Cheetah Hunt Now Open At Busch Gardens

I love roller coasters.

I like that feeling you get when your car barrels down the tallest hill. You know the one—your body drops and it takes your stomach a second to catch up. It’s so much fun.

My friend Sarah’s husband is an electrician at Busch Gardens, and when Sarah asked me if I wanted to go to the employee friends and family night and ride the new Cheetah Hunt roller coaster on May 24, of course I said yes.

Cheetah Hunt opened to the public three days later, but on May 24, I felt like a prey-chasing, thrill-seeking pioneer.

It’s been about a year since construction started on the new green and yellow coaster, which was designed to conjure up the feeling of a cheetah sprinting after its next meal. The track is 4,429 feet long—the longest in the park—with a 130-foot drop into an underground trench. The 16-seat trains are shorter than others in the park, which makes for tighter twists and turns. The coaster’s max speed is 60 mph.

Sarah didn’t want to ride because of health reasons, so I was on my own as I pulled the harness over my head and buckled up.

Riders who had gone on the adventure before me pulled back into the station smiling and clapping. I tried to focus on that image as the butterflies began to flutter inside me.

The workers at the control panel gave their “thumbs up” signal, and the coaster began moving. Then came my first surprise.

We were only a second into the ride when we hit the first speed burst, which planted the back of my head to the seat. Cheetah Hunt has three of these “launch” surges. The first one, which happens as you leave the boarding station, takes you from zero to 30 mph in two seconds. A second burst takes you to 60 mph 102 feet straight up to a figure-eight tower, and the last one near the end jolts you to 45 mph. Heavy-duty magnets are used to pull the trains into these launch sequences.

In addition to the launch surges, there were corkscrew twists, a zigzag through a narrow cave, and short hills over river rapids that used to be part of the Rhino Rally ride.

The Cheetah Hunt’s ride time is about 90 seconds, but it felt like it went by much faster. Sarah’s husband Brian, who said he had probably ridden the coaster about 60 times in preparation for it opening, pointed out that other rides use lift chains to pull you uphill, which can make them seem longer and create anticipation. Cheetah Hunt’s launch surges are the opposite—you’re quickly propelled uphill so there’s no time during the ride to psych yourself up.

I thought Cheetah Hunt was much tamer than SheiKra, the park’s scary drop ride, or Montu, the loopy hanging coaster. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Said one rider as we exited through the Cheetah-themed gift shop: “That was awesome!”