Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[prozach626]

We went on Wednesday for the first time since 2018. I believe it was in the mid-upper 90's, so attendance was low. We were in the park about 15 minutes after opening. (10-8 close)

We went straight to Pantheon and got walk-on front and back row rides. We rode it a third time later in the day, only since it was new to us and we didn't know when we would be back. This thing hauls and it was fun. But, some of the small ejector hills, especially one on the launch were a bit too much for us. I also don't care for outer banked hills in general, and these were uncomfortable and plentiful. Overall, we liked Pantheon, but going forward it's going to be a one and done per visit with us. The only ride we liked less was InvadR. All roller coasters are way more exciting to me again now, since we don't ride nearly as much anymore. Even despite that, InvadR still does nothing for me and has gotten uncomfortable in spots. It's my least favorite GCI by miles.

We took our time and went to DarKoaster. The effects and riding positioning with the handle bars made this more fun than Panetheon to us. We rode back to back.

Most of the rides were walk-on or station wait. Every roller coaster was running two trains. Le Scoot was 10 minutes. Verbolten was maybe 20. I'm very thankful we rolled the dice and didn't get Quick Que or it would have been a total waste of money.

By about 4PM, we were done. We rode everything we wanted. I love the heat and I love to sweat, but the downside to that is it kills nearly all motivation to drink. So, as opposed to staying until park close and crushing beers, we left after getting our fifty cent 7 ounce beer.

Ride Count:

Pantheon x3

DarKoaster x2

Alpengeist x1

Verbolten x1

InvadRr x1

Apollo's Chariot x1

Chair Lift x1

Griffin x1

Le Scoot x1

Tempesto never did it for me before, and any added effects to Loch Ness Monster wouldn't be worth the discomfort, so we skipped those two major attractions.

Other notes:

Kings Mill Resort is amazing. The grounds are immaculate and the balcony king room was on the James River. The property is huge and has a lot to offer, including the best gym I have ever seen. I highly recommend spending the money for anyone going to the area for a few days.

We did Jamestown and Williamsburg in one day, sticking to our schedule for BGW the first day, history the second, and Resort/Pool day on the third. As I anticipated, I regret not setting aside a whole day for Williamsburg, and I hated squeaking Jamestown into a couple hours. We were fascinated with the history. Had it not been for us not wanting to stay too many days away from out daughter, I would have done Jamestown and Yorktown in one day, and booked another full day for Williamsburg. There was no way I was sacrificing our pool day, which consisted of a strict routine of sunning, reading, falling asleep, getting in the pool for a few minutes, and repeating the cycle. Damn I needed that...

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We went to Food For Thought on the first night. The pot-roast was really good. We went to a sushi restaurant one night, which was average. We went to Casa Pearl two nights for oysters, amazing cocktails, and fusion tacos. Holy shit, that place was amazing.

 

We had a nearly perfect 4-night/3-day trip and thankfully we missed the mass flight cancellations from the Microsoft SNAFU by a day, with the chaos unfolding on Friday and us leaving on Saturday.

Cheers.

[abovethesink]

Trip Report - Road Trip Day 2

First day is in the King's Dominion thread.

We arrived at Busch Garden's Williamsburg on Monday the 15th a few minutes before open, parked in the Italy lot, and took the waiting tram to the main gate. It was our second extremely hot day in a row to kick off the trip with forecasts predicting a high of 99.

This was my third trip to BGW, but the first since Verbolten opened, and my son's (about to turn 14) first. I was really looking forward to this one as I remembered the place as a great park and there were several new rollercoasters to experience. I let my son choose the initial direction we took and he chose to turn right. After walking by the few animals at the park with the wolves no where to be found as they hid from the heat already well into the 90s before noon, we found our first coaster.

Griffon -- We only needed to wait a cycle or two, a theme for most of the day until I note otherwise, and we were climbing up what I remembered as my favorite dive coaster. It still is, even after riding some of the newer ones like Valravyn, Yukon Striker, and later in the trip, Iron Menace. I love Griffon. My favorite moment was a small surprise. I expected the midcourse to stop us, but it only somewhat slowed us down and we got launched out of our seats shooting down the second vertical drop with some speed still.

Alpengeist -- This large B&M invert was a double miscalculation for us. First, we elected to ride it in the back for maximum whip. I really think this undercut the experience as it would have been better to be able to see what was ahead as we dove through the trenches. Second, we didn't get right back on to do just that. It was very hot and we wanted to work our way through the park more quickly than normal. The ride we had was enjoyable, but it was chaotic with the whip in the back combined with the lack of visibility and an intense B&M rattle. Thankfully, the B&M rattle doesn't do anything to me, but I figured I'd mention it for those who it does bother. This is a midtier invert for us, but it probably could have been better if we rode it in the front.

Invadr -- Hmm, okay. I knew this one had the reputation of being a borderline family coaster, but it still underwhelmed me in terms of forces even with lowered expectations. It just doesn't do much at all for me. There is minimal airtime, no positive Gs, minimal laterals... It just wandered around its short track doing very little. For a woodie, it isn't even particularly rough or smooth. It was like this one was designed to be as bland as possible in all ways. This was the first dud of the day for us, but at least it was a new credit for me.

Loch Ness Monster -- A lack of research did wonders for us here. We knew that Nessie had had its loops replaced, but that is all we had thought had happened to this old girl. Nope! Much of the layout had to have been reprofiled or otherwise smoothed over as this was the smoothest coaster we had ridden up that point, even smoother than Griffon. Then there were the nice added effects in the indoor portion, not to mention all the onboard audio that I don't remember being there before. What a pleasant surprise and easily now the best Arrow looper outside of Tennessee Tornado in my book.

