UPDATE – 10/13 Busch Gardens Tampa has announced details of their 2011 roller coaster, Cheetah Hunt. Read more about Busch Gardens’ Cheetah Hunt roller coaster.
Rumors of a new Busch Gardens Tampa roller coaster had been making the rounds on the Web for a while. A member of Orlando United did some digging around and hit the mother lode. They found plans for the 2011 ride in a public folder on a construction contractor’s website. The plans align with the survey markers that have been spotted at the park. The new ride’s station will be located in the Edge of Africa area. It will venture to the Rhino Rally ride and back.
A Cheetah-Themed Speed Coaster
ScreamScape has reported via a good source that the park is looking to create a roller coaster that emphasizes speed. The ride is said to be designed by Intamin and it will feature multiple (3) launches. ScreamScape also predicts a Cheetah theme for the new ride based on plans for an interactive animal area. For anyone who hasn’t been to that park, Busch Gardens Tampa integrates African wildlife throughout the park. The rumored ride has drawn comparisons to Maverick at Cedar Point. It’s also an Intamin designed and may be low to the ground like Maverick.
Nothing is official and an announcement wouldn’t be likely until the end of the Summer, but from all of the clues pieced together by Orlando United, ScreamScape, and BGTGuide we may already have a pretty clear picture of Busch Gardens 2011 roller coaster. The concept sounds great to me. In the heavy theme park market of Central Florida, this type of roller coaster would be pretty unique.
ThemeParkTourist has a nice write up with links to all of the sources.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of this rumored 2011 roller coaster for Busch Gardens Tampa? Leave a comment below. Composite plan/map image courtesy of BGTGuide.
April 16, 2010 at 12:52
Since I might be going down there late summer, construction should have started by then, so I'll bring an update with me.
June 11, 2010 at 03:20
I was there yesterday and construction is well on the way> i tried to get an employee to talk but she would not reveal anything. it will be big and it looks like the sky ride will come down.
June 24, 2010 at 04:30
wrong i was there wed i got a worker to talk its going to b a speed coaster with 3 launches the theme is cheetah from behind rino rally to crown rest this coaster will go under ground i guessing its gotta b steel coaster sky ride staying .its to be like mavrick at cedar point with new twists dont know the height yet but will find out , just gotta look for a hottie and they will talk old jett eye trick
July 5, 2010 at 05:29
Most workers are not talking because they do not know anything. The guests usually find out first!!
August 8, 2010 at 07:52
I was there yesterday and got an employee to talk. He said it would go 140 mph and the sky ride would stay in tact however it would be out of service during construction
August 8, 2010 at 09:27
What?
Doesn't sound plausible to me. :
August 11, 2010 at 15:59
Well I AM an employee at BG Tampa and I'm gonna CONFIRM this all for u guys. There IS going to be a new coaster and as u all know the station will be off the south side platform of where the Edge of Africa sky-ride station is currently located(sky-ride will be back up as soon as construction is cleared some what). As to how tall or fast its going to be I'm still unsure (although I do here its gonna be fast but maybe not 140mph fast lol… that would be awesome tho) but I will keep u all posted. Oh and 1 more thing NO 1 TURN ME IN PLEASE!!! lol I like to keep my job
April 16, 2010 at 16:14
That sounds like an excellent Florida addition, I don't think they have any Intamins down there.
April 17, 2010 at 09:45
trust me, we dont
April 17, 2010 at 12:30
no hypers (excluding Shreika) either.
April 16, 2010 at 17:30
Looks like a lot of airtime to me!
April 17, 2010 at 12:32
Any news on Inversions? they fit prettey well with launches, so i wouldn`t be suprised. maybe a bit of both?
April 17, 2010 at 09:01
The ride itself sounds great, and a launched coaster themed to an animal like the cheetah would fit in great at Busch Gardens. I think the loss of the water section on Rhino Rally is a great shame though, even if it is largely down to the cost of maintaining rusting ride vehicles. Without the water section, it seems a bit weak in comparison to Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Thanks for the link
April 17, 2010 at 12:34
the kilamanjaro is either great or suckish compared to who`s guiding it, did you get a bad one?
April 19, 2010 at 09:44
Kiliminjaro and Rhino Rally were both really good the last time I went. The water section was only thing that really differentiated Rhino Rally though…without it, it might be a bit inferior. Having said that though, the main point of both attractions is to see the animals up close so if they extend Rhino Rally further into the savannah it might make up for it.
April 17, 2010 at 09:44
what would happen to cheetah chase?
April 17, 2010 at 12:40
maybe they`ll call the new coaster chetta chase and rename cheeta chase (seperation) cheeta chace JR.
April 20, 2010 at 18:16
I'm really surprised that Busch Garden's is making a new rollercoaster down there. Anyone heard what's going to replace The Big Bad Wolf in Williamsburg, Va???
April 23, 2010 at 17:50
I think I saw something somewhere that said Flying.
April 22, 2010 at 16:25
!!!BREAKING NEWS!!!
April 22, 2010 at 16:27
Oops! Anywho, according to a news update on Screamscape, Construction has begun on BGT's 2011 coaster project.
April 26, 2010 at 17:11
I have a feeling this will be along the lines of Pony Express at Knotts.
April 29, 2010 at 14:11
first off this ride is huge in lengt. the rumors that i heard way back in january that busch want a close to the ground(and underground) ride so ever since I heard that I been looking at maverick lately and both layouts favor each other a little but 3 launches!? it makes you think…how fast do they want to go?can't wait for the press release!
April 29, 2010 at 16:58
I predict… from the picture that this will be a Hyper Coaster.
April 29, 2010 at 18:39
hey did you guys read that BGE has put in a permit for a ride 260 feet? Everyone is speculating it is a drop tower. If that's true it's very disappointing (for me) since Tampa looks to be getting a sweet ride and KD got I305. BGE is dropping the ball on this if it is a drop tower and they don't also put a coaster up. KD has 305 then BGe puts up a drop tower. that is an epic fail for BGE. anyone read about this yet?
April 30, 2010 at 01:44
There's a new post about the Busch Gardens Drop Tower and more.
May 1, 2010 at 08:19
First, they put up a Cheetah statue. Soon after, a statue of a Kangaroo and a Giraffe were also placed near the cheetah. With the names and themes that they have in Tampa, I believe that it could be called Chimera (as in a three-headed creature from Greek mythology).
May 2, 2010 at 15:14
i desinged a rct3 coaster called that, themeing & all.
May 3, 2010 at 02:07
Cool theme, but I doubt they'd use Greek mythology at an African-themed park. For some reason, I hadn't thought about Busch Gardens Europe adding Greece though. Like most, I assume Spain will be next.
July 24, 2010 at 22:37
a man working at busch gardens told me it was going to break about 2 records
July 30, 2010 at 08:48
I'm hoping to make a trip to the US East coast in the following 2 years, and this looks like a great addition to the trip! I loved Maverick, so if it's similar, I'm all for it!
August 8, 2010 at 09:30
Just took a trip to the Gardens this April. I personally don't like going anywhere where there is construction, especially theme parks.