Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (BGT Discussion Thread)

[aimster]

LOL! Ummm.... yeah. Wonderpup is my traveling companion.

 

My boyfriend (yes I actually have a real, live one!) was in Anaheim this past weekend working the NAMM trade show (he works for a guitar manufacturer).

[Meteornotes]

Yeah, just because someone carries a stuffed animal with them everywhere and takes photos of it and posts them to the internet to amuse others doesn't mean they're single.

 

Well, almost everyone...grrrrr...

 

dt

[larrygator]

And Barry just because a woman doesn't already have a restraining order out against you doesn't mean you should address them. We seriously missed picking on you Barry.

Edited January 19, 2011 by larrygator

[BarryH]

^Well, you know 99% of TPR women have restraining orders on me.

 

But not Robb...

[adavis]

For Robb, Elissa, or really anyone else who has a lot of global coaster experience:

 

How does Cheetah Hunt stack up as far as anticipation? I haven't been a member of the site for very long, but have been a coaster enthusiast for most of my 32 years, and this coaster looks awesome to me.

 

Does this-anticipation wise-equal a daunting project like I-305, or Millennium Force, or is it more akin to a really cool, yet smaller ride like Maverick or Fahrenheit?

 

Is there another coaster, anywhere, that seems similar to this one? I'm sure other Intamin's share traits with this ride, but at least to my eyes, this thing seems quite special.

 

No reason for asking, aside from curiosity.

 

Thanks!

[CoasterComet]

Thanks for the Scorpion love, aimster. I *heart* Scorpion (or any Anton).

 

Cheetah looks GREAT. Now imagine how it would be with some nice old OTSR-free Intamin trains. mmmmmmmmmmm

[G-Force!]

Maverick was awesome, but this looks even better. At first I wasn't too impressed with the ride until I saw the most recent photos posted, however, Cheetah Hunt will be my number one reason I'll want to visit Florida again. Can't wait to see some test runs in the coming months.

[The SETGO Guys]

I just got an Email from the BGT Press Dept.

 

The most important peice of information was....

Regarding Cheetah Hunt, the trains will incorporate over-the-shoulder foam-padded restraints.

I was hoping for lap bars.....oh well....still gonna be an awesome coaster!

-Zach

[Vffreak07]

Oh the horror! Well now this coaster's gonna suck. How unfortunate.

[Electerik]

Yes, for some people, the over-the-shoulder-restraints could be a problem. (*cough* me)

 

Having said that, I do think Cheetaka* looks amazing. I especially like the spiky "crown" supports that go out past the track.

 

/* I refuse to use Cheetaka's slave name.

[ginzo]

Oh dear. Not the dreaded OTSR debate again.

 

Can Wes summarize it for us so I don't have to read 50 pages about this?

[BeemerBoy]

I heard it's also gonna have trims.

[SharkTums]

It will also eat your babies.

[DJeXeL]

^Sounds exciting

[OldJJman]

For Robb, Elissa, or really anyone else who has a lot of global coaster experience:

 

How does Cheetah Hunt stack up as far as anticipation?

 

I'll take a stab at this one.

 

For me (noting that others with high counts may feel different) it brings up a word from many years ago on a usenet newsgroup (rec-rollercoaster) that surfaced: anticipointment.

 

As we have followed construction of many coasters throughout the years, many have looked: really good, "top ten material", "potential #1", etc... Then you get there, ride it, and sometimes go - WTF? This is even after many who did ride it proclaimed it: "my new #1", best coaster ever, greatest thing since sliced bread...

 

A lot of it has to do with individual preferences. Me? I prefer a great wooden coaster. But, even in a steel coaster I still look for basically the same thing. Changes in direction, laterals, positive G's, airtime, speed and pretty much in that order. I know that both Robb and Elissa have strong preferences that lean towards having airtime at the top.

 

When we were there on media day for Goliath (SFMM), it looked awesome. World's tallest, fastest coaster (only to be beaten by MF a couple of months later). After Robb's first ride, I distinctly remember him saying "Meh. It feels like a big Schwartzkoph Jet Star." Hard to disagree.

 

As a hardcore enthusiast, who has been on a few coasters, I usually take the "I'll wait until I ride it to make ANY opinion." It may look great, but i'll wait. After riding a couple of times, I'll form an opinion. I'll even have an idea of those here that I know who will like it more, or less than I do, OR one that we'll ALL LOVE.

 

Some examples:

 

"Coaster" at Playland (PNE) - So small, but packs a wallop in every way. A true top tier ride.

 

"Millennium Force" - A glorified (albeit fast) mine train with a descent first drop.

 

"Kawasemi" - Yeah, it looks cool, but it's so damn small!! Can't be all that good! WRONG!! Now we have a thread here on TPR about which parks should get a "Mega-lite"? (A: ALL of them - it kicks all kinds of A$$!)

