Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
I flipped out the first time I saw the virtual POV for Cheetah Hunt. I HAD to get down to Florida to ride it. It shot to the top of my bucket list.
I tried a few tactics to get down there. First I decided that I should enter the Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Coaster Build-Off despite the fact that I hate pretzels, and, well, this Eurofighter was the result:
Unfortunately, as impressive as Gonga was, it didn't win. I tried talking my parents into vacationing in Siesta Key and spending a day driving to the park, but they weren't interested.
2.5 years and 5 pounds of pretzels later, my dad decided that I needed to learn to fly on my own. Being in engineering and possibly designing roller coasters for a living, I would have to do a lot of flying around to see stuff I've designed built, so he asked me if I wanted to fly anywhere close by. I told him I wanted to go to Tampa and ride Cheetah Hunt.
The trip was confirmed in February of 2013, and called off in July because we flew to Mexico for vacation and I discovered my phobia of flying. However, I decided in August that I needed to get over it, and called it back on because 1.) I HAD to get on Cheetah Hunt and 2.) I needed to learn to fly for professional reasons.
They served these on the airplane? Really?
One of the first things you see landing in the Tampa airport. Yup...we're in the right place!
Traffic going to the hotel was bad, but we were near this car! The fact that we practically followed it to the hotel showed us just how close to the park we were.
MY BABY!!!1!111!! Flew all the way from Ohio to get here and seeing it in person was amazing! Best of all? This was across the street from the hotel!
Blurry zoomed shot!
Montu! About to be Banshee's little brother!
Walking in the area around the park, you can see that the city needs to do a better job of keeping the area maintained. Some brilliant engineer felt the need to put this right in the middle of the sidewalk, there was roadkill in the streets that spent all three days we were there in the street and never got cleaned up (here in Ohio you can drive past it one way and find it cleaned up on the way back from a quick errand), and one of the crosswalk buttons had fallen off so every time you had to cross that street you had to play "reset button" and find something small, usually a twig or cigarette butt, to push the smaller internal button to cross. Not to mention the sidewalks slanted at a fifteen degree angle. However, you couldn't find a friendlier community. Everybody we spoke with in the area businesses was so nice to us, quite a nice change from the "Ohio rudeness" I hear people visiting Ohio talk about so much. The area seems to be growing too. There was a really nice Ihop, a Red Lobster, an Olive Garden, two new hotels, and there was construction going on around the block from us. Maybe now that it seems like the park's really starting to reel in new businesses to that block the city will renovate it. It happened to a stretch of rode in my hometown, I'd love to see a booming business area expand around the park staffed by that already friendly community.
Saw this in the hotel!
Grabbed dinner at a place called Skipper's Smokehouse that night. I had crawfish and gator tail and it was to DIE for! The place was also built not in a building, but a strange "hive" of trailers laid end to end.
The next day was the longest morning of my life. We intended to get up at 7:30, ended up getting up at 6:30 because neither of us could sleep and ended up going to Ihop for breakfast. After that, we waited around the hotel for a bit and walked to the tram! After getting our bag checked, we spent thirty minutes waiting outside the park for them to unchain the entrance. After a pretty awkward national anthem with no flag and everybody looking around for one, they let us in! I really like BGT's entrance, easily beats out Cedar Point's for my favorite park entrance. Now build a roller coaster over it!
We BOOKED IT to Cheetah Hunt! We had a bit of a delay needing a locker for the bag (I heard they had cubbies like Cedar Fair does but they didn't) but were still on one of the first five trains of the day.
Move over, Millennium Force, Cheetah Hunt is now my favorite coaster! I understand that a lot of enthusiasts don't like it, but I do. My favorite part would have to be a tie between the windcatcher (literally, airtime, terrifying time hanging on your side at a good angle 100 feet above the ground feeling like you're falling out if the restraint isn't there, airtime drop into a good trench) and the barrel roll (am I the only one that feels the strange force transfer/hangtime that feels like it'll smash you into the rapids below if your already loose restraint fails?). I would also like to mention that there is plenty of airtime on the hill after launch three and the canyon bit is sweet, and you can get wet if you sit in the front! Not to mention that the surroundings near the Nairobi walkway which parallels Cheetah Hunt feels exactly like Africa and it really felt like you were riding a NoLimits fantasy coaster.
