Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[cfc]

If you're into trained house cats, you might like it.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

WOW, I loved it when I saw it. The Pigs in the buckets were funny. The Dogs were funny, Must have been a bad show.

[bert425]

we're planning on doing all the shows

[cdcruizer05]

How many clicks do they require for Apollo's Chariot in order to ride? I'm a bigger guy, Fury 325 required 3 clicks, so i couldn't ride...

[cfc]

^Apollo's Chariot, as a rule, doesn't require that many "clicks."

[DrachenfireOP]

^^ If the test-seat locks when you sit in it, you can ride.

[cdcruizer05]

^^ If the test-seat locks when you sit in it, you can ride.

 

^Apollo's Chariot, as a rule, doesn't require that many "clicks."

 

 

Well thanks guys...i'm visiting Carowinds June 20th, we'll see if they soften up their requirements...I'll be happy if i get two clicks this time, still may not get to ride, but its improvement. HEHE!

[jray21]

If you're into trained house cats, you might like it.

 

Looks like I'll be attending that show next time I'm there with my wife.

[bert425]

Our trip is finally here!

 

Plans right now call for us to be in BGW on Tues 6/16 & Wed 6/17 (weather permitting. . if rainy, we might swap a day out with Colonial Williamsburg).

 

we have no real "plan" other than to simply work our way thru the park, riding things as we get to them (and simply mapping out showtimes to ensure we can catch shows we want to see -- currently all but the Sesame Street one ).

 

of course, we're counting on crowds being light as it's mid-week. . plan might change if we get there and it's PACKED. . that might mean I have to do some planning (but regardless, we won't do quick-queue. . were' there for 2 days!).

 

anyways, if anyone is in the park those days from TPR and see us, please say hello. . maybe we can ride some things together (since my Partner won't ride: Mach Tower, Tempesto, Alpengeist, Apollo's Chariot, or Gryffon).

 

here's what we looked like in November of last year. . I think we still look similar!

 

[cfc]

^I'm afraid I'm not available this week, but you two have a great time in Williamsburg! Be sure to enjoy a nice JC's Special at Pierce's Pitt.

[bert425]

^I'm afraid I'm not available this week, but you two have a great time in Williamsburg! Be sure to enjoy a nice JC's Special at Pierce's Pitt.

 

too bad. .you were one of the TPR folks I was hoping to get to meet

 

thanks for the well wishes. . you think it will be mostly empty on Tues/Wed? or is it one of those ALWAYS crowded places.

 

never been. this trip knocks out two of my Bucket List parks

[cfc]

Weekdays tend to be quiet--you shouldn't have any problem with crowds (and there's always Quick Queue).

[KarlyP]

I was there on the 8th and my longest wait was about 15-20 minutes for Verbolten and around 15 for Loch Ness Monster. Everything else I only waited a car or two. I got multiple rides on everything but we didn't go to any of the shows. Last Monday was my first time there and I was really impressed with the whole experience.

 

I hope you guys have a really good time!

[Philrad71]

^I'm afraid I'm not available this week, but you two have a great time in Williamsburg! Be sure to enjoy a nice JC's Special at Pierce's Pitt.

 

too bad. .you were one of the TPR folks I was hoping to get to meet

 

thanks for the well wishes. . you think it will be mostly empty on Tues/Wed? or is it one of those ALWAYS crowded places.

 

never been. this trip knocks out two of my Bucket List parks

 

I missed you by one day as we were there yesterday. Crowds were light with Verbolten and Tempesto being the longest waits at about 20-30 minutes.

 

We left around 5:00 and they were running near empty trains on Apollo. I think everybody bailed like us from the heat...the temp in the vehicle when we left was 102 so drink plenty of water!!!

[bert425]

Just back from the park (we actually went from Open to Close, which is EXTREMELY rare for us

 

(posting from the free internet computers loaded in the lobby of the hotel -- Courtyard Marriott Busch Gardens -- . . . seriously, I got this place thru Expedia for $110 a night, and it's GORGEOUS, not only a nice indoor/outdoor pool with whirlpool and workout room, but free internet in every room (I only came out to the lobby because I'm more comfortable typing on a computer keyboard, than my kindle or phone. . but I'm the ONLY one in a huge lobby with 3 computers, several local and national papers - with plenty of places to sit to read them -- two giant size TVs, and a Starbucks/counter service restaurant with fantastic smoothies). . .but the best reason to stay here? Literally 3 minutes from BGW, 6 minutes the other direction (on I-60) to Colonial Williamsburg, and 9 minutes to Water Country.

 

so easy, we arent' even bothering with my pre-printed maps anymore!

