Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[Barge84]

I'll be there for opening weekend of F&W! Can't wait!

[SuperShawn]

The Caribbean sounds like a good addition to me! Looking forward to trying it, and will mostly just be happy if the magical frozen Dirty Shirley machine makes a come back.

[Philrad71]

So, I guess we can look forward to jerk chicken, fried plantains, and maybe some fruity rum drinks this summer.

Must....make....food & wine!

[jray21]

Jerk chicken is one of those things that has to be made right or it gets bad real quick. That being said, if any park can pull it off it's BGW!

Edited February 4, 2014 by jray21

[coasterbill]

I find Griffon to be so controlled, for lack of a better word. There is no wild and crazy factor to it.

 

I think that's the problem with later B&M coasters in general. I enjoy rides like Griffon and Apollo's Chariot, but they just don't have the same thrill factor as, say, Intamin or RMC coasters.

 

But this does make B&M an ideal ride manufacturer for parks, like BGW, that serve a family, as opposed to enthusiast, audience. Their rides tend to have wider appeal, and, as I said, they're usually quite good and B&M can still surprise you (Hair Raiser is a good example here).

 

I remember riding Apollo's Chariot back in 2001 when it didn't take much to impress me coaster-wise (Medusa at Great Adventure was in my top 10) and we all got off of that ride thinking it was one of the most boring coasters we've ever ridden. I liked Alpengeist but felt like it was pretty dull too. While I remember liking all of the other coasters at the park there was only one of them that really blew me away, and that was Big Bad Wolf.

[Vonni]

I just saw a link on Facebook that said "Deadly Roller Coaster Accident" with a picture of Alpengeist and one of its cars flying off into the air. People are actually believing it is real. You have to be freaking kidding me! Ugh!

[gerstlaueringvar]

I just saw a link on Facebook that said "Deadly Roller Coaster Accident" with a picture of Alpengeist and one of its cars flying off into the air. People are actually believing it is real. You have to be freaking kidding me! Ugh!

I think it was mentioned a while ago at Weird a Coaster Fact thread.

[cfc]

It's a bad Photoshop job that's been knocking around for some time.

[rcjp]

I just saw a link on Facebook that said "Deadly Roller Coaster Accident" with a picture of Alpengeist and one of its cars flying off into the air. People are actually believing it is real. You have to be freaking kidding me! Ugh!

I think it was mentioned a while ago at Weird a Coaster Fact thread.

Yeah, I did. People keep coming to me asking about this as I'm the local roller coaster "expert" and in the beginning it was kind of funny but now I'm starting to get annoyed.

[gerstlaueringvar]

I just saw a link on Facebook that said "Deadly Roller Coaster Accident" with a picture of Alpengeist and one of its cars flying off into the air. People are actually believing it is real. You have to be freaking kidding me! Ugh!

I think it was mentioned a while ago at Weird a Coaster Fact thread.

Yeah, I did. People keep coming to me asking about this as I'm the local roller coaster "expert" and in the beginning it was kind of funny but now I'm starting to get annoyed.

I think I have explained the NTaG accident at least 20 times, at least 10 mins each. But it feels great when only you can answer the question

 

Back to the topic, how does Griffon compare to SheiKra?

[rcjp]

I just saw a link on Facebook that said "Deadly Roller Coaster Accident" with a picture of Alpengeist and one of its cars flying off into the air. People are actually believing it is real. You have to be freaking kidding me! Ugh!

I think it was mentioned a while ago at Weird a Coaster Fact thread.

Yeah, I did. People keep coming to me asking about this as I'm the local roller coaster "expert" and in the beginning it was kind of funny but now I'm starting to get annoyed.

I think I have explained the NTaG accident at least 20 times, at least 10 mins each. But it feels great when only you can answer the question

Yeah you do feel kind of important (and superior)

[rcjp]

I've just realised Busch Gardens has released some nice POVs of their main rides (except for Loch Ness Monster) on their youtube channel. I think every park should have an official POV of each ride (like Cedar Point also does).

[cfc]

Ever dreamed of your yard looking like Busch Gardens? Well, here's a chance to make your dream come true!

 

FREE YARD MAKEOVER COMPLIMENTS OF BUSCH GARDENS® LANDSCAPING EXPERTS

One Lucky Winner Will Receive a Custom Landscape Package

 

WILLIAMSBURG (Feb 27, 2014) – Busch Gardens® has teamed up with Bad Boy Mowers®, the official mower of Busch Gardens, to send the park’s expert horticulturalists on the road to give one lucky winner a front-yard makeover. The Busch Gardens Landscape Giveaway Presented by Bad Boy Mowers kicks off March 1.

