When you think of Tampa Bay's Busch Gardens, you think of two things: African wildlife and roller coasters. On May 27, visitors to the park get the best of both worlds with the opening of the new steel coaster, Cheetah Hunt.
Inspired by the speed and grace of the animal it's named for, Cheetah Hunt accelerates up to 60 miles per hour. The track stretches to 4,000 feet and weaves throughout the park.
Not a stranger to the namesake cat, Busch Gardens was home to a collection of cheetahs in the 1970s. Cheetah Hunt, like the animal, is designed for speed. Imitating a cheetah hunting its prey, the coaster smoothly takes corners and dives into trenches. Mark Rose, vice president of design and engineering at Busch Gardens, led the 13-month construction.
"[Cheetahs] are a magnificent animal that are extremely graceful and pleasant to the eye. Most importantly, they are all about speed," Rose said. "That's what this coaster is about. It looks like it’s fast, and it is."
Unlike Tampa’s chain-lifted roller coasters, Cheetah Hunt's trains are propelled by the force of repelling magnets. Also, the ride features multiple launching points. Each of the five trains is launched right out of the loading station without traveling up a hill. The ride then accelerates from 30 mph to 60 mph in one and a half seconds on a straight run. A third acceleration occurs halfway through the ride, before the trains are sent back to the loading station.
"Unless you were to stop the roller coaster and drag it to the top of another hill, you could not experience this kind of acceleration in the middle of a ride," Rose said. "It should be very different for visitors."
Cheetah Hunt’s 7-acre track is integrated into several areas of the park. The old monorail station was converted into a loading station. The track winds into the Rhino Rally's river canyon and over top of the Skyride's cable cars and guest pathways.
"Other theme parks, with money and time, could design something that would mimic what we’re doing," Rose said. "But, what makes this so unique is how we have blended this coaster into our existing facility."
The surrounding aesthetics of Cheetah Hunt contribute to the overall riding experience. The coaster’s yellow support columns are designed to look like pickup sticks. Cheetah spots adorn the carts, and the track itself is bright green. The area surrounding the attraction will feature weathered concrete designed to resemble ancient African ruins. Riders will also be able to watch through windows as the park's new collection of cheetahs exercise along a 250-foot straightaway.
"Our guests are a sophisticated bunch who expect a certain level of immersion into an environment that we create," Rose said. "We’ve created such an environment that could shroud a part of the coaster from the view of the guests and cheetahs, so that they are not distracted by the rollercoaster going by all the time."
According to Rose, riders can share their shrieking gapes with friends instantaneously.
If you purchase ride photos, you can add on a "web photo" that is e-mailed to you immediately and can be posted to Facebook and Twitter.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.