Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

^^^Yeah! See! Vines n' sh!t!

 

It also looks as if you would dive through some sort of thicket as well. That would be cool!

I can't see that happening to the ride. It would be cool to have vines crawling all over it like the station, but what we see in that image is so far from the reality of what we'll actually get. I think the artist was trying to combine the sensations that we'll be subjected to in the show building with the final drop element for a more complete depiction of the ride in general.

^Mabey in your reality it won't. But my brain doesn't work like most people's brains. Most of the time my brain doesn't work at all.

^Mabey in your reality it won't. But my brain doesn't work like most people's brains. Most of the time my brain doesn't work at all.

Guy - You'll have to wait for that sexually themed amusement park to be built where the coaster train travels through bush. We are talking about "Busch" Gardens not "Bush" Gardens.

Well, that was an "interesting" series of posts.

Here's an interesting little tidbit from the "Inside Busch Gardens" blog. Water Country is improving their habitat for baby alligators: http://www.buschgardensvablog.com/its-little-things. Apparently, this has been around since last year, but I've never the little reptiles.

I just wanted to repost a classic post from Wes. Enjoy as we enter step 7!

LIFE CYCLE OF A "NEW COASTER" THREAD ON TPR

 

1. After months of rumors and speculation, the ride is announced. The ride is immediately hit with negative views because it didn't live up to the hype coasterboy2194210 had set when he heard from his friend's uncle that it was going to be a 900 foot prototype.

2. Complaints about: The name, the stats, the colors, the trains, and the station layout, sometimes all in the same post. This is based off a crudely done 3D video.

3. Random new threads pop up in the next few weeks, breaking the news of the brand new coaster, even though the original thread is probably still on the first page near the top.

4. People start complaining about the lack of construction, and wonder if the ride will be finished on time.

5. Construction starts, people start complaining about the lack of construction updates. No pictures from 2:35 this afternoon? But another piece had been put up!!!

6. Criticism over the differences between the constructed portions versus the concept art begin. Page upon page of bitter feuding on whether the angle of descent was incorrect begins.

7. The construction is finished. People start complaining about the lack of testing, and wonder if the ride will be finished on time.

8. Testing starts, people start complaining about the lack of testing updates. No pictures from 2:35 this afternoon? But another train has been cycled!!!

9. Someone rides the coaster and reports back. If the review is so-so to good, the person obviously caught it on a bad early run. If the review is glowing, the person obviously hasn't ridden many coasters.

10. The ride opens. The fanboys descend en masse, declaring the ride the best coaster to ever touch god's green earth. Wild claims are thrown out, like the coaster is able to cure cancer, and has ejector airtime even on the brake run and station.

11. A well-travelled, highly regarded TPR member finally rides it, and gives a good but not great review. Fanboys cry foul, saying the person rode it on an off-day.

12. Pages upon pages of comparison to every single amusement ride known to man ensue.

13. As more people ride, the reviews eventually settle into a particular area (bad, moderate, good, great, excellent) and people stop posting in the thread.

14. Meanwhile, dirt has been dug up somewhere else in the park...the cycle begins again.

^That absolutely made my day. It's amazing, and sad, how dead on that is.

^^Classic!

I think Intimidator 305 went through this cycle three or four times, thanks to the "migrating" trim brakes and reprofile work.

^ Isn't that the truth! And I'd count it as 4 times because of the controversial restraint change!

I'm just upset that another park is slandering bridges.

Any ideas on what the crowds will be like this Saturday? I'm going for my Marching band spring trip. We are suppose to be there from around opening to closing time.

^Saturdays are usually quite busy, and "Ramp Jam" will be going on this weekend, too.

Hi all. Long time lurker first time poster. I read on another website that Verbolten will have a soft opening starting this weekend. Does anyone think this will honestly happen? I am really looking forward to the new coaster, and would love to catch it before the official opening day and the long waits that will ensue after May 18.

Regards,

RIP...

^ It has been said in this thread recently that Busch Gardens does not normally soft open rides and that these rumors pop up every time.

Nobody's been trained on the coaster yet as far as I know so soft opening will not happen this week (unless they're training people on the ride right now).

