Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[CardCraze]

At this time, Busch Gardens and Water Country USA plan to open as scheduled this weekend. Guests are encouraged to call (800) 343-7946 or check back on our Facebook page for the latest information about park operating schedules and activities.

 

Posted on their FaceBook.

 

EDIT AS OF 2:00PM EST:

 

The Pat Benatar concerts scheduled for Aug. 27 – 28 at Busch Gardens’ Royal Palace Theatre have been cancelled as a result of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene to the Hampton Roads region. At this time, rescheduled performance dates have not been announced. Thank you for your understanding, fans.

 

The park itself is still planning for normal operations, to the best of my knowledge.

[BG Noeit Al]

As of now there should be no closing for Hurricane Irene; however the Pat Benatar concerts have been cancelled and may be rescheduled.

 

Howl-o-Scream

 

Three of the big signs for Fear Fair have been taken down, last time I checked. This could be preparation for Hurricane Irene so they do not get damaged; however it could be related to something else.

 

San Marco Bridge is now decorated with signs of Howl-o-Scream and a chant. Some light music was playing nothing big. the light poles have been covered in vines with eye ball roses. Apparently the story behind the dark side of the gardens is; some little girl got lost in a garden and bad things happened to her and that eyeball we see is hers.

 

Haunted Houses

- 13: Your Number's Up (Europe in the Air Queue, Killarney, Ireland)

- Catacombs (Royal Palace Theater, Aquitaine, France)

- Fear Fair (Behind Roman Rapids, Festa Italia, Italy)

- Bitten (Festhaus Park, Oktoberfest, Germany)

- Unconfirmed

 

Shows

- Monster Stomp Revamped (Abbeystone Theater, Killarney, Ireland)

- Jack is Back (Killarney Town Circle, Killarney, Ireland)

- Unconfirmed

 

Scare Zones

- Widow Makers (New France, France)

- Grin and Scare It (Festa Italia, Italy)

- Unleashed (Jack Hannah's Wild Reserve)

- Unknown

- Unknown

 

2012 Coaster -Verbolten-

 

Nothing new is happening other than construction has seemed to hit hard. A foundation to the event building should be coming near. I imagine with Hurricane Irene construction will be pushed back for awhile. That big hole may turn into a big swimming pool very soon.

 

2012 Park Updates

 

I have heard Festa Italia is getting some work done over the off season. La Cucina is supposed to become a permanent buffet.

[kingadam719]

^Some employee told me that the pit was gonna be an employee swimming pool... guess he is right! Obviously didn't believe it being that I know verbolten is gonna be there.

[XaviElGrande]

I don't want verboten I was routing for a gci woodie like prowler or Troy.

[T-BONDIcoasterkid]

I don't want verboten I was routing for a gci woodie like prowler or Troy.

Um, we knew since last Septemeber we were getting a launching coaster and not a woodie. And it is Verbolten not verboten. And we also knew last Septemeber that we weren't gettinga woodie because it would be too loud.

[cfc]

From the Water Country Facebook page:

 

Due to the proximity of Hurricane Irene to the Williamsburg area, Water Country USA and Busch Gardens will be closed Saturday, Aug. 27 and Sunday, Aug. 28. Precautions are in place in accordance with the park’s extensive Severe Weather plan to ensure the safety of our employees and animals during this time. Details regarding the parks’ reopening will be announced once the storm has safely passed. Guests are encouraged to call (800) 343-7946 or visit our Facebook feed for the latest information.

[XaviElGrande]

I don't want verboten I was routing for a gci woodie like prowler or Troy.

Um, we knew since last Septemeber we were getting a launching coaster and not a woodie. And it is Verbolten not verboten. And we also knew last Septemeber that we weren't gettinga woodie because it would be too loud.

 

How are they that loud GCIs are smooth and very quiet ( for a woodie) and it wound be back in the woods. I also know that it is called verbolten but my ipod doesnt reconize it as a word. Stupid autocorrect. Anyway i knew it wa going to be a steel coaster and what it looks like i am dissapointed so im saying what i was wanting

[Schotcher]

I don't want verboten I was routing for a gci woodie like prowler or Troy.

Um, we knew since last Septemeber we were getting a launching coaster and not a woodie. And it is Verbolten not verboten. And we also knew last Septemeber that we weren't gettinga woodie because it would be too loud.

 

How are they that loud GCIs are smooth and very quiet ( for a woodie) and it wound be back in the woods. I also know that it is called verbolten but my ipod doesnt reconize it as a word. Stupid autocorrect. Anyway i knew it wa going to be a steel coaster and what it looks like i am dissapointed so im saying what i was wanting

 

Woodies are always louder than steels (Except maybe B&Ms). Verbolten's area is actually only about 1000 yards from the nearest house, that's actually kinda close if you ask me. And don't say you are disappointed with a ride that hasn't even been released. You can't judge a ride over a possibly fake layout leak! Ride it yourself and come back to me when you have.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Schotcher

[cfc]

^No shouting, please. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

However, being as the park isn't getting a GCI or any other kind of woodie, there's nothing to discuss about this point. Please keep the discussion focused on what Verbolten is probably going to be, rather than what you think it should've been.

[KingB24]

I was at the park nearly all day on Wednesday. I must say, I am rather unimpressed with Mach Tower. It's just... not that great. I've ridden only a few drop towers (KD, Carowinds, and BGW) and even Carowinds' drop tower is better than BGW's, in my opinion. The "surprise" at the top of the tower was pretty good though. I thought it was another aftershock!!