Apollo's Chariot -- The original B&M hyper is understandably the weakest of those I have ridden, but that doesn't mean it isn't great. You can't go wrong with a B&M hyper. Like Alpengeist, this one is very rattly now, but again that doesn't impact me even when I notice it strongly. It is just another sensation. The Chariot gave some good floater on some hills and whiffed entirely on others. A late trim completely neutered the finish too, but up until that point I was having a lot of fun. 

Pantheon -- We intentionally skipped over Tempesto for the moment because I thought it might get to me a bit in the now 100 degree weather and I didn't want to impact our experience on Pantheon. What an experience it was. This is a GREAT ride! When I slotted it in on my top 50 after the trip, I put it at #11. Every moment is packed with forces and fun. The backwards airtime hill is something I knew was coming and had seen people rave about, but I still had to experience it to understand. I loved every moment of the ride, though it did give me slight thigh pain. This is the only one we jumped on multiple times for the day, making sure to hit it from several points on the train. Both front and back had their merits. 

Tempesto -- We backtracked the short walk back to Tempesto and I found my fears unfounded. While I remember having found Phobia Fear and Tigris intense and disorienting, Tempesto did not feel that way at all. Maybe it was just comparatively weak coming off Pantheon, or maybe it was running slowly. Either way, I don't like these things when you have to wear those stupid discomfort collars. They ruin the whole experience for me as they are distracting and at times hurt. Phobia at Lake Compounce remains the only Sky Rocket II that I have liked so far of the three I have ridden.

Verbolten, Take 1 -- Our first line of the day was found on Verbolten. It wasn't a long one though. After less than a half hour, we made it to the station. Unfortunately, the yellow train refused to release its last row and the whole ride was shut down as they worked on it. Here is my one big complaint of the day. It was literally 100 degrees out with a baking sun and the ride ops or the park's policy left the green train sitting out in direct sun for over a half hour as they worked on the yellow train. This was downright dangerous. If someone was close to heat related duress, they would have had an emergency. Terrible, terrible treatment of those guests by BGW here. Really disappointing. They were visually distressed and the park did nothing to help them. They just let them cook. Thankfully, everyone seemed fine when they got off the ride. After over an hour waiting, they announced that the ride would have an extended closure and off we went to DarKoaster instead. They had not managed to free the two men in the last row of the yellow train as we had left. Even the manual tool they broke out to free everyone else would not work. They may be on that thing to this very day for all I know.

DarKoaster -- I knew this one would be a wait and that we probably should have rope dropped it, but we didn't and it was. Absurdly overpriced Dippin Dots kept us cool in the line was we waited and it inched forward. Eventually we got inside, which was cooler, but before we got around the last turn, DarkKoaster broke down too. We just sat down and waited. This was the last credit I needed in the park and I wasn't going to miss it. Most people abandoned the line, however, and we were able to move up to just before the station. I'd estimate we were at least a half hour away from boarding before the breakdown still. Given that it was down only about 20 minutes, we probably shortened our wait by having the ride go down. Go figure. As for the ride itself, it is fine. The first lap was fun and the launch uphill caught me off guard. The second lap is nice to pad the time, but at that point you knew the layout and it had less of an impact. This is a terrible fit for the park though with its god awful capacity. I can only imagine the nightmare waits this thing must generate on busy days. It wouldn't be worth a long wait either. Lastly, hopefully BGW keeps these effects going strong. They aren't mindblowing or anything, but it would be even weaker without them and you know how these things go. I had just ridden Backlot Stunt Coaster at KD the day before, so the thought of broken effects was on my mind.

Verbolten, Take 2 -- When we got back to Verbolten, the yellow train had vanished, replaced by the orange train that had been off the tracks previously, and the ride was going again. We had probably a half hour wait before boarding. I still love this one. I completely understand those who miss the suspended coaster that used to be here, but I strongly prefer the themed chaos that is Verbolten. This is a supremely underrated ride in my book. The cherry on top was the fact that my son had no idea the drop track was coming somehow. He usually does his youtube research, but he missed this one and his surprised scream was priceless. I love Verbolten. It was a great cap to a great, albeit hot and accordingly rushed, day at BGW. It would have been perfect if not for having to watch the people on the green train be tortured the first time around.

The day moved my son to 184 credits and me to 241. Six Flags America and a forecast of 104 were on the docket for the next day.

[prozach626]

Quote

The second lap is nice to pad the time, but at that point you knew the layout and it had less of an impact.

For the average person, they probably have no idea the ride laps the same track. I didn't know and never noticed.

 

Good stuff about your son not knowing about the drop track. My wife didn't know about the backwards launch on Pantheon. When we started rolling back on the top hat, she said, "Is this supposed to happen?" It was a walk-on ride for us, so there was no time in the queue for her to look at the ride, not that she would have cared.

 

Sorry you didn't have a better time. 

[Haymaker]

BGW is posting teasers on their socials, with callbacks to the Big Bad Wolf. Interested to see what it turns out to be. 

[KBrylczyk]

^ Family coaster in Drachen Fire's plot.

[DJeXeL]

Wouldn't surprise me if it's along the lines of Phoenix Rising. 

[cfc]

19 hours ago, DJeXeL said:

Wouldn't surprise me if it's along the lines of Phoenix Rising. 

That's the current rumor, which I think is correct.