Author: Graham Brooks
Written: July 19th, 2004

 
 Rhino Rally, a twenty-five million dollar safari ride, opened in 2001 to immense hype. Tourists immediately flocked to the park and jam packed the queue. The attraction was doing what it was meant to: bring guests through the gates and away from Disney's Animal Kingdom. While this prototype attraction was helping business, Rhino Rally also had its fair share of technical difficulties from the start.

  In preparation for Rhino Rally, the Serengeti Plain was heavily reconstructed in order to make room and to create the new animal habitats. Over sixteen acres were used for the attraction. Special land divides were created to separate the various animals and a canyon with a river was also created for the flume portion of the ride.

  Rhino Rally uses Land Rover vehicles to navigate the dirt road through the Serengeti until it reaches a bridge that is destroyed by a flash flood. From there, the car locks onto the bridge which is connected to roller coaster track, hidden under the water. The bridge piece proceeds to "cruise" down a canyon until it finally washes ashore and the vehicle heads back to the loading platform.

  Immediate success followed the opening of Rhino Rally. Everyday, guests ran to get into the line before it reached a several hour wait. Problems with the water portion of the ride often shut down the ride for periods of time during the day, however, no major problems had yet occurred.

   On June 26th, 2001, Rhino Rally had a major problem: one of the Land Rover vehicles, while navigating a sharp left turn, tipped over, injuring several riders. Despite vehicles that appear to be top heavy, the outcome of the accident was determined to be the error of the driver taking a small radius turn too quickly. Busch closed the attraction for a month to work out some of the other problems, including problems with sensors and waterfalls, mostly with the water portion of the ride.

  Despite efforts to fix the ride, problems persisted, creating long lines and a poor ride capacity. To help deal with the lines, the Quick Queue ride system was introduced. Guests can get a Quick Queue ticket, while they last, to visit the attraction at a certain time and have a shorter wait. Other problems with wheels quickly wearing down and motor problems on the bridge caused further delays. The slightest sensor alert can cause the ride to shut down or for the water portion to be completely drained.

  To this day, problems with the water portion allow guests only to see the animals before returning back to the station some of the time. It is always a good idea to take the Sky Ride  or look from another location to see if the water is drained or not before getting in line.

  So, is Rhino Rally worth all the hassle for Busch Gardens? Were the millions spent on the ride and the advertising campaign worth long lines and unhappy guests? After the accident, Rhino Rally was toned down; the vehicles now seem to crawl a long and the water portion, if working, is even slower. Any coaster fan will tell you that the money and sixteen acres could have been put to much better use. A better alternative may have been to use the vehicles as a tour through the already large Serengeti Plain instead of creating the contained area of Rhino Rally. This would have eliminated the major problem with the ride, the water portion. In turn this would have left a large piece of land that could be used for a new African country. Personally, a new roller coaster would have been a much better addition. Hopefully the 2005 roller coaster will eliminate the faults of Rhino Rally from our minds. If Busch can figure out how to get this attraction running very consistently and at a more exciting pace, Rhino Rally could once again become "fun."