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Tennessee Tornado runs every day, I don’t know what you're talking about.

They had to turn the cameras off because the trucks with track for the 500-footer have arrived, duh.

Alpengeist, Invadr, and Griffon are all great rides despite not looking like much. It's unfortunate you missed out on them. Taking two rides on Nessie over those? Questionable decision indeed... lol. Sounds like Quick Queue was needed that day. I agree Busch food isn't really that great anymore in general. The smokehouse was always hit or miss for me at all the SEAS parks. Glad you had a decent trip, but I really think you missed out on more than you think you did. Like you said, next time!

Hi Everyone! I know I said in my Knoebels TR that I had two more TR's to do, but unfortunately I got bogged down in some stuff. So, I figured I'd better do it sooner rather than later, before I forget the details, so...without further ado....here we go! (I promise that there will be no random photos at the end...hopefully... EDIT: Dang it! I did it again!) Also, big shout out to cfc, bert425, teacher kim, and anyone else I may be forgetting, who gave advice on the park and Colonial Williamsburg, it was very helpful and I really appreciated it! Busch Gardens Williamsburg has always been an A-list/bucket list park for me. I've always been fascinated by the parks beauty, ride collection, theme, and history. I still remember watching a promo for the park when it was under construction where the guy is walking in the Germany sections and he says "Now don't we all dream of a trip to Europe, but now a days who can afford it? Well, this is The Old Country, now being built by Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, near Washington DC. And I'd like to show you what you can do on this side of the Atlantic for less than $7. ", or something like that. So when the opportunity came to travel near Williamsburg, I just had to go. (Sorry Kings Dominion, maybe next decade...or whenever Cedar Fair replaces Volcano ) WHOO HOO! I made it! Being my first time to the Williamsburg area, I was impressed with how well hidden this park was from the freeway. I expected to see for a bit from the freeway before actually getting to the park. Instead it was this beautiful highway (you guys have very pretty freeways on the east coast, do you think you could tech the west coast a lesson in that department?), and you get off on the Busch Garden's exit and BOOM, there's the park! I thought that was cool. Small nerd moment, I thought it was cool how a couple of the parking lot trams had the various retro Busch Gardens logos on them. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I liked it! We got to the front gate almost right at opening, and headed straight for Nessie, cause...it's at the front of the park...I like old Arrow coasters...and...well...why not! Unfortunately, Nessie was a little slow getting out of bed...and wasn't open yet. So, we decided to walk towards the Italy/Festa Italia section, and this is where a little failure to prepare caught me off guard. I knew that there was a park somewhere that opened different areas at different times, but forgot it was BGW. We tried to go over to ride Griffon (which was open), but it had a sizable line by the time we got over there, so we decided to go back to Nessie, which after about 15 minutes pulled herself together and decided it was time to start the day! And...I really like this ride! I have found that I like rides with unique layouts, and Nessie's fits into that category very well for me. Started in the back and I was presently surprised with both the airtime and the smoothness. BGW must take really good care of this thing, because I didn't think it was bad at all. Although I do have a high tolerance for rough rides cause...well, in the coaster desert we got a lot of 'em! Comparing the smoothness to Corkscrew at my home park, I think that in the three years between when the two rides were built Arrow must have figured out how to do better transitions. I've found that to be Corkscrew's main issue when it comes to smoothness, and Nessie's transitions just felt much more thought out, and less like it was Arrow's first time. I don't think it's the best coaster at BGW, but I think it's very much a solid contender for best Arrow looper. After Nessie, we made our way towards Festa Italia and rode Tempesto! Now, this was my first Sky Rocket II and I thought it was...well...I can't actually remember it... I seriously can't remember if I liked this ride, the only I can remember is I basically had to fall into the seat to get in the thing. It must have been just ok, since I don't remember and I didn't take any pictures of the ride so I'll say it was just ok, nothing special. Next was Apollo's Chariot! This was another new ride type for me (Why are there no B&M Hypers west of the Mississippi again?), so I was really excited and while I walked away liking it, I could tell that this was B&M's first attempt. I started with the back (because the back is always better, right?!?!) and thought it was fun but a little underwhelming. Came back and got a front row ride, and man does this ride model have potential! I seriously hope a park in the west builds a new one of these. I know the reaction to Candymonium was mixed, but I'd love to see one come to the west coast and realize all the things that B&M has learned from the 20+ years of building hypers. That would just be so much fun! After leaving Festa Italia/Italy, we sucked it up and waited in line for Verbolten. This was the only ride that really had a line all day except for Escape from Pompeii and Le Scoot, and for whatever reason it seemed to move really slow. They weren't doing terrible on dispatches (believe me...I KNOW what bad dispatch times look like!!), and the ride never went down, it just seemed to take forever. Anyways, this ride is fun! (it was missing the roof on the fake bridge before the BBW drop, just my luck!) Only rode it once because of the line, and got the wolf program which absolutely made my day! I will say, this thing does vibrate a lot. It didn't bother me, but it was noticeable and bothered some people in my group. It's also a shame that so many of the black lights have fallen down over the years. This ride must have been really cool and fun in it's early years. Now, I said I like unique layout and unique rides, so I have to give the best coaster in the park to Verbolten. There's no other rides like this (except maybe Thirteen??? Maybe?), and it just is so much fun. I'm glad Busch Gardens took the risk and went with Zierer for the project, their work might not be the best in the industry but at least they try and be different. That being said, I definitely wish that BGW had refurbished Big Bag Wolf, and put Verbolten in the old Drachen Fyre spot (more on that later). I think that would have worked to Verbolten's advantage with the more forested setting, and we would still have Big Bad Wolf. By this time, we were getting hungry so we decided to get something to eat! Now, I had heard many good things about the Trapper's Smokehouse from several sources so we went there to try it out. And...I didn't think it was that good... It wasn't bad, just very underwhelming. I'm not a food snob by any means, so I still enjoyed it, it just didn't meet the expectations I had for it. We eat again later at the Festhaus, and while I thought that was a little better, I still thought that was a little underwhelming. Is this what both Busch Gardens park's food is like? If so I think their missing a real opportunity to have cool authentic food for the different countries in the parks. It could be so much fun (hey a man can dream right?)