 

"SOB" - Looked awesome, until you rode it. Anticipointment at it's highest!

 

"Hollywood: RRR" Go back and look at the thread of when they were building it. Has the potential to be the "Greatest coaster ever!" Not. The "non-inverting loop" was cool, but the rest of the ride really sucks.

 

The most classic example I can think of:

 

"Eagle's Fortress" - It's just an Arrow suspended coaster. We *ALL* went in with VERY, VERY LOW expectations. After our first ride, the general consensus (in the best way possible) was "What the hell was that?" Elissa was waiting in the station (holding KT) and absolutely thought that we were kidding when we told her it was AWESOME!! Then she rode it. AWESOME!

 

Getting back to Cheetah Hunt - I'll admit that it looks really cool. I think that the "left-right-left" through the trench may be the most boring part of the ride for me, but, I hope I'm wrong. (Very similar looking to Thunder Dolphin - and that was like "What the hell is that in there for?" BORING!) That would be followed closely by the figure 8 tree top thingy. Again, I hope I'm wrong. I really like the idea of multiple launches. One of my favorite elements anywhere is the second launch on "Speed: The Ride" in Vegas. Don't know exactly why, but I really love it!

 

I will ride it, no doubt. Probably later this year. So, for me, it's safe to say that I like what I see, but I do reserve the right to reserve judgement, so as to avoid any "anticipointment".

 

Besides, it's another credit!

 

JJ

[Mr. Starr]

New POV and water dummy testing video from BGT's Facebook!

 

 

www.facebook.com/BuschGardensTampaBay

[SharkTums]

For Robb, Elissa, or really anyone else who has a lot of global coaster experience:

 

How does Cheetah Hunt stack up as far as anticipation? I haven't been a member of the site for very long, but have been a coaster enthusiast for most of my 32 years, and this coaster looks awesome to me.

 

Does this-anticipation wise-equal a daunting project like I-305, or Millennium Force, or is it more akin to a really cool, yet smaller ride like Maverick or Fahrenheit?

 

Is there another coaster, anywhere, that seems similar to this one? I'm sure other Intamin's share traits with this ride, but at least to my eyes, this thing seems quite special.

 

No reason for asking, aside from curiosity.

 

Thanks!

 

I'm honestly pretty excited for it. When I saw I305 being built I was not very excited and thought it looked kind of dull. It had too much 'twisty' and not enough airtime. Then I rode it and found that through an amazing Intamin Miracle the twisty parts even gave airtime! I hadn't paid attention to iSpeed at all and was also really blown away by it. To me this kind of looks like a combo of I305 and iSpeed...and since it's no secret I don't like the name Cheetah Hunt I shall rename it i305Speed!

 

In another angle, I'm also REALLY REALLY excited for Florida to be getting some non-B&M's!!!!! A lot of you don't like Rockit, but I do, now this, very happy!

[Midgetman82]

Awesome. The ride still looks rough, but better nonetheless! Looks great.

 

I also found a picture that has the coaster testing with one person in it: http://behindthethrills.com/wp-content/gallery/gwazi-1-19-11/gwazi-testing-17.jpg

 

Source: http://behindthethrills.com/2011/01/gwazi-testing-with-flyers-cheetah-hunt-update-1-19-11/

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yeah I was in the park again today and saw one of the supervisor/team leader guys riding in the front of one of the trains. He waved at us as he rolled out of the station.

[Maximo37]

Glad to hear/see a human or two have ridden Gwazi... I was hoping for a "soft re-opening" (and am still keeping my eye on the blogs with fingers crossed) as I have the next couple of days off from work, and would run there in a heartbeat if it opened early...

[RoCo]

Thanks for posting that Gwazi testing video! Those MF trains are just poetry in motion.

 

And the kangaroo & wallaby photos are also full of cuddly win.

[Ed Farmer]

I'm excited for this, though I would be for just about anything Busch Tampa builds because it's bound to be a quality attraction. It's also about 30 minutes from my winter place at what I consider my home park.

That said, I don't understand what there is in the pictures that warrants an "omfg buying tickets/rescheduling my vacation drool" reaction. The figure 8 looks nice with the steep ascent (and hopefully just as steep descent) but what else is there yet? A roll and some launch track? Before this thing is finished I'll be reading pledges to walk across the country barefoot on rocks just to be near it.

[Yamez]

^ The POV has been up for ages, and quite frankly it looks phenomenal.

[Ed Farmer]

I was referencing the pictures.

[Jay20016]

Thanks for posting that Gwazi testing video! Those MF trains are just poetry in motion.

 

And the kangaroo & wallaby photos are also full of cuddly win.

 

Walkabout Way is definitely a great, albeit, small addition to the park. The food wasn't too expensive to get for them and that some of the smaller ones can crawl out of the pens and roam around free is awesome as well.