens also celebrates its 20th year of Howl-O-Scream this year. The Tampa fright fest runs select nights Sept. 20 through Nov. 2.
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