Coaster Community

A recent holiday cruise allowed us to revisit Aquaventure in the Bahamas.  We didn't have time to ride everything so we spent most of our time floating around the river system.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay lately has been known to deliver on big name thrills and additions. Over the past few years the park has added quite a bit with the additions of SheiKra the first true dive machine with a 90* drop, and also the first dive machine in America. Later the park removed the infamous Python roller coaster, and overhauled the entire area that Python and Claw Island occupied and brought in Jungala. Next up was a renovation to the Land of the Dragons area which was converted to Sesame Street. But the latest addition is one that no one will forget any time soon and should never be forgotten. In May of 2011 the park brought us the first Intamin in the state of Florida along with an incredible Cheetah exhibit. This huge investment has turned out incredible and has brought great feedback from riders and guests interested in the animal’s exhibit. I had the opportunity to ride Cheetah Hunt recently and finally experience the ride and see if it lived up to all the hype that everyone has said about it. From riding it firsthand I can easily say, this is the ride to ride. If a new vacation is in order, Busch Gardens is the place to go to experience not only Cheetah Hunt but the world class attractions and animal exhibits. Simply put this ride is phenomenal!

Stepping up to the entrance of the ride you can already tell it’s going to be a good ride because everything has been so well themed and you get a really good glimpse of your first launch and the towering figure 8 element. Once inside the building that the queue is in you get to see the incredible scenery that Busch Gardens has added to enhance the queue and the ride. Everything just flows together nicely. Once you reach the trains and the loading section you get a glimpse of just how awesome the trains look with the cheetah print decals and the nose of the train that looks like a Cheetah. Now it’s time to move out of the station for the beginning of the ride.

The first launch can catch you buy surprise if not expecting it but it’s a good start to a great ride! Once you’ve made it around the first turn it’s time for the main launch up into the figure 8. Moving up into the figure 8 you get to experience an element that has never been done on a roller coaster before and it’s very smooth and the first drop is a lot of fun with a little bit of airtime. Moving onto the course there is a lot of twists and turns with little bits of airtime thrown in here and there. The heartline inversion was perfectly executed as the train flows through very smoothly. The rest of the ride is just as smooth. The back and forth movement of the track in the former Rhino Rally section is perfectly smooth as well and the addition of the waterfall is really fun and you feel like an actual cheetah moving fast and changing directions. The third and final launch up into the parabola hill is great because for the airtime lovers, there is plenty of that. Then it’s time to hit the brakes and go down and see the on-ride photos and videos.

I can’t stress enough how incredible this ride is. Busch Gardens went above and beyond on this ride. I’ve rode SheiKra numerous times and love the ride, it’s a great ride. With that said I walked into Cheetah Hunt with high hopes and expectations and it actually surpassed all expectations. This is one ride I can easily see winning some awards even a Golden Ticket this year. Smooth, thrilling ride that is sure to thrill everyone. I hope you all can make it to Busch Gardens soon to experience Cheetah Hunt, a new breed of speed!

Here's a link to the full Busch Gardens Africa Gallery CLICK

We were testing a new POV mounting system, my head. I determined that it's better than hand held but not as good as a mounted camera. This was shot with permission and supervision by the park. Don't try this on your own.