Contestants build Apollo's Chariot out of pretzels

Posted | Contributed by ridemcoaster

Thursday, six semifinalists did just that as contestants in the "Pretzel Coaster Build-Off Contest" at Busch Gardens. From 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, their task was to create the best mock-up of Busch Gardens' 10-year-old coaster, Apollo's Chariot. Builders rode the coaster before nibbling away at different-sized pretzels to get them to the perfect sizes, then patiently gluing them together.

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Busch Gardens Williamsburg

I was fortunate enough to be asked to be one of the 4 judges, along side Busch D&E, VP of PR Team members and the VP of Marketing for Snyder Pretzel.

The contestants and their entries were absolutely amazing and from what Busch gave them just to attend, they were all winners! It was absolutely hard to judge this as they were all very well done for the age of some of the contestants. I wouldnt have made it past the supports :)

Photos I took of the competition which includes the teams, the entries that got them into the semi finals, and the winning team overall are located on my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ridemcoaster/sets/72157621594165294/

I really thought this was the coolest contest idea and even the guests walking around were mesmerized by the competition.

Last edited by ridemcoaster,

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Those were too cool. Thanks Ken for the photos.

I love how some of the teams needed just a bit more space so they glued a pretzel table extender to get it.

Can I get a beer to go with all these pretzals?

Coaster Junkie from NH
I drive in & out of Boston, so I ride coasters to relax!

Sure for $5.. :)

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I liked the semi-finalist creations with the little inverted cars dangling from the rails.

Great pics! That is one of the coolest things ever! Very creative! They were all excellent! I like some of the names as well, especially the "Sourdough Screamer" and the "Snyder Rider."

Platinum passes, discounts, and a year supply of Snyder's pretzels is a pretty nice prize package!

I will take a beer and some spicy mustard on the side please! :)

-Tina

Last edited by coasterqueenTRN,

Definitely. It came to no shock to me, the owner of the invert design is studying to be an engineer in college.

Last edited by ridemcoaster,

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