Review: Falcon's Fury

When Falcon’s Fury was announced to open in late 2013 at Busch Gardens in Tampa, it was expected to open in spring of 2014. Unfortunately a part was missing, and they had to insure that it came in and that the ride was safe for guests. The ride began testing for employees a few weeks ago, and finally has been soft opening to park goers this week. If you’re lucky enough, you can catch it when it’s open, which is a few hours each day. I was fortunate enough to be the first in line and got right on. The line behind us grew quickly.

Honestly, I was nervous about riding Falcon’s Fury. I love thrill rides, and I’ll ride just about anything. Sometimes I have a slight fear of heights. For some reason, I was comfortable on Falcon’s Fury. The seats felt very secure. They were a little tight, but not as tight as on a flying Dutchman ride such as the Phoenix. Those rides literally push down so hard that you can barely breathe, and you can’t even move. On Falcon’s Fury, you can breathe comfortably, but at the same time, you feel nice and snug. If you didn’t, you would feel like you were going to hit the ground from 325 feet up, and at 60 mph.

Watch a video of Falcon’s Fury in action below:

going up!

The ascent up the tower is a nice speed. They don’t shoot you up, and you get quite a nice view of the park and downtown Tampa. When you hit the top of the tower, your seat starts to tilt until you are facing straight down. They hold you at the top for a couple of seconds, which feels like hours. Finally you shoot down the tower, and before you know it, your seat is flipping back up and you are sitting vertically again.

The amazingly comfortable seats

The drop on Falcon’s Fury is different from any ride I have ever ridden. The best way I can describe it is that instead of leaving your stomach at the top of the tower, you take it with you to the bottom.

On the ride

I have never been skydiving, but I can imagine that the feeling is similar. Instead of being terrifying, it is exhilarating. As soon as they let me out of the seat, I was running to the entrance to ride it again.