After two rides on Cheetah Hunt (one in the middle, one in the front) we went to ride Montu, which was also MY 75TH CREDIT!!!!! Easily my new favorite B&M invert! It's like my old favorite (Afterburn at Carowinds) but on a much larger scale and with better theming. The whole Egypt area is great but it feels tiny. I feel like a well-themed S&S Screamin' Swing would work well there or if they can fit it, a Polar X-Plorer styled Zierer with the VD element in a pyramid (I saw NO pyramids the whole time I was in the area, they should really add them!) but it's a great area of the park. And then we backtracked and rode Cheetah Hunt again, this time in the back. Because we could.
We then went on to experience the roller coaster enthusiast coming-of-75th credit ritual known as Gwazi. OH, Gwazi. Gwazi, Gwazi, Gwazi. Gwazi. My favorite wooden coaster is Thunderhead, it's a GCI, I love GCI, but they REALLY had to get it together after this one it seems! I'm an Ohioan, I got more than my fair share of Son of Beast, but this was worse! And the thing I don't understand is WHY??? Son of Beast was a giant coaster that ran heavy trains, it's almost a given that it'll tear up the track. But Gwazi was so tiny! It might be from intense forces (I didn't notice the intensity, I couldn't even see straight) but it didn't come across as overly intense or do anything crazy I could see to chew up the track that much. And the trains were so comfy in the station! Anything that can make those nice, padded trains that painful should be torn down. Not to mention that the whole Gwazi area was like the current Gemini midway at Cedar Point in that there were a bunch of colorful smaller rides and games made to compliment a large, wooden-supported ride that nobody cared for as much as the larger coasters at the park. I saw ONE kid on Gwazi Gliders the entire day and everybody just walked past the game booths. I hope that when they winch down Gwazi that they bulldoze this area too and use it for whatever else they have in store.
Next came SheiKra. My dad skipped out on it because he didn't like Griffon, its sister coaster, so I rode alone. While Griffon does have a better layout, I liked SheiKra better. SheiKra feels like a true Busch Gardens coaster with plenty of pretty theming and a strong feeling of the experience it was meant to convey. Griffon, on the other hand, feels like "Cedar Fair called, they want their B&M back." Both great coasters, like SheiKra better.
Next came Kumba! My first B&M sitdown and while it was a great ride, it felt like one of those infamous "tropical B&Ms" that plauge the RCT3 forums. Layout was just okay, pretty much nothing overwhelmingly unique, minimal tropical theming, the like. Glad I rode it, though.
Sand Serpent was next. I liked Ricochet at Carowinds better but this one was fun too. The illusion on Sand Serpent I didn't feel was as strong and I want to say Ricochet had two dips in a spot where Sand Serpent has one. Great family coaster, though. Perfect for those who were like me that would ride anything as long as it didn't have an inversion up until I was eight that wouldn't ride Cheetah Hunt for that reason alone.
We WANTED to ride Scorpion, but it went down. We then ate at Zagora Cafe for lunch. The park food was just meh, but it's a nice pavilion.
And then we rode the train. Such a great train ride! I have a POV from it but I loved it! The Serengeti Plain feels remarkably like Africa and going around and seeing the coasters on the return trip was awesome.
We then rode Scorpion. Such an awesome coaster for something that small and that old! Going through the loop with that insanely loose lap bar and the helix at the end is INTENSE!!! We also got to see an octagonal footer poured for Falcon's Fury! Cool to see the ride moving along even though it's something I'd never ride.
My dad's last ride at the park with me was another ride on Cheetah Hunt. Yet again, it's my favorite coaster. Can't wait to hopefully get back on it already.
I had so much ERT for that day! I rerode Montu after my dad left and literally got on in the front, and ran back around the queue and got on in the back. It only makes me even more excited for Banshee!
I then rode Cheetah Hunt AGAIN!!! Love that coaster!
