Kumba (roller Coaster) - Drachen Fire

Drachen Fire

Initially, it is said, Kumba was to be part of a two-coaster project for Busch Entertainment. The company had contacted B&M to build two sit-down coasters at its Busch Gardens parks, one in Florida (which became Kumba), the other in Williamsburg, Virginia. B&M, a young company at the time, could deliver on the one for the Florida park but not the Williamsburg park. Busch understood and handed the contract for the Williamsburg coaster to Arrow Dynamics. In 1992, a year before Kumba opened at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg unveiled its Arrow creation, the ill-fated Drachen Fire, which closed in 1998 and was demolished in 2002.

Kumba, at the time of its opening, was said to have "set the industry standards".

When it opened, it had the record of the longest roller coaster in Florida, until 1996, when Bolliger & Mabillard constructed Montu in the Egypt section of the park.

• View of Kumba from the Skyride. Visible are the lift hill, vertical loop, zero-g roll, and interlocking corkscrews.

• A train ascending the lift hill. Notice how the vertical loop wraps around the lift hill.