Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

This is a Zierer? ...I used to think that Zierer was only Tivoli coasters but it sure is nice to see them enter the big coaster market for a change.

Remember Wicked?

Edited November 2, 2011 by robbalvey

[Lenaapple1974]

That photo update was sweet! Looks to be very fun already!

[CorkscrewFoley]

Steve, thanks for the update. I have to say i've been curioser and curioser as the construction goes on. I'm sure this questions been asked and answered, but will they be using the footers from Wolfie or no?

[kingadam719]

Steve, thanks for the update. I have to say i've been curioser and curioser as the construction goes on. I'm sure this questions been asked and answered, but will they be using the footers from Wolfie or no?

 

Yes they will, for some of the coaster. All of the footers from the beginning of the water to the station will be re-used, and more will be added.

[Hilltopper39]

 

That transition reminds me of the nasty transition in the middle of Outer Limits at Kings Island/Kings Dominion which is awesome. Outer Limits isn't traveling that fast at that point of the circuit and it is still awesome, so I have a lot of hope for Verbolten.

[Thom25]

The update is greatly appreciated and really makes me re-think my past opinion of Verboten. I now think it will be a perfect replacement for BBW.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Very impressed about the shots for this update. Also kind of disappointed in Intamin for not building this one... I'm probably just surprised that Intamin let Zierer make a vertical drop section.

 

Intimin owns the patent for its own drop track system, which is not what Zierer is using. Zierer designed their own or bought a patent from another company so it has nothing to do with Intimin other then they do the same thing, just in different ways. Intimin only has control of its own designs, not a monopoly on the entire market of "dropping track".

[T-BONDIcoasterkid]

Very impressed about the shots for this update. Also kind of disappointed in Intamin for not building this one... I'm probably just surprised that Intamin let Zierer make a vertical drop section.

 

Intamin owns the patent for its own drop track system, which is not what Zierer is using. Zierer designed their own or bought a patent from another company so it has nothing to do with Intamin other then they do the same thing, just in different ways. Intimin only has control of its own designs, not a monopoly on the entire market of "dropping track".

Fixed.

[cfc]

^And the point of that was what, exactly?

[DBru]

^^Plus, you missed one.

 

Something seems fishy to me. Not that I'm trying to be a conspirator...but I thought BGW announced that part of the reason they were removing Big Bad Wolf was because it had "structural problems"...yet they are reusing half of the coaster's footers?

 

I guess you could reason that these problems only existed on the first part of the ride, but that seems strange considering the dive down to/swinging out over the Rhine River was by far BBW's most intense section.

[Schotcher]

^ I think it was cause of wear and tear on the wheels, the train, and the track, seeing as it swings from side to side. It would've cost BGW an arm and a leg for maintenance, so they scrapped it.

[cfc]

My understanding is that BBW was the park's most expensive coaster to maintain (with Nessie coming in second). By "structural problems" they could've meant the ride's supports and track, not necessarily the footers. It took a lot of welding to keep the Wolf going.

[A.J.]

This is probably a stupid question, but is all of Verbolten's track (indoors and outdoors) black?

[Saldek]

^Seems like they are only using all black for the indoor portion as green supports and grey track have recently been spotted at the park.

[T-BONDIcoasterkid]

Wasn't there a rumor that BBW's drop/transition had to be welded every week?

[Hilltopper39]

My understanding is that BBW was the park's most expensive coaster to maintain (with Nessie coming in second). By "structural problems" they could've meant the ride's supports and track, not necessarily the footers. It took a lot of welding to keep the Wolf going.

 

Also, I with Arrow kind of being out of business and BBW being one of only about 5 Arrow suspended coasters left in the World i would think that spare parts for routine and annual maintenance are hard to find and fairly expensive. I know S&S still provides spare parts for most old Arrow models but that doesn't mean that are still selling those parts at old Arrow prices.

[coasterfreak101]

I remember seeing that a lot of the footers on the first half of BBW were starting to crack in the centers from excessive forces being applied due to the swinging of the cars during turns. I imagine that they'll do a little bit of footer work on the Rhine section to bring them to like-new standard, but Verbolten is going to put a lot less stress on those footers than BBW ever did.

[cfc]

I took a look at the Christmas Town Web site and noticed that this year's coaster will be Alpengeist (in the past, it was Griffon). It makes sense to run a "chairlift-themed" coaster during a Christmas event. There was a rumor that Mach Tower was going to be run as an observation tower during Christmas Town, but the site says differently (that is, it will drop).

Edited November 3, 2011 by cfc

[netdvn]

^ I'm surprised that DarKastle isn't on the list of operating attractions considering it's an indoor ride that connects with the cold/ice theme that comes with Christmas. According to last year's map, it was operating during that time.

 

Just got my tickets to CT! Can't wait to check it out for the first time.

[cfc]

^Yes, they ran it during Christmas Town last year. Maybe being chased by a vengeful ghost that wants to kill you isn't very conducive to the holiday spirit.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^It's a change of pace for those not interested in the Holy Ghost.

[cfc]

^They should do a special Christmas edition of DarKastle: "Ludwig v. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" or perhaps "Oscar the Grouch's Magic DarKastle Christmas."

[rollin_n_coastin]

^They should do a special Christmas edition of DarKastle: "Ludwig v. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" or perhaps "Oscar the Grouch's Magic DarKastle Christmas."

 

Ludwig rocks. "Please, HAHHAHA, sit down...HAHAHA and place your Christmas tree collectable cup under your seat...bwuahahahahHAHA".

[braztaz]

I heard that DarKastle won't be open this year because they wanted to use the time Christmas Town takes up for annual maintenance. I think they had some type of problem with downtime this year.

[cfc]

^That would make sense. It was having some issues during the last night of Howl-o-Scream.