This year, Busch Gardens is adding its 10th roller coaster, a B&M suspended family coaster named Phoenix Rising. Today, Busch Gardens was nice enough to invite us to the hard hat tour of their newest coaster, and during the event we learned so much more about Phoenix Rising. Keep reading for some photos from the construction site and new details about the ride shared directly from park leadership.
First and foremost, I wanted to confirm a detail that has been a bit of a debate since the announcement: will the cars on Phoenix Rising be swinging? Well, I asked Erick Elliott, the park’s Vice President of Engineering and Development. The answer was an enthusiastic yes.
Erick specifically referenced the moments that Phoenix Rising will bring riders into the trench and close to the ground, the swinging of the vehicles will add an extra element to the already snappy layout.
We also talked to Nick, a representative from the creative team, and found out much more about the ride’s story and how Busch Gardens Tampa is committed to making Phoenix Rising a truly themed immersive experience. Some highlights include on-board lighting built into the trains and on-board audio with 2 different speaker heights embedded into the seats, so smaller riders and taller ones can hear clearly.
Getting more in-depth into the theming, there will be four unique Phoenixes themed to fire, ice, jungle and sea. These Phoenixes will appear in the station thanks to a video display embedded into an entire wall next to riders about to dispatch. The Phoenix will appear and spread its wings, revealing one of the four themes, and then fly to follow riders up the lift hill.
At the top of the lift hill, riders will hear the Phoenix screech, and during the ride they’ll hear unique audio and see unique lighting depending on which Phoenix they are paired with. It’s a fun little feature that will add re-rideability and connects to the animal aspect of the park.
Concept art of the video display that will take up an entire wall of the station
Nick also said that the track color was chosen to represent the sky, and because Busch Gardens Tampa currently does not have a blue colored coaster.
The attraction will have a 42 inch height requirement, filling a gap in the park’s lineup and giving guests that transitional coaster between the kiddie rides and the bigger coasters.
Overall, this tour has just made us even more excited for Phoenix Rising, and what it could mean for family thrill coasters going forward. Thank you so much to Busch Gardens Tampa for having us, we can’t wait to ride!
What are you most looking forward to about Phoenix Rising? Let us know in the comments below!
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