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Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

P. 467: Media Town Hall Report

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My dad and I are going to be in Virginia October 19-22. I know the park will most likely be packed all of these days, but would Friday or Saturday be better? Is Quick Queue needed? Thanks in advance.

 

Friday 100%. Amusement parks on Saturdays in October can set record crowds.

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My dad and I are going to be in Virginia October 19-22. I know the park will most likely be packed all of these days, but would Friday or Saturday be better? Is Quick Queue needed? Thanks in advance.

 

Friday 100%. Amusement parks on Saturdays in October can set record crowds.

I was assuming Friday would be better crowd wise, but was also wondering if the two extra hours the park is open on Saturday would give us more time to do things.

 

Is Quick Queue worth it? The website says it's only good on 4 rides.

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My dad and I are going to be in Virginia October 19-22. I know the park will most likely be packed all of these days, but would Friday or Saturday be better? Is Quick Queue needed? Thanks in advance.

 

Friday 100%. Amusement parks on Saturdays in October can set record crowds.

I was assuming Friday would be better crowd wise, but was also wondering if the two extra hours the park is open on Saturday would give us more time to do things.

 

Is Quick Queue worth it? The website says it's only good on 4 rides.

 

 

I'm gonna say the extra two hours while the park is potentially at max capacity may give you time to do one additional thing but it's also possible with how busy it could be you would do less throughout the day. Not sure on Quick Queue. Never really been a skip the line type (because money ).

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Is Quick Queue worth it? The website says it's only good on 4 rides.

 

There are 4 levels of Quick Queue. One is a Jr QQ that has one time access to some family and junior size rides. Since You are probably wanting the coasters, I didn't include that below:

qqbgw.jpg.390727e1def91e814d877ab29359bc70.jpg

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I went to BGW a few years ago during their Halloween event on a Saturday. The park was very manageable from opening to ~4pm. No line over 20 mins. Then between 4pm and 6pm we started to have a few drinks and watched the park quickly get SLAMMED. We bought quick queue + access to scare mazes for the night. It got us one time use on all major attractions. After 6 pm we started to use the quick queue and got on everything well before the park closed. I think the system is different now but it was well worth the money.

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I would think and hope that BGW would have learned from Verbolten that they tend to do best when they stick to the manufacturers for proven products.

I'm still trying to understand what that sentence is supposed to mean. Can you elaborate?

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I would think and hope that BGW would have learned from Verbolten that they tend to do best when they stick to the manufacturers for proven products.

I'm still trying to understand what that sentence is supposed to mean. Can you elaborate?

 

Same, Verbolten is a great ride and a worthy replacement for BBW.

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I would think and hope that BGW would have learned from Verbolten that they tend to do best when they stick to the manufacturers for proven products.

I'm still trying to understand what that sentence is supposed to mean. Can you elaborate?

 

Same, Verbolten is a great ride and a worthy replacement for BBW.

I have to disagree. It's a big jump up in intensity, if the Big Bad Wolf was comparable to Ninja at Magic Mountain which I rode for comparison.

 

If Verbolten is a family coaster, then so is the Loch Ness Monster.

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I would think and hope that BGW would have learned from Verbolten that they tend to do best when they stick to the manufacturers for proven products.

I'm still trying to understand what that sentence is supposed to mean. Can you elaborate?

 

Same, Verbolten is a great ride and a worthy replacement for BBW.

I have to disagree. It's a big jump up in intensity, if the Big Bad Wolf was comparable to Ninja at Magic Mountain which I rode for comparison.

 

If Verbolten is a family coaster, then so is the Loch Ness Monster.

 

I meant in terms of fun. Not of intensity.

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Got it. Looking at the layout, the Big Bad Wolf really was rather basic compared to later suspended coasters. The landscaping was what made that simple layout work. Verbolten does have a better layout for the first half, so I can forgive the indoor section being nowhere near as good with its scenery. The ending outdoor section on Verbolten feels like a bad cover version of the Big Bad Wolf. Without the swinging and with much more speed going into those turns, the ending is nothing special - just slamming laterals, out of place on a family coaster.

 

defrocker was talking about not using proven manufacturers, and Mach Tower is far worse in that regard.

Edited by SLCHeadache
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^Although Verbolten had issues early on, the park was quite pleased with how Zirer worked to tweak the ride and make it more reliable. I understand that the experience with Moser wasn't as pleasant.

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I would think and hope that BGW would have learned from Verbolten that they tend to do best when they stick to the manufacturers for proven products.

I'm still trying to understand what that sentence is supposed to mean. Can you elaborate?

 

In recent history, BGW had pretty much exclusively gone with coaster designers and designs that have been proven. They never were "early adopters" as it were. Zierer, to my knowledge, had not built any major headline attractions at the point that Verbolten was built. I think it was on a scale they had not dealt with at that point, and I think it shows. Now I will say, replacing BBW was going to be filling some big shoes, and regardless of what they did, some people were not going to be happy.

 

But to me the bottom line is, from what I've heard they spent $50 Million on this thing. Think about some of the coasters we've seen for half that price. I know a chunk of the cost was removal and theming, but still. Now I will say, I really like Verbolten, but I don't $50mil like it. That being said, it has not aged as gracefully as I would have thought, being only 5 years old.

