Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Tyler Boes said:

eightdotthree said:
Verbolten's line last year was spilling out of the queue and on to the bridge but the wait was still < 1 hour.

You do know that the way you put your greater/less than sign meant less than an hour. I think Verbolten's line was long.

I read the word "but" to mean that 8.3 thought the line was lengthy, but moved well due to operations. Funny how people read the same words and get different meanings.

...and stuff.

Don't worry Mike, I'm in the Nitro > Apollo's Chariot camp. Actually, I'm in the Nitro >>>> Apollo's Chariot camp.

I do think Griffon is the best of its kind, but I'd put it behind the other two B&Ms at the park. To put it accurately (and perhaps confusingly), I'd say that the coaster collection is decent at best without much in the way of anything exceptional. However, as a whole, I'd say that the park is the overall best park I've ever visited, and the coasters certainly contribute to that. They are all in wonderful settings, and the park as a whole is just plain beautiful. It's one of a VERY small number of parks where I'm just happy to walk around while only occasionally taking a ride on something. It's such a pleasant place to just take in the sights.

As a last note on the rides, though, Alpengeist is by far my favorite coaster at the park, and though it's not the most forceful ride out there, it's still absolutely wonderful. Comparing it to Montu, it's hard to say which is better.

sirloindude said:
I'd say that the park is the overall best park I've ever visited, and the coasters certainly contribute to that. They are all in wonderful settings, and the park as a whole is just plain beautiful. It's one of a VERY small number of parks where I'm just happy to walk around while only occasionally taking a ride on something. It's such a pleasant place to just take in the sights.

I found this to be true in Tampa as well. The park was just gorgeous. I felt like if I had more time, I would stay there and just walk around, and actually, I did not rush anywhere just to ride something. I also took about a million pictures, with only a few of them being coaster shots. The staff was very courteous and helpful as well, and I even got into a fairly lengthy discussion with a line attendant who used to be a Buzzer. I am very excited and hopeful that I get to take this trip, and all the suggestions are very much appreciated.

Apollo's Chariot is special. The drops are not in order from tallest to smallest. It hides a few surprises.

Alpengeist is not my favorite in any category. Maybe the front seat is interesting, but there is something that I don't like about it and I can't quite figure it out. Maybe it is too fast to enjoy or something.

Loch Ness Monster's age really shows, and it's "Arrowness" is apparent, but it is still a solid and beautiful ride. I love the helix in the cave.

Big Bad wolf will sadly be missed, but Verbolten loos radical! If everything goes according to plan, I will ride it very soon.

Darkastle is no Spiderman, but it is very similar. The fireplace effect is unique. It kind of made me sick though.

Like I said before, the water rides are well themed, but of a disappointing length. (That's what SHE said!)

I'd compare Busch Gardens to Dollywood and less to something like Cedar Point. It's a really pretty park, with a lot of interesting things to see and do. I'd advise you to spend two days there. The "Fun Card" is the same price as a one-day ticket, and is good for the entire season, so you could spend as many days as you want for the same admission price.

I think eightdotthree was telling us that "the wait was still (less than) an hour", which I find plausible. The day I was there Verbolten didn't open til late in the day, and when I got there the line started at the exact point where the queue begins. I was pleasantly surprised to find the wait was maybe 50 minutes and that was with one of the trains out of service. I stuck around for a total of maybe 6 or 7 rides and the line got shorter each time- by that last time the line started in the little office building and I waited maybe 20. Queue and station theming is top notch. (watch you don't get motor oil on the bottom of your shoes.)

Bunky, I think Mike Gallagher's right when he says Apollo falls slightly behind Nitro and Diamondback, especially in the airtime department. Don't get me wrong, Busch's ride is great. Travis hits it when he says it's special- the layout is unique in that it uses the terrain to advantage, and the turn around is a hold-on-tight surprise. Bonus- since you've been there there's a new entrance to the parking lot and Apollo is quite visible from there. It's always so exciting to see when you pull in.

I give slight edge to Griffon over Sheikra. I will say the Florida ride's setting is a little better, but in Virginia you get a slightly higher, longer ride with the extra inversion. Front far right was so thrilling on that one.

Alpengeist is fabulous. While Montu is certainly smaller and snappier, Alpengeist has huge, honkin', awesome loops that deliver speed and force. A more visually appealing coaster is hard to find anywhere, the setting in the valley is spectacular. If the ride falls down anywhere these days it's at the MCBR, which is so heavily braked that the back half is lacking. Opening season there was little/no braking there and the ride hauled through the twist and the flat spin to the end. I always think of that when I ride now, a first timer wouldn't know the difference I guess! Front seat on this ride, always. The view off the lift is great.

Sorry 8.3 for correcting you about Verbolten; I think I misread what you meant.

RCMAC said:

Bunky, I think Mike Gallagher's right when he says Apollo falls slightly behind Nitro and Diamondback,

"Slightly" is not the word I would use. "Tremendously" works for me.

Tyler Boes said:
Sorry 8.3 for correcting you about Verbolten; I think I misread what you meant.

In other words. If the line spills out of the queue don't let that scare you. The line moves very fast and you will most likely be on the ride within an hour.

If you are there when it is warm enough to hit the water park, and you are going to see some of the Colonial Williamsburg presentations, consider getting a Bounce Ticket. $120 per person for 7 days unlimited access to BGW, WC-USA, CW, and parking at the two Busch parks is included. It's a heck of a deal.

