[RiDeWaRrIoR]

That is an awesome looking element, although I am not a big fan of the intamin box track, oh well. Still looks pretty sweet.

[TrojanCamMan]

it's beautiful!

[billcollins531]

If i'm not mistaken, cheetahs are usually in the yellow grass.

Doesn't all grass grows green? then turn yellow/brown? Or perhaps they had left over green paint from the grover coaster...

Grass is grass, get over it.
I agree heartily - this beauty is a work of art!!

[cwgator]

Well this thread has been dead while i've been away from the internet. Anyways...A lot has been accomplished since the last posting including most of the track installed, attraction theming and the arrival of the new trains late last week:

http://www.buschgardenstampablog.com/cheetah-hunt-dont-you-just-love-new-car-smell

[TrojanCamMan]

Those trains are amazing looking. Can't wait to see the decals put on.

[cwgator]

The circuit is complete! Here is a pic of the final track piece put in place today; posted from bgtguide.com:

http://twitpic.com/49k09a

Here is another angle from rollercoasterpro.com:



Notice the track goes over the skyride cables. I forgot to mention that it was going to do so earlier in this thread. They are currently lowering 2 of the skyride's towers to accommodate this.


Here is a pic of the workers signing the last piece of track before it was installed (from johnnyupsidedown.com):

http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/cheetahunt/ch459a.jpg

[cwgator]

Earlier this week, BGT started the first pull through on Cheetah Hunt. Here is a story posted from News13:

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/entertainment/2011/march/222422/Cheetah-Hunt-rides-the-rails-for-first-time

TAMPA BAY, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY --
The cat's on the prowl.

Busch Garden's newest roller coaster Cheetah Hunt is making the rounds for the first time. This week, engineers are letting two of the cars ride the rails.

"This is the first step of a lot of testing," said Busch Gardens Spokeswoman Jill Revelle in a phone interview of the process known as ride envelope testing. "They drag the car around the track, to make sure there is no place where the car could get hung up."

Construction crews are using this week to slowly pull two Cheetah Hunt cars around the entire track circuit, paying close attention to clearances, transition points and the way ride vehicles interact with newly-constructed themed elements.

For the pull through test, a silver frame is attached to a vehicle. The frame then extends above and around the ride units, thus simulating the reach of riders arms in the air, out the side and possibly a leg extended outside the vehicle. Revelle calls the test important to ensure riders are not "in danger of anything."

The ride's grass green-colored track snakes through canyons, a simulated African village, plunges deep into trenches and over grassy plains. Yellow supports reminiscent of a blazing African sun support the track.

Like the little engine that could, a cable attached to a crane is pulling the cars on their slow-moving journey. The process is expected to take five days. When the ride is in full operation, trains are expected to complete the circuit in about 1 minute, 20 seconds.

"Coasters seem faster when you have something on your side or above you," remarked Chris Kraftchick of the environments found along the way.

Kraftchick is a roller coaster connoisseur and serves as a regional representative for the American Coasters Enthusiasts fan group.

"I think those trench are going to really enhance the ride experience," Kraftchick said.

Roller coaster enthusiasts like Kraftchick have spent the past year watching the construction of the Swiss-designed ride with great anticipation.

"I can judge the excitement of a new ride by the amount of mail in my inbox," Kraftchick joked, saying buzz for the coaster built by Intamin AG is building.

The pictures released on Tuesday are the first images the park has shared of the new trains sporting their finished look.

"There are no other trains like these out there," Revelle said of the cars, whose fiberglass body panels are based on a cheetahs body.

The lead car features a cheetah nose and face, while the sides are spotted, just like the namesake that roams southern and eastern Africa.

Two of the five trains are on site, while the three are still making their transatlantic voyage from Europe. Each train will consist of four cars, seating four riders each. At full capacity, Cheetah Hunt is expected to give 1,300 riders an hour.

Riders waiting for their first ride will need to hold tight two more months. The first ride will go to water dummies as part of the ride's commissioning phase. While Revelle revealed the second ride will go to Busch Gardens Vice President of Design and Engineering Mark Rose. Rose has waited the longest to ride.

"Cheetah Hunt began twinkling in Mark Rose's eyes five years ago," Revelle joked of the man who has planned all of Busch Gardens additions since 1993 with debut of Kumba.

The ride is scheduled to make a public debut on Friday, May 27, just in time for Memorial Day weekend.

While the safety envelop test continues, electrical crews are installing sensors and stringing wiring that will allow Cheetah Hunt's safety system to communicate with the ride's computers.

Artists and sculptures also remain busy creating the simulated African village that will link Cheetah Hunt to the park's existing areas.

"Part of what makes Cheetah Hunt so amazing is how the new coaster fits into older sections of the park," Revelle said.

Cheetah Hunt is located where the Egypt and Morocco sections near the front of the park come together.

Following the pull through test, engineers will be one step closer to running the ride for the first time. It's a moment roller coaster fans call "first drop." Revelle says there is no date on the calendar for the initial plunge, but fans hoping to get a closer look can already do so from the Crown Colony restaurant, the Serengeti Express train ride and soon, the park's reopening SkyRide.

