I actually went to Busch Gardens like 2 weeks ago so this is a delayed report. Oh well. Here goes. Busch Gradens is about a 5 hour drive for me. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning and got dressed and stuff, and we were off. I spent the entire trip deciding whether i would ride Alpengeist first or Apollo's Chariot. Turns out the 210 foot tall structure beckoned to me from the Ireland parking lot. I could not wait to be strapped in to that seat with my feet not touching and just get some major airtime. What a way to start the day! Ill gladly take this B&M masterpeice over coffee and cereal anyday! Well, we got lost on the way there, so we ended up getting there like 2 hours after the park opened. Mega bummer because i have a habit of waiting in line for parks to open and being scooted out as it closes. I rushed into the park, blew past everything, and jumped straight in line for Apollo's Chariot. This is a VERY good ride.
Apollo's Chariot is (in case you have been living in a cave) is a 210 foot floorless B&M hypercoaster that has incredible airtime. I also liked seating four abreast, because i normally travel in parties of four to the amusement parks (me, my brother, his riding partner, and my riding partner) and we sit together on the rides that seat four abreast but when it is time for the hypercoaster swe split up. Two of us normally go for the very front, the other two go to the very back. No need to do that on this ride, we all four sit snugly in the very back, which provides AWESOME airtime!!!!! The line seemed very long, but we were going up the lift hill withing 20 minuted of getting in line. I guess because the trains hold a lot of people. Anyways, this is one awesome ride let me tell you. The lift goes by pretty quickly, so enjoy the view. I personally like the flat at the op of the lift hill (you come off the chain, drop down about 3 feeet then ride forward than drop) because it gives the false alarm of a drop thus getting your adrenaline going early. The first drop (where fabio hit the bird) Is deceivingly high because it drops into sort of a ravine, and the airtime you get on the next hill is the best. Three words: weightlessness Weightlessness WEIGHTLESSNESS!!!!! Then you go into a high banked turn into a bunch of twisting, dropping, head-chopping twists and turns and finally come out of the jumble and go across the ravine and get sprayed by mist, then go to a very cool last hill that is small, but fun. You get good airtime for a small hill, with a high bank interupting the airtime then go back down to the brakes and hit the station. FUN FUN.
I didnt lap this ride anymore because i had more important matters to attend. Like the Big Bad Wolf. This is a fun ride with high G's. Suspended coasters really havent changed much since Arrow Dynamics built this back in the mid 80's, so this makes for a fun experience if you think that this is that old but is still considered one of the best of its kind! It starts out when you make your way up a rather noisy lift hill, and drop down to be flung back and forth through a village, which gives the illusion of extremely intense speeds (maybe not an illusion) and LOTS of G's. Then you go up the big 100 foot lift hill, and see the track in front and above you go drastically downward into the Rhine River. WOW! I have never seen a simple background object like the river affent a drop so much! Then the train flings around a bit more and enters the station. Next stop: eer, what is the next stop? This is where i got lost. I tried to figure out the stupid map that is so poorly done that i could have done bettr myself with a pen and a peice of paper. Ill put it to you simple. Busch Gardens Williamsburgs park map SUCKS. I keep it as a souvenior and a reminder of the reason i didnt get as many laps as i wanted on Alpie of Apollo. The map is the reason. Anyways... i found my way to Alpengeist, and got in line. It was (strangely) about a 2 hour line and it got really annoying. It was well worth it, and because of the great theming and the cool videos i wasn't as bored as i thought i would be. Busch Gardens sure knows how to make a line more fun! When i finally got on the ride it nothing short of amazed me. The lift is just great. I cant believe i would ever have fun on a lift hill but this was one exception. Going up 195 or so feet with your feet hanging below you is something you dont forget, and when if left the chain and went off of the little thing and turned, i was so ready for excitement! The drop was cool, but it's all the inversions and the "What will happen next" factor that really makes Alpengeist a world class coaster. The 100 foot vertical loop. WOW. This ride is smooth as glass but extremely intense. All the corkscrews were awesome and the final turn very close to the ground with the snow quickly reminded you of the theming and made it more intense. Thsi ride is well worth ANY wait you endure, as long as you dont have to go to the bathroom throughout the wait. This is my favorite ride in the park, hands down (or up in my case) lol i put my hands up on inverts i dont know why. Ok next, the hand sandwich otherwise known as the Loch Ness Monster. I am being frank, i did not like this ride (except for the tunnel). The reason for this is because of the OTSR's. i sat on the right side and there was about 1 centimeter between the side of the car and where you held your hand. And the other side was just as bad. This leaves you with no room to put your hands up or even grip the otsr's, so all i could manage to do was keep my hands in my lap the whole ride. It would have been much more fun had there been hand room. The tunnel was cool though. And the interlocking loops. Next it is on to Apollo's Chariot again. I sit in the very bac again and have a ton of fun as uaual. Then, it is about 9:00 P.M. and the park is about to close, so i go to Alpengeist again. It is one of those pitch black nights so it was basically a dark ride. This way was much more fun than in the light.If you go to BGW get on alpie right before you leave. You wont regret it, and the lines weren't long. Time to leave, the park is closing :( so i got to a hotel and order a dominoes pizza and watch some cable and read some maggazines and eat and head to the soda machines and everything. Best night sleep i ever had.
Tell me how you liked my TR! :) :) :) :) :)
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In october i am going to PKD for a employees only company reserved the park for the day thing, so i will be able to get on Hypersonic XLC over and over! :) because the lines will not be long. So look for my TR for that King's Dominion Trip Report/Park Review in late october.
Another great TR AB! You're absolutely right about the park maps.
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I love roller coasters
Thanx. I think next time i go i will not need the map, as i nkow my way around a little better. Advice for anyone who is going to BG:W: Find an alternate source of direction, because the maps do not help.
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Apollo's Chariot is not a floorless B&M Hypercoaster, it's a B&M Hypercoaster.
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Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Incredible Hulk, The
Oops. lol i was thinking of something else. Thanx for catching that :)
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It seemed like a floorless to me.
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The reason you probably thought it was floorless is because you sit so high up, and unless you have really long legs, you probably won't touch the floor at all. If you don't pay attention to it you'd forget it had a floor at all!
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A New World. A New Technology. One Last Hope for Salvation. Neon Genesis Evangelion
The concept of not having your feet touch the ground makes the ride even better!
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I love roller coasters
My feet didn;t touch the floor when I went on Raging Bull.
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Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Incredible Hulk, The
I think that it is awesome how they make it (basically) sorta like a floorless with out all the hydraulics.
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