1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
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Before I get started, I have another "Dave tries to get breakfast on a Sunday morning" story. Unlike my Sandusky experience, this time it was kinda neat.
I was running a little early, so I drove through Williamsburg on US-60, heading towards the park. There are three "pancake and waffle" type places along there, right in a row. I arbitrarily picked the "Belgian Waffle Restaurant" in front of the Friendly Inn. I knew fairly quickly that I had chosen the right place. There are a number of painted horses hanging from the walls, but the first thing I noticed was that the front cover of the menu had a picture of a Tonawanda machine. The menu starts on Page 4; the inside cover is a reproduction of the designer timeline from the book, Painted Ponies. You carousel people will know what I am talking about. Oh...the service was fast, and the waffle was pretty good, but I should caution that instead of fresh fruit, it was what amounts to pie filling, so it was a bit too sweet for my tastes.
Is it not possible for me to shoot video of this park? Last time, two years ago, my video camera was in the shop. This time, the weather caused problems, as video cameras don't like rain. And it was RAINING. I entered the park shortly after it opened, and before long, I was totally drenched. Most unpleasantly soaked. Absolutely, completely, totally WET. The combination of 50-degree temperatures and a continuous soaking rain made for a most uncomfortable experience. At lunch time, I finally broke down and bought a poncho and changed into dry clothes, and that helped a bit. But not a lot.
Loch Ness Monster
(A sea monster. How appropriate.)
The first coaster of the day was the Loch Ness Monster. I boarded the lead seat of the empty train. Moments later, I was climbing the lift hill in the green Arrow train. Nessie is a fantastic coaster, even after nineteen years. Still the hard-to-operate hydraulic shoulder-bar mechanism; still no clearance for the outside arm; still a really nice pop of airtime on the first drop. New this year is a nice view of a part of Alpengeist. With a pelting rain beating me in the face and glasses, all I know for certain was that something was in that tunnel before the second lift...maybe it was Nessie herself. My glasses were too fogged to tell.
After a couple of rides on this steel classic, it was off to The Simulator Formerly Known as Questor (I still don't know what they call it now...) in a futile effort to get dried off a little. On that...er...visit, there was something wrong with the projection, but later in the day they fixed it and switched to the other box. It's pretty good for a motion theatre, but not as good as Questor was.
Alpengeist
(Are you sure that snow is fake?)
Well, Alpengeist was beckoning, so I headed in that direction. Suprise!
A B&M coaster with the loading platform on the ground! Now, I had been warned
about riding this in the rain, so I camped out in the front row, second seat
from the left. Much has been said about the mysterious 0th car, but no one has
mentioned what happens to it in the rain. There are two drain holes on the lead
wheel assembly, and unlike the drains on the other assemblies, there are no
drain hoses extending to beneath the seat. So as you head up the lift, those
drain holes spray a continuous stream of water right onto the outside front
seats. That was what I had been warned about. What I had not been warned about
was the two inner seats. Alplengeist's wheels kick up a constant spray
from the wet track, and guess where that goes. Yup...The spray from the left
wheel hit me squarely in the face, the spray from the right wheel hit the person
next to me.
B&M can even shoot precisely!
Alpengeist is a fun ride, if a bit confusing since it sits right on the German/Canadian border and runs through Scotland. And people wonder why Americans don't know geography! I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, particularly since I still don't really know what that ride does. But whatever it does, it does it amazingly well. And it includes a couple of new innovations not used before on B&M coasters. First of all, there is a moment of airtime (!) if you sit in the back. It's very slight, but it is more than the other four B&M coasters I have ridden (Raptor, Mantis:TCFKAB, Kumba, Chang) combined. Second, somehow, Alpengeist has a 52" height requirement instead of the typical 54". Good going...now if they could just get it down by another four inches...!
Note: The height requirement is up to 54" now.
Alpengeist is very nicely laid out, and it is more than the usual collection of inversion elements tied together with more or (usually) less connecting track. On this one, it feels like they spent a little more time and effort considering the complete ride experience. It is paced like a roller coaster, and it does roller coaster things between the inversions. B&M are rapidly makng the transition between building great machines and building great roller coasters.
Alpengeist is also notable for the theming, right down to the skis on the backs of the seats, the stones, snow, and icicles hanging from the surrounding buildings, and the unlucky skier with his head buried in the drink stand roof. BGW went all-out with this one.
Drachen Fire
(What is everyone complaining about?)
"Walk-on" barely describes the situation at Drachen Fire. We entered the station, sat in the front row, and the train took off. Unfortunately, the rain picked up. Drachen Fire is fast and smooth, except that spot where they yanked out the half-cork; that gives a fair jolt. But on the whole, I got more beaten up by the ride on Alpengeist. Or perhaps it only seemed that way. I do know that I much prefer the Arrow seat and shoulder bar on Drachen Fire to the seat and bar on Alpengeist...I find Drachen Fire to be roomier, and I am tall enough that Drachen Fire's shoulder bar completely clears my head. I got in a few rides, but the unshielded position at the front of that train is a most unpleasant place when the rain picks up because the ride is so fast. It's only rain, but it feels more like stones hitting your face at that speed. Drachen Fire is a good ride, but after a couple of rides, my jacket was soaked through and my face was stinging. Even though I could barely see through the mist coating my glasses, I was thankful for the protection. But I had endured enough. I was off to the Big Bad Wolf.
Big Bad Wolf
(Your beverage, Sir...)
