Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[prozach626]

Emily and I are heading to the park this Friday. This is our second visit and BGW is a contender for our favorite park, if we had to choose one. Our last visit was a couple years ago.

 

I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on Quick Queue Unlimited, but after looking at the wait times throughout the day today, I'm not so sure. The longest wait time I saw was 20 minutes, with the majority of the coasters being 5-10 minutes. If we can expect consistent 20 minute wait on rides this Friday I would be game for the quick queue, but if lines are similar to today I'd feel like I wasted money. What kind of wait times should I expect for Friday?

 

I went to the park this past saturday and every ride was basically walk-on except Invadr.

How long were the lines for Invadr and Le Scoot?

[Hugecoltsfan]

Emily and I are heading to the park this Friday. This is our second visit and BGW is a contender for our favorite park, if we had to choose one. Our last visit was a couple years ago.

 

I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on Quick Queue Unlimited, but after looking at the wait times throughout the day today, I'm not so sure. The longest wait time I saw was 20 minutes, with the majority of the coasters being 5-10 minutes. If we can expect consistent 20 minute wait on rides this Friday I would be game for the quick queue, but if lines are similar to today I'd feel like I wasted money. What kind of wait times should I expect for Friday?

 

I went to the park this past saturday and every ride was basically walk-on except Invadr.

How long were the lines for Invadr and Le Scoot?

 

30-40 minutes

[coasterbill]

I don't think I've ever been to the park when Le Scoot's line wasn't bullsh*t long.

[prozach626]

TBH, that might be worth the extra $150 for the trip in itself.

[coasterbill]

Yeah, but I'd have a really hard time buying skip the line passes at this park. The only rides on the system are Alpengeist, Apollo’s Chariot, Curse of DarKastle, Escape from Pompeii, Griffon, Le Scoot, Roman Rapids, and Verbolten.

 

Ignoring Roman Rapids (because I'd never ride it), the only ride on that list where I've ever seen a line longer than 15 minutes is Le Scoot. Verbolten sort of gets lines but they're manageable, the B&M's are pretty much always walk-ons and the only 2 coasters where you might actually want the thing aren't on the system. Loch Ness is also missing, though unless you ride it in the morning it won't have a line anyway.

[prozach626]

Dang. Thanks for the head's up, Bill. I wasn't aware Viking Voyage wasn't on the Quick Queue. We'll have to hit Viking Voyage a couple times early and then move over to Le Scoot.

 

I suppose even if Invadr were included on the Quick Queue it wouldn't be a ride I would feel I would have to ride over and over again. I have enjoyed most GCI's I have been on, but none of them really stand out to me as feeling much different from one other. The only possible exception is Mystic Timbers, just because of its close trees and interaction with the river rapids ride.

Edited July 25, 2017 by prozach626

[cfc]

I didn't go to the park last weekend, but was out in that part of town. I noticed they weren't using the overflow parking lots, which was unusual for a Saturday; then again, is was hot as the surface of the sun last weekend (temps in the 100s).

 

On a busy Saturday, spring for Quick Queue. On other days, you probably won't need it.

[mordecai-75]

Do Griffon and alpingeist have the B&M big boy seats?

[Jcoaster]

Do Griffon and alpingeist have the B&M big boy seats?

 

Yes, in some of the middle rows. Not sure which in particular but someone on here will get to it.

[cfc]

^Griffon has two such seats in the middle of each row. For Alpengeist, I think its rows 5 and 6 (or 4 and 5)--just look for the "Diamond" sign over the loading area.

[coneyislandchris]

Dang. Thanks for the head's up, Bill. I wasn't aware Viking Voyage wasn't on the Quick Queue. We'll have to hit Viking Voyage a couple times early and then move over to Le Scoot.

 

I suppose even if Viking Voyage were included on the Quick Queue it wouldn't be a ride I would feel I would have to ride over and over again. I have enjoyed most GCI's I have been on, but none of them really stand out to me as feeling much different from one other. The only possible exception is Mystic Timbers, just because of its close trees and interaction with the river rapids ride.

 

Oh, it seems as if there's a bunch of different tiers of Quick Queue now. The one Bill's talking about is Quick Queue Unlimited. There's also Quick Queue Unlimited Plus, which apparently has all of the above for unlimited rides, plus a single skip-the-line one time each on Invadr, Tempesto, Mach Tower, and... Loch Ness Monster? Seriously? Okay, BGW, whatever floats your boat...

 

Anyway, those ones are $75 apiece. It's your call, but I think you should probably be good if you just hop right over to Invadr at rope drop.

