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 by Mark Rose and Busch Gardens executives. Cheetah Hunt opened to the public on May 27, 2011, alongside a cheetah exhibit called "Cheetah Run". The roller coaster reaches a height of , with a maximum speed of , and a total track length of . Cheetah Hunt is located in the Crown Colony Plaza section of the park and navigates through the Serengeti Plain section of the park. 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 concept for the roller coaster, later to be known as Cheetah Hunt, from conceptualization to completion took seven years. Cheetah Hunt was designed by Mark Rose, vice president of design and engineering at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, along with several parks executives. Rose was inspired a scene in the "Star Wars" series, "Return of the Jedi", where the protagonists navigated the forests of Endor on speeder bikes. The attraction was also inspired by SeaWorld Orando's roller coaster Manta by its  combination of animal habitat and attraction. Rose initially thought of using a lift hill to reach the speed he wanted but after realizing the height of the lift would be too tall, he incorporated the design to include a linear synchronous motor (LSM) system. Bolliger & Mabillard among other manufactures were considered for the latter attraction, with Intamin ultimately being chosen because of the manufacturers technology development and the park's expectations. In the early planning and construction stages, the roller coaster was initially called "Cheetaka," as a trademark was filed on April 18, 2010 for the name by SeaWorld Parks  & Entertainment, parent company of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. After the park realized that the name was too hard to pronounce and didn't describe the ride, the trademark was abandoned. By June 2010, the transportation gondola, Skyride, was closed for the rumored attraction. In the same month, the park launched a teaser campaign revealing details of the attraction. The campaign featured a website that showcased videos describing the attraction's main characteristics, updates from park officials, and cut scenes of the ride's point-of-view shot video from June to August 2010. On September 10, 2010, the park released  a photo on its social media account of the roller coaster's track. In October 2010, the construction of the foundations were completed. The day prior to the announcement of the ride on October 12, 2010, a second trademark was filed under the name of "Cheetah Hunt". Cheetah Hunt was officially announced on October 13, 2010 alongside a new "Cheetah Run" habitat. By November 18, some supports for the ride were already in place and vertical construction began. By mid-December, the supports for the figure 8 element were complete with some pieces of track also installed. In the beginning  of February 2011, the park introduced several of the cheetahs that would be enclosed in the Cheetah Run attraction. On February 17, 2011, the park announced the opening date for the attraction to be in late-May 2011. The roller coaster's trains arrived on February 28, 2011. Track work for the roller coaster was completed on March 14, 2011. Later on March 27, 2011, it was observed that the park was completing "walk-through tests" on the track, a measure to ensure the trains could safely clear obstacles. In late April 2011, testing began for the roller coaster with  water dummies. Cheetah Hunt and Cheetah Run opened to the public on May 27, 2011. Ride experience. The ride begins with a linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch out of the station and around a wide left turn followed by a gradual dip before approaching the second launch. This launch accelerates riders to their top speed of before climbing a figure-eight element (also known as a Windcatcher Tower). Riders weave through a series of helixes before dropping into a trench, then proceed over a directional changing airtime hill crossing over the Skyride, before completing the ride's only inversion, a  heartline roll. Upon exiting the barrel-roll and its subsequent brake run, the ride remains low to the ground and goes through a series of short banked turns through a rock fixture simulating several "near misses". This leads the ride into its third and final launch which accelerates riders to a speed of to navigate its way back to the station. During the journey back there is airtime and directional changing hills before the final brake run. Characteristics. Cheetah Hunt is located within the Crown Colony Plaza area of the park. The roller coaster is inspired by the general species  of cheetah. The themed area features a mixture of concrete and driftwood cheetah statues and a large rock-shaped cheetah located within the queue area. The themed land surrounding both roller coaster and exhibit use a mix of architectural styles inspired by three of the park's themed lands: Africa, Egypt, and Morocco. Cheetah Run. To go alongside Cheetah Hunt, the park opened an animal exhibit called Cheetah Run that replaced the Budweiser Clydesdales stables. The exhibit is located adjacent to the roller coaster's main launch sequence. The exhibit features glass-paneled viewing areas which allow visitors to watch  cheetahs sprint across a dirt track and educational touch screen panels. Cheetah Run encompasses an area of and houses rockwork, a waterfall, and grassland among areas of a ruined temple. In late January 2011, five cheetahs arrived on site in preparation for the opening of the exhibit. The cheetahs originated from the White Oak Conservation Center located near Jacksonville, Florida, and South Africa. During construction of the habitat, the cheetahs were temporarily accommodated near one of the park's other roller coasters to get them used to the sound. By July 2011, 13 adult cheetahs were housed in the exhibition  space. Track. Cheetah Hunt is an Intamin steel launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin's United States distributor, Intaride LLC. The steel track is long. The track is colored green with the supports colored gold to reflect the habitat of the cheetahs in the section of the park. 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. The track of the roller coaster extends into the Serengeti Plain section of the park, and into the defunct water canyon section  of Rhino Rally. Four trenches were constructed for Cheetah Hunt to traverse under the Serengeti Plain as well as a pedestrian bridge. In addition, the track traverses over the Skyride gondolas. The maintenance bay for the roller coaster is located on a lower level of the building. Trains. Each train is colored yellow with cheetah print, in addition to the front piece of the train designed to appear as a cheetah's head. Cheetah Hunt operates with five trains, each with four cars that are arranged two across in two rows, allowing for 16 riders per train. The station allows  for two trains to be loaded at the same time. Each seat has an over-the-shoulder restraint. Each train is Cheetah Hunt exerts a maximum of 4.0 g-forces to its riders. Incidents. On February 12, 2014, one of the trains, loaded with 16 passengers, stopped between the first and second launch on the roller coaster's banked crest. Park officials attempted to move the train backwards onto the launch platform but failed. The Tampa Fire Rescue Department was called thereafter to rescue the passengers with a cherry picker and a ladder during inclement weather. All passengers rescued were  not injured. The roller coaster remained closed the day after the incident for inspection by park maintenance. Reception. After the original name was changed upon the roller coaster's announcement, many theme park enthusiasts criticized the saying "Cheetah Hunt" did not fit the roller coaster, pressing Busch Gardens to revert to "Cheetaka". However, Busch Gardens responded saying that the name would not be changed. Cheetah Hunt was mostly well-received from the public and critics. Sean Daly from the "Tampa Bay Times" said that Cheetah Hunt isn't that scary and compared it to SheiKra and Montu. He was also  surprised that the train, "Despite having three head-snapping launches, the ride gets curiously slow at times," but still praised the ride for its final launch stating, "[It] sends you over a seemingly small parabola, a stomach-flipping surprise ending". Dewayne Bevil of the "Orlando Sentinel" highlighted the train's route through the scenic tower, winding maneuvers, and low curves that were akin to slalom skiing. Bevil complimented the ride running smoothly with comfortable over-the-shoulder harnesses, overall stating it "isn't an extreme coaster, but definitely a fun one". Staff of "Attractions Magazine" praised the roller coaster's  combination of launches, airtime, and "zig-zag motion".