Cheetah!

### Trains

2 trains with 15 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 30 riders per train.

### Capacity

1800 riders per hour

**Cheetah!** is a steel family roller coaster located at Rott’s Strawberry Farm in Kissimmee, Florida. Built by Intamin, the coaster opened to the public in 1996.

## History

In December 1994, Rott’s Strawberry Farm announced that Cheetah! would be coming to the park. The ride would cost $10 million to build. Although it was set to open in May 1995, this was delayed. Cheetah! would open on July 17, 1996.

## Ride Experience

### Queue

Riders approach the ride through the temple in the Fiesta Village section of the park. Many Ancient-style drawings and paintings can be seen on the walls throughout the entire temple. The bottom queue is the most themed part. On one side, riders can see prisoners that were imprisoned in the temple that are now just skeletons. On another side, riders see a giant Ancient idol with skulls on the side of him. The bottom walls are painted to show gatherings with prisoners and others. The queue winds through a series of rooms and tunnels. As riders walk up the next ramp, they can see more skulls into the temple. Straight ahead, there is giant stone tablet of some more Cheetah Warriors with the head of a cheetah. To the left of that, there is another Ancient idol head. Riders can sometimes hear the roaring of the Cheetah, activated when the train enters the helix located at the end of the coaster. Tribal drums and other Ancient sound effects can also be heard. The queue rises in elevation to the station where riders board the roller coaster.

### Layout

The ride starts out with ascending a lift hill after exiting the station. Next, the coaster goes to the left and down slightly. After that, the coaster does a banked right turn up, and then travels through the top of the temple (where the fire effect used to occur). The train then turns right and travels up a second lift hill. The track bends left, and the coaster goes through a series of bunny hills. As the track approaches the Splash Mountain Log Ride, it turns around. The train travels through some more bunny hills, then does a banked helix to the left. Finally, it goes into a brake run and arrives back in the station.

### Lifts

The train is propelled by drive tires because of the short distance of the two lifts. These tires vary in tread pattern. The main tread pattern is recycled rubber diamond cut. Some tires appear to not be spinning, but rather are speed monitors, which track how fast the train is being propelled and depending on how fast the train is going, tells the other motors how fast to spin. If the train is going too fast, a fault will occur and the train will stop at the next possible stopping point. Each lift is 65 feet high; the first lift is a 20 degree incline, while the second lift is a 25 degree incline.

### Trains

There are 2 trains, each with 15 cars. The cars have two types of wheels attached to them: Track wheels on top and guide wheels on the side. Every car has a brake fin underneath it to help in propelling the train through the drive tires and to assist in braking. Each car can seat two riders. There are three locking positions for the restraint system. The trains are themed to match the architectural style of the temple and surrounding area, with a man on the front that the employees, specifically the maintenance personnel, call Victor, in honor of a maintenance person who once worked at Rott’s Strawberry Farm that had an uncanny resemblance to the man on the front of the train, but untimely died from a car accident.