[coasterbill]

Oh wow, I just searched "Quick Queue Unlimited" and totally missed that. Honestly though, that's stupid. I've never seen a line for Mach Tower, Loch Ness is generally a walk on unless it's first thing in the morning and you only get a single use on InvadR and Tempesto. If it were unlimited (as the name implies) it might be worth it, but that's insane.

[coneyislandchris]

It's not Unlimited, it's Unlimited PLUS (some other things that are actually quite limited)

 

I found out about this when I was there a few weeks back... asked the guy manning the gate if they were selling single-use Quick Queues (the line was estimated at about 45 minutes, and I had no problem dropping a $20 to avoid my kid and I standing in that). That's when he dropped the knowledge bomb of Quick Queue Unlimited Plus, I immediately said eh, eff that, and hung out in the line anyway. Thankfully it moved pretty quickly and ended up only being about 25 minutes after all.

[prozach626]

It's 1030 at night, we're stranded in DC with our airplane placed on indefinite standby for maintenance, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Not a good sign of things to come for our solo day at the park tomorrow, before heading to the outer banks for a week. Fml

[prozach626]

Aaaaaannnnnddd... my flight was cancelled...

[Vonni]

^ Aw man! I'm so sorry Prozach! I hope everything still works out for you at the park despite the flight hiccups!

[michaellynn4]

Ughhh... Really sorry to hear that, Zach. Hope things end up working out.

[prozach626]

Woke up after 3 hours of sleep to hit connecting flight to Norfolk. Boarded airport shuttle. Got an email that our connection flight to get us to Norfolk at 1pm is cancelled and we were rescheduled for a 10pm arrival in Norfolk tonight. F*** American Airlines! We're getting a rental car and driving a few hours to Norfolk to pick up our OTHER rental car to drive to BGW.

 

Trying as hard as we can to make lemonade here, but these are some sour lemons.

[coasterbill]

I'll help you make lemonade. Drive to Norfolk and when you pass the huge "Kings Dominion" sign on I-95, stop there, get yourself a few beers and ride I305. See if that helps.

[cfc]

You'll also be driving right by BGW on your way to Norfolk.

[Satans Hockey]

I don't think I've ever been to the park when Le Scoot's line wasn't bullsh*t long.

 

Same here except for our last trip down there the last hour right before closing we walked right on it and since you don't get very wet it didn't matter that it was night time.

[Trevor Hamilton]

I don't think I've ever been to the park when Le Scoot's line wasn't bullsh*t long.

 

Same here except for our last trip down there the last hour right before closing we walked right on it and since you don't get very wet it didn't matter that it was night time.

 

I went on a Saturday earlier this month and none of the lines were long at all. Le Scoot was the longest but even then we waited probably 10 mins.

[bgtlover]

It's 1030 at night, we're stranded in DC with our airplane placed on indefinite standby for maintenance, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Not a good sign of things to come for our solo day at the park tomorrow, before heading to the outer banks for a week. Fml

Not sure where along the Outer Banks you were heading but all tourists have been ordered off of Ocracoke Island due to power outage. It's also out on Hatteras but may be back up later today.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/28/outage-prompts-officials-order-evacuation-ocracoke-island-n-c/518619001/

A lingering power outage is prompting officials to order an estimated 10,000 tourists off of Ocracoke Island in North Carolina's Outer Banks by noon local time on Friday.

 

Power went out to Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands, both popular vacation destinations, at 4:30 a.m. Thursday after contractors building a new bridge connecting two other Outer Banks islands drove a steel post through an underground electrical transmission cable, according to a statement from Hyde County, N.C., government. The cable is underneath construction for the new Herbert C. Bonner Bridge in the Oregon Inlet between Bodie and Pea Islands.

 

Officials say the earliest power could be restored is Friday evening, but it could take as long as a few weeks to get the electricity back up and running, prompting them to order all non-residents to leave. The main concern is for everyone's safety, Donnie Shumate, Hyde County public information officer, said Thursday.

 

Hyde and Dare county officials issued a state of emergency, the Raleigh News and Observer reported.

 

Crews from the Cape Hatteras Electrical Cooperative were to begin assessing the damage Thursday evening.

 

"Depending on the extent of the repairs and the specialized materials required, transmission repairs could take anywhere from days to weeks to complete," the Hyde County statement warned.

[prozach626]

^ We're staying I Corolla, so I think we're good.

 

We made it to the park around 1230 today and went in after a brief, and much needed, nap in the car. A storm and light rain made everything pretty much walk-on after 6. Highlights were front row night rides on Alpengeist and 3 uninterrupted rides on Le Scoot. Thanks for the encouraging words. It was a challenging night last night into this morning, but we made the best of it. TR to follow, eventually (maybe).

[tanthonyam]

I plan on going on a Sunday early to mid Sep. Should crowds be ok?