! Anyways, I thought the food was good, but not great, and a little on the underwhelming side. Now...I did not have the pretzels that I know Canobie Coaster talks so much about, so next time I'll give that a go. We skipped Invad(e)R because it was running one train with 5+ minute dispatch times...and we decided it wasn't worth waiting in that line for a "family coaster". I will say that it looks really fun from the train and Le Scoot, but it didn't entice me to sit down (yes, people were actually sitting down in the line for Invad(e)R, Seven Dwarves Mine Train style, in the queue. That's how slow that line moved) in that line. I'm a sucker for old Arrow log flumes, so of course I had to ride Le Scoot. This was another one where the line seemed to move abnormally slow for a log flume, but no matter, we rode anyways. I thought this was a fun flume! It's definitely better than the one at my home park (Heh...Heh...let's not talk about that...), although I don't know if it's the best log flume (that's not Splash Mountain), simply because I haven't really ridden that many. Regardless, It was great to be able to ride one of the parks signature classic attractions and ride a ride type that may very well some day go extinct. We rode the train around the park, which I thought was very nice. Not my personal favorite theme park train, but very nice nonetheless. It really showed off the park's beauty. Speaking of which...let's talk about that a second. The million dollar question is of course, is Busch Gardens Williamsburg the most beautiful theme park in the world? And my answer to that is maybe. I haven't had the privilege of traveling to too many theme parks, and I've never traveled internationally, so I don't think its fair of me to give a definitive answer. Without a doubt the park is very pretty though. Prior to visiting I was always under the impression that the park was considered "Most Beautiful" more because of it's setting and theming than anything else. I know that they has flowers, but I always thought that people thought it was beautiful because of the Rhine River, the (might I say well executed) european theme, and just the general beauty of the Williamsburg/Northern Virginia area. To my surprise, and delight, this was not the case. The park is very well themed, and the setting does contribute a lot, but the flowers and landscaping are what make it beautiful. I'm sure my home park also featuring a large amount of beautiful landscaping is increasing my bias, but still I thought BGW possibly toped that. I will say this thought, some parts of the park are more beautiful than others. I thought the Scotland, England, Italy, New France, and Germany/Alpengeist sections were the most beautiful, but I thought the France, Ireland, Festa Italia, and Curse of DarKastle/Octoberfest area were in need of a little help. Not to say that these areas weren't pretty, it's just they weren't up to the standards of the rest of the park in my opinion. I also really liked all the little details this park has. Whether it's the original (when the building was built) countries (and their names) in the stain glass windows at the front of the Festhaus under the AB Eagle, or the crashed skier who rented ski's from Bob's Ski Rental (which closed cause he's gone skiing) near Alpengeist, I just really enjoyed those little details. I wish every park had more of that kind of thing. Your probably wondering now why I haven't mentioned riding Alpengeist or Griffon, and the answer is...I decided to reride Apollo's Chariot instead. I know, I know...dumb coaster enthusiast decision #1999. Looking back, I should have at least done Alpengeist, but alas there's no B&M hypers west of the Mississippi, so I got to ride them while I can I guess! Oh well, something for next time right? Looking to this park's future...they announced Pantheon's opening date like a week after I visited (go figure!). I knew the chances were off the charts high that the ride wouldn't open for my visit, but still I had a little hope. When they first announced Pantheon I was honestly a little disappointed. I though the park needed a cool dark ride to replace DarKastle and Europe in the Air, and more flat rides than anything. Having visited though now, while I still think the park is just crying out for a cool dark ride, I think the Pantheon is a good fit for BGW. They lack an extreme launch coaster, and some ride that truly feels extreme. They have their B&M's but I've never heard anyone compare any of them to an RMC or Intamin. Form my experience with Apollo's Chariot I could see how a coaster with more extreme ejector airtime is needed, and I assume the same/similar argument goes for Alpengeist and Griffon. Pantheon seems to solve all those problems, so I think as long as it doesn't turn into another Intamin-quality downtime fiasco, or the next Lightning Rod, I think it will be a great addition to the park. My only ture complaints with it (having not ridden it) is that I wish it was in the old Drachen Fyre spot, and what I would consider a serious lack of theming. From the distance I could see, the queue and station looked pretty bland in that open field, and I hope that is not the trend for the theming level of new SeaWorld coasters going forward. Speaking of the old Drachen Fyre spot...I had to be a coaster nerd and go look at it. It's so sad seeing such a big empty spot in a park that if you think about it really doesn't have to many open spaces. I really wish that they had put Pantheon here, and saved the field it's in for something else, maybe a Italy section expansion or something? I just fell that the DF plot is really underutilized and could make a great setting for a coaster... And...please don't get me started on the whole "Drachen Spyre" thing... Let's just say that I think it's one of the top 10 dumbest coaster design ideas ever. Right up there with Hypersonic XLC (what is it with Virginia and dumb coaster designs), High Roller, and that fishhook thing that Arrow wanted to put on the side of the Stratosphere (come to think of it...what's with Nevada and dumb coaster designs...). I really do hope that the Drachen Spyre project got cancelled, and something better is on the way for that spot. I really do. Couple other tid bits from our trip to BGW: -The skyride was closed on my visit, which was a bit of a bummer. I've always wanted to ride a Von Roll skyway, and after SFOG shut theirs down and BGT's was put in limbo, I'm starting to get worried that these rides might be on their way out as well. -We bought are tickets while they were doing one of their flash sales, and I would definitely recommend doing that. They want to charge 70 some dollars for this park, and I don't think it's quite worth that price yet. Not to say that the park is overpriced, I just think that if park's want to charge that much per head, they better be operating at a level that commands that price, and I don't think this park was quite there. -Not to knock on the employee's to much, but I did notice that with a couple exceptions that there was a general lack of enthusiasm amongst them. I mean come one, your working at a theme park, that has got to be one of the most fun places to work, in my mind, ever! I don't know what was causing it and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I just noticed it. -I didn't think the merchandise was all that strong, but I loved how they had both a Big Bad Wolf and a Drachen Fyre nanocoaster. They were a little out of my price range, but I thought that was neat. I also like their post card selection, so kudos to them there. We finished with a night ride on Nessie, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and that ended are time at BGW. Overall, the park did live up to my expectations in many ways, and was a little underwhelming in others. However, I would come back, and I would say that if your ever in the Northern Virginia area you have to go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg! I got one more of these trip reports to do from my latest escape from the coaster desert, I hope to get it out over the weekend. See you then!