 

Busch Gardens is inviting the park’s Facebook fans to submit a photo of their front yard and a brief explanation about why they deserve to have their yard transformed by Busch Gardens’ landscape experts. Submissions will be accepted until March 10 at 10 a.m.

 

Starting at 5 p.m. on March 10, Busch Gardens’ fans can vote on who they think should receive the custom landscape package. The entry process, official rules and submission criteria are available on Busch Gardens’ Facebook page – facebook.com/BuschGardens. The giveaway is open to legal residents of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and Delaware.

 

Busch Gardens hosted the landscape giveaway for the first time in 2013. North Carolina resident Tammy Bennett won last year’s giveaway by receiving more than half of the Facebook fan generated votes. To see last year’s yard transformation, visit Busch Gardens’ official YouTube channel at YouTube.com/BuschGardensVA.

[CPSFMMCW]

I want my yard to look like Busch Gardens! I want apollos chariot in the front yard, and griffon in the back!

[thenewzolt]

I'm looking to maybe going to the park this weekend. Any idea on how crowds will be for pass holder preview day and sunday?

[cfc]

Who else is heading for the park this weekend? I'll be there for Passholder Preview Day on Saturday.

 

BUSCH GARDENS® KICKS OFF ANOTHER FUN SEASON MARCH 16

Anniversary Celebrations, A New Show And Puppies Are Part Of 2014 Season

 

WILLIAMSBURG (March 10, 2014) – Busch Gardens® is springing into another season of fun March 16 with a sham-rocking celebration just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Guests can enjoy holiday-themed refreshments as they join the party in the park’s Irish village and get 20 percent off a purchase of $40 or more at Emerald Isle® Gifts.

 

Guests might even catch the newest stars of Busch Gardens’ Celtic Fyre® show as they greet guests in the Irish-themed village.Two Irish Setter puppies named Conner and Finn will make their public debut on opening day.

 

Jay Tacey, Busch Gardens’ manager of zoological operations, said the puppies will make unscheduled appearances throughout the day as part of their training. Celtic Fyre opens at Busch Gardens on March 21, and the puppies will eventually play a role on stage alongside the show’s Irish singers, dancers and musicians. More information about the puppies and their role in the show is available at the park’s blog.

 

As guests walk through the park’s freshly landscaped pathways, they will no doubt spot the extensive rejuvenation efforts taking place at some of its iconic locations. Inside the front gate, England’s Globe Theatre is entering the final stages of a high-tech transformation to prepare for the debut of Busch Gardens’ newest show, London Rocks™. This innovative show explores the role music plays in people’s lives, and will bring live theater back to the illustrious Globe Theatre later this spring. The show’s theme will eventually extend to the surrounding England village to create an immersive London experience for guests as they enter the park.

 

Land of the Dragons® is also undergoing a makeover. The park’s original KIDsiderate® attraction celebrates its 20th anniversary this season. A recent post on the park’s blog detailed the efforts the being undertaken to refresh the area in time for a special anniversary celebration on March 22. In honor of Land of the Dragons’ two decades of creating memories for park guests, Busch Gardens social media team is inviting fans to recreate their childhood Land of the Dragons photos and share the results on the park’s Facebook page.

 

Another KIDsiderate favorite, Sesame Street® Forest of Fun™, is turning 5 years old in 2014. Elmo and friends are celebrating with a birthday party on April 4 - 6. In addition to the excitement being planned for the birthday party, guests can enjoy special limited engagement performances of Elmo Rocks! all weekend-long at Il Teatro di San Marco in the park’s Italian village.

 

Other milestones events, including the 15th anniversary of Apollo’s Chariot and the return of the park’s popular Food & Wine Festival will take place later this spring. Busch Gardens’ Facebook fans helped choose a new theme this year. A Caribbean-themed menu is being developed by Executive Chef Justin Watson that will be incorporated into the park-wide culinary adventure later this spring. More details about the Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival will be announced soon.

 

Busch Gardens will open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the end of March.

The park will open daily for spring break operating schedule from Friday, April 4 through April 21.