The cable car attraction was shuttered in 2010 to allow for Cheetah Hunt construction. Revelle says the ride positioned next door to the new coaster is expected to reopen in April, giving a bird's eye view as construction wraps up.

"Think about the pictures and video you can get from up there," Kraftchick concluded. "There is not going to be another coaster like it!”

Another artlicle posted @ http://www.rollercoasterpro.com shows them working into the night list light up into the "windcatcher tower":

http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/bgt3.24.11/




A new update posted tonight shows even more progress from today:

http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/bgt3.24.11b/

They started filling some of the supports with sand today to help with the noise as well (as seen in the pics in the above link).

[cwgator]

While we wait until Memorial Day weekend for this great coaster to open, here is some Cheetah cuteness. This baby cheetah was brought over from the Jacksonville Zoo after it's mother was unable to care for it. It has a puppy playmate who will be with it for life. Their names were selected via contest over facebook and the cheetah's name is Kasi, which is Swahili for “one with speed. The new puppy's name is Mtani, Swahili for “close friend".





[youtube]9uEmO0lPgAk[/youtube]


Also Cheetah Hunt is beginning to make it's first test runs. They will be testing each launch section several times before a full-circuit test is completed.

Here is a pic of a test of the first launch:


First launch test run:
[youtube]XJHV7bBzIE0[/youtube]

2nd launch test.
http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/bgt4.19.11/ch2ndtesting.wmv

As of yesterday, the train had run up to the mid-course. I'm sure more is being done today. More on this soon.

Also some great theming has taken place at the station: (Photos from rollercoasterpro.com)

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

Awesome! I have been waiting for a long time for them to start testing Cant wait to see it go through the entire course.

[cwgator]

More test runs (still @ partial power):

[youtube]0DDBwobve7o[/youtube]

[cwgator]

Here's an update from johnnyupsidedown.com:

http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/cheetahunt9.html
(you'll need to scroll down to May 3rd to see the latest)



If you look at the pics there, you will see the ride has begun to have it's first human test subjects. According to someone over at floridathrills.net, they are from Intaride, including Sandor Kernacs (Intaride's President).

There are some other updates from May 4th at rcpro:

http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/bgt5.4.11/

Nice Banner:



Also today, Busch Gardens Tampa posted a construction update on the park's blog:

http://www.buschgardenstampablog.com/cheetah-hunt-construction-update-0

Typically when we give a coaster construction update, what you see is somewhat of a visual mystery – enormous pieces of steel strewn about in varying stages of completion, scaffolding unfolding as far as the eye can see…and, the occasional huge pile of dirt. In those cases, it is necessary to give captions and explain what exactly is happening on the site.

However, today’s Cheetah Hunt update is different. Why?

We have LOTS of photos to share that tell the story of the final weeks of construction. These photos speak for themselves. We will just cut the chatter and let you take it all in.

The only question that remains is: Are you ready for May 27?

[cwgator]

Official Live POV of Cheetah Hunt posted today:

[youtube]VjBCrBSV_I8[/youtube]


Also some Promo pics posted on the park's Facebook page:

[CarowindsFreak]

Just visited the park this past week and rode cheetah hunt for the first time along with many other coasters there. I also did the roller coaster insider tour which was great ( went in the coaster barn and up 80 ft. near a break run ) and at the end they give you to passes to skip the line of rides through out the day.

Rides Rode:
Cheetah Hunt - 3 times first intamin
Sherika - 2 times first floorless
Kumba - 1 time
Gwazi - 2 times one on each side
Montu - 1 time (apart of the tour)
The Rapids - 1 time

Through out the day the rides went down a lot due to bad weather in the area which stunk. we also saw the cirque dreams jungle fantasy show which was good.

[cwgator]

I finally got to ride Cheetah Hunt last week. My first ride was in the front row right after the park opened on Thursday, Dec. 29th. It was a great ride IMO. It exceeded my expectations in fun and thrills. I would say an addition inversion or 2 would have made it even better. The airtime at the top pf the windcatcher tower was great. The drop into the trench was awesome. It just kept going and going. It definitely moves faster than it appears off-ride. After the heartline and into the turns I was screaming for more. I came out of my seat in the 3rd launch and knew this was definitely going to be in my top 10 (which I'll update later).

My second (and only other ride as the park was extremely busy for the rest of my trip) ride was on New Years Eve around 9:45PM. I had waited for an hour (not too bad seeing as the line was 120 min earlier in the day). This time I rode in the back row. All I can say is....WOW. I thought the airtime was awesome in the front row. It was definitely a different ride at night and in the back. I can't wait to return to the park this spring (hopefully) to get more rides in; better yet move to Tampa by fall.

Cheetah Run was nice as well. The exhibit was actually larger than I was thinking it would be; though it pales in comparison to the Tigers exhibit. I did get to see the Cheetah's run, but they seemed to be having issues with setting up and delayed the running when I happen to be there for it. I thought I wasn't going to get to see Kasi, but we went on New years day for a couple hours (at the last min) and there he was with Mtani. The one time I didn't bring my camera....ugh!!!!!! I know better than that....lol