 

I will add that during the behind the scenes coaster tour, they say that it has the highest ridership in the park. So it may have been a better investment than I give it credit for.

 

defrocker was talking about not using proven manufacturers, and Mach Tower is far worse in that regard.

 

This is correct. I was referring mainly to coasters. When you look at Mach Tower, it is a much better example of what I'm getting at, though I don't know its price tag.

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My only complaint about Verbolten, and it's a stretch of a complaint, is that it's has a little bit of a rattle to it for being so new. The rattle isn't nearly to the point where it makes me not want to ride the ride, but I definitely feel it.

 

I'm sure 50 million could have bought a lot more impressive coaster without themeing, but I'm glad BGW didn't go that route. I'm usually not a themeing junkie, but Verbolten is an awesome experience and probably my favorite in the park.

 

On my visit this past summer none of the televisions were working throughout the queue or in the station. Has it been like that all season?

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As far as theming goes, Im a sucker for great theming on a coaster as in my eyes it helps make the experience. After adding 3 monster B&M's I'm also happy that Busch decided to spend the bulk of the money on an immersive experience rather than another giant B&M.

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My only complaint about Verbolten, and it's a stretch of a complaint, is that it's has a little bit of a rattle to it for being so new. The rattle isn't nearly to the point where it makes me not want to ride the ride, but I definitely feel it.

 

I'm sure 50 million could have bought a lot more impressive coaster without themeing, but I'm glad BGW didn't go that route. I'm usually not a themeing junkie, but Verbolten is an awesome experience and probably my favorite in the park.

 

On my visit this past summer none of the televisions were working throughout the queue or in the station. Has it been like that all season?

 

I'm right there with you, it definitely rattles, though it isn't a deal breaker.

 

A couple weekends ago when I was there all of the TV's were working, even though it was a station wait. You may have caught an "off" day.

 

It's certainly not my favorite in the park, probably 5th for me. I like the B&M's and InvadR better. But that's just because of how good those are, not a not on Verbolten.

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My only complaint about Verbolten, and it's a stretch of a complaint, is that it's has a little bit of a rattle to it for being so new. The rattle isn't nearly to the point where it makes me not want to ride the ride, but I definitely feel it.

 

I'm sure 50 million could have bought a lot more impressive coaster without themeing, but I'm glad BGW didn't go that route. I'm usually not a themeing junkie, but Verbolten is an awesome experience and probably my favorite in the park.

 

On my visit this past summer none of the televisions were working throughout the queue or in the station. Has it been like that all season?

 

I'm right there with you, it definitely rattles, though it isn't a deal breaker.

 

A couple weekends ago when I was there all of the TV's were working, even though it was a station wait. You may have caught an "off" day.

 

It's certainly not my favorite in the park, probably 5th for me. I like the B&M's and InvadR better. But that's just because of how good those are, not a not on Verbolten.

As for rattle, Apollo's Chariot is a little more noticeable in the section low over the water.

 

I have to rank Verbolten 6th behind the B&Ms, InvadR, and Nessie. Comparing to the nearby competitor, it's roughly on par with Flight of Fear and Backlot Stunt Coaster, though I will ride it more because it moves its line faster than those two. Capacity is excellent for a launch.

 

 

^ From that video, it 'might be' like a version of Soarin'.

 

My 5 cents.

Hmm, but wasn't Europe in the Air their take on Soarin'? And isn't the former Europe in the Air already being turned into VR Thing 2018?

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My only complaint about Verbolten, and it's a stretch of a complaint, is that it's has a little bit of a rattle to it for being so new. The rattle isn't nearly to the point where it makes me not want to ride the ride, but I definitely feel it.

 

I'm sure 50 million could have bought a lot more impressive coaster without themeing, but I'm glad BGW didn't go that route. I'm usually not a themeing junkie, but Verbolten is an awesome experience and probably my favorite in the park.

 

On my visit this past summer none of the televisions were working throughout the queue or in the station. Has it been like that all season?

 

I'm right there with you, it definitely rattles, though it isn't a deal breaker.

 

A couple weekends ago when I was there all of the TV's were working, even though it was a station wait. You may have caught an "off" day.

 

It's certainly not my favorite in the park, probably 5th for me. I like the B&M's and InvadR better. But that's just because of how good those are, not a not on Verbolten.

As for rattle, Apollo's Chariot is a little more noticeable in the section low over the water.

 

I have to rank Verbolten 6th behind the B&Ms, InvadR, and Nessie. Comparing to the nearby competitor, it's roughly on par with Flight of Fear and Backlot Stunt Coaster, though I will ride it more because it moves its line faster than those two. Capacity is excellent for a launch.

 

 

^ From that video, it 'might be' like a version of Soarin'.

 

My 5 cents.

Hmm, but wasn't Europe in the Air their take on Soarin'? And isn't the former Europe in the Air already being turned into VR Thing 2018?

 

And didn't they have spotters seen at 300 feet? And also get approval?

 

Would this be an observation tower?

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As for rattle, Apollo's Chariot is a little more noticeable in the section low over the water.

 

I wouldn't call it more noticeable, but it may be noticeable in that area. Most of that ride is butter smooth though whereas Verbolten has some rattling throughout its course, but here's the difference; Apollo is 18 years old. It's 13 years older than Verbolten.

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