It’s been almost a month since the originally scheduled opening date of Falcon’s Fury - Busch Gardens’ newest and greatly anticipated ride. Since the attraction was officially announced about a year ago, residents have been eager to board what has been dubbed “North America’s tallest freestanding drop tower.”
Falcon’s Fury elevates riders to about 335 feet, tilts its seats 90-degrees and plummets while riders directly face the ground below. To add some perspective on the height, the attraction rises to about 100 feet above Busch Gardens’ tallest roller coaster SheiKra.
But why the delay on the grand opening? In a statement released Wednesday, Busch Gardens spokesman Travis Claytor revealed the reason for the hold-up.
“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."
Reassuring that the postponement was not related to safety concerns, he added that the ride has been safely operated in all initial stages of the testing process.
Unfortunately, no specific opening date has been released, so we may be on the edge of our seats for a while – but hopefully not for too long; the statement mentioned that we can look forward to the launch of Falcon’s Fury “later this summer.”
For the time being, get acquainted with the park’s newest re-imagined land “Pantopia," formerly "Timbuktu," surrounding the soon-to-come attraction - complete with a new look, new rides and a renovated theater.
The new zone, said to be “inspired by centuries of world travelers,” is now open and accessible to guests.