orangeblue

Cheetah Hunt opened on time today. About to ride the front row!

So, with Cheetah Hunt up and open, what do you guys think is next for BGT? Personally, I'm hoping for some kind of major flat ride like an extreme swing, Huss giant frisbee, or drop tower. Considering how BGT and BGW always seem to mirror each other in development, I could realistically see them installing a drop tower given the new one at BGW. As for coasters, I wouldn't expect another one for 5-6 years since that's been the trend lately (unless the economy dramatically improves and tourism picks up again).

That's pretty much what prompted me to ask this question. I'm going to Busch Gardens Tampa on Sunday and got the Quick Queue so I can ride as many times as possible over the nearly 11 hours I'll be there. I jokingly told my parents that I'll need to bring some Tylenol along for when I inevitably get a headache and they told me that I should not be 'ignoring' something like that as it is an indicator that something isn't right in your body. Perhaps I should consult Dr. House .

I'm viewing this site on a 16:10 monitor and think that it looks fine. Very few websites take advantage of the full width of a widescreen monitor, and in general I think this is a good thing. For example, if I am using Windows 7 and snap the browser to the left or right side of the screen, a fully widescreen website would require horizontal scrolling just to see everything. In other words, if you completely filled the full field of view available, then you would force people to view your site with the browser maximized. Finally, there's also legacy support to consider. If someone still has an older 4:3 or 5:4 monitor, they would be forced to scroll horizontally no matter what (you could provide an alternative narrow layout, but that would just be more work to create and maintain). As far as the site's design, I think that it works very well from a functional/ease-of-use perspective. No, TPR is not the prettiest site when it comes to all the fancy new "Web 2.0" crap, but I don't think that matters. As others have said, people come here for the content, and the content that is here is pretty well organized (If you haven't seen this comic about web design, it might be a good thing to check out before committing to doing any serious changes: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell). But, if you are really dying to use that extra space, there is one good option: advertising! A lot of websites have full background adds to replace the whitespace on the sides of the website, and I actually find this to be one of the more effective ways to advertise as it doesn't displace your content or get in the way of the user experience; it's just there in the background. With your site's traffic, I could easily see you guys getting some good deals from theme parks or travel-related companies. By the way, do you guys do your own web development/maitenance, or do you hire outside people?

So I've been wondering for awhile what kind of effects repeatedly riding roller coasters can have on your brain? I know we all joke about how rough some rides are, but can that SLC or Boomerang do any permanent damage (I'm thinking along the lines of what boxers or football players experience)?

As a Floridian and coaster enthusiast, I'm fairly embarrassed by this behavior . On a happier note, I finally ordered all my tickets (year pass + quick queue unlimited) and am going next Sunday for the passholder ERT! I haven't been to the park in over three years, so I'm pretty excited to see all the recent changes and experience Cheetah Hunt (wish they offered that with the quick queue , but at least I have the morning ERT).

If you watch closely, it really does look just about the same speed wise as the animated POV. The thing is, the animated POV had copious amounts of motion blur added everywhere to give it the illusion of going faster than it really was. The only area that might be a little slower is the figure-eight, but other than that, they look very similar.

Should still run unless there is lightning near by, which you can bet there will be since almost any rain in Florida around summer time is from a thunderstorm. However, if there's only like around a 10-30% chance, you should be good. We haven't really kicked off the rainy/afternoon-thunderstorm season yet.

As was already posted, when the tram drops you off at the gate, go to the self-serve ticket machines (you can miss them) and follow the steps. Be sure to have your passport voucher with you. BGT does not have photos on their AP's. I have a 2 year passport and it doesn't have a photo. I remember back maybe 10 or so years ago even the FL resident FunCards had photos on them, but not anymore. As for the parking, yes it'll still be free. Just show your passport voucher to the parking attendant. They'll take it to scan so they can print out a receipt to give you, then send you on your way. And don't forget you get a 10% discount on food & merchandise (including on the refills if you have one of those sports bottles... totally worth the $7.99!). Thanks for the info! What do they use to ID you without a photo? Do they still do those hand scanners? Also, how does Quick Queue work if you order online? Same as the passports - self serve terminals? I haven't been to BGT in over two years and think that I'm going to get the Quick Queue Unlimited for my first time back (I'm hoping that 'unlimited' tag really means unlimited!).

^ Thanks for the info! Sounds a lot less painful than the last time I got a year pass. Hopefully if I get to the park early enough (30 minutes before opening) I can get everything sorted out so I can enjoy a full hour of ERT.

So, some quick questions for any of you that have bought tickets online for BGT - what is the process like when you get to the park if you order a year long passport online and print it out? Do I still have to go get my picture taken or wait in some long processing line? Will I be able to take advantage of the free parking the first time I go? And perhaps most importantly, will I be able to take part in the passholder Cheetah Hunt ERT the first time I go to the park with the new pass? Finally, on the topic of Quick Queue - how does that work once you get to the park if you have already ordered online? (And for the record, I've researched all of these questions on the BGT website and was not able to find answers.)

Meh, haters gonna hate. I'm looking forward to this ride; looks like it will be really fun. I'm not going in expecting Cheetah Hunt to be as thrilling as Maverick, but it can still be a great ride in its own right.