 

it was amazingly hot.. so hot, that the park announced they were handing out free water. Being from Texas tho, it really was not that bad. We just stayed VERY hydrated.

 

we rode *every* adult ride in the park (including the train and the skyride), some of them multiple times, with the only exception being the Rhine River Cruise . .which we're going to do tomorrow.

 

we did see the Predator show (very enjoyable), and what was passing for Pet Shenannigans (it was so hot, they only ran a 10 minute show to keep the animals comfortable. . which worked out well, since 10 minutes is the PERFECT lentgh for this show).

 

London Rocks was dark today, but we'll see that tomorrow, along with Celtic Fire, the Chefs banging pots show, and Roll out the Barell. Our plan tomorrow is to just re-ride things we liked, and catch the shows, as well as do some shopping.

 

how was the crowd today? a Cast member told me (during the 20 minutes Loch Ness Monster was down, due to Thunderstorms in the area -- everythign shut down for about 20 minutes around 5:30pm). . .that they were expecting 7,000 today, but the numbers looked way lighter than that.

 

I agree. . the Italy lot (were we parked) never filled up completely, and they didn't use any other lots, other than the upgrade parking one.

 

EVERYTHING (Griffin, LNM, Apollo, DarkCastle, Europe by air, Alpengeist, Verbolten, Mach Tower. . was walk on. Because we went to Tempesto first, that was only a 2 train wait.. and that was the longest wait of the whole day.

 

Victories: I got my Parnter on Apollo's Chariot. The moment we hit that floater air, I knew he'd love it, and I promised him that I would not bug him to ride *anything* (either here or KD), if he tried it.

 

he *loved* it. . ended up riding it 3 times with him.

 

biggest disappointment? Europe by air...but hey, it was indoors and fans were blowing. Poor, poor, attempt at Soarin, was my take on it.

 

I didn't care too much for Tempesto. . I'm glad I rode it, but it really did make me a little wobbly. I think for someone my age,it's just a little better in theory, than in actual riding. It's not one I'll re-ride tomorrow tho.

 

speaking of disappointments?. . . .Alpengeist has such a horrible shake that they should rename it the Nutcracker. Awful, towards the back, and I declined to ride it again.

 

Griffin? not shakey at all.. smooth, smooth smooth..with that KILLER first drop several re-rides (once in each row).

 

I was a little concerned about fitting and I fit into everything (note: Both Alpengeist and Griffin have "big boy" seats.. . .on Alpengeist, only row 5, but Griffin have the larger seats in every row!

 

Full report with pics, when I'm back at my own computer and I can upload the camera pics next week.

 

but a VERY fun (if, VERY hot) day at the park.

Edited June 17, 2015 by bert425

[bert425]

I was there on the 8th and my longest wait was about 15-20 minutes for Verbolten and around 15 for Loch Ness Monster. Everything else I only waited a car or two. I got multiple rides on everything but we didn't go to any of the shows. Last Monday was my first time there and I was really impressed with the whole experience.

 

I hope you guys have a really good time!

 

thanks.. we did!

[bert425]

^I'm afraid I'm not available this week, but you two have a great time in Williamsburg! Be sure to enjoy a nice JC's Special at Pierce's Pitt.

 

too bad. .you were one of the TPR folks I was hoping to get to meet

 

thanks for the well wishes. . you think it will be mostly empty on Tues/Wed? or is it one of those ALWAYS crowded places.

 

never been. this trip knocks out two of my Bucket List parks

 

I missed you by one day as we were there yesterday. Crowds were light with Verbolten and Tempesto being the longest waits at about 20-30 minutes.

 

We left around 5:00 and they were running near empty trains on Apollo. I think everybody bailed like us from the heat...the temp in the vehicle when we left was 102 so drink plenty of water!!!

 

too bad we missed you!

 

we actually made it into town by 3, and went to Colonial Wililamsburg (to pick up the Bounce passes), and since we were there, we did some wandering around (mailed my Dad a Father's Day card from the Post office there, stamped with the old-timey stamps. . he'll love it), and had dinner there.

 

but we were back to the hotel by 8pm and out cold, sicne we'd been up since 2:45 am yesterday morning

 

If you make it back down, in the park tomorrow, and KD on Friday!

 

best,

bert

[blk_mamba]

I always wonder how the parks stays in the top 20 nationally b/c the two times I went it was empty and one was on a summer Saturday. Maybe they are really good with crowd control or the park design makes it feel like there are not a lot of people in the park.

[Philrad71]

speaking of disappointments?. . . .Alpengeist has such a horrible shake that they should rename it the Nutcracker. Awful, towards the back, and I declined to ride it again.