Between Mach Tower and Verbolten there's a little pretzel shop where I got the best sandwich I've ever had. It was on a fresh pretzel with carved ham and cheese topped with homemade beer infused mustard. Came with a side of fresh made chips and I topped it off with a local Oktoberfest beer. It wasn't expensive, either. Can't say enough about that sandwich. It's not anything I would normally get, but just decided to do it on a whim and am very glad I did.

Also, a lot of people give Mach Tower crap but I think it's a cool ride because of the slow rotation on the way up. You really get a nice view of the park and surrounding area. Not the most thrilling drop tower, but definitely the most thrilling observation tower.

I'll echo the sentiments about Trappers Smokehouse, particularly the brisket and the spare ribs (the baby backs taste good but the portions and size of the ribs are usually pretty small and it's not as good a value as the two aforementioned items IMO). The sides are passable for the most part, and the carrot cake they have in there is absolutely fantastic, right up there with Morton's steakhouse as the best I've had.

Both annual passholders and AAA members get 10% off in-park meal purchases.

For those of you who need one day tickets only - I invite you to check the Henrico County Park & Recreation department site for theme park tickets. The only downside to this is that you have to go in-person (only open business hours during the week....offices are located about 10 minutes north of Richmond just off I-95) to their office to get the tickets. I've stopped in here on a couple of occasions and it's worth the stop. They also offer Kings Dominion one-day tickets as well...

http://www.co.henrico.va.us/rec/theme-park-tickets.html

Thanks for posting that, Gary. I'll be heading to KD in less than three weeks, and my friend Debby's place of employment has not yet gotten discount tickets, so we've been searching for a fall-back. These are actually cheaper than hers would be, and valid the day we're going (April 21) It's just that...not being a student of geography..I dunno whether she's close enough to get there during the week to buy the tickets for $32. But that's a great price for a park at which discounts are apparently not very commonplace.

Just curious about the (relatively) poor views on Apollo - in comparison to mine at least. Those of you who perceive the ride to be inferior to other B&M hypers -are you typically front-seat, front-half, mid-train, back-half, or back-seat riders. I myself always ride in THE last row, and my positive take on Apollo is based mainly on the last ludicrous drop - the bounce at the bottom of that hill is SFoG-Goliath quality....to me.

I'm typically more interested in people whose opinions are different from my own...hoping to learn something about others' opinions, and how they're formed. Thanks!

My last few rides on AC have been scattered throughout the train. It's one of those rides that not only doesn't float my boat much, but I pick up no great difference in the feel of the ride from seat to seat. Y'all know I'm mostly a back seat fella, but on other B&M hypers, I find that seat substantially more enjoyable/thrilling/airtime-prone. I rode Nitro last Sunday in the second seat, and it felt like a different ride. And it's not just steel...I don't even recognize Toro on the five or six occasions I rode in front.

Maybe I'm arguing semantics here, but I wouldn't consider any of Busch Gardens' coasters "2nd class." Just because they may not be the absolute best of their type doesn't necessarily mean they're mediocre. I mean, the top couple hundred steel coasters are still the best of the best when pooled in with the thousands of other steel coasters in existence.

To be fair, I think that Mike was referring to them as second class compared to coasters of the same style, not in general. Apollo's Chariot may be one of the weaker B&M hypercoasters, but it still is a very fun ride. It just isn't Nitro, Silver Star, or Intimidator (although to Apollo's Chariot's credit, it doesn't suffer the quality drop off during the second half that most newer B&M hypers do). I think Mike and I differ in our SheiKra vs. Griffon comparison (I love the view of the surrounding area from the top of Griffon), but I'm not a raving fan of either, so it's not like I'm going to rush to Griffon's defense.

To answer your question, Gator, I'm most definitely a front-seat guy on nearly every coaster out there. On B&M speed coasters, though, I'm almost as in favor of the middle as I am the front. I just think of the exceptional floater air of rides like Behemoth and OG's Goliath, and I just didn't feel like I got it on Apollo's Chariot. I do agree about the last drop being fantastic, but it's not enough to get me ranting and raving about the ride.

Again, just so there's no misunderstanding, it may not be my favorite ride around, but Apollo's Chariot is still a very fun coaster. BGW is a rare park in that there isn't really a bad coaster there.

I would appreciate an explanation on the love for the dive machines, though. I just don't get it, lol.

I figure it like this: Drop Tower + Coaster = Fun.

sirloindude said:

To be fair, I think that Mike was referring to them as second class compared to coasters of the same style, not in general.

Regardless, I still look at their collection overall as pretty damn elite.

Justin, I couldn't have said that better myself, so I won't try. Is Toy Story 3 as good as the first two, IMO? No, but I enjoyed it immensely. I'm not gonna skip a ride on Alpengeist, Apollo, or Griffon because they're not my favorite in a particular "genre."

Well, to be fair, a good-but-not-the-best B&M speed coaster, a good-and-not-quite-but-almost-the-best Arrow looper, a good-and-not-quite-but-almost-the-best B&M invert, a solid launched coaster, and the best dive machine *groan* would also meet my definition of elite as well. In fact, I often tell people that BGW probably has the highest average quality level of any coaster collection out there. There's not a bad coaster at the park. Not-the-best can still be elite.

And Mike, Toy Story 3 was EVERY BIT AS GOOD as the first two. We're on the same team here, but besmirch the name of the third installment of that trilogy and our alliance will find itself on shaky ground, sir.