Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[A.J.]

Eh, I never watched the show anyway.

[burningstroller]

Firestorm indeed! I only get to the park once every 2 years or so and always look forward to that!! How am I suppose to bindge drink and gorge myself with sausage while looking at dancing gingerbread men?! Lame. Very, very lame.

[cfc]

I'm curious to see how the new "outdoor" version of the old Festhaus show will go over. It sounds like a good opportunity to add more color and atmosphere to Oktoberfest. They've been playing around with this since last season--for example, with the Maypole dancers and a small "oompah" band behind the pretzel bakery.

 

Besides, you can always get a sausage pretel dog and a beer at the bakery, then scarf and guzzle outdoors while watching the band.

[cfc]

There was a hint about Verbolten's possible opening day in the Daily Press this morning:

 

When Busch Gardens opens March 24, the emphasis will be on last year's new ride, since Verbolten won't roll until May.

 

"We'll market Mach Tower and Vanishing Point at first, then come on very strong for Verbolten when it opens," [Vice Presdient of Marketing Dan] Dipiazzo said Thursday.

 

The article, "Attractions Add Tech Touches" (Sunday, March 11), also notes that Verbolten is the most expensive attraction the park has built to date, that BGW will be speding "four times as much" to promote Verbolten than it did to promote Griffon, and that they'll be pushing their advertising beyond their usual markets (that is, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Richmond, Philadelphia, New York, and North Carolina) into Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pa.

 

The park is planning to start shooting their new Verbolten commerials "next week." My guess is that they're shooting for a Memorial Day Weekend opening for Verbolten, as they did for Mach Tower last year.

[Pun_Machine]

There was a hint about Verbolten's possible opening day in the Daily Press this morning:

 

When Busch Gardens opens March 24, the emphasis will be on last year's new ride, since Verbolten won't roll until May.

 

"We'll market Mach Tower and Vanishing Point at first, then come on very strong for Verbolten when it opens," [Vice Presdient of Marketing Dan] Dipiazzo said Thursday.

 

Pretty smart of them to take this route after what happened with the Mach Tower marketing last year... Looks like they've learned their lesson. Also, good on them for broadening their marketing reach for this ride as well. If it turns out to be what we've been expecting it could be a destination attraction, no doubt.

[cfc]

^I agree. Last year, they kept getting slammed for all those Mach Tower ads when they were having all those unexpected issues getting the ride up and running. Best to play it safe and sell Verbolten when its ready for prime time.

[kunpc1]

I just wanted to throw in a thank-you to everyone that posted pictures of the tour. The more I see of this ride, the more I love it! I really love coasters that have a solid "beginning" prior to a lift/launch and this meandering through the black forest looks like a great way to start of a crazy coaster ride.

[cfc]

^You're welcome. It's been interesting seeing enthusiast opinions evolve about Verbolten. They've gone from "Phfft--It's just a lame family coaster" to "Wow--this could be a major ride." The new B&M "wingrider" coasters were getting most of the attention, but Verbolten has slipped in "under the radar" as the park released more details about it.

 

We'll know for certain in a few months.

Edited March 12, 2012 by cfc

[australianalex]

They've gone from "Phfft--It's just a lame family coaster" to "Wow--this could be a major ride."

Thats pretty much exactly what my opinions have been on this ride. Its actually looking REALLY promising!

[A.J.]

Here's a question that I've had for a while about BGW. Does anyone know why Alpengeist's trains were fitted with zero-cars up front? Like, was it originally supposed to run with 36-passenger trains or something?

[swiver]

Here's a question that I've had for a while about BGW. Does anyone know why Alpengeist's trains were fitted with zero-cars up front? Like, was it originally supposed to run with 36-passenger trains or something?

 

It was fitted with the zero car because it has more forces acting on it than any other B&M invert. The zero car helps to guide the rest of the train through the course smoothly. Something we could use on our design project?

[Mark Rosenzweig]

The park is planning to start shooting their new Verbolten commerials "next week." My guess is that they're shooting for a Memorial Day Weekend opening for Verbolten, as they did for Mach Tower last year.

 

BGW has had soft openings for attractions in the past (I recall riding Alpengeist in April of 1997- about a month before its "official" opening.) If in fact V-Bolt is cycling for a commercial shoot next week, it wouldn't shock me to see a soft opening.