I have only ridden three Arrow suspended coasters, and of those three (Iron Dragon, Top Gun, and BBW), the Big Bad Wolf is clearly the best. Rain or shine. First of all, it is a long ride at nearly three minutes. Second, while it does spend a good deal of time in curves and spirals, it navigates those curves and spirals at the bottoms of significant drops. So even though it does a lot of turning and swinging, it does it at high speed, with a couple of really good drops. I noticed that the train was making the same kinds of nasty noises as Iron Dragon, but the ride was much smoother, I suspect because the ride was a lot faster, on Big Bad Wolf.
Of course, the Big Bad Wolf has other tricks as well. It was still raining when I jumped into the second-from-the-last seat. Like all of the Arrow suspendeds, there is a canvas cover between the car assemblies to catch any grease, water, debris, or dropped chassis components. Unlike some of the other suspended coasters, this one has a grommeted drain hole right in the middle of the canvas. When the train is parked in the station, this allows the water to drain out of the catcher in an orderly fashion into the gap between cars. But it was raining hard enough that water was collecting in the catcher faster than it could drain out. The result was a steady stream of water pouring out of the drain hole, alternately and accurately blasting riders in the first seat behind in the face. I knew that Busch Gardens was known to serve certain free drinks, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind! That stream was not painful the way the raindrops on Nessie and Drachen Fire were, but it was far more drenching. This was the spraying that drenched me right down to my underwear. It made for good riding, but before long, I was simply wet and cranky. Enough of this. This was when I bought the poncho and changed clothes before lunch. The rain didn't let up in the afternoon, but I managed to stay a little drier. But riding conditions were still far from ideal.
Much credit must be given to Busch Gardens for realizing that many of their customers travel vast distances on tight schedules to visit their park. Accordingly, all of the major rides ran all day, and the park only closed one hour early. This was a very good thing, as I knew I had a 10 hour drive to get home...and needed to be at work on Tuesday morning. To my delight, they even managed to get the Wilde Maus running.
Wilde Maus
(Eeeek!)
I'm so glad BGW decided to keep this charming little coaster...as it turns out, Steel #55 for me, #90 overall. I took my first ride in the front seat. I counted thirteen block brakes on the ride. I think BGW was running five or six cars, but I understand it is designed to run ten. It is a cute looking ride, and it is a really good ride even if it isn't terribly tall. It scores points for being BGW's only coaster without shoulder bars (Yikes! I hate to think what it would be like if it weren't!), and for having really close clearances (there is one track spur over the lift that clears my head by inches) resulting in very dramatic visuals. The ride is unthemed, so it doesn't really fit with the rest of BGW, but it is tucked away in Oktoberfest where, first of all, one would expect to find an unthemed portable German coaster, and second, it is hidden away from the rest of the park anyway. Strong lateral forces, a hint of airtime on the long drop, great visuals...What more could you possibly want? It's simply a great ride.
I looped the park a few more times in the rain, and realized that if I returned the next day and left at 3pm, I would still be home by midnight. So I took advantage of Busch Gardens "next-day discount" ticket, then left the park just as they were announcing the early closure, to find a motel room.
The next morning, I was running a little late, but the day was absolutely beautiful. I got out my camera and began a safari of the park, shooting lots of video, and riding everything but Alpengeist and Drachen Fire. Alpengeist, like all of the B&M coasters, will not accommodate my camera bag, and Drachen Fire was out of service all day. Because I was a little rushed, I completely failed to ask about shooting on-board video, in spite of my suprising experience at BGT (where the camera was welcomed on Scorpion). The 70-degree weather with bright sunshine was nearly perfect for roller coasting. Too bad I had to end it early. I left just a little before 4:00pm, which got me home at a little after 2:00am. I drove a mountain road, US-250, for which the Wilde Maus was good practice!
Overall, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a really nice park. Everything...and I mean everything...in the park is heavily themed. Busch Gardens is constructed to provide an immersive themed experience in all of the various regions. Busch even manages to hide away the maintenance and work areas so that what you see is a beautifully functioning park. In Festa Italia, the ride tubs are even numbered with Roman numerals. As the park is operated by Anheuser-Busch, you might expect the reminders of A-B and their products to be pervasive, but except in the Festhaus (where you would expect a certain malt beverage to reign supreme anyway), this is not the case. I managed to see two of the live shows, and they were pretty good as well. Finally, one word of warning. If you do not plan to buy any merchandise while at Busch Gardens, then stay out of the shops! Unlike BGT, BGW has a fantastic selection of custom merchandise, including such unusual items as dinnerware and furnishings. They even offer custom plush "Big Bad Wolf" and "Loch Ness Monster" toys. I couldn't resist...I bought both. Which brings up one final observation. While admission is extremely expensive (with a gate price of close to $35, it is the most expensive park I have been to this year), the merchandise and food are suprisingly reasonable. I mean, BGW is the only park I've been to where I was able to buy a 16-ounce soft drink for $0.99. Add to that the fact that BGW has a generous discount package for season pass holders, and I'll bet they are able to shake loose more food-and-merchandise money than most other parks. I know it was my biggest souvenir bill of the season!
When all is said and done, the one complaint I have about BGW is that it is too darned far away. I've got to figure out a way to get down there more often. Heck, Busch Gardens is even a pleasant park to just sit and soak in the atmosphere. Even when the atmosphere is falling down around your ears and soaking you!
Next trip: Paramount's Kings Island (#2)
1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
Back to Dave's page
--Dave Althoff, Jr.