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Revamped Busch Gardens coaster may open in 2020

The wooden Gwazi ride may become a hybrid roller coaster.
Credit: Google Earth

TAMPA, Fla. — We may be closer to knowing the future for one of Busch Garden's former wooden roller coasters.

The park announced in September it was building Tigris -- Florida's tallest launch coaster to open in 2019.

It also hinted it'd be revamping the former Gwazi wooden roller coaster into something all new.

We now know Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction will be the company working on the new project.

Tampa-based theme park blog Touring Central Florida reports that company is known for its work converting old wooden roller coasters into steel hybrid coasters.

 Rocky Mountain recently completed work on one of America's number one ranked roller coasters "Steel Vengeance" at Cedar Point in Ohio.

Theme park enthusiasts believe what Busch Gardens has planned could be similar.

"They use a lot of the same wooden support structure already there of the coaster," said Bill Androckitis of TouringCentralFlorida.com. "And they build a brand new steel track on top, which allows for inversions, high bank turns and a lot of fun elements that you can't do with a regular wooden roller coaster."

We reached out to Busch Gardens but the theme park company said to stay tuned for future updates.

The revamped Gwazi ride is expected to open in 2020.

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