[BG Noeit Al]

Sadly yes BGW is closed for Saturday and Sunday. Walking through the park you can tell already some of the actions taken to prepare. Such as:

 

- Festhaus window boarded up

- Loose signs throughout the park taken down

- Lil Balloons figurine taken down

- The covers for tents/Pompeii queue were removed

- And many more.

[Skycoastin Steve]

Everybody ready for a Verbolten construction update? Yes? OK!

 

Went down to the park this morning to check out a few things, and mainly to ride Mach Tower. As it turned out, Mach Tower was closed for the day, supposedly "because of the hurricane." Le Scoot was also closed because of lingering effects from the hurricane (from what I gathered, it was an issue with the water). So I just took advantage of the fact that the park was basically EMPTY and walked on to every ride! Got 7 rides on Griffon, 5 on Apollo, and 2 on Alpengeist without waiting longer than one train for any of them. I also got plenty of pictures of Verbolten construction and some of the left over hurricane damage in the park. According to one employee, the park was without power for about a day and a half, but had backup generators brought in to salvage the food that needed to stay cold. Apparently there were "tree trucks" all over the park yesterday picking up trees that had fallen over. For the most part, the park looked great despite the fact that a hurricane blew through two days ago!

As you can see, they have started building molds for the footers that will hold the indoor section of the ride.

Some supplies.

Looks like the lower portion of the wall to the building!

Rebar placements for footers that haven't gotten molds yet.

Pretty massive drop off.

Looks like another lower section of the building wall is going up!

While I was standing there, this truck pulled up with a crane on its bed.

Closer look at the footer moldings.

Looks like it rained here recently or something......

Since I'm a giant, I was able to reach over the wall for this picture of the old BBW station.

Hardly even looks the same.

I didn't have to reach over any walls for this picture of the old BBW queue.

We've already seen pictures of these teaser signs, but I figured I would include them anyway.

Oh, so THAT'S what's going on.

I hope the steepest drop is steeper than a 25% grade.

Dangerous roads ahead. We must be in New Jersey.

SWEET! Looks like we'll get wet on this ride.

Beware of sideways Z's?

I guess in the Black Forest, large piles of crap fall off cliffs? I'm no expert on German things, someone help me out.

Save Big Bad Wolf?

This was a big willow tree in the Festa Train Station. As you can see, it fell over.

They had already chopped most of it up.

This tree was taking a nap in the grass.

Does your branch hang low? Does it lag to the floor?

If no one was around to hear this tree fall down, did it make any noise?

Apparently, we aren't the only ones excited to see what's going on behind the fence. Irene went as far as to knock it over so she could check it out for herself.

More steel reinforcement for the footers.

Pay no attention to that construction behind the fallen fence......

I bet Irene was pissed when she knocked this one over and saw that there wasn't anything important behind it.

The crane is erect.

Working hard, or hardly working?

I do like this one.

Fail Tower was failing.

Not a good sign.

 

At this point, I'm fairly certain I'll find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop before I ever ride Mach Tower.

[Gerstlauer1]

^ Thanks for the update! I still think it's a bit boring to look at, when we haven't seen any track going up yet.

[paiging_jen]

Great shots. Thanks for the update!

[ernierocker]

^ Thanks for the update! I still think it's a bit boring to look at, when we haven't seen any track going up yet.

 

So, you thanked him for the update and then called it boring...

 

Glad to see that the park held up well to Irene. Thanks for sharing, Steve!

[TheSchwitek]

Great pics! I am very excited for this project as well. 2012 is going to be a very exciting year. Oh and I hate you for getting to live so close to Busch and Dominion.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yeah, I didn't mention that I stopped at KD on the way home and walked on to Dominator, Volcano, FOF, 305 twice, and Grizzly (well, Grizzly is always a walk-on). Good day for crowds thanks to the hurricane.

[Schotcher]

^Yeah, I didn't mention that I stopped at KD on the way home and walked on to Dominator, Volcano, FOF, 305 twice, and Grizzly (well, Grizzly is always a walk-on). Good day for crowds thanks to the hurricane.

 

<--- *Peed his pants*

[Skycoastin Steve]

For the record, I've been going to both parks since I was a kid, and I have NEVER seen either park as dead as they were today (not counting those early spring Sundays).

[Homeboy23]

lol I did the day the exact opposite. I started off the day at KD riding I305 by myself front row with no one else on the train. Left at noon after walk-ons on FoF, Volcano, Dominator and a spin on Rebel Yell and headed off to BG to be handed the white slip at the parking booth. Once the lady handed it I knew Mach Tower was closed with my luck didn't even it read it

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yeah I was pretty upset that that's how I found out. I checked both their facebook and website before I left and neither said anything about Mach Tower not being open. Considering it would have saved me a 3-hour round trip, I probably wouldn't have gone if I knew it was closed. They had the time to print out tons of white slips of paper to tell people at the parking booths, would have been nice if they spent 10 seconds to write something on facebook.

[BG Noeit Al]

The park did very well considering the Hurricane was super bad and tough! Also, they were giving free food to employees because they had a surplus of food that wasn't used Saturday or Sunday go figure. That tree in Festa looked pretty cool. I bet things will be normal in no time! Mach tOwer probably will be up and running in just a few weeks, or so we think.

[Schotcher]

Few weeks? Aghhhhh damn you Irene! Does that mean the announcement date for 2012 coaster will have to wait till it's fixed?

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Why would it? Mach Tower has already opened to the public.

[Schotcher]

Dunno. Maybe BGW wants to make sure Mach Tower was working fine before they announced the 2nd part of the expansion, 2 rides down = *Facepalm*.