Orlando Villas Blog by Perfect Florida Villas Orlando Villas Blog. Packed with information about Orlando and Florida including theme parks, shopping and beaches.

Busch Gardens, near Tampa, has some amazing roller coasters – but that’s not all, it also has animals, plenty of them – from giraffes to elephants, rhinos to cheetahs. So it is no surprise that their new roller coaster combines both. Called ‘Cheetah Hunt,’ this new roller coaster will open in the late spring of 2011, hopefully by the end of May, and it will be themed around those large cats, the cheetahs. Busch Gardens, of course, has three world class roller coasters already – ‘Kumba,’ ‘Montu’ and ‘Gwazi,’ but this new coaster is set to beat them all with its innovation and speed.

When completed, ‘Cheetah Hunt’ will be Busch Garden’s longest roller coaster at 4,429ft, and it will mimic the speed and agility of a cheetah. The total ride time, including loading and unloading will be three and a half minutes, with the actual ride lasting one minute 20 seconds. Cheetah Hunt is a launch coaster, with three acceleration points, one of which will propel the riders from zero to 60 mph in a matter of seconds. There will also be an inversion and a 130 ft drop into an underground trench. Most interestingly, part of the ride will speed across part of the Serengeti Plain at speeds of up to 60 mph.

For those roller coaster buffs who also like statistics, Cheetah Hunt will be a Linear Synchronous Motor Launch coaster, with more than three quarters of a mile of track. This system uses the force of repelling magnets to launch its riders from 0 to 60 mph in a matter of seconds. In fact, this motor will do so three times. It will exert forces of up to 4G, and its peak height will be 102 ft – truly scary! There will be five trains, each with a total of 16 passengers, and it is expected that 1370 passengers will ride this coaster each hour. There is a height restriction of 48 inches, so younger children will be excluded.

The coaster starts with a launch which propels the train out of the station, which was once the former monorail station, and into the grassland surrounding the area. It is only a few moments later that the second acceleration takes place, propelling riders to 60 mph and up to the tower which climbs over 10 stories above the African countryside. It will then plunge 130 ft into a subterranean trench before its final section where there is a third burst of speed as the train catapults itself back across the plain an into the station. For those experts in roller coasters there will be heartline roll inversions, air time parabolas and over-banked turns. Or to the layman, pretty scary manoeuvres!

In addition to this there will be a new cheetah habitat where visitors can view the cheetahs close up. In order to give visitors the very best view of these, the fastest land animal, there will be a glass panelled viewing area overlooking the plains. Five cheetahs have already arrived on site ready for the opening of this new cheetah habitat, and in addition, there will be touch screen panels with educational information.

And if all that wasn’t enough there has been some exciting news with the arrival of a new baby cheetah last month. This little cub was born to a mother who was unable to care for him, which meant he was losing weight. The decision was made to hand raise him and he is now doing well, growing stronger, putting on weight and exploring his new home. Although he was not born at Busch Gardens he was brought there on the recommendation of the SSP (Species Survival Plan) from Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. At the moment he requires regular feeding round the clock, but when he is a little older he will join the group of cheetahs who will live in the Cheetah Run alongside the new Cheetah Hunt roller coaster. It is also hoped that, when he matures he could become part of the breeding programme which will help boost the numbers of these critically endangered cheetahs. Sadly, only about 12,000 cheetahs remain in the world.

I know my children can’t wait to try out this new roller coaster. As for me, well I will be quite happy to keep my feet firmly on the ground, and watch the wonderful cheetahs in their habitat.

Article written by “ellie” an Orlando Villa owner. You can view her property at Orlando Villas

For some reason that I cannot understand, my children love getting soaking wet and scared to death when they visit Islands of Adventure, so Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls is one of their favourite water rides. Being a wimp, I prefer to watch from the side

lines, taking the odd photo of them shrieking as they drop 75 ft on a log, getting saturated in the process.

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls was one of the park’s original attractions, opening in May, 1999, and it was inspired by the rather dim-witted Dudley-Do-Right, a cartoon character created by Jay Ward and Alex Anderson. The story is that Canadian Mountie, Dudley Do-Right, is pursuing the evil Snidely Whiplash, who has captured his sweetheart, Nell Fenwick. As they leave Wontyabee Mine passengers in the logs can see the wicked Snidely tying Nell to the train tracks, joined later by both Horse and Inspector Fenwick.

Passengers travel in a log, into an outdoor sawmill, before the final climactic drop of 75 ft, where they plunge headlong into a dynamite shack, which on entry ‘explodes’ spraying the passengers, and spectators with water. The ride then passes an area where viewers can spray riders with water from hoses – great fun for a small fee. Finally, Snidley can be seen in Alottapoopoo Island Prison, where, in a parody of the scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, he can be seen trying to persuade a beaver, who is holding a set of keys in its mouth, to pass them to him. In a final scene, Inspector Fenwick is seen awarding Dudley Do Right a medal for capturing Snidley and saving his daughter, Nell. Unfortunately, Nell appears to be more interested in Horse than Dudley Do Right!

Over the years this flume ride has undergone several modifications, including an adjustment in 2007 to the ride’s most intense drop, to make it less intense, followed in 2007 by the addition of lap bar restraints. Recently an on-ride camera was added.

However, on New Year’s Day, 2011 a fire of unknown cause damaged it significantly enough for it to be closed for 2 months. Universal has kept the cause of the fire a closely guarded secret, but at around 5.00 pm a fire started, whilst guests were enjoying the water flume ride. When the fire started all riders were evacuated safely, as well as everyone in the Toon Lagoon area. No guest was badly injured, and nobody required hospital treatment, although some required first aid. Forty firefighters from the Orlando Fire Department quickly extinguished the flames in less than an hour, and Toon Lagoon was closed for an hour and a half. Guests in the area reported seeing clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky, but it would appear that it was the roof structure which was mainly affected rather than any of the areas which the log vehicles travel through. The smell of burning plastic was said to have pervaded the whole area, but it is believed that the fire was caused accidentally, and damage was thought to be extensive.

Universal’s reaction was to bring forward maintenance work which is normally carried out during the winter season, so they closed the whole ride down. Universal have been unwilling to disclose how extensive the damage was, or where it started, or why, and they have not even give details of what maintenance was carried out. However, it is obvious that the whole area has been repainted and it certainly looks fresher and brighter now. The ride re-opened on March 3^rd, and this will be welcome news for those who enjoy its stomach churning drop.

If you happen to be near this ride look out for the ‘People Driers’ which are now in permanent kiosks. These driers can be used by anyone who gets drenched and who wants to get dry quickly – at a price, of course! Sit at the front of the log and you will definitely get the wettest, sit at the back and you might not get quite so wet. And remember, if you escape getting to wet during the ride, you may well get a soaking from the hoses at the end! But if the Florida sun is shining you will soon dry out.

Written by Ellie, an Orlando Villa owner. You can see her property on Orlando Villas.