Busch Gardens Williamsburg announces retirment of Big Bad Wolf

Okay locals, need some help here planning my last BBW romps in late August:

I want to get some of those insane night rides in but that involves Saturday visits until 10pm. Sundays they are only open until 9pm and weeknights a mere 8pm

Are the crowds on a late August Saturday so bad that it's not worth the hassle (did I mention how much I loath crowds) for the one or two night rides a person could get with hourish Sat. night lines or does the place empty out like Hershey after 6pm when the kiddies get cranky? In that case I may even just do after 4pm admission on Saturday

When do the schools go back around those local areas (DC/Richmond)?

Do they have 'Dead Week' like the Ohio parks or is BGE more of a destination where the park is still pretty crowded even when schools are back.

BBW and LNM dont have much of a wait at night most of the time I was there (but this was a few years ago.) I would constantly be able to get a good 2-3 on each in the last hour of operations without a problem.

Also, BGW does not have that many rides, you should be able to do every one and catch some shows (do not miss the Oktoberfest show) too.

Thanks TD - what time of year were you there and was it on the weekend?

To clarify, my focus of night rides will solely involve BBW

The park probably has more rides than the last time I was there which was the year of Drachen Fyre opening !!!

I had a SP for a year when I lived in DC, went a bunch of times throughout the year.

Rye:

Late August tends to be a bit steady for BGW. We get the last bit of tourists and locals to the park before school starts up.

However even on a semi busy to busy days/nights the lines move well as Busch is very good at getting people through.

The nice thing is Kinetix is going on late in the evening (2 shows on weekends) so that siphons a fair amount of people away from the rides. Though it places them really close to Griffon when it lets out.

As far as schools.. We are Day after Labor Day here, which is why the weekends prior tend to be a bit busier as people try to get in before their summer pass expires.

"Dead" weekends would be after Labor Day as we draw to the close the tourist cooridor to the beaches and such, but ramps up slightly as Howl-o-Scream starts up late September and then crazy again in October.

Man, all the airfare sucks... My chances of getting BBW are very slim. :(

Tell me about it.. Im trying to go to Cleveland.. Fortunately Im getting a hookup from one of my buddies that flies for Southwest.. Otherwise Boobuzz would probably not happen.

As far as Airports you have 3 choices for Busch (for those that dont know).

You have:

(ORF - Norfolk) - 45 mins from BGW assuming no traffic in tunnel (HA!)

(PHF - Newport News/Wmsbg) - 20 mins from BGW. Smaller Airport but carries Air Tran, Delta and US Scareways.

(RIC - Richmond International) - 45 mins from BGW depending on I64 Traffic.

When my wife told me that this ride was closing, it was like an old friend was moving away. At least they are letting us know that this coaster is closing unlike they did with Drachenfire. With this closing, 3 of my favorite coasters no longer exist. At least I have great memories of the hundred's of times I have ridden it. I will be making one last trip soon to give this a fond farewell. RIP BBW

Be glad you have the opportunity to say goodbye to your old friend. Some chains don't have enough respect for their customers to provide them with that chance.

It's not like cedarfair ever did that.........Oh, wait.

I'm going in less than a week. The trip was already planned before the announcement, and I'm grateful for the chance to ride it again before the park MURDERS the Wolf. lol

At least we arent being melodramatic about it..

I got my last ride in on it tuesday.....:(

I was kidding there, ridemcoaster. Maybe I should have added a winkie?

I used the same murder line when SF killed Mr. Six. Then, I was serious. The removal of this ride is understandable.

The other coaster website that I get my news from mentioned something very interesting; a coaster "Armageddon", as he put it. A lot of classic steel coasters are reaching old age, and may prove difficult to rebuild or maintain. The writer believes that we may see a lot of classic coaster be dismantled within the next few several years. I know some of you have already read it.

Anyone want to start a new topic about it? It's unusual for me to start a new topic.

Oh i know you were kidding.. I forgot my winkie too.

(Hmm, why do I not like how that expression reads)

Sadly though, there are some melodramatics out there. Some of the guest relation comments have been interesting to say the least. Can almost pin the enthusiasts to the comment. lol

Believe me, I love that ride quite a bit. Its given me 24 + straight years of good rides (since I live near to the park, 8 years of that in walking distance), but I completely understand (possibly more than most) the reasoning behind the removal and can respect that.

Regardless of reasoning, for me, I'm just glad they gave the GP a month and some change notice on this. That in itself is not common for parks.