Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[DirkFunk]

^Again, like I said, no amount of advertising will make this addition more attractive than Fury or Thunderbird,

 

There is no advertising. There is no marketing. None. That's the problem. The park opens in less than two weeks. There isn't precedence for this that I can think of in the industry because no one is dumb enough to not announce or market additions. Seriously, I think Fun Spot Orlando did more work to hype the 4-5 weeks that Air Race was set up at their Orlando location than Busch Gardens Williamsburg has done for a $6-10 million dollar attraction.

 

But eventually people will obviously realize that there's a new roller coaster there and throughout the season will be a steady influx of interested people from the immediate area, at which point BGW can start promoting it.

 

So you're hoping for word of mouth to get out about the ride to promote it and boost attendance? That's Hard Rock Park level desperation. You can't possibly think that's a rational thing for a major theme park to do.

 

Is it perfect? No. But I refuse to believe Busch Gardens is run entirely incompetently. There has to be some logic in it somewhere. My opinion.

 

You can refuse to believe whatever. The company is approaching financial ruin and they seem totally clueless on how to alter the downward spiral. If this is such a smart thing to do, why hasn't anyone else ever tried it? Disney is running successful press events for cupcakes and t-shirts and SeaWorld won't even do it for the biggest ride they're building in any of their parks for the 2015 season?

[VF15]

Found this photo on BGW Insider's Facebook page of a Tempesto car. I have to say, those OTSRs don't look very comfortable .

[DonGeorge]

Found this photo on BGW Insider's Facebook page of a Tempesto car. I have to say, those OTSRs don't look very comfortable .

 

Hmm. At least they'll be better than Premier's previous OTSRs.

[Nwstone]

They look so small, how is someone's neck going to fit in it?

[scbt]

Those really don't look all that bad, they just look like foam straps to keep people upright. They kinda remind me of the straps that are on Thunderbolt at Coney Island.

[BlahBlahson]

^You mean last year's surprisingly rough and mediocre fail-of-the-year Thunderbolt?

 

Those restraints are certainly a downgrade from the West Coast and German lapbar versions. Just another quiver for the Tempesto-haters club (that I belong to...).

[Canobie Coaster]

^Again, like I said, no amount of advertising will make this addition more attractive than Fury or Thunderbird, for example. It would never be an addition that will attract tons and tons of people from out of town. Will they have a smaller opening day? Yeah, sure. But eventually people will obviously realize that there's a new roller coaster there and throughout the season will be a steady influx of interested people from the immediate area, at which point BGW can start promoting it. Is it perfect? No. But I refuse to believe Busch Gardens is run entirely incompetently. There has to be some logic in it somewhere. My opinion.

 

At Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Superman is the park's top coaster right after Medusa. The ride was a big hit with the GP, so I could easily see the ride attracting guests if they decided to market it. This is quite possibly the most puzzling campaign, or lack there of.

 

I agree that the space between the straps seems rather small, but as long as the straps are fairly short, they shouldn't impact the ride too much. Superman is such a smooth ride that there wouldn't be any headbanging.

[Superbatboy]

OSTRs??

 

Whyyyyyy???

[KingRCT3]

Superman is such a smooth ride that there wouldn't be any headbanging.

 

The headbanging won't be a problem, but the ride is packed with laterals!

 

OTSR that need to be fasten by hand by the way, as the lap-bar opens toward the front... Uggh.

And they could have at least get rid of that shin gard... But nope.

[fraroc]

OSTRs??

 

Whyyyyyy???

 

People complained about OSTRs on I305. Ironically, it's now one of the highest rated coasters in the world and my personal favorite....Anything can happen.

[vacoaster09]

Those straps looks very close together. I305's slightly graze against my ears when I slide them over my head... these look like they will scrape the sides of someone's head. It also appears that boarding riders will have to pick the straps up. Surprised they didn't just go with an all-in-one over the shoulder lap bar restraint system. Instead they went with two separate devices.

[KingRCT3]

^ Kanonen's straps (same as I305) took my glasses off... Be carefull indeed...

 

And it looks like those new restraints are gonna slam the face of an ope if people pull them too early and then realize there is nothing to strap them on. Granted it will happen.

[A.J.]

