Kumba is a steel roller coaster located at

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa and Asia. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park opened on Ju ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1993. It stands tall and has a top speed of . Kumba features a total of seven inversions across the 3-minute ride.

History

Kumba was officially announced in November 1992 as a record-breaking Bolliger & Mabillard roller coaster set to become the park's signature attraction. The ride officially opened to the public on April 21, 1993. When Kumba opened, it featured the world's tallest vertical loop, and was also the tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster in Florida. In 1995, Kumba conceded the title of ride with the world's tallest vertical loop to

Dragon Khan Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster located in the PortAventura Park theme park in Salou and Vilaseca (Tarragona), Catalonia, Spain. Dragon Khan boasts eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversio ...

PortAventura Park PortAventura Park is a theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park opened on 1 May 1995 under the manageme ...

which features a vertical loop. In 1996, it conceded Florida's titles of tallest and longest roller coaster to

Montu Montu was a falcon-god of war in ancient Egyptian religion, an embodiment of the conquering vitality of the pharaoh.Hart, George, ''A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses'', Routledge, 1986, . p. 126. He was particularly worshipped in Upp ...

, a B&M inverted coaster in the Egypt section of the park. In 1999, it conceded the fastest title to

Islands of Adventure Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...

's The Incredible Hulk Coaster, yet another B&M sitdown coaster.

Characteristics

The Kumba stands tall and has a drop of , with a top speed of . The ride features seven inversions including a vertical loop, a dive loop, a zero-g roll, a cobra roll and two

interlocking corkscrews This list of roller coaster elements contains the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation. Introduction Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. ...

. The vertical loop featured on Kumba wraps around the lift hill. This element was later seen on

The Riddler's Revenge The Riddler's Revenge is a steel stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened as the park's eleventh roller coaster on April 4, 1998, setting multiple world records among s ...

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newh ...

and

Banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name i ...

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expa ...

. Kumba was the first ride in the world to feature a number of now-common roller coaster elements, including interlocking corkscrews and a dive loop. Riders of Kumba experience up to 3.8 times the

force of gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong ...

on the 3 minute ride. Kumba features four steel and fiberglass

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

s, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. The

block section Absolute block signalling is a British signalling scheme designed to ensure the safe operation of a railway by allowing only one train to occupy a defined section of track (block) at a time. This system is used on double or multiple lines wher ...

s only allow for three trains to be on the track at any one time, meaning the ride can still operate at full capacity when one train is undergoing maintenance. With all three trains operating, the ride can achieve a capacity of 1,700 riders per hour. The name Kumba was derived from the translation of the word "roar" in the African

Kongo language Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from th ...

Ride experience

The ride begins with a right-hand, 90-degree turn out of the station which then begins to climb the

chain lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...

. After reaching the peak, trains go through a small pre-drop. The ride then goes down a drop to the left into a vertical loop that wraps around the lift hill. After leaving the vertical loop, the ride rises up into a diving loop, followed by a zero-g roll, where riders experience a feeling of

weightlessness Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

. A straight section of track and a small hill leads to a Cobra roll. After exiting the cobra roll, the trains rise up into the

mid-course brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust t ...

. The exit from the brake run leads into a pair of

. The train then dives into a tunnel and exits into an upward clockwise helix. The train then hits the final brake run, before making a right hand turn and returning to the station.

Reception

Kumba has generally been well received. Robb Alvey of Theme Park Review stated Kumba was his favorite ride in the Florida area, describing it as "an old-school, intense ride" that he has been on hundreds of times. Dewayne Bevil of the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

'' gives Kumba ratings of 4 out of 5 for both thrill and theming. Keith Kohn, also of the ''Sentinel'', described the ride as "an amazing experience". The opening of Kumba had a significant impact on park attendance figures. In its debut year, park attendance increased approximately 15% to an estimated 3.8 million visitors. The park expected that trend to continue into 1994. In 1995, Joe Fincher, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay's general manager, described Kumba as a "superstar roller coaster" that "has been terrific for us". In ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...

'' annual

Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

, Kumba has consistently ranked highly. It is also one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 every year since the award's inception in 1998. It debuted at position 4 in 1998, before dropping to a low of 31 in 2011 and rising to 23 the following year.

References

External links

* * * {{BGT Coasters Roller coasters in Tampa, Florida Roller coasters introduced in 1993 Roller coasters in Florida Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 1993 establishments in Florida