 

Sorry to hear that - I rode in the back seat (far left seat) and 2nd seat (2nd from left) and had really awesome rides on both. I think that I had Alpengeist ranked 4th or 5th of the inverts that I had ridden, but it was just running insanely smooth and fast on Monday. I think that it may have bumped up a couple of notches in my rankings - maybe even over Raptor and Banshee.

 

Although I will admit that my partner didn't like it and it did him in for the day...I think it may have been the heat combined with the crazy G forces & loops right after we ate a sausage platter at the Festhaus.

 

I ended up riding Alpengeist with his 8 year old granddaughter (who is a real thrill seeker, I might add) and then the two of us went on Griffon twice with hardly any wait. She had never been on it before and she LOVED it - especially the front row!

[bert425]

speaking of disappointments?. . . .Alpengeist has such a horrible shake that they should rename it the Nutcracker. Awful, towards the back, and I declined to ride it again.

 

Sorry to hear that - I rode in the back seat (far left seat) and 2nd seat (2nd from left) and had really awesome rides on both. I think that I had Alpengeist ranked 4th or 5th of the inverts that I had ridden, but it was just running insanely smooth and fast on Monday. I think that it may have bumped up a couple of notches in my rankings - maybe even over Raptor and Banshee.

 

Although I will admit that my partner didn't like it and it did him in for the day...I think it may have been the heat combined with the crazy G forces & loops right after we ate a sausage platter at the Festhaus.

 

I ended up riding Alpengeist with his 8 year old granddaughter (who is a real thrill seeker, I might add) and then the two of us went on Griffon twice with hardly any wait. She had never been on it before and she LOVED it - especially the front row!

 

the G's didn't HELP, but it was that super uncomfortable shake (and all the rides have that "crotch cone" for some reason!). . .yeah. . . did NOT like it

 

just got back from the park today. . we didn't get there until around 11, and the line for parking was still backed up!. . so yeah, the cooler weather brought out a much larger cowd than yesterday.

 

(I asked at Guest Services what the crowd was yesterday and she told me just about 3 thousand. . . I KNEW it couldn't have been 7K they had estimated. I only asked because we had to see what times the Celtic Fire show is tomorrow, since it was dark today.. and we are going to likely end up back in the park tomorrow after a morning in Colonial Williamsburg to catch that and ride Apollo again . . told ya, he liked it ).

 

much busier today, but not a problem since we rode everything yesterday, so we did the shows (Roll out the Barrell (ok), London Rocks (nice staging, but just a so-so show), and Mix it up! (we loved it). . . did some shopping -- that Glass artist in Germany is amazing, and we watched him for a while.

 

we also did the Rhine River cruise (very nice and relaxing), I re-rode Griffon, and we re-rode: Loch Ness Monster, Turkish Delight (teacups), Waveswinger, the Train, DarkCastle, Apollo, and the Skyride.

 

we likely could have done more, but some things (such as Verbolten) had waits up to 40 minutes today, so we didn't bother.

 

lovely park, and I can't wait to go back again tomorrow, even if it is just for one show, and Apollo. (and it wasn't even my suggestion. . my Partner is who said that he pretty much knew he didn't like Colonial Williamsburg from Monday night. . .a bit too much like Renisannce fair. But I do want to tour the mansion and the museum. . so we're at least going to do that in the morning.

 

then Kings Dominion on Friday!

[KarlyP]

speaking of disappointments?. . . .Alpengeist has such a horrible shake that they should rename it the Nutcracker. Awful, towards the back, and I declined to ride it again.

 

Sorry to hear that - I rode in the back seat (far left seat) and 2nd seat (2nd from left) and had really awesome rides on both. I think that I had Alpengeist ranked 4th or 5th of the inverts that I had ridden, but it was just running insanely smooth and fast on Monday. I think that it may have bumped up a couple of notches in my rankings - maybe even over Raptor and Banshee.

 

 

I've had a mix of good and bad rides on Alpengeist, on the same day. I rode twice before noon and they both were smooth-ish rides. There was some shaking but not as much as I experienced when I rode again later on that afternoon. I couldn't believe it was the same ride I rode earlier in the day. Though I have read about that happening to people, I just didn't expect it to be so drastic.

[fraroc]

Giorgio Iurcotta, your Venetian masks are absolutely gorgeous, but you've also succeeded at making the only theme park souvenirs to cause me the worst case of sticker shock since my family priced out a new car a few years ago.

[cfc]

I've ridden Alpengeist a number of times this season and haven't had any issues with it; that being said, that ride can be a bit contrary from time to time.

[Propeller Factory]

Alpenguist is actually my fav coaster, period lol. (I haven't been around a huge amount, but enough)

[Jcoaster]

I'm heading down this weekend for a Sunday evening/Monday trip. What is the bag policy at the park?