It's a pretty tricky situation. Normal shoulder harnesses wouldn't work on those Premier trains. You have to have the shin bar so you can't move your feet forward - the cars have completely open fronts, like the cars on Rocky Mountain coasters, and the back of car 1 / front of car 2 look like they get pretty close to each other during tight inversions and turns. Also, the bit that's on the very front of the train (like where Kennywood has the Sky Rocket logo) is merely bolted on - both cars are the same and look like they can be switched around if necessary. I'm pretty sure that the only way to fit a "horse collar" harness is to redesign the entire train.

 

EDIT: Example. It might just be the photo, but look how close the cars are to each other!

 

[KingRCT3]

^ True indeed. It's like on Mack Youngstar, where ou can actually hit your knee with the car in front of you.

[coasterfreak101]

People complained about OSTRs on I305. Ironically, it's now one of the highest rated coasters in the world and my personal favorite....Anything can happen.

 

Yeah, but those are necessary.

[BlahBlahson]

I305 doesn't have pleasant restraints. After a 25 ride session last summer my shoulders felt like they had been wearing a camping pack for the next few days. The ride was way too good for it to matter much though.

[xChris125x]

Busch Gardens / Sea World is one of the largest advocates for restraint designs that allow for disabled guests to ride. This is why you may have seen those red anchor plates on the backs of a couple of B&M seats at their parks.

 

The OTSR are not a result of Busch being overly cautious for the able rider. They're being conscious and (likely) providing an attraction that will not exclude those certain guests that Six Flags / Cedar Fair policies may exclude.

[I305forever]

^ I don't know how to respond now without sounding like an inconsiderate ahole.

[TyRush]

I305 doesn't have pleasant restraints. After a 25 ride session last summer my shoulders felt like they had been wearing a camping pack for the next few days. The ride was way too good for it to matter much though.

I don't think they designed it to be comfortable after 25 times. It is the most intense roller coaster probably in the United States

 

About the restraints, is it really going to effect the ride that much?

[coasterfreak101]

I305 doesn't have pleasant restraints. After a 25 ride session last summer my shoulders felt like they had been wearing a camping pack for the next few days. The ride was way too good for it to matter much though.

 

That dude right ^there^ hit the nail on the head. I don't think any ride is designed to be comfortable after the 25th time, period. Not sure why you expected that to work out in your favor.

 

About the restraints, is it really going to effect the ride that much?

 

I'm not one to go too far with complaints about restraints before I've given then a shot, but I do at least think that the barrel roll is going to be significantly less...cool than it was on S:UF with only a lap bar holding you in. The rest of the ride, I just hope they're comfortable. But hanging by just your thighs just isn't something you're going to get here, and it's a shame.

[I305forever]

^ Yeah one of the coolest things about S:UF is when you feel like you will fall out on the barrel roll and with OTSRs you won't really get that feeling.

[Superbatboy]

I305 doesn't have pleasant restraints. After a 25 ride session last summer my shoulders felt like they had been wearing a camping pack for the next few days. The ride was way too good for it to matter much though.

 

That dude right ^there^ hit the nail on the head. I don't think any ride is designed to be comfortable after the 25th time, period. Not sure why you expected that to work out in your favor.

 

About the restraints, is it really going to effect the ride that much?

 

I'm not one to go too far with complaints about restraints before I've given then a shot, but I do at least think that the barrel roll is going to be significantly less...cool than it was on S:UF with only a lap bar holding you in. The rest of the ride, I just hope they're comfortable. But hanging by just your thighs just isn't something you're going to get here, and it's a shame.

I think the hangtime factor is huge, like I cant imagine F00l Throttle with OSTRs. The hangtime in the loop is the best element

[rcjp]

Found this photo on BGW Insider's Facebook page of a Tempesto car. I have to say, those OTSRs don't look very comfortable .

What the f&%$ ??!!?!?!

Why would they do this?

[I305forever]

^ They want the ride to be safe for people with disabilities to ride.

[xChris125x]

Found this photo on BGW Insider's Facebook page of a Tempesto car. I have to say, those OTSRs don't look very comfortable .

What the f&%$ ??!!?!?!

Why would they do this?

 

See my post on the previous page.