Review: Falcon's Fury

Falcon's Fury is currently running soft openings at Busch Gardens Tampa.  This ride has been plagued with delays since the first announcement was made of its grand opening.  Since then, the Intamin and Busch Gardens team have ironed out the kinks and started running the ride since August 16th.  The opening times during the day have varied, however.

I was lucky enough to experience the ride twice yesterday when visiting Busch Gardens.  Crowds were thin, so I only waited about 15-20 minutes to board. The ride experience is unique a very fun! This is definitely going to be a crowd pleaser for Busch Gardens.

Upon entering, the attraction itself has a very small queue space.  I'm hearing that it can hold approximately 45 minutes of queueing.  When I rode, half the queue was blocked off, so maybe it just looked smaller without all the switch backs open.

Once you get through the queue, you line up around the octangular loading area via colored square assignments. The ride attendant will just tell you to look for a particular square color and report to that area.  The load waiting area is covered with a large net as well (to catch those pesky loose objects they strongly suggest you not to ride with). While you are on your designated squares, you can see previous riders being fastened in and then ultimately experiencing the ride right in front of you.  This is great, because it gets you even more anxious about the experience (or more nervous).  I actually saw several guests leave the area at this point after seeing the ride up close and the guests' reactions.  Note:  They strongly suggest NO loose items while on the ride.  There are convenient cubbies on each section to store your valuables.  They also have a sign stating that if they find you with a cell phone/camera on the ride, you can be removed from the park.

The ride vehicle itself has eight different sides with four seats per section (32 riders per load).  The load/unload process is a little lengthy, but the employees were efficient.  You are fastened in with a lap bar and shoulder harness.  Both pieces are then secured with a seatbelt (the seatbelt looks identical to the one used in Cheetah Hunt).  From the load in to ride start, it takes about two minutes.

The ride experience itself is completely unique.  You leisurely minute climb to the top of this 300ft. + tower where you can see quite far in the distance.  From where I was seated, I could see the safari area of the park and Adventure Island over in the distance.  Some views are not great, and you are quite limited in vision to look completely around.  I saw half of the parking lot and some backstage areas.  However, that's not going to make a difference soon.  From ground to the top, this scenic journey takes about a minute.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  

Once you reach the top, this is where the true thrill begins.  The vehicle turns 90 degrees and faces you straight down.  By far, this is the best part of the experience.  Once turned 90 degrees, you are left dangling, facing the ground for a few seconds.  I noticed this time varies, since my first ride vs. my second had shorter hanging time.  This creates a sense of surprise, since you don't know when you're going to drop.

Once the vehicle is released, you drop down at a max speed of about 60mph for about five seconds.  What's unique about the fall is that you don't feel the normal "stomach drop" like a Coaster.  It's a thrilling drop, but not too intense by any means.  It feels like you are scaling the side of the tower.  Once the vehicle comes close to the bottom, it hits a magnetic breaking area and swings you out from your inverted position.  This is where you feel some G-Forces.  From the swing out, you are then loaded back to the loading dock.

So in conclusion,  Falcon's Fury is a great addition to the park.  It packs the thrills, but looks more menacing than it actually is.  All in all, it's a unique ride experience; to experience the 90 degree tilt alone (which is the highlight).  There is still no official Grand Opening yet, but the park has been running soft operations every day.  That, of course, is subject to change.

For more information on the ride, visit the official website at: Falcon's Fury