Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

I don't really care for the location they chose for the new Coaster. It feels like it was just thrown in there.

Wow, It's amazing how easy that color combination can go from quite nice to....eh.

Getting Orange supports to not look unappealing can be pretty difficult.

As for the Statix trains, I was at BGW in October and was looking for the Griffon train as it is one I am missing from my collection and I asked several shops and no one had it. I also looked for 305 at KD and they didn't seem to have any of those either. If someone has one of these they would be interested in selling or know where I can get either one, please let me know!

Bush Gardens Tampa is stacked with Sheikra trains. I dont see why this Bush Gardens wouldnt be stacked with them also. Considering no one buys them...

And for the new roller coaster it does look really out of place. They should have put it at an angle for it to rap around the lift hill.

I'm going to reserve judgment until the new coaster is finished. It's a little tough to tell how it will "fit in" at this point.

Great Christmas Town update, Chuck. We went last year and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Don't think we'll make it back down this year so it was nice to see a few of the improvements through your pics.

As of Sunday there was little development. No more track or supports installed, but I wouldn't expect them to have done much in 2 days. I got a few different angles of the project and the beginning of what looks like will be the queue building.

This is where the Splashus Maximus water balloon game was located.

Wasn't this new roller coaster supposed to have dual stations for increased capacity.

Wasn't this new roller coaster supposed to have dual stations for increased capacity.

No. That would the one being built in mexico I believe.

I would think Busch Gardens would want a duel station as well. It would help the queues dramatically. I think I'll wait to ride this in March 2016 when the place is dead.

I would think Busch Gardens would want a duel station as well. It would help the queues dramatically. I think I'll wait to ride this in March 2016 when the place is dead.

A "duel station"? Yes, a few good swordfights to pass the time might be entertaining. A "dual" station would've been nice, too.

Meanwhile, who is planning to get a steak sandwich at the Festhaus during Christmas Town? I know I am.

^ Damn my dyslexia!

So despite earlier plans to skip Christmastown this year I decided to get a pass and once again enjoy Busch Gardens transformation into a wintry wonderland, preferably during weekends with temperatures approaching 60 degrees.

I began by not looking up when the park opened and arriving at 2, when nothing of substance would open until 2:45. On the plus side that meant I was the second person of the day to see the penguins, and I didn't need to wait for 90 minutes like I did last year. The penguins are still cute and the decorations inside are nice, though the experience is a tad short for the waits it gets.

I had some nice rides on Verbolten (it's so nice when no one else in the train knows what's going to happen) and the Wave Swinger and then hung out with Jeremiah and Nicole for some tasty food and shows. I was pleased to see that the Cinnamon Cranberry Pretzel has returned, though I opted for the also delicious Chocolate Pretzel Nuggets. In an inspired moment Jeremiah got a bacon pretzel with chocolate sauce, but alas it's just a chocolate colored peppermint dip. Still, perhaps a red velvet bacon pretzel is in order for the future.

The Festhaus show was OK, traditional Christmas songs. Over in Ireland Gloria was also a fine Christmas show, though I noted that they never actually sing Gloria during it. Scrooge no More is my favorite show to come to the Globe this year, though it had a few glitches with the projection system throwing up a London Rocks information screen and having some double vision moments- I'd like to see it again, moderately catchy music and some cool costumes for the villagers.

Leaving the show was completely magical as it was snowing! Sure, the ground was covered in soap for some reason, but looking up at all the lights and the falling white stuff was rather breathtaking. To end the night we looped around the Skyride, stopping at the North Pole to visit Santa. This was my first time seeing the big guy at Busch Gardens. The very excited elves were great (even when attempting to get 4 adults excited about seeing Santa) and Santa was awesome too. I think theme parks put Santa in a better mood than shopping malls...

Anyway, can't wait to get back for some more food, see Miracles and enjoy another snowy night. Maybe with my real camera so I can try to get good nighttime pictures- here's some from the trusty iPhone.

Thanks to the $12 ticket deal there were plenty of people waiting for the park to open.

The teacups look so much better covered with lights

The penguins might get all the attention, but they aren't the only birds here for Christmas.

The ravens are not back for Christmas though, though you might see some snow

And partying with Santa. He played it coy, but maybe if we're good we'll get a roller coaster for Christmas. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy those dessert pretzels!

First stop- Penguinland!

Who doesn't love penguins?

Come visit me! I'm amazing!

Also amazing to some people will be the Pumpkin Pie Crepe (likely the same people getting the Pumpkin Latte here)

Always take the bow off the car before driving.

It's Christmas! Thanksgiving is on Thursday, but there's a tree and I'm happy!

A required stop for anyone's trip to Busch Gardens.

What a nice way to enjoy the holidays (After Thanksgiving).

I envy any park (and it's visitors) that does so much wonderful decorating

for this time of year. AND is open, too!

Playland(PNE) is closed for the season. We do have a Christmas Market downtown,

and it does have a merry-go-round (carousel?).... but that's it for rides.

Great photos Stephen. Thanks for sharing the photos. And how's the

newly engaged couple (Nicole & Jeremiah) doing?

Not much progress since last weekend but here's some pictures of the site. It looks like some additional supports are the only change. No more track has been added.

I still don't understand BGW's choice for this coaster. I'm just hoping it turns out well for the park and that capacity won't be that bad. I kind of wish they would invest in a Family Ride similar to FireChaser Express as it seems they are lacking a really good family coaster...not another high thrill coaster. I'm hoping this same thing doesn't happen to BGT.

I still can't understand why they haven't made an announcement yet. It doesn't look like a bad coaster though, even with the capacity issues.

I still don't understand BGW's choice for this coaster. I'm just hoping it turns out well for the park and that capacity won't be that bad. I kind of wish they would invest in a Family Ride similar to FireChaser Express as it seems they are lacking a really good family coaster...not another high thrill coaster. I'm hoping this same thing doesn't happen to BGT.

Have You Ever Heard Of Verbolten?

I still can't understand why they haven't made an announcement yet. It doesn't look like a bad coaster though, even with the capacity issues.

Agreed. It seems like they should have rolled out all the stuff at least a month or two ago.

What a nice way to enjoy the holidays (After Thanksgiving).

 

I envy any park (and it's visitors) that does so much wonderful decorating

for this time of year. AND is open, too!

 

Playland(PNE) is closed for the season. We do have a Christmas Market downtown,

and it does have a merry-go-round (carousel?).... but that's it for rides.

 

 

Great photos Stephen. Thanks for sharing the photos. And how's the

newly engaged couple (Nicole & Jeremiah) doing?

Thanks Bill! Are you implying that Canadian Thanksgiving doesn't count?

It's pretty crazy how these Christmas events are spreading, just saw the report of Magic Mountain now too. We had the drive-thru lights at Great Adventure for a bit but no rides or anything. I miss being somewhat close to Smoky Mountain Christmas, but happy to still have a park to celebrate the season at. Looks like great weather again this weekend for it too!

Thanks Bill! Are you implying that Canadian Thanksgiving doesn't count?

Eh. At that time in October, Playland is already into it's Fright Nights, lol.

Not much holly or ho,ho,ho there.

I'm guessing at this point they are waiting till after Christmas Town to announce it. I'm curious to see how this interesting choice pans out as well.

I made a trip down to Christmas Town this past weekend, and it was a blast! Very temperate. I got a few rides in on Verbolten, which was fun. I still liked CT better when Alpengeist was open, but what can you do? What little line there was moved very fast since they had 4 trains running. I definitely think back is the way to go on this coaster, since you actually get some fun little air time here and there, and it really whips you around in the show building!

Obviously the pasta coaster is now visible from the pathways, as the supports have risen above the fence. I honestly don't know why they haven't announced it yet, but I've decided to think of it less as a coaster, and more of a flat ride. Sure, it's technically a coaster, but honestly, the niche of the park it fits in for me is a flat ride.

Whatever they were doing back on the DF site earlier this year is done, and there's no signs of it. It's just being used as storage for coaster trains/rapids boads, and they're also putting pieces of the flume trough there while they work on the upgrade. It was weird riding the train past the flume and seeing the supports just stick up in the air with no flume on it!

I'm guessing at this point they are waiting till after Christmas Town to announce it. I'm curious to see how this interesting choice pans out as well.

In the not too distant past, Six Flags America always announced their new attractions in February/March of the year the attraction opened. Claimed they got more press during that time (as it's usually a slow time of year, especially for theme park news) and it was better for selling season passes. Wonder if Busch Gardens is going to wait that long...

Is Busch Gardens Williamsburg getting a Vekoma coaster?