AmyUD06 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 With the recent news about BGE removing Big Bad Wolf at the end of the summer, I decided to take a trip down there. Ended up going alone due to the short notice. I hadn't been there since 1997, and wasn't quite sure what to expect. I hit the road at around 5:30 AM on Tuesday and took the scenic route (US-13 using the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel) from northern Delaware down to Virginia, namely to avoid the messes that are the Baltimore and DC beltways. Five hours later, I pull into the entrance road to the park and am faced with quite a backup. I began to get worried about park traffic, but it ended up not being a big deal in the end. A hold up at the main entrance due to their firearm-storage system not functioning properly delayed my entry by 45 minutes, but a supervisor in Guest Relations made it right with an exit pass for Big Bad Wolf. Head in, use the exit pass, get a ride on the 2nd row. I work my way around the park in a counter-clockwise loop, hitting all of the coasters (all ride reviews at the end) and finally back to BBW. Waited for the front row, and then headed out to check in to my hotel and grab a bite to eat at around 4:00. Got back to the park around 6:30 and took in the “Emerald Beat” Irish dance show, which was good but far too short for how far apart the show times are spaced. Headed back to BBW and began the marathoning. Alternated rides on the back and front rows for another 4 rides, the final being a night ride on the front row. Satisfied, I made my way out of the park (picking up some souvenirs on the way) to beat the rush went back to the hotel and crashed. Wednesday morning I began my trek back to Delaware. Along the way, I saw that the Delaware State Fair appeared to have a coaster. From the road, it looked like a Schwarzkopf Looping Star, but upon closer inspection it was just a Ring of Fire and some unknown portable coaster. Didn't go in, but maybe one of you can identify it by the photos below. Ride Reviews: -Alpengeist: 20 minute wait. This was the new ride the last time I was at the park, and was just as good as ever. Rode the back row, nice a forceful. Probably tied with Raptor for my favorite B&M Invert. Raptor is a more forceful ride with a better layout, IMHO, but the scenery and some elements bring Aplie up to mark. -Loch Ness Monster: 4 train wait. Front row ride, good as always. Forgot how big the tunnel helix was. Great operations got the trains as close to crossing in the interlocking loops as possible since they added the trims. -Griffon: 25 minute wait. Front row, edge seat. This was my first time on any B&M Dive Machine, and I have to say the hold and the drop was awesome. Honestly the ride was kind of boring after that. I'd like to see B&M do more with the drop gimmick, maybe use a narrower train to enable a better layout. The splashdown was cool when watching from aside, but while on the ride it was just like any other braking section and IMHO added nothing to the actual ride experience. -Apollo's Chariot: 20 minute wait, back row. First time on this coaster, and I liked it. Decent pops of air and I liked the helix and the zig-zag at the end, but nothing screamed “great” about this ride. -Big Bad Wolf: Exit-pass walk on (2nd row), 35 minutes (front row), 20 minutes (back row), 20 minutes (front row), 2 train wait (back row), 3 train wait (front row). Awesome as always, and there's not much more to say about this ride. Operations were hit or miss. In the afternoon they were great, sometimes with ZERO stacking while running 3 trains, but in the evening the ride ops seemed to be more concerned with when who was going on break and ended up with all trains stacked on more than one occasion. Either way, the ride will certainly be missed. Coaster Counts: -BBW x6 -Apollo x1 -Alpengeist x1 -LNM x1 -Griffon x1 -Grover's (whatever) x0 Non-coasters: None Park food eaten: None And for some reason, my photos appeared in the proper order in the preview, but not in the final thing. If you care about sequence, just scroll to the bottom then scroll up.[/i][/b] Man do I hate waking up this early... This was my "scenery" most of the way of the scenic route. This, and suburban shopping centers in southern Delaware and Maryland. Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I don't know why but this thing is cool to me. Going into the light... Almost there. This doesn't look too appealing. Stuck in traffic, might as well take some pictures. On the way to BBW, couldn't pass up some photo ops. And why I'm here. And again. I still don't know what this is like, and wasn't spending time to find out that day. Forgot how good you were. Though the trees. No caption needed. Going down. Hello there Nessie. You didn't get much love from people today... I suck with captions. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. 3 coasters, 1 picture. Apollo was next, but photo ops from inside the park are limited so this one is here by itself. One more ride before I go to check in at the hotel. Took some more of Apollo on the way back in. The inside of the theater for the Emerald Beat show. Back to BBW for the final four rides. Farewell, old friend.
AmyUD06 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Posted July 31, 2009 And the mysterious DE State Fair Coaster. Any ideas?
esvadj Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 Great trip report, I am glad you got to ride BBW before it closed. Riding Rt 13 up Virginia's Eastern Shore took you within 25 yards of my house. Great pictures of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) You know I have friends that cross that bridge EVERY DAY for work. JD
mike541x Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 Cool photos. I really wish I could my last rides on BBW. I had fun on that during Howl-O-Scream back on '05. Shame it'll be closed before I go there in October.
Homeboy23 Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 Great photos from one of my favorite parks! Those 2 state fair pictures are a little big though.
Mark Rosenzweig Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 The coaster pictured at the Delaware State Fair is an "RC-48" model from now defunct Pinfari. It operated on Morey's Surfside Pier in Wildwood, NJ for about 5 years prior to being purchased by Wade Shows. Mark
testtrack321 Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 You skipped DarKastle? Man, you missed out on a great ride...
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