Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury Now Open

Busch Gardens Tampa Officially Opens "Falcon's Fury".

 Good News, Busch Gardens Tampa did make their "Summer 2014" deadline with Falcon's Fury.

 The new and unique drop tower attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa has been deemed officially open to the public. While the park seems to have opted not to reschedule the rides media day event, guests can experience the new ride during the parks normal operating hours.

 The ride has been is 'soft open' for a little over three weeks, allowing the park to work out any problems.

Falcon's Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa Surprises Guests with a Soft Open Today!

Image courtesy of BGTfans.com

It looks like the wait is finally coming to end for Busch Gardens Tampa fans. There's been a series of delays for their newest drop tower, but it looks like all the kinks have finally been worked out. It might be National Roller Coaster Day, but that's not stopping the park from doing a soft open for it's latest mad creation, Falcon's Fury.

First GP riders! Image via @mist3rm4tt on Twitter

Guests at the park today have spotted Falcon's Fury taking it's first general public riders on it's death defying plunge. Earlier this week there were reports of increased employee testing going on and it looks like the official full opening won't be too much more of a wait.

So, for all you drop tower adrenaline junkies out there, keep an eye out as it seems you could get lucky and score a ride before the ride officially opens what's likely to be the within the next week or so. Of course, with any soft open, the ride will open and close at random, so you'll have to be quick!

Curious as to what those lucky riders are experiencing? Here's the official POV!

Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury Testing with Employees

Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury Finally Testing, with Employees!

 Good News for fans of Busch Gardens Tampa and Drop Towers!

 It appears from reports from BGTFans that 'Falcon's Fury' is finally doing some employee testing. While right now the testing appears to only involve senior park members and not the general staff but this could be a good sign that the drop tower may finally have it's issues sorted out.

 The ride still has no official opening date, just an estimation, but the park did tell BGTFans “We are ride testing with specific safety and operations team members, but we do not have any updates on when park employees, or the general public, will be able to ride.”. Which we can hope is good news and may allow the park to open the ride before the current estimated "Late Summer 2014". 

 Stay Tuned for more updates!

(Top Image also from BGTFans)

Official Statement from Busch Gardens Tampa on Falcon's Fury Delays Released

Last night, the folks at Busch Gardens Tampa finally came out with an official statement regarding the delays surrounding their newest ride, Falcon's Fury.

The ride has experienced several setbacks since construction started, but overall things seemed to be going fairly well with testing and getting things finalized for opening. However, now it looks like the innovated drop tower won't be opening in the near future like many had hoped.

Citing that parts are needed to be manufactured for the ride still might be unsettling for some, but these unique rides don't have warehouses full if something were to break. Maybe this is just the park wanting to have spares on hand and they need to be fabricated in enough quantity.

Anyway, here's the official announcement that Busch Gardens posted on their Facebook page:

Busch Gardens’ new thrill ride Falcon’s Fury includes first-of-its kind design elements, systems and parts. Due to a delay in the fabrication of key component parts, neither the manufacturer nor Busch Gardens are able to complete the lengthy testing processes needed to open the ride to the public. The safety of our guests and team members remains Busch Gardens’ top priority and none of these delays involve safety systems. The ride has been safely operated in the initial stages of the testing process, and all other elements of the park’s newest re-imagined land Pantopia are now open to guests. Busch Gardens will provide updates on the ride opening as events warrant. We are committed to delivering world-class thrills and the best possible ride experience, and we look forward to the launch of Falcon’s Fury, North America’s tallest freestanding drop tower, later this summer.

Again, since the ride has been testing and things seem to be working properly, I can't imagine it's anything too serious. If anything, something may have had to be refabricated or reengineered to meet stresses that were seen during the testing. Given the unique nature of this ride, really can't blame them for wanting to be 100% on every piece of it either.

While there's no opening date indicated anywhere, that could just be the park's desire to avoid another situation similar to Mach Tower, which kept getting pushed back and was a big PR debacle for both the park and Intamin. Hopefully the wait won't be too long for those wanting to ride and they get things sorted out soon.

Either way, we'll keep you updated on the latest from the park as the opening of this one of a kind drop tower gets closer.