Awful. What's especially wild to me is that during all that time that no one else riding with her noticed either. its clearly operator error, but her parent/guardian/whoever was sitting next to her didn't notice either?

Sooooo, the Post Independent article was updated and is now painting a slightly different picture. I hate that news first mentality, get it out quick and fix it later. Anyway, at this point I'm going to get my hands on the actual report and see what they are really saying. Edit: Here is the link: https://cdle.colorado.gov/press-releases/media-advisory-division-of-oil-and-public-safety-releases-report-of-findings-on

Whatever ride I'm on with my 2 sons, I always make sure they buckle up as soon as they sit. I thaught them to always rely on themselves first. Ride operators are usually quite young but well trained. But you never know. Very sad.

Invadr is incredible.. especially in the back - and at night. absolutely worth a wait for a night ride.

Totally agree. The full fault lies on the ride operators, and I don’t want to victim blame, but I always ensure my kids are buckled up safely by watching them secure themselves before I restrain myself.

^^ It sounds like we basically had the same day as you last month hitting up Quassy, Compounce, and SFNE. I completely agree about Superman's restraints. The outside of my legs hurt pretty much the whole time I'm on the ride. The layout is absolutely incredible, though. If it had the T-bar restraints like every other lap bar Intamin hyper/giga I've been on, it immediately climbs near the top of my rankings. Got back to the park this summer for the 2nd time, and the first time since 2012, and man was Cyclone great! Knew it would be, but it still exceeded my expectations. The double down by the station was quite unexpected and really threw you around in the back seat. My son and I also had the weight disparity on Pandemonium and were spinning like crazy. We had a blast despite stumbling down the exit ramp.