 

Every time a new ride is built, "soft opening" rumors sprout like dandelions.

Worth repeating.

I don't recall BGW "soft opening" anything, and I've lived in Williamsburg since the mid-1980s. This is not to say that it won't happen, I just wouldn't count on it.

But if you're there and they give you the chance to experience Verbolten early, go for it.

I'm just upset that another park is slandering bridges.

Just wondering, out of July 1st-3rd, which one if any would be the best day (least crowds)to go to BGW? There's a small chance I could go the 30th of June, but would the crowds be a lot lighter than the 1st-3rd?

^I would say the 2nd. The 3rd is probably included in a lot of people's 4th of July holidays, and you don't want to go on the weekend. Everyone is going to want to go either the 3rd or 4th, meaning the 2nd (Monday), should be the least crowded.

At least that's how I interpret it.

What's with all the soft opening questions. I thought only the year around parks soft open rides but I might be wrong. Anyway can't wait to go home to virginia beach second week of june so I can ride verbolten.

^^^ If I had to guess, I'd agree with Steve on Monday July 2nd.

^I would say the 2nd. The 3rd is probably included in a lot of people's 4th of July holidays, and you don't want to go on the weekend. Everyone is going to want to go either the 3rd or 4th, meaning the 2nd (Monday), should be the least crowded.

 

At least that's how I interpret it.

I agree with this. The park is putting on an extended fireworks show for Independence Day on July 3 and 4. Sunday, July 1, is the first night of Illuminights, so I'd go on Monday. But be advised that Williamsburg itself will be pretty busy that week. You can catch July 4th fireworks in Colonial Williamsburg, too (they put on a pretty good show, and the CW Fife and Drum will performing).

And remember, on busy days, Quick Queue is your friend.

Thanks everyone! ^ We were planning on going on the Coaster Tour in the morning, and does anyone know if the "Front of the line access for all four major coasters" means Quick Queue or something different? And also, June 30th would really be as bad as July 1st-3rd?

I don't know if anybody has seen this yet.

Apparently there has been an accident while testing Verbolten.

I read this on the dutch website Themepark.nl and it linked to bgwfans.com

Disclaimer: This is a rumor. A rumor with confirmable information to back it up, but a rumor nonetheless. Take it as you will.

 

From what I’ve been able to gather there was a major accident resulting in one (serious sounding) injury inside Verbolten’s event building today. Apparently a block brake inside the building malfunctioned causing the yellow train to valley sometime on the 19th. On the 20th they brought in winch truck to get the train back up to the first launch so they could re-launch it and continue testing. Anyway, right as the train was about to crest the hill (where the first launch is) the strap snapped causing the train to roll back down the first drop, through the first turn, and collide with the winch truck. This shoved the winch truck into one of Verbolten’s support columns and threw the driver out of the cab some distance across the building. The condition of the winch truck driver is currently unknown. As for the truck, I’ve been told that it took hours for them to finally get it out of the building and it looked like it had literally wrapped itself around the support similar to what you’d see in a car accident where a car hit a light pole. The condition of the support column is currently unknown but if it’s damaged, I see major problems ahead for the coaster. What about the train? Well I’ve heard that the yellow train (the one involved in the indecent) sustained heavy damage as well from colliding with the winch truck. Because the building was evacuated within seconds of the event, it’s hard to know the extent of the damage but if that truck is any indicator, things can’t be good.

 

Now for the evidence. We have multiple independent sources coming forward confirming that at least something very, very bad happened. I can confirm that from opening to at least 2 pm the yellow train was inside the event building the whole time. Also, testing was planned for around noon today but was then canceled around 1 or so.

 

If what we’ve heard is true and someone was indeed injured, our thoughts and prayers go out to that person and their family. We wish them all the best.

I'm not completely shure if all of this is true, but I thought I should post it here.

~Sneaky

I'm confused as to where the winch truck was. Does the winch truck follow the track or does it drive around inside the building? I would think that they would station a winch just behind the peak of the launch hill so that they could pull the train up and over and then slowly tug it backward.