 

The best way to enjoy the season at Busch Gardens is with the purchase of a Busch Gardens Fun Card. This deal gives guests unlimited admission to the Virginia park all spring and summer long for the price of a single-day admission. For a limited time, when guests purchase a Busch Gardens Fun Card they can get unlimited summer admission to Water Country USA® added for free. This online-only offer expires March 31.

 

For more information, visit www.buschgardens.com/va or call (800) 343-7946.

[Paladin7485]

My daughter and I went to the passmember preview day today and overall everything went ok. We got there around 1015 am and traffic was backed up all the way to Hwy 64 but it only took us about 15 min to get through and parked. First stop at Apollos Chariot and the line was short. We were three cars from loading and got all the way to the next one to load and it has a technical issue. The mechanics were quick taking only around 10 min to fix. Appears one of the seats wouldnt lock right. Verbolten was smooth. Took about 10 min to get to the car. Special effects were there inside but no sounds of wolves, thunder, etc. Alpengeist took less than 5 minutes to get on and no issues. Griffon less than 5 minutes no issues and Loch Ness about 10 min no issues. Europe in the Air took us little over an hour. All this from 1030 am to 3pm. Overall very pleased with everything. Almost forgot Darkastle took 10min to get to car and we got a little over half way and the ride malfunctioned. We were stuck for about 10 min in there. No complaints here from us today. Few opening day glitches but they will work out. Beautiful day to spend at the park at 72 degrees. Tomorrow is rain and snow for whoever missed today!

[cfc]

The traffic was backed when I left at 2:00, and they were using the overflow parking lots.

[thenewzolt]

I was at the park the past two days and really enjoyed my visit. Saturday was much busier then I expected, but Sunday was dead. It was cooler out but it was pretty much ride til you die with them allowing multiple rerides.

[megametal]

Think I'm going to have to get a Busch Gardens 2 park pass next weekend, as it's the same price as just Busch Gardens pass until the end of the month. I go to Busch Gardens every year lately, but I haven't been to Water Country in over 10 years! I haven't been impressed with their additions since Meltdown... This year's addition looks good though.

 

Say, did Festhaus open with the rest of the park, or does that open later in the season? I'm gonna need my big lunch of 3 different german sausages, sourkraut and potatoes that I always get when I go to the park. (Always surprised at how much they give you for the price on that one!)

[coasterfreak101]

^Planning on being there tomorrow to take advantage of that too - haven't been to Water Country since I was probably eight years old, so I'm looking forward to the free add-on to the normal Fun Card!

[cfc]

Think I'm going to have to get a Busch Gardens 2 park pass next weekend, as it's the same price as just Busch Gardens pass until the end of the month. I go to Busch Gardens every year lately, but I haven't been to Water Country in over 10 years! I haven't been impressed with their additions since Meltdown... This year's addition looks good though.

 

Say, did Festhaus open with the rest of the park, or does that open later in the season? I'm gonna need my big lunch of 3 different german sausages, sourkraut and potatoes that I always get when I go to the park. (Always surprised at how much they give you for the price on that one!)

 

The Festhaus is open--I had the German sausage sampler for lunch there last weekend.

 

I think you'll like Water Country's Hubba Hubba Highway--it's a "not so lazy" river just past Meltdown.

[cfc]

I went over to the park for about two hours today, and the place was dead due cold temperatures and rain in the forecast (Saturday was a sunny, 70-degree day.)

 

The park mentioned that they would be doing some work in the England section to set the stage for the new "London Rocks" show. Based on this photo, it looks like they've started.

 

 

They've torn up all the pavement in the small area behind this wall, but I have no idea what they're planning to install there. (I still vote for go-go-dancer cages. )

[coasterbill]

My girlfriend and I visited the park on Saturday for her first visit ever and my first visit since 2001. You couldn't ask for better weather and we had a great time. All of the major rides were running except for Le Scoot and Roman Rapids and the park seemed like it was in mid-season form. They had 2 new coasters since my last visit (Griffon and Verbolten) as well some other major additions like Mach Tower and Dark Kastle so there was a lot to see and do.

 

Griffon: We started the day off on Griffon which was a walk on first thing in the morning. While I prefer Sheikra, Griffon is a very enjoyable coaster and I like the fact that you get a little misting when you pass over the splash section before hitting the brakes. While neither American dive coaster is very forceful, I really enjoy them. We ended up riding about 4-5 times throughout the day, the line got to about 30 minutes by late afternoon but because of the huge trains and Busch Garden's great operations the line always moved very quickly.

