Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[cfc]

^Crowds shouldn't be much of an issue on a September Sunday.

[coneyislandchris]

I know it's probably too late at this point, but I was just poking around the app and happened to discover that they are actually selling single ride Quick Queues for InvadR now...

 

...at $25 a pop.

 

For comparison's sake, all the other single ride Quick Queues are a pop.

 

On an unrelated note, it looks like the next time we are going back, Kool and the Gang is going to be performing there as part of their summer concert series. I might end up dragging the kiddo along to this since he actually enjoys their music. Has anyone on here attended a concert at the park before? Any tips or tricks we should know about?

[coasterbill]

$25 a pop.

 

Yeah, no.

[CoasterAuditor]

There is a very limited amount of roller coasters I would pay $25 for a single skip the line ride on and although I haven't ridden InvadR yet it would not be one of them.....

[Nrthwnd]

I was wondering when something like this would pop up, at a park.

 

Yeah. No thanks.

[bgtlover]

That's insane ($25). You can get a Kraken one time quick queue for $10 at SWO.

[djcoastermark]

25 bucks? oh heck no. I will just marathon my lil fave here at either Fun Spots for a heck of a lot less. What the heck is Busch thinking? Sometimes corporate thinking is what causes their downfall.

[Vonni]

Now if you could get a one time line skip for ALL of the roller coasters for $25, that would be a great deal. But $25 for just one coaster, absolutely not!

[mordecai-75]

Anyone know why Pompeii was closed today?

[gerstlaueringvar]

$25 is an amusing decision for the park.

[cfc]

Now if you could get a one time line skip for ALL of the roller coasters for $25, that would be a great deal. But $25 for just one coaster, absolutely not!

 

This isn't unusual for BGW to do this for a new coaster. They offered a "one-off" Quick Queue for Verbolten during its first season, too. That being said, I wouldn't pay $25 for the privilege.

[KPfan]

I wouldn't pay that much either. I rode once and really enjoyed it but not enough to pay.

 

On a side note, I was frustrated with the queue design. On the day we visited it was typical Virginia weather and the heat & humidity was crazy. There wasn't much airflow in parts of the queue and we were drenched. Lol

[snapfordakids]

I went to this park for the first time on 7/23 with a long time ACN friend of 15 years. We finally met irl and had a blast at BGW and Carowinds! Overall we had a great time at the park, lines were pretty much walk on with the exception of the log and rapid rides. Food was great, atmosphere & employees were perfect and the scenery was beautiful! Great Park but I think I liked Tampa better.

 

Quick Review

Alpen 2x- Took me 20 years but I finally got to ride this massive thing. It was a solid ride but not my favorite Invert. Some of the transitions are crazy. (Cobra Roll and Entrance to break run) but still a dope coaster, I like it better in the back seat rather the front.

Griffon 3x- My Second Dive, loved it, better than Sherika!

Tempesto 1x - such fun compact ride, considering I grew up on Mr. Freeze at SFOT, it reminded me so much of it. Those OTSR rubber band straps gotta go though.

Apollo 2x - I loved it so much, reminded me of Nitro. Loved the entrance into the helix, and the uphill ascent into the last bunny hill.

Loch Ness 1x- A lot smoother than I thought it was going to be and the indoor helix, had no clue about it! Keep this thing forever!

Verbolten 2x - OMG such a great ride full of unique elements. Only thing I disliked was the super tight turns back into the station after the drop. But The way I screamed on the drop track!

Invadr- 1x. Solid new addition, gave me RMC feelz and I loved the theming in the station! Airtime machine!

[cfc]

There's an interesting story in today's Virginia Gazette: "Busch Gardens Submits Plans for 315-Foot-Tall Attraction."

 

We'll see how this plays out.

[michaellynn4]

Well that's certainly interesting. It's hard to see them adding a large coaster right after building Invadr, and they already have Mach Tower so I doubt it's a drop tower. Maybe some sort of large swing ride like a Star Flyer?

 

I'm certainly curious to see what comes of this.

[boldikus]

A star flyer with no lights above 60 feet though? That sounds sad.

[michaellynn4]

TBH, ANY ride above 60 feet without any lights sounds kind of sad to me. Do the rides at BGW over that limit really not have any lights on them? I never knew about this restriction before.

[chickenbowl]

Anybody willing to go to the meeting at 5 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the County Government Center Board Room in Williamsburg? You could possibly get some info on this new attraction!

[njcoasterguy34]

I thought all man-made structures over a certain height had to have lights to warn aircraft.

[bgtlover]

I'm sure it would still require a beacon at the top. I believe that refers to decorative lighting.

[DrachenfireOP]

Clearly must only be decorative, because not only are there aircraft hazard lights on BGW attractions (for obvious reasons), but a coaster without lift lights would be super unsafe during a night evac!

[coasterbill]

Clearly must only be decorative, because not only are there aircraft hazard lights on BGW attractions (for obvious reasons), but a coaster without lift lights would be super unsafe during a night evac!

 

I checked a few (terribly shot) night POVs of the coasters in this park and it does appear that the lift lights remain off during normal nighttime operation on all of their coasters. They have them obviously, they just don't seen to turn them on unless they need to climb the stairs or perform an evac.

 

The only coaster that seems to have any lights at all is Loch Ness Monster. The loops are illuminated, but they're down in a valley and can't be seen from outside the park.

[VACoasterdude]

I remember someone posting here a few months ago about seeing the balloon while they were at BGW. Since they have three years to build it, more than likely it would be a new attraction in 2019. May not be a new coaster, though. Could we see a clone of Falcon's Fury, @ BGW?

[CaptainUnknown]

I remember someone posting here a few months ago about seeing the balloon while they were at BGW. Since they have three years to build it, more than likely it would be a new attraction in 2019. May not be a new coaster, though. Could we see a clone of Falcon's Fury, @ BGW?

 

Correction: they have 36 months to start construction after approval is granted. And as for the park adding an Intamin SkyJump, the park already has a drop tower in Mach Tower. My guess remains it will be a Starflyer-type attraction, though I'm upset that it would likely lack a light package.

[cfc]

One of the local papers is reporting that the new attraction will be a roller coaster.

 

Virginian-Pilot: "Busch Gardens Wants to Build the Tallest Roller Coaster in Virginia"

 

The location appears to be behind Italy. The name "Madrid" is mentioned, so perhaps a new country, as well.

 

Edited August 3, 2017 by cfc