According to the official SeaWorld Parks blog, Busch Gardens Tampa's Gwazi will reopen soon with new trains aimed at providing a smoother ride. The dueling wooden roller coaster is named after a mythological African creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a lion. During the ride, the lion and tiger trains perform six fly-bys or near misses where they pass each other at high speeds. Gwazi opened in 1999 and, like many wooden coasters, has become rough over the years. The park has chosen to add new millennium flyer trains to reduce the roughness. More from SeaWorld Parks:

The new trains provide the smoothest way to ride a wooden coaster and are highly regarded for their spacious, cushioned seats and individual row design that resembles wooden roller coaster trains from the early 1900s.

The last few times that I rode Gwazi, it was pretty rough and only one side was running. It's been a weak spot in an otherwise beautifully-themed and well-run theme park. I'm curious to see how much of a difference the new trains make as theme parks typically re-track wooden coasters to smooth out a rough ride. Hopefully, the millennium flyers will provide a much more enjoyable experience. Gwazi will reopen on January 22nd.

Filed under: North America, Theme Parks