My son and I returned to SFNE Saturday afternoon after visiting Quassy and Lake Compounce earlier in the day. We got in at maybe... 4:30? This was (I think) my sixth visit to the park. Notably it was our first since 2018 and therefore first where my son was over the 54" mark. Our mission was to get him on the three coasters he couldn't ride last time and revisit Wicked Cyclone. We began by marching back to Batman. I think the book is well written on this one. Decent supporting coaster, but pretty weak compared to most other B&M loopers. I will say I remember previously banging my head on the corkscrews and that didn't happen this time, so that was nice. Next we walked over to The Riddler Revenge (it hurts my soul to type that name), but my eleven year old was upset at the line and said he would rather wait for Superman if he had to wait for a long time. So, to Superman we went. That started quick, but when we got to the station something went wrong with the blue train and there was a delay. Then they kept lapping it empty, so every other train was empty. That was unfortunate, but fine. The problem was their lack of urgency in doing so. There must be something I didn't understand about what was happening. They kept stacking the red train outside the station waiting for the empty blue train to depart for extended amounts of time. It was very strange and turned it into over a half hour wait from the point of entering the station. Then they loaded the blue train one train before we got on and it was running again the rest of the night. Maybe they were waiting for some kind of computer check each time before sending it empty each time? Anyway, we grabbed second to the back train and this ride remains an absolute powerhouse. If the lap bars weren't so painful for me on the airtime, this would probably still be in my top five. This might touch some nerves but for me this has the superior layout to even Sky Rush. But the lapbars really do hurt me a lot and prevent me from re-riding without a lengthy break, so that is a real problem I hope they address someday. From there we hit Wicked Cyclone and this ride was just further reaffirmed as my favorite rollercoaster. I LOVE Wicked Cyclone. Everything about it is perfect. I really need to get out to more RMCs. I have only ridden Wicked Cyclone, Lightning Rod, and Jersey Devil. Well, everything is perfect about the ride experience once you are actually on it. Damn those restraints are sensitive. Dispatches on this thing are very slow and I don't think the ride ops can do much more than they already do. Still, the airtime is insane and the stalls are so much fun... I just love this ride. After Wicked Cyclone we circled way back to Riddler and that was decent. Definitely the best SLC I have ridden thanks to the vest restraints. From there we did dinner and headed back to Superman. It was dark at this point and we waited for the front row. I had to keep my hands down on the restraint to help ease the pain in my legs, but I still loved the ride. That was truly a great ride to the point that my kid declared it his new favorite rollercoaster. That wouldn't stand by me! I led us back to Wicked Cyclone for a front row night ride to compare. Getting in line was a mini-emotional rollercoaster in itself. We walked up to the line and found it closed with the ride having broken down. My heart fell, but pretty much immediately the security guards at the entrance were radioed to open it back up. We were first back in line and first into the station. Walking onto a front row ride was very nice and it was incredible as expected. Back in the station we realized the line was still barely formed, so we circled back for a quick back row ride too. After the back row ride my son joined me in naming Wicked Cyclone his favorite ride. At that point it was near closing and we had hitting the Sky Screamer after dark to take in the park lights on our to do list, so we ran over there before it shut down. That experience was not what I expected. I haven't been scared on a ride in ages but holy crap... 400 feet up from the highest point of land in the park, at night, pretty intense winds spinning you around, flimsly chains being the only thing holding you up, your body pretty well exposed, nothing to do but look down... my heart was racing and I was glad for the descent. I did not expect to have any reaction to being up there other than enjoying the lights! When we got down it was 2 minutes before 9 according to my phone and my kid wanted to run over to see if Pandemonium was open. I humored him expecting it to be roped off, but it wasn't and we walked on as the last ride of the night for both us and the coaster. We sat next to each other and left the other side open for the weight imbalance and OH.MY.GOD! We spun insanely fast from the second we started down the drop to well after we stopped on the final brake run. That was completely disorienting and I was very dizzy for minutes after walking out of the park. All in all, it was a very enjoyable nightcap at SFNE and a great day overall. I do hope the park gets something knew soon though. It could really use a launch or modern wooden roller coaster.

^ as someone who also tends to type only in lowercase (unless a proper name is being used) - that's kinda a childish attack here, Mike. (and I have an English minor, so it's just an aesthetic choice) otherwise, your point is dead on about why CF won't give a crap about what SF does. (and again, IR is so short, no way will it *ever* operate with 3 trains. clearly the 3rd train is so there will always be 2 train operations while one is having refurb (lemme tell you, one train ops on IR for two summers in a row SUCKED).

the lighting effects on "windbreaker" are amazing tho

Oh I agree, haha, I just know it's not realistic. An over 21 crowd would be a great idea, at the very least all parks should have the accompanied by an adult 21 or over rule as many have started doing.