Cheetah Hunt

Cheetah Hunt is a steel launched roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. The roller coaster was manufactured by Intamin and designed in collaboration with Mark Rose. Cheetah Hunt opened to the public on May 27, 2011, alongside a cheetah exhibit called Cheetah Run. Cheetah Hunt features three linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches and a single inversion. The roller coaster reaches a height of 102 ft, with a maximum speed of 60 mph and a total track length of 4429 feet.

Cheetah Hunt is located in the Edge of Africa section of the park and navigates through the Serengeti Plain section. The Cheetah Run exhibit replaced the Budweiser Clydesdales stable area with an 11,000 sqft space and a 220 ft sprint track. The roller coaster utilizes the former monorail station and Rhino Rally water section for its track. Upon opening, Cheetah Hunt received positive acclaim from the public, and ranked as the 2nd Best New Ride of 2011 by the Golden Ticket Awards.

History

The roller coaster, later to be known as Cheetah Hunt, took seven years from conceptualization to completion.[1][2]

Characteristics

Cheetah Hunt was originally termed within the Crown Colony Plaza area of the park,[37] now the Edge of Africa section.[38] The roller coaster is inspired by the general species of cheetah.[7] The themed area features a mixture of concrete and driftwood cheetah statues and a large rock-shaped cheetah located within the queue area.[39][40] The themed land surrounding both roller coaster and exhibit uses a mix of architectural styles inspired by three of the park's themed lands: Africa, Egypt, and Morocco.[39] The roller coaster's queue area is themed to a collapsed temple. Cheetah Hunt covers 13 acre of land within Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

Cheetah Run

To go alongside Cheetah Hunt, the park opened an animal exhibit called Cheetah Run that replaced the Budweiser Clydesdales interaction area.[18][41] The exhibit is located adjacent to the roller coaster's main launch sequence.[2] The exhibit features glass-paneled viewing areas which allow visitors to watch cheetahs sprint across a 220 ft dirt track and educational touch screen panels.[42][18][43] Cheetah Run encompasses an area of 11,000 sqft and houses rockwork, a waterfall, and grassland among areas of a ruined temple.[43] The cheetahs are housed within the old stable building.

Track

Cheetah Hunt is an Intamin steel launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin's United States distributor, Intaride LLC.[18][33] The track is colored green with the supports colored gold to reflect the habitat of the cheetahs in the section of the park.[47] The ride's station is located in the former monorail station that was decommissioned in the 1990s and is housed within the same building that is occupied by the Skyride.[7][48] The station features a two-train loading system.[49] Cheetah Hunt is one of two roller coasters that feature a Windcatcher Tower element.[50]

Trains

Each train is colored yellow with cheetah print, with the front piece of the train designed to appear as a cheetah's head.[39][52] Cheetah Hunt operates with five trains, each with four cars that are arranged two across in two rows, allowing for 16 riders per train.[33] The station allows for two trains to be loaded at the same time.[2] Each seat has an over-the-shoulder restraint.[53] Each train on Cheetah Hunt exerts a maximum of 4.0 g-forces to its riders.[33]

logodimensions	200px
imagedimensions	250px
location	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
section	Edge of Africa
coordinates	28.03417°N, -82.42°W
type	Steel
type2	Launched
status	Operating
opened	May 27, 2011
year	2011
manufacturer	Intamin
designer	PGAV Destinations
model	Blitz Coaster
lift	LSM launch
height ft	102
drop ft	130
length ft	4429
speed mph	60
inversions	1
gforce	4
trains	5
carspertrain	4
rowspercar	2
ridersperrow	2
virtual queue name	Quick Queue
virtual queue image	Quick Queue availability logo (Busch Gardens).svg
virtual queue status	available
custom label 1	Launches
custom value 1	1. 30 mph in 1.8 seconds 2. 60 mph in 2.4 seconds 3. 40 mph in 2.1 seconds
custom label 2	Replaced
custom label 4	Website
video	Cheetah Hunt Busch Gardens Tampa Intamin Blitz Coaster POV.webm
rcdb number	9456

History

Ride experience

Characteristics

Cheetah Run

Track

Trains

Incidents

Reception

Awards

See also

External links

References