The Fastest Roller Coasters At Busch Gardens, Ranked

Busch Gardens is a set of wild amusement parks located in Tamba, Florida and Williamsburg, Virginia. While each location features animal exhibits, live entertainment, international lands, and cheery water rides, most guests visit for the main attractions: the roller coasters.

Each of these parks boasts some of the most intense and fast roller coasters around. Though they're not topping any world's-fastest-roller-coasters lists, these rides are still incredibly speedy and intense. Because of this, we're looking at how all the roller coasters at the Bush Gardens theme parks stack up in terms of speed.

Please keep your hands, arms, legs, and feet inside the ride vehicle at all times, and make sure your harness is securely fastened; Things are about to get a little crazy.

10 Loch Ness Monster

This steel coaster located at Bush Gardens Williamsburg was the world's tallest and fastest at the time of its debut in 1978. Though many rides have surpassed its stats in recent years, the Loch Ness Monster remains one of the only roller coasters in the world to feature two interlocking loops.

This intense ride reaches speeds of up to 60 mph and has a drop that is 114 tall. Though the ride is short, lasting only 2:10, riders still feel a full 3.5 G's. The peaceful trees and calms water below the coaster are quite the contrast.

9 Montu

If you instead head to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, you'll find what was once the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster at the time of its opening in 1996. The Montu, which pushes guests to speeds of 60mph, stands 150 ft. above ground. It features one giant 128 ft. drop and gives guests a 3.8 G experience.

The ride is located in the Egypt section of the theme park and loosely boasts a mythological theme. Though there used to be a Nile crocodile exhibit under the roller coaster, the animals have been since moved to a different part of the park.

8 Kumba

Bush Gardens Tampa Bay houses one other ride that speeds to 60 mph. Though the Kumba is under 3 minutes long, it contains seven crazy inversions. Riders experience a verticle loop, a dive loop, a zero-g roll, a cobra roll, and two interlocking corkscrews. Yes, we're getting dizzy just thinking about it.

The ride has guests experiencing 3.8 G's and screaming from the high 135 ft. drop. Riders actually experience weightlessness during the zero-g roll, so you can bet its an intense experience.

7 Cheetah Hunt

This wild roller Bush Gardens Tampa Bay coaster opened to guests in 2011 alongside a new cheetah exhibit. It speeds over 60 mph, beginning the guests' journey through a super smooth, fast launch. Guests are then whisked up into the sky, making a few careful turns before the ride vehicles come rushing down and into a corkscrew before cruising to a finish.

If the name and speed alone aren't enough for you to guess, Cheetah Hunt is inspired by the spotted animal's chase.

6 Tigris

Bush Gardens Tampa got an intense new roller coaster this April. Tigris stretches over 150 ft high and speeds up to 62 mph. Rather than launching guests straight into their journey, though, the train rushes forward, falls back, and then speeds into a dizzying partial twist.

The attraction replaced the former Tanganyika Tidal Wave. Trust us when we say the intensity has tripled. The former attraction was an intense boat ride, whereas Tigris is a crazy coaster with three launches placed throughout the track.

5 Tempesto

This steel roller coaster located in Busch Gardens Williamsburg stretches over 150 ft. high and speeds up to 63 mph. The ride begins by launching guests into a partial twist, then falling back into another twist and soon launching guests to its top speeds.

Being that the ride opened in 2015, the track is incredibly smooth even if it is also terrifying. Just looking at the ride from the outside alerts you to how much of an experience it will be.

4 Alpengeist

This Busch Gardens Williamsburg attraction, which is themed after a runaway ski lift, speeds over 67 mph. It was the tallest complete circuit inverted coaster at the time of its release and has riders experiencing 3.7 Gs.

After the trains scale the 167 ft. chain lift, they are then sent spiraling down a 170 ft. drop. The attraction continues to gain crazy momentum and whip around guests. You won't experience anything like this in the real Alpines.

3 SheiKra

The fastest roller coaster in all of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, known as the SheiKra, sends guests diving down a near-verticle angle at 70 mph. The coasters stretches 200 ft. high and contains a splashdown and an Immelmann loop.

While the attraction was first opened as a traditional roller coaster in 2005, it was converted to a floorless roller coaster in 2007 to up the thrill even more. Its sister coaster, the Griffon, was opened in Busch Gardens Williamsburg that same year.

2 Apollo’s Chariot

Apollo’s Chariot, located in the Williamsburg theme park, will send you on one fast adventure. This roller coaster, which opened to the public in 1999, goes an insane 73 mph. At the time of its opening, it was not only the fastest roller coaster but also the tallest, stretching 170 ft. high.

Though the ride contains no inversions, riders still feel over 4 G’s with over eight air-time hills scattered throughout the track. Wild is the word.

1 Griffon

The fastest roller coaster in any Busch Gardens location is the Griffon located in the Williamsburg theme park. Like the SheiKra, the Griffon is a crazy-fast Dive Coaster, however, Williamsburg’s rendition goes slightly faster at 75 mph. It additionally contains two Immelmann loops, a splashdown, and two verticle drops. That's a lot to think about.

The ride lasts a full three minutes and has riders experiencing 4 G’s. Did we mention that the largest drop on this ride falls a full 205 ft.? If you've ever wanted to experience falling... ahem, we mean flying this is the way to do it.

NEXT: 5 Busch Gardens Rides That Are Actually Worth Waiting In Line For (& 5 That Aren't)