 

The hang-up here would be the many unique thematic elements (mostly contained within the show building), which the park would likely want to complete prior to opening the attraction to the General Public.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^I was under the impression that Alpengeist has a zero car because it wasn't completing the course in early test runs. The zero car added 1,000 pounds to the train to prevent that from happening anymore. I'm fairly certain they told us that during the TPR day at BGW last year.

[Swimace]

It was fitted with the zero car because it has more forces acting on it than any other B&M invert.

 

Umm... are you sure about that? Could you maybe cite a source on this?

 

I don't believe for a second that Alpengeist is the most forceful B&M invert ever created.

[swiver]

^^I was under the impression that Alpengeist has a zero car because it wasn't completing the course in early test runs. The zero car added 1,000 pounds to the train to prevent that from happening anymore. I'm fairly certain they told us that during the TPR day at BGW last year.

 

Hmm, that makes sense. I don't really feel that it goes slow during many parts of the ride other than the end, but it does make more sense than what I said I guess.

 

And no, I don't have a source for that information I posted, haha. I was just told that the zero car helped to control the train more when it is traveling at high speeds, which is why they are also on the B&M hypers.

[Hilltopper39]

^The hypers are a completely different design, every hyper has a zero car because the axle for each individual car is in the rear so it has to have a zero car.

 

I read an article somewhere that had an interview with a B&M Engineer (can't find it now), and it basically said that during testing they decided to add the zero as a precaution for some f the issues mentioned but with the new wheels they use now it really isn't necessary and the park could add an additional row of seats if they want.

[coasterfreak101]

I just wish the second half of Alpengeist could live up to the first half! The MCBR really stops the powerhouse-through-everything pacing that the first four inversions have.

[Hilltopper39]

^^I was under the impression that Alpengeist has a zero car because it wasn't completing the course in early test runs. The zero car added 1,000 pounds to the train to prevent that from happening anymore. I'm fairly certain they told us that during the TPR day at BGW last year.

 

Hmm, that makes sense. I don't really feel that it goes slow during many parts of the ride other than the end, but it does make more sense than what I said I guess.

 

And no, I don't have a source for that information I posted, haha. I was just told that the zero car helped to control the train more when it is traveling at high speeds, which is why they are also on the B&M hypers.

 

From a post on a Busch Gardens Williamsburg Blog site,

Busch Gardens Blog Post

 

"However, engineers did have one issue during the design of Alpengeist; the train was too light to maintain speed and make it back to the station. That is why Alpengeist is one of only two coasters in the world to have a ‘zero car.’ The zero car, located at the front of the train, weighs 1500 lbs. and allows the train to maintain the speed needed to complete the ride circuit."

[vdejarnette]

I remember riding Alpengeist back in '97 when it opened and a few years consecutively after that when the MCBR was not applied. It flew through the zero-g roll and corkscrew, and gave a nice pop of air time on the dive off the MCBR into the photo shack. Having ridden all the major B&M inverts of that era save the ones outside the US (Nemesis, Pyrenees or whatever it's called now) and Top Gun at CGA, I can safely say those were the most intense rides I've ever had on a B&M invert. Take that for what you will.

[WFChris]

I rode Alpengeist back in 1999 and still consider it my favorite B&M invert based on those rides. I had one ride at night in the fog in the front row...I don't think I could ever replicate that memory

[pkdcoaster]

When Alp was new it was much more forceful. The lift brake was not used and the MCBR was very light, here is one of my videos from a while ago that shows footage from 1997 when it ran full speed. The best shots are from 1:08-1:33 showing the unbraked speed of the last half.forgive the video quality shot with my over the shoulder VHS camcorder

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=8alpen[/coastertube]

 

JEFF

[coasterfreak101]

The first half doesn't look much different to me with or without the lift brake, but the second half... I wish we could get it back to what it was then!

[pkdcoaster]

Back seat used to be better before that lift brake was applied especially back far left. and the train did not hang and chug on the immelman.

 

JEFF

[coasterfreak101]

^Yeah, I can only imagine the drop from back there without the brake. I never notice too much hang in the immelmann, but granted I don't ride it very often.

[vdejarnette]

When Alp was new it was much more forceful. The lift brake was not used and the MCBR was very light, here is one of my videos from a while ago that shows footage from 1997 when it ran full speed. The best shots are from 1:08-1:33 showing the unbraked speed of the last half.forgive the video quality shot with my over the shoulder VHS camcorder

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=8alpen[/coastertube]

 

JEFF

 

Jeff, I saved that video to my HD a few years ago so that I could relive those memories a little more easily... She's still a great ride, but she's not quite what she used to be.