^ I don't know, personally I found the quick transitions Intamin used on Maverick to be the coolest part of the ride. I had never felt anything like them on a roller coaster before (or since). The only problem with them is the head/neck chopping, but if you brace for them, you can avoid most discomfort (or at least I did). As for Cheetah Hunt, I don't think it's meant to be another "Maverick." It looks to be focused a lot more on fun and speed instead of straight up thrills and intensity. Needless to say, I'm really excited to see how it turns out!

Well, it looks like Cheetah Hunt won't be initially offered with Quick Queue (according to the BGT website's Quick Queue page). I'm disappointed since I was planning on making my first use of their Quick Queue pass when I visit the park for the first time after Cheetah Hunt opens. Oh well, looks like I'll be waiting in line with everyone else!

Is it bad that I get this aroused by seeing that twisty Intamin track?

It's nice to see the coaster is coming along well, but I'm sad to hear the park's operations are so lacking recently. I haven't been there in two years, but I never remember it being as bad as you guys are describing now with the exception of Gwazi which has always had terrible dispatch times. Unfortunately, when you're talking about minimum wage jobs where you are expected to do a repetitive task for eight hours straight, you aren't going to get the 'best' employees possible.

Isn't there an overbanked turn at the beginning of the ride right after the launch? Also, I agree about the Stengal Dive bit... the ride could have definitely benefitted from one or two. No, that turn after the first launch was definitely less than 90 degrees.

As a person who lives in the Tampa Bay area, but hasn't been to Busch Gardens in two years, I'm excited to see that I finally have a reason to go back! To get this out of the way, I agree that the name isn't the most imaginative, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. As for the confusion about hunting cheetahs... why not just call it "Cheetah's Hunt"? I think that would be fairly unambiguous and give a better indication that the ride is supposed to mimic a cheetah hunting its prey. In terms of the ride itself, I think Busch Gardens has a real winner. As a coaster enthusiast, I would have definitely like something closer to Maverick on the intensity scale, but I still expect this ride to be incredibly thrilling and fun. Plus, I think it definitely fills a nice gap in the park's coaster collection between a ride like Gwazi, and the 'big boys' - Kumba, Montu, and Sheikra. Overall, the ride looks to have a great combination of forces including some abundant airtime if the video is any indication. As for only having one inversion... well I'd just say that if Maverick is any indication, that shouldn't matter at all (the horseshoe rolls weren't that memorable compared to the rest of the ride). I do have a few disappointments though: - No real powerful launch. The only full launch is the 30mph one out of the station, while the other two are more of a rolling launch (as in, you're already moving when entering it, so you don't get the full blast of a 0-60 launch). - No Stengel Dive - The flat section after the turn-around following the barrel roll looks like a bit of a missed opportunity. I can see that they might have had to stretch things to get the ride to go through the previously dug trench, but I still think something interesting could have fit there (perhaps anther barrel roll type element). And finally, I'm a little confused on one point in their press release. They say the ride features 'overbanked turns' but I don't see any in the video. Am I missing something or did they just confuse coaster terminology? Anyways, next spring can't come soon enough!

I'm planning on going to Busch Gardens on Thursday. Is Kumba currently closed for this cleaning? I couldn't find anything on their site.

I remember there was a debate awhile ago about whether the ride would use water jets or if the trains would actually skim the water. I found this interesting quote in a newspaper article about one of the ride designers, Brian Morrow. Q: "The original plan was for the coaster wings to dip in the water, sending up a spray. Instead of water scoops used on SheiKra at Busch Gardens Africa, you did the effect with a series of water jets. What happened?" A: "The coaster designers said it wouldn't work. So we found a fountain builder who said they could pull it off. We spent hours studying water skier sprays trying to imagine what it would look like. We built a 12-foot model of Manta in a Fort Lauderdale warehouse. It threw a spray of water 27 feet high and can be adjusted." I wish they went into more detail about why specifically it couldn't work, but I found it interesting that that was the original intent. Either way, it seems like they did a good job with that effect.

I went in mid June during the middle of the week last year and the longest waits were 45min - 1 hour for MF and Maverick and 30-45min for TTD. Raptor/Mantis had 20-30min waits, and everything else was mostly a station wait. I also stayed on site. I'd recommend hitting either Maverick or MF first, though MF runs noticeably slower in the morning so if you're willing to put up with a longer wait, try riding it in the afternoon.

Well, you'd think since they can make facial recognition software, they should be able to add boob recognition abilities that could black out any "inappropriate content" from being displayed on the photo booth screens. I'd also find it pretty funny if some random guys tried to buy the girl's pictures...

Has anyone noticed how high the point of inflection is on this drop? It's weird, most of the time it's around 1/2 the way down the drop, but on this coaster, it's around 1/3-1/4 the way down the drop. I wonder why they did this, since such a curvature minimizes airtime (once you start the pullout after the point of inflection, g's start to go up again, so the sooner you reach that point, the less airtime you have).

Wow, absolutely incredible pictures! I've been looking for some good aerial shots of Cedar Point for background desktop wallpapers and these look great. Thanks!

Well, I agree that wooden coasters should have some roughness to them, but Gwazi has just gotten past the acceptable level and has become rather brutal. I've been riding it every year since around 2000, and during the first few years it was more than bearable (actually was a pretty fun ride). Now, I don't even bother riding it unless its a walk-on, though thats never the case anymore since the dispatches are redicuously slow.