 

Alpengeist: After Griffon we headed over to Alpengeist for a few rides before they opened the gates to the rest of the park. Like Griffon, we rode it in the front first and then went to the back after the line for the front got longer. I have to say that I really don't understand this coaster's "forceless" reputation... we both agreed that it's easily the best coaster in the park now that Big Bad Wolf is gone. The cobra roll is flat out insane and is probably my favorite cobra roll of any coaster besides Kumba. The coaster does fizzle out a little near the end but we found the snow trenches pretty cool so that didn't bother us at all. This coaster really packs a punch and it's still smooth after all of these years. This coaster's awesome layout, snappy elements and great theming make for an awesome ride. We ended up riding this about 5 times throughout the day despite the 30-45 minute wait.

 

Verbolten: I went into this with an open mind despite the fact that I was a huge Big Bad Wolf fan. It's hard to deny that the theming is great and the ride seems to be immensely popular as the line was about an hour long all day. We rode twice, in the middle of the train both times and this was a really cool coaster. The indoor section is completely disorienting, the drop track is awesome and the Big Bad Wolf drop / theming was a great tribute to a great coaster. I was under the impression that this was a family coaster but it was very fast and forceful. While it's not as good as Big Bad Wolf was, it's a great ride.

 

Apollo's Chariot: I remember riding this back in 2001 and getting off being very underwhelmed. I wanted to like it but I just felt like it didn't do a whole lot. Given the praise this ride always gets I was excited to ride it again and I have to say... this coaster really won me over. I think I can honestly say that this ride has the best airtime of any B&M coaster I've ever ridden. It's still not even close to rides like El Toro, Bizarro, Maverick or Skyrush but this coaster blows rides like Nitro and Intimidator (both of which I really like) away.

 

It's important to point out that both of our rides were in the very back which may have played a role in this, but we got ejector air down the first drop thanks to that pre-drop and in a few other places throughout the course of the ride. We made this our last ride of the night and it was a great experience in the dark. I have to give credit where credit is due here... this coaster is awesome.

 

Loch Ness Monster: I don't know what it is about this ride but it's hard to deny that people love it. It had a 30+ minute wait all day long which is rare for an Arrow looper and because of this we only got one ride on it. I think the thing that makes this coaster good is that it seems like Arrow knew what they sucked at and avoided all of it. They suck at turns, so every turn was taken at a low speed, the suck at pretzels so they avoided them, they suck at entering and exiting corkscrews so they avoided them... all of this made for a really good coaster. I think it's fair to say that this is definitely my favorite arrow coaster after Tennessee Tornado and if the line were shorter I would have definitely given it another ride.

 

Mach Tower: I expected this ride to suck based on all of the negative reviews it gets but I actually really enjoyed it. I loved the fact that it held you at the top for almost an eternity and I thought the drop was quite powerful... maybe not a Larson tower but probably on par with the big Intamin towers. This thing was great!

 

Curse of Dark Kastle: I'm amazed that a regional park invested in a ride like this. We were at Universal about a month ago and loved Spiderman so naturally we were very excited for this and it didn't disappoint. I'm not going to compare it to Spiderman because that would be foolish given the size / budget differences of the parks but this may be the best dark ride I've ever ridden outside of a Disney or Universal park. The 3D effects on this ride are really convincing and the motion of the ride vehicles is great. We only rode it once because of the long line but we would have loved to ride it over and over.

 

Escape from Pompei: I told my girlfriend when we were first planning this trip that if this ride was had to ride it regardless of temperature because of how awesome it was and she reluctantly agreed. Luckily we ended up with a 75 degree day with the water cannons turned off so it was perfect weather for Pompeii. The ride was just as awesome as I remembered it. This is probably my favorite water ride anywhere except for Jurassic Park and Splash Mountain. I might even put ahead of Journey to Atlantis and Ripsaw Falls.

 

Overall we had a great day at the park and will definitely make this an annual trip for us.

 

PS: I know I just said "B&M" and "Ejector Air" in the same sentence. I can't believe it either.

[cfc]

Apollo's Chariot is definitely a "backseat ride" for me--the airtime is better back there. Verbolten's indoor section is, indeed, disorienting, and I think it's a good replacement for the Big Bad Wolf. Alpengeist has its forceful days and less forceful days. I rode it on Sunday in the front row (weather was iffy, and the park wasn't busy, so I walked right on). On cold days, they should rename it "Brain Freeze."