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Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

P. 467: Media Town Hall Report

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^^ They ran out at the place by the front gate by 11am yesterday. We thought we were absolutely screwed but for some reason the gift shop back by Griffin was happy to sell us unlimited Quick Queue even though the website and front gate said that they were sold out. That place was a life-saver.

 

InvadR and Tempesto were not included.

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Turned out to be a great day, so nice to be back. It really is the best park. Lochness might be a clunker (IMO) but there isn’t a turd in the entire lineup. And anyone that thinks the Sky Rocket IIs is dull are absolutely nuts. Go find a new hobby.

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^^ They ran out at the place by the front gate by 11am yesterday. We thought we were absolutely screwed but for some reason the gift shop back by Griffin was happy to sell us unlimited Quick Queue even though the website and front gate said that they were sold out. That place was a life-saver.

 

InvadR and Tempesto were not included.

How long were your waits with Quick Queue with them selling out?

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^ I know you asked Bill but since I was there I feel I'm qualified to answer. Our waits were not bad at all.

 

We rode Apollo a ton since they were dedicating rows 2 and 8 to QQ folks, so we were basically walking right on/reriding it immediately if there was no one waiting in the QQ line (you just go up the exit). With Alpengeist it dumps you into the station so if you're waiting for any row but the front its only gonna be 2-3 trains tops. Of course we waited for the front so it was an extra 20-30 minutes but so worth it. Griffon is basically the same deal as Alpengeist - dumps you into the station, but you still have to wait for the front (another 10-15 mins?). When we waited for the back it was maybe a 2-3 train wait.

 

Lochness merges in the queue just outside the station so we were on in 10 minutes. Verbolten dumps you into the station but the crew was atrocious on Saturday anytime we rode it so the station wait was more like 20-30 minutes just because of how slow they were (it was mindblowing that they have two full trains loading at once and the throughput was still as low as it was). But the standby line was up well over an hour, so we still saved some time.

 

Le Scoot we just walked right on to - again, up the exit. Right in a log. And jumped back in right after we got off one since no one was waiting w/ QQ. As Bill mentioned Tempesto and Invadr are not on the QQ so we hit Invadr first thing and Tempesto at