Busch Gardens Tampa - 7/18/11

Well, long story short, my little sister really wanted to head to Busch Gardens Tampa to ride Cheetah Hunt, the new roller coaster that just opened there. She was in Tampa for a volleyball camp, and my parents and I were in Tampa for the Rays v. Red Sox game on the 17th. My little sister injured her heel, which turned out to be an awesome thing overall.

So, come Monday (the 18th), my little sister and I left our condo in Bellair Beach to drive to Busch Gardens Tampa. Stopping for lunch and at a CVS/Pharmacy, it took my little sister and I an hour to get to the park. So, come around 1:15 PM, we arrived at the park, paid $20 for preferred parking, and began our short adventure.



Walking to the park entrance, I snapped a quick pic of Montu...



...as well as an action pic of Cheetah Hunt.

So, right after I bought my little sister's ticket (hooray for pay once and come back all year for free), we headed straight for guest relations. We told the employee working there about my little sister's heel and how she is fine to walk but unable to put pressure on it by standing for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. So, guess what! We got a special pass that allowed us to either skip the line (every ride except Cheetah Hunt). For Cheetah Hunt, we had to get a green card that had a time that allowed us to get on. Basically, we had to wait 60 minutes until we could ride because the actual wait time was 60 minutes. So, we had some fun with the cheetah exhibit as well as enjoyed a ride on Montu.











D'aaaaaawwww!



















My little sister thought it would be nice to add this in...

So, 3:15 rolls around, and my little sister and I decide... to get in line for front row! Mind you all, Cheetah Hunt had been running all day with no hint of down-time, so only 10 minutes of waiting for front row, we board the first train (Cheetah Hunt loads 2 trains at a time). After the ride, I have great news to report! Cheetah Hunt runs much better than it had earlier before. I'm not too sure, but the last launch (the 40 mph one) had a very strong kick for the end. The airtime hill was insane! Also, the ride was pulling quite a few lateral Gs into the last turn! I'm not sure if it was just for that ride, but I hope Cheetah Hunt runs like that from now on!

After Cheetah Hunt, my little sister and I skipped the whole line for the Skyride, and we headed on over to Kumba and SheiKra.





























So, there was construction going on, so we had to go through Jungala in order to get to Kumba. Believe it or not, Kumba has a long line! About 45 minutes! Luckily, our pass allowed for my sister and I to just skip the whole line and board right away. So, we had a great ride on that!











After Kumba, my sister and I headed on over to SheiKra. Once again, we skipped the line (a 40 minute wait roughly) and got right on! After SheiKra, we headed back to the Skyride in order to get to the park exit since my little sister's heel was starting to hurt again... I got some nice pics though on the way back to the exit!







Right before we left, we happened to get very lucky! It was time for Cheetah Run! 7 13-month old cheetahs all came out and played around!



So, 5:30 PM arrived, and we left the park to drive back home to Ocala. My little sister loved Cheetah Hunt! So, overall, it was a good day to enjoy Busch Gardens!

dude, just want to say, amazing pics. you really did a good job of highlighting the park. i've only been here once (pre-cheetah hunt), and i've bene dying to go back so bad. glad you and your sis had a good time though.

Er... thanks... These photos were taken with my very expensive... Droid 2 5MP camera...

I was there too yesterday, I wonder if I saw you

i wish i could have gone..
i went a couple of weeks ago..
cheetah hunt was amazing
and i love bgt..

Originally posted by rcking04

Er... thanks... These photos were taken with my very expensive... Droid 2 5MP camera...

haha, i have the droid2 as well lol. i didn't mean the picture quality was good. i said the pictures you took captured the park well. haha. their quality still blows compared to a professional camera haha.

Btw what do you think of kumba? its my #2 favorite ride in the world, in a close 2nd to maverick.

Nice shots. Those cheatahs are beuties! Im going there in a few weeks.