Then I rode SheiKra again and Kumba again. SheiKra's view at sunset is beautiful! I could see Tampa Bay, the skyline of downtown Tampa, and the entire park as the sun began to set. Kumba was just as good up front as it was when I rode it earlier. I feel like Kumba's your typical "vanilla" coaster. It's the absolute plain in terms of them.
Finally, I got in my last ride on Cheetah Hunt. Because the ride ops at BGT are pretty inefficient, I told one I was a single rider and BAM!!!! Empty seat up front! At sunset! I really loved this final ride, perfect way to close out the season! And the lady sitting next to me was terrified and it was hilarious!
That night we walked to a Red Lobster a few doors down from our hotel. Nowhere near as good as Skipper's but the staff was nice. However, that specific Red Lobster appears to have issues with funny business going on there, because behind the podium there's a sign that says that doing certain illegal things would get you kicked out, and there was a cop car in the parking lot from the time we got there to the time we left. It's standard Red Lobster food but that's not a bad thing! Great meal!
Didn't like seeing this out the window the next day, but we didn't plan to go back anyway since we had a flight to catch.
Goodbye, Busch Gardens! We decided to go to the International Mall that day and look around.
Well, we didn't COMPLETELY ditch Busch Gardens. Those foam play areas at the mall for kids? They have one there!
An awful picture of me standing next to the little Cheetah Hunt! I want this in my room!
And a creepy topiary with little Cheetah Hunt!
What a great season! 2013 was easily my best season, and it really went out with a bang! Four coasters added to my top 10 (GateKeeper, TTD, Cheetah Hunt, and Montu) and a whopping 19 new credits! My first times visiting parks with other enthusiasts, introducing one of my best friends to her first major roller coaster, skipping a 3-hour GateKeeper line from that Plinko pass, Millennium Force at night, Cheetah Hunt beating Millennium as my favorite coaster, and finally getting my driver's license! And to top it all off, it was announced that my home park is getting an epic new B&M for the 2014 season, AND I might be able to drive to Chicago to ride Goliath at SFGAm and the last of the US wing coasters I haven't ridden next season! 2014 can't come any sooner!
Videos:
Park Montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnO9iHCF740
Serengeti Railway POV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN9QR0ohv4U
Jarrett vs. The Crawdads: (COMING SOON)
I tried a few tactics to get down there. First I decided that I should enter the Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Coaster Build-Off despite the fact that I hate pretzels, and, well, this Eurofighter was the result:
Unfortunately, as impressive as Gonga was, it didn't win. I tried talking my parents into vacationing in Siesta Key and spending a day driving to the park, but they weren't interested.
2.5 years and 5 pounds of pretzels later, my dad decided that I needed to learn to fly on my own. Being in engineering and possibly designing roller coasters for a living, I would have to do a lot of flying around to see stuff I've designed built, so he asked me if I wanted to fly anywhere close by. I told him I wanted to go to Tampa and ride Cheetah Hunt.
The trip was confirmed in February of 2013, and called off in July because we flew to Mexico for vacation and I discovered my phobia of flying. However, I decided in August that I needed to get over it, and called it back on because 1.) I HAD to get on Cheetah Hunt and 2.) I needed to learn to fly for professional reasons.
They served these on the airplane? Really?
One of the first things you see landing in the Tampa airport. Yup...we're in the right place!
Traffic going to the hotel was bad, but we were near this car! The fact that we practically followed it to the hotel showed us just how close to the park we were.
MY BABY!!!1!111!! Flew all the way from Ohio to get here and seeing it in person was amazing! Best of all? This was across the street from the hotel!
Blurry zoomed shot!
Montu! About to be Banshee's little brother!
Walking in the area around the park, you can see that the city needs to do a better job of keeping the area maintained. Some brilliant engineer felt the need to put this right in the middle of the sidewalk, there was roadkill in the streets that spent all three days we were there in the street and never got cleaned up (here in Ohio you can drive past it one way and find it cleaned up on the way back from a quick errand), and one of the crosswalk buttons had fallen off so every time you had to cross that street you had to play "reset button" and find something small, usually a twig or cigarette butt, to push the smaller internal button to cross. Not to mention the sidewalks slanted at a fifteen degree angle. However, you couldn't find a friendlier community. Everybody we spoke with in the area businesses was so nice to us, quite a nice change from the "Ohio rudeness" I hear people visiting Ohio talk about so much. The area seems to be growing too. There was a really nice Ihop, a Red Lobster, an Olive Garden, two new hotels, and there was construction going on around the block from us. Maybe now that it seems like the park's really starting to reel in new businesses to that block the city will renovate it. It happened to a stretch of rode in my hometown, I'd love to see a booming business area expand around the park staffed by that already friendly community.
Saw this in the hotel!
Grabbed dinner at a place called Skipper's Smokehouse that night. I had crawfish and gator tail and it was to DIE for! The place was also built not in a building, but a strange "hive" of trailers laid end to end.
The next day was the longest morning of my life. We intended to get up at 7:30, ended up getting up at 6:30 because neither of us could sleep and ended up going to Ihop for breakfast. After that, we waited around the hotel for a bit and walked to the tram! After getting our bag checked, we spent thirty minutes waiting outside the park for them to unchain the entrance. After a pretty awkward national anthem with no flag and everybody looking around for one, they let us in! I really like BGT's entrance, easily beats out Cedar Point's for my favorite park entrance. Now build a roller coaster over it!
We BOOKED IT to Cheetah Hunt! We had a bit of a delay needing a locker for the bag (I heard they had cubbies like Cedar Fair does but they didn't) but were still on one of the first five trains of the day.
Move over, Millennium Force, Cheetah Hunt is now my favorite coaster! I understand that a lot of enthusiasts don't like it, but I do. My favorite part would have to be a tie between the windcatcher (literally, airtime, terrifying time hanging on your side at a good angle 100 feet above the ground feeling like you're falling out if the restraint isn't there, airtime drop into a good trench) and the barrel roll (am I the only one that feels the strange force transfer/hangtime that feels like it'll smash you into the rapids below if your already loose restraint fails?). I would also like to mention that there is plenty of airtime on the hill after launch three and the canyon bit is sweet, and you can get wet if you sit in the front! Not to mention that the surroundings near the Nairobi walkway which parallels Cheetah Hunt feels exactly like Africa and it really felt like you were riding a NoLimits fantasy coaster.
After two rides on Cheetah Hunt (one in the middle, one in the front) we went to ride Montu, which was also MY 75TH CREDIT!!!!! Easily my new favorite B&M invert! It's like my old favorite (Afterburn at Carowinds) but on a much larger scale and with better theming. The whole Egypt area is great but it feels tiny. I feel like a well-themed S&S Screamin' Swing would work well there or if they can fit it, a Polar X-Plorer styled Zierer with the VD element in a pyramid (I saw NO pyramids the whole time I was in the area, they should really add them!) but it's a great area of the park. And then we backtracked and rode Cheetah Hunt again, this time in the back. Because we could.
We then went on to experience the roller coaster enthusiast coming-of-75th credit ritual known as Gwazi. OH, Gwazi. Gwazi, Gwazi, Gwazi. Gwazi.
My favorite wooden coaster is Thunderhead, it's a GCI, I love GCI, but they REALLY had to get it together after this one it seems! I'm an Ohioan, I got more than my fair share of Son of Beast, but this was worse! And the thing I don't understand is WHY??? Son of Beast was a giant coaster that ran heavy trains, it's almost a given that it'll tear up the track. But Gwazi was so tiny! It might be from intense forces (I didn't notice the intensity, I couldn't even see straight) but it didn't come across as overly intense or do anything crazy I could see to chew up the track that much. And the trains were so comfy in the station! Anything that can make those nice, padded trains that painful should be torn down. Not to mention that the whole Gwazi area was like the current Gemini midway at Cedar Point in that there were a bunch of colorful smaller rides and games made to compliment a large, wooden-supported ride that nobody cared for as much as the larger coasters at the park. I saw ONE kid on Gwazi Gliders the entire day and everybody just walked past the game booths. I hope that when they winch down Gwazi that they bulldoze this area too and use it for whatever else they have in store.
Next came SheiKra. My dad skipped out on it because he didn't like Griffon, its sister coaster, so I rode alone. While Griffon does have a better layout, I liked SheiKra better. SheiKra feels like a true Busch Gardens coaster with plenty of pretty theming and a strong feeling of the experience it was meant to convey. Griffon, on the other hand, feels like "Cedar Fair called, they want their B&M back." Both great coasters, like SheiKra better.
Next came Kumba! My first B&M sitdown and while it was a great ride, it felt like one of those infamous "tropical B&Ms" that plauge the RCT3 forums. Layout was just okay, pretty much nothing overwhelmingly unique, minimal tropical theming, the like. Glad I rode it, though.
Sand Serpent was next. I liked Ricochet at Carowinds better but this one was fun too. The illusion on Sand Serpent I didn't feel was as strong and I want to say Ricochet had two dips in a spot where Sand Serpent has one. Great family coaster, though. Perfect for those who were like me that would ride anything as long as it didn't have an inversion up until I was eight that wouldn't ride Cheetah Hunt for that reason alone.
We WANTED to ride Scorpion, but it went down. We then ate at Zagora Cafe for lunch. The park food was just meh, but it's a nice pavilion.
And then we rode the train. Such a great train ride! I have a POV from it but I loved it! The Serengeti Plain feels remarkably like Africa and going around and seeing the coasters on the return trip was awesome.
We then rode Scorpion. Such an awesome coaster for something that small and that old! Going through the loop with that insanely loose lap bar and the helix at the end is INTENSE!!! We also got to see an octagonal footer poured for Falcon's Fury! Cool to see the ride moving along even though it's something I'd never ride.
My dad's last ride at the park with me was another ride on Cheetah Hunt. Yet again, it's my favorite coaster. Can't wait to hopefully get back on it already.
I had so much ERT for that day! I rerode Montu after my dad left and literally got on in the front, and ran back around the queue and got on in the back. It only makes me even more excited for Banshee!
I then rode Cheetah Hunt AGAIN!!! Love that coaster!
Then I rode SheiKra again and Kumba again. SheiKra's view at sunset is beautiful! I could see Tampa Bay, the skyline of downtown Tampa, and the entire park as the sun began to set. Kumba was just as good up front as it was when I rode it earlier. I feel like Kumba's your typical "vanilla" coaster. It's the absolute plain in terms of them.
Finally, I got in my last ride on Cheetah Hunt. Because the ride ops at BGT are pretty inefficient, I told one I was a single rider and BAM!!!! Empty seat up front! At sunset! I really loved this final ride, perfect way to close out the season! And the lady sitting next to me was terrified and it was hilarious!
That night we walked to a Red Lobster a few doors down from our hotel. Nowhere near as good as Skipper's but the staff was nice. However, that specific Red Lobster appears to have issues with funny business going on there, because behind the podium there's a sign that says that doing certain illegal things would get you kicked out, and there was a cop car in the parking lot from the time we got there to the time we left. It's standard Red Lobster food but that's not a bad thing! Great meal!
Didn't like seeing this out the window the next day, but we didn't plan to go back anyway since we had a flight to catch.
Goodbye, Busch Gardens! We decided to go to the International Mall that day and look around.
Well, we didn't COMPLETELY ditch Busch Gardens. Those foam play areas at the mall for kids? They have one there!
An awful picture of me standing next to the little Cheetah Hunt! I want this in my room!
And a creepy topiary with little Cheetah Hunt!
What a great season! 2013 was easily my best season, and it really went out with a bang! Four coasters added to my top 10 (GateKeeper, TTD, Cheetah Hunt, and Montu) and a whopping 19 new credits! My first times visiting parks with other enthusiasts, introducing one of my best friends to her first major roller coaster, skipping a 3-hour GateKeeper line from that Plinko pass, Millennium Force at night, Cheetah Hunt beating Millennium as my favorite coaster, and finally getting my driver's license! And to top it all off, it was announced that my home park is getting an epic new B&M for the 2014 season, AND I might be able to drive to Chicago to ride Goliath at SFGAm and the last of the US wing coasters I haven't ridden next season! 2014 can't come any sooner!
Videos:
Park Montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnO9iHCF740
Serengeti Railway POV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN9QR0ohv4U
Jarrett vs. The Crawdads: (COMING SOON)
