Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) is experiencing a renaissance these days. The recent past has included SheiKra (opened 2005, made floorless in 2007), Jungala (2008), and Walkabout Way (2010), and now in 2011 we get Cheetah Run (an animal habitat) and Cheetah Hunt, an exciting terrain coaster that manages to perfectly balance between “family friendly” and adrenaline-pumped thrills. Two claws up!
The entrance is next to the SkyRide’s new sign.
The initial idea was to craft a family coaster—something that more kids could go on. Three of the top rides at BGT have high height requirements of 54 inches, meaning riders are usually older than nine or ten years old. They wanted more rides in the 40” or 48” portfolio (it ended up being 48 inches), and they also knew they wanted a coaster to stay low to the ground.
This kind of “terrain coaster” that hugs whatever land is available (gullies, hills, etc) is more common in states where there is actual variation in landscape (Florida is pretty flat), and the model in my mind is always Magic Mountain’s Gold Rusher.
The old monorail building was previously empty.
While Cheetah Hunt doesn’t have a ton of actual hills to work with, they made do with low-rising bare steel and trenches cut into the earth. It turns out that the terrain is less important than the ride mechanics. This coaster has an operating metaphor in a way that few coasters (especially bare steel coasters) do. Namely, it’s meant to capture how it feels to be a cheetah while on the hunt, running down prey while sprinting, twisting, and changing course as necessary to win. And the metaphor is brilliant. This makes for a very fun, and unpredictable, sprint through the Serengeti.
The LSM (linear synchronous motors) launches are incredible.
The ride has several touted features: triple accelerations (courtesy of linear synchronous motors), a 130-foot drop with 4 G-forces at the base, and a heart-line spin (the only inversion). True enough, as far as that goes.
My favorite part, though, is when it finds actual terrain: the river canyon formerly used for Rhino Rally, now repurposed for quick left-right turns as Cheetah Hunt maneuvers mere inches above the waterline. That had all kinds of excitement for me—visual, certainly, but also visceral, thanks to the quick and sudden lateral g-forces that nevertheless felt smooth and graceful. I still don’t know how they pulled that off.
I love the way the coaster intertwines with the SkyRide,
the train, and the pedestrian walkways.
The whole ride is smooth and graceful, actually. At the same time, it projects speed, without feeling “overpowering.” It’s a delicate balancing act, one that many coasters aim for but few can actually achieve. The coaster is definitely fun, and will bring a smile to just about anyone’s face. Adrenaline junkies will love the acceleration (and the resulting airtime when you crest those bunny hills), but “family” audiences will also love the way the ride is both gentle and boundary-stretching. It’s not an extreme coaster (I’m a grown adult but I’m willing to admit on record that X2 at Magic Mountain actively scared me). But it is extremely fun.
The old river scene from Rhino Rally is now part of Cheetah Hunt.
Cheetah Hunt had several technical glitches as opening day loomed (and even after it arrived), so expect some growing pains during the shakedown phase. You should also expect crowds. Lines on opening day stretched to 160 minutes. Busch Gardens has a “skip the line” offering (as a $45 upsell) called QuickQueue - but it doesn’t include Cheetah Hunt, so no matter what you’re in for a wait.
You pull 4 g’s at the base of the 130 foot drop.
The animal exhibit, Cheetah Run, isn’t nearly as ground-breaking as Jungala. It’s a more traditional habitat, with visitors kept at a slight distance. At either end of the exhibit are large panes of glass, so you could in fact get lucky and see a cheetah up close. They’ve tried to lure the cheetahs here, in fact, by positioning cooled air ducts right near the windows, but so far the cats haven’t located (or needed?) the air conditioning.
As an enhancement (read: anti-boredom) device, they built a mechanical lure, with a string on it that pulls away from the cheetahs as they chase it. The idea is to get the cats running in this intentionally long/oblong enclosure, and the lure can go up to 80 MPH. But take note that they don’t run this all the time; check the signs or ask a handler for scheduled “show” times to see the cheetahs run (apparently, they do the run at the first show of the day, and the last). Otherwise, the cats do a lot of lounging around.
Cheetah Run is right next to the tower of Cheetah Chase, but the
big drop (and the resulting screaming) faces away from the cats.
One huge advantage here over the cheetah exhibit at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is that since patrons are on foot, they can linger as long as they want. The cheetahs almost never *do* anything when seen at DAK’s safari ride. In fact, half the time when I ride I can’t even find the cheetahs, and the other half of the time, our jeep goes by so fast we do little more than witness the cats briefly. Not so at Busch Gardens. The long enclosure offers plenty of viewing room, and you can watch to your heart’s content.
Of course, there’s a gift shop.
40x40 Meets
We’re continuing to hold these weekly meetings at the Magic Kingdom to honor the 40th anniversary (sorry to the folks from Vegas who came last week when I was busy – that should hopefully be my last ‘absence’!) We meet at 2pm at the exit shop (Curtain Call Collectibles) to the new Mickey meet and greet on Main Street, then we head to our scheduled attraction. The list of destinations is kept current on MiceChat.
App Review: Disney Animation Trivia
I received a review copy of an iPhone app called “Disney Animation Trivia” ($1.99) from the folks at http://www.foombi.com/. This sucker had me humbled in no time flat. Anyone who’s been around Disney parks and movies for a while knows there is a bewildering amount of trivia buried in the company’s rich history. This app focused on the animated features and shorts (you won’t find Pixar movies in here), but that was easily enough to flummox me.
The game has three modes: true/false (which appears to run forever?), a timed “sweatbox” mode (you play until you get your third question wrong), and “straight ahead” (an untimed, multiple choice format that also runs forever and keeps track of your right/wrong totals). In everything but true/false, you get to choose what level of difficulty you want (easy / medium / hard / all). An old hat like me breezed through the ‘easy’ questions, but some of them might be challenging for kids, especially if they don’t live and breathe Disney movies.
It ratchets up in difficulty right from there. Here’s a “medium” question: What is the flight number of the Albatross Airlines flight to Devil’s Bayou? (it’s multiple choice, and “13” is the right answer). And the ‘hard’ questions? Well, it turns out I don’t KNOW who helps Pablo the Penguin cross the equator or how many adoption interviews Lewis tells Mildred he’s had. I can guess sometimes, but like I said, this app is humbling.
It’s attractively presented.
There are several painted backdrops (which appear to be original artwork, evocative of the Disney style and movies), and the app comes with sound effects and music if desired (again, nothing cribbed directly from Disney). After several tries in one format, I did finally start to see some repeated questions, but there’s obviously a very large bank of questions in here.
The folks at foombi have also provided me with five additional codes for giveaway of the app (it has to be iPhone, iTouch, or iPad). So I’m hosting a giveaway.
As I frequently do, I’d like to make this a photo competition, subjectively judged by me. I will choose the top five winners and contact you with the codes—and I will run your winning photos online. I reserve the right to run some of the almost-winners, too, so only submit if you’re OK with that.
The competition is: send a photo with something funny happening IN THE BACKGROUND of the main subject. Rules: it must take place at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, and you can only submit one photo. And, duh, it has to be family friendly. Email your submission to [email protected] by 6/12 for full consideration. |
