Rhino Rally at Busch Gardens Tampa
A Ride Review by: Ted Cromwell (CoasterFanatic)
To mark the start of their 2001 summer season, Busch Gardens has unleashed it's wildest creature to date. Rhino Rally has become one of the most anticipated rides to ever come to Busch Gardens Tampa. This is due largely to the fact that it is also the parks largest investment to date.
You may ask what I am doing writing a review of a new ride that isn't a rollercoaster. Well,
this isn't exactly true. Vekoma teamed with Busch Gardens Engineers to create a finale that will
not be forgotten. Let's start with the review.
Since I live virtually within walking distance of this park, it did not take long for me to check out this attraction. Within a week of it's opening, my girlfriend and myself drove down on a Saturday just to try out Rhino Rally.
"Wow!, the lines sure is long." It's seems that the buzz has been getting around town
and the ride is now sporting an Hour and a Half wait. This virtually dwarfs the wait for everything
else in the park. Being one who doesn't mind waiting for a good
attraction, my girlfriend and I begin our wait for Rhino Rally.
While in the cue, not too much of the ride is visable and the que really doesn't provide us with
too much entertainment. On thing that we do find higly entertaining is that before you reach the
tent covered area of the que, a staff member notifies you that due to foot and mouth disease you
must scrub the bottom of your shoes on the provided mat. After we clean our feet, we walk into the
tented area where we still have about 45 minutes to
wait before boarding. As I am overwhelmed by thirst I begin to notice that this que has one major flaw.
The only water fountain in the entire waiting are is at the end, right before you board.
After waiting approximately 90 minutes, we are now aboard the Land Rover. As we exit the station
our driver introduces himself and notifys us that the person sitting up front with him is our
navigator and is reponsible for keeping us on course. Going across the first bridge, I begin
to notice that the ride is going to be quite bumpy. Once we reach the
end of the bridge, A kid sitting up front looks at the path ahead that leads into a small cave
and exclaims "No Way!". He must have noticed that the water on the ground leading up
to the cave is nearly 3 feet deep. Just as I notice that the water levels are that high, the
drivers says "Yes Way!" and takes off an unbelievable pace right into the
water.
Once we reach the other side of the cave, the pace of the ride is drastically reduced. Now the
passengers get out their cameras and begin to snap pictures of animals that are coming right up
to the vehicle. After we pass the nice collection of animals, the
ride continues it's course of splashing through water and going over bridges until we find
ourselves right in the middle of rainforest.
With plants on both sides of the vehicle, and a large amount of water pouring directly above us,
it becomes hard to see the path ahead. Right when we begin to have a clear view ahead, we begin
our course across a pontoon bridge that looks like it will lead us to the end of the ride. As
soon as the Land Rover reaches the center of the bridge, a large burst of water attacks the
bridge from the side. The bridge seperates from the
land and now our vehicle is floating down the river on top of the missing section.
Although the water finale of this ride is very innovative, it does not quite carry the same excitment and fast pace that the rest of the ride creates. The clear water that is all around the Rover does not leave to much to the imagination, since you can clearly see the track that the bridge navigates. (Hence, the Vekoma reference).
When you reach the end of the river, you pull back onto the land for a short journey to
the station. As you exit the ride, you begin to notice that the people in the back of the vehicle
have gotten soaked on the journey while most of the other passengers have managed to stay pretty
dry.
Even though it might not be the most thrilling ride in the park, (I still leave that to Montu) it is definately a ride that can be enjoyed by all ages for many years to come.
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