Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[EnglndPatriots6]

That is entirely not my point. I have heard accounts from people, who said no one was even working on fixing it, for 1 whole hour. It is one thing if the coaster is down all day for something major, that cannot be fixed that day, but when no one is even trying to get it back up, It makes me mad.

 

And do you have proof of such?

 

The ride has reached the end of its lifespan it just simply cant continue. Its just not feasible for the park to pour money into a ride that is consistently breaking down.

[JamesMC]

I have never ridden BBW- but I've been on Iron Dragon, Ninja, and Top Gun/Whatever the heck K.I. is calling it now . . .but I have always wanted to ride the Wolf, though never got a chance to do so.

 

If Busch Gardens isn't planning to put their "next attraction" in the same footprint next year, I wish they would continue to "pour" money into it until they need the footprint to construct something else.

 

If a new coaster is going to be installed in the off season, well, I guess that's the breaks, but if it's gonna be a couple years before that space is utilized, then I wish they would keep it open for me and or people like me who can't get this this year but would DEFINITELY visit the park next year, with a little more advance warning and a chance to finally ride it.

 

My home park (though it's 70 miles away, is Six Flags Great America) and I remember clearly the year they "said" it was the last year for "The Whizzer" and there was such public outcry that they kept the ride and it is sitll running to this day! (True, they demolished Shockwave instead ((Grrrrr)) but at least the next year Superman stood where it was located). There was no "in-between year" with an emptly plot of land and no New Coaster/attraction and a promise of something.

 

The Whizzer is the last remaining Speedcoaster and I know it has terrible maintenance issues (parts manufacturing/maintenence), but somehow or other, every year I can ride it. You'd think if BGE wasn't gonna immediately replace the ride next season, that they could figure out a way to keep it running until the space is needed. My .02

[Homeboy23]

That is entirely not my point. I have heard accounts from people, who said no one was even working on fixing it, for 1 whole hour. It is one thing if the coaster is down all day for something major, that cannot be fixed that day, but when no one is even trying to get it back up, It makes me mad.

 

You know you can't exactly see the whole ride from the walkways right? Not to mention inside the station/transfer track building. Just because your "source" didn't see anyone for an hour doesn't mean they weren't working.

[cfc]

Kingsdominionlvr, you have no idea what was or was not going on when BBW broke down. Give it a rest.

 

This applies to everyone else in this thread, too. The "breakdown issue" has been beaten to death. Rides get old, they break down, sometimes it takes a while to get them going again.

[SKULLY]

Honestly, I can't see them really wanting to spend too much money on something that they're just going to scrap afterward. As for my experiences, I have been to the park probably close to twenty individual times and I can't ever remember seeing this attraction closed. I understand old rides break but if it's happening more and more than I would attribute it more to lack of funding than the old age. After all, spending the money to keep it running in top condition would probably no longer be justified due to the smaller crowds in its queue.

[denning]

I have never ridden BBW- but I've been on Iron Dragon, Ninja, and Top Gun/Whatever the heck K.I. is calling it now . . .but I have always wanted to ride the Wolf, though never got a chance to do so.

 

If Busch Gardens isn't planning to put their "next attraction" in the same footprint next year, I wish they would continue to "pour" money into it until they need the footprint to construct something else.

 

If a new coaster is going to be installed in the off season, well, I guess that's the breaks, but if it's gonna be a couple years before that space is utilized, then I wish they would keep it open for me and or people like me who can't get this this year but would DEFINITELY visit the park next year, with a little more advance warning and a chance to finally ride it.

 

My home park (though it's 70 miles away, is Six Flags Great America) and I remember clearly the year they "said" it was the last year for "The Whizzer" and there was such public outcry that they kept the ride and it is sitll running to this day! (True, they demolished Shockwave instead ((Grrrrr)) but at least the next year Superman stood where it was located). There was no "in-between year" with an emptly plot of land and no New Coaster/attraction and a promise of something.

 

The Whizzer is the last remaining Speedcoaster and I know it has terrible maintenance issues (parts manufacturing/maintenence), but somehow or other, every year I can ride it. You'd think if BGE wasn't gonna immediately replace the ride next season, that they could figure out a way to keep it running until the space is needed. My .02

 

I concur

[Capitalize]

I'm pretty sure people would rather not ride BBW than die.

Alright dying may be a bit too extreme for the circumstances, but if it's broken, it's broken! That's why they're taking it out

 

That is entirely not my point. I have heard accounts from people, who said no one was even working on fixing it, for 1 whole hour. It is one thing if the coaster is down all day for something major, that cannot be fixed that day, but when no one is even trying to get it back up, It makes me mad.

 

How do these people know if its being worked on or not?

 

BGE is a large park, it probably takes mechanics a little while to get from wherever they are, to BBW to start with (one thing a lot of GP and even some enthusiast don't seem to understand in my experiences is the attendants and ride operators are not qualified to repair the rides, simply report when there is a problem indicated on the control panel). Once there, they need to diagnose the problem and potentially go back where the problem exists to make repairs. BBW is a large ride, a large amount of which is back in the woods. If a problem is occurring with the block breaks before the second lift or the second lift itself it will take time to hike back there and repair the ride.

 

I can understand being upset about the ride being down frequently in its last season. But in all reality the park is probably doing what it can to keep it open for this last month or so. In my experiences its a break down prone ride to being with.

[Team Thriller]

I find this topic so pointless. Seriously, rides break down. Sometimes they are for under an hour, sometimes they are over a hour. Sometimes rides are broken down for days or even sometimes weeks.

Seriously, I'm sure Busch Gardens is sorry that BBW was down for a little over a freakin' hour. They probably didn't mean to do it on purpose. Give them a break.

 

Feel bad for all those people who have Six Flags Great Adventure as their home park...

 

--James

[Kingbooba]

I was at the park this evening. Let me say a couple things:

 

First, BBW was doing great tonight! It didn't break down (at least while I was in Germany) although they did a maintenance check on each train once while we were in line. It only took a minute or two.

 

Also, Griffon got stuck. Right before the first drop. Stuck for 5-10 minutes. They got it through the ride and did test runs for a while. Never got to ride it.

 

Otherwise, the park was pretty busy. We parked in overflow. Apollo's Chariot was also running really well tonight- lots of airtime!

 

Overall, we had fun but I think that will be our last trip until Howl O Scream. Oh well! I cannot for that this year, being the 10 year anniversary and getting, what did they say? 15 new attractions? Heheheh....

[Maximo37]

Just had a really bizarre thought about how Busch Entertainment sort of plays the "Me too" or Simon Says game of building new attractions...

 

BGW builds Escape from Pompeii.. Seaworld builds Journey to Atlantis...

BGT builds Kumba... BGW builds Drachen Fire...

BGT builds Montu... BGW builds Alpengeist...

SeaWorld San Antonio builds Steel Eel... BGW builds Apollos Chariot...

BGT builds SheiKra... BGW builds Griffon...

Seaworld builds Shamu Express... BGW builds Grover...

 

Okay... nothing I've said is a surprise to anybody... but here is where I'm going with this...

 

Last year, BGT dismantled Python (I know A LOT less significant than BBW, but hear me out...) to build Jungala (which is amazing by the way)...

 

Now BGW is in the same boat of dismantling a rollercoaster... in their world of Simon Says, are they going to build a family themed animal habitat too?!... or try and trump Seaworld Orlando with a Manta like flyer (I hope not)... or (hopefully) a true replacement of the family coaster which BBW grew to be?!... It crossed my mind last week while I was walking through Jungala and how Python used to stand where we were walking... Maybe BGW is planning a similar themed area since they seem to influence each other quite often... Just a thought...

[cfc]

^^I was there with Derek on Friday night, too. The Wolf queue was almost full, but the line moved very quickly thanks to good operations.

[DarkStitch626]

I'll miss BBW a lot but one thing I will say, I hope to god the next coaster they build can have a similar dive down to the Rhine river..flyer with wing dip anyone lol.

[KDFAN]

Be sure to sign the petition, its always worth trying

 

www.petitionspot.com/petitions/BBWSave

[coasterfreak101]

I just got my last three rides in on BBW yesterday, and I loved it even more than I remember. The last ten seconds of that ride in the back rows are just great.

 

It's a shame to see it go, but if you pay attention while riding it's easy to see why. There's a number of footers that are cracked and/or starting to bend inwards (footer should go __ but they're starting to look like \/, just way less extreme of course), and they're all on very hilly terrain. BGE looks like they have some access paths and roads back there, but none that bridge the gap from pre-lift to MCBR, where the terrain drops down a bit. And I'm sure that the footers and such on the Rhine are pretty messed up as well at this point.

 

Oh, and a question for anyone who's been riding this thing for years now: Has the station portion of track (everything between the transfers) always shook forward and back when the train stops? I don't remember that back in 2007 but maybe I wasn't paying attention.

[bgeguy]

It's usually the train succeeding the train entering the station that will cause the track to shake. When you have a few thousand pounds sweeping around a curve and slamming into brakes, there's going to be some forces exerted through the structure.

 

The track shakes in the station because it's exerting the kinetic energy of the train as the brakes bring it to a sudden halt, basically a transfer of energy. I hope that makes sense.

[cfc]

^Yep--the same thing happens with the Loch Ness Monster.

 

This was posted in the KD thread, but it makes more sense here:

 

Still being new to TPR, I get the sense that many on here aren't ACE friendly but for what it's worth....on August 20th, the same day as the announcement, ACE is having a gathering for final rides on BBW at BGE in the evening.

 

Thanks for sharing the information. And, yes, we kid ACE, but don't take it too seriously.

[B-RadG]

As long as I can remember (since I was 6.. that was 8 years ago) Big Bad Wolf has always shook, all of the track, if you stand back like you're going to Drachen Fire (where you get a clear view of the first half of the ride) you notice even when the train's not running over certain areas the track/supports shake around pretty roughly.

 

Loch Ness Monster's shaking isn't that noticeable unless you're actually on the train. You can't see the track shake but you feel the other train coming up to the brakes and stopping if you're sitting because it vibrates. Also, I guess it's due to lack of supports in the station, but when people are boarding the train and tracks shake from side to side.

[GriffonFan09]

I rode BBW in July and it was definitely worse the Loch Ness. It didn't ride smooth like roller coasters are supposed to it jerked like the train was waiting for the back to catch up then bam we were off again...it did it the whole ride.

 

Even though it's bad, old mainly, I don't think they should take it out. They have land back behind it for a new area and flyer don't they? (Personally a flyer is going to be a LOT better then BBW)

 

Oh well....

[coasterfreak101]

^I always thought that's what made it so great. The back always feels like it's playing catch-up, and it's getting yanked around the turns faster and faster to do so and it's swinging higher and higher because of that. Every time the car swings down it gets pulled right back up again. It feels kind of pumpy, but it's pretty thrilling if you ask me.

[denning]

It's usually the train succeeding the train entering the station that will cause the track to shake. When you have a few thousand pounds sweeping around a curve and slamming into brakes, there's going to be some forces exerted through the structure.

 

The track shakes in the station because it's exerting the kinetic energy of the train as the brakes bring it to a sudden halt, basically a transfer of energy. I hope that makes sense.

 

Vortex at Wonderland swings wildly with a loud shaky at the end, I think it is a natural ending occurance on the suspended Arrows.

[deguy123]

I'm wondering if all the coaster usually open with the park or if some are open ealier then others? I want to get a few rides(front/back) on each coaster so trying to make sure I can get as many rides in as I can in one day.

[Homeboy23]

^ I think they open somewhat close to this:

 

9:30 Loch Ness

10:00 Griffon/Apollos

10:30 Alpengeist

11:00 Big Bad Wolf

 

I may have the time off a little but I am almost positive I have the order right.

[deguy123]

Thanks for the info

[GriffonFan09]

yeah when i went in july Griffon opened then..no Alpengeist was closed for the new seatbelt thing i think?...then BBW and Apollo's Chariot

[bgeguy]

^A bearing was actually shot in Alpengeist's lift motor, that's why it was down for a week in July.