Wender·Vista
Iron Gwazi
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFlorida · United States
at Busch Gardens, north of Tampa

Iron Gwazi

— — the drop that takes the floor with it.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A hybrid coaster on the bones of the old Gwazi wooden twin, raised out of the same Florida pinewoods where the original ran for two decades. The crest of the lift is 206 feet above the park; the first drop falls back at 91 degrees, steeper than vertical. Riders are quiet on the climb. Nobody is quiet after.

from the studio
Iron Gwazi
— bring it home

Iron Gwazi, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Iron Gwazi

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Iron Gwazi sits inside Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, the 335-acre park near the University of South Florida campus. The ride opened on March 11, 2022, built by Rocky Mountain Construction on the relaid track corridor of the original Gwazi wooden coaster, which ran from 1999 to 2015. The new ride keeps the lion-and-tiger naming of its predecessor and a portion of the original wooden support structure, with steel I-Box rails laid over the top.

— the drop

The first drop is the ride's signature: a 206-foot lift hill releasing into a 91-degree descent at speeds touching 76 mph. At the moment of its 2022 opening, those numbers made Iron Gwazi the tallest, fastest, and steepest hybrid coaster in the world, a category Rocky Mountain Construction effectively created when it began laying steel track on retained wooden frames in the early 2010s. The layout runs three inversions across roughly 4,075 feet of track.

— the visit

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay opens daily, with hours that stretch later in summer and on event weekends. Iron Gwazi is in the Stanleyville section of the park; the queue routes guests past the launch bay and onto an open-air station. Riders must be 48 inches tall. The Tampa heat is real most of the year, so most regulars hit the front of the queue near opening, or in the half-hour after a Florida afternoon thunderstorm clears the line.

— informed by Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
— where
United States · Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida
— within
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
— position
28.0372° N · 82.4194° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km N
Adventure Island
water park
8 km SW
Lowry Park Zoo
zoo
11 km S
Ybor City
historic district
N
Iron Gwazi
Adventure Island
Lowry Park Zoo
Ybor City
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Iron Gwazi — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Iron Gwazi is a hybrid wood-and-steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida, opened March 11, 2022. It was built by Rocky Mountain Construction on the relaid corridor of the earlier Gwazi wooden coaster.

The lift hill rises to 206 feet, the first drop falls at 91 degrees, and the train reaches a top speed near 76 mph. The layout runs roughly 4,075 feet with three inversions.

Hybrid coasters use retained wooden support structure with steel I-Box track laid over the top. Rocky Mountain Construction developed the technique in the early 2010s, reusing existing wooden frames for new steel-rail layouts.

The original Gwazi was a wooden dueling coaster that operated at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay from 1999 to 2015. The two tracks were named Lion and Tiger. Iron Gwazi reuses much of its wooden support structure.

Iron Gwazi sits in the Stanleyville section of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, on the relaid Gwazi corridor. The park itself covers 335 acres in the Temple Terrace area, north of downtown Tampa.

Riders must be at least 48 inches tall. Standard safety restraints apply and loose articles are not permitted on the train.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well as a gift for someone who counts Iron Gwazi among their favorite rides or grew up making the drive to Busch Gardens. A Small or Medium with a studio note carries the moment forward.

The deep saturated stained-glass palette sits well in jewel-tone Maximalist rooms, a teen game room, or a Mid-century den. The colour reads warm against dark wood and brass; cleanly against off-white plaster.

Theme-park wall art has moved from licensed posters toward original fine-art interpretations of specific rides. Iron Gwazi fits that lane: a particular coaster, painted as a place, not a souvenir.

Above a standard sofa, the single Large reads at the right scale, with the 4-tile Mural for a stronger wall and the 9-tile Mural where the wall is the room. Above a console, the Medium is right.

Yes. Order the tile in the Dura Satin or Matte finish for those rooms. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam well; the Glossy is reserved for framed wall display.

Microfibre cloth, slightly damp with water. Nothing more. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin glossy finish, so it does not lift or fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is painted in-house in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. No licensing, no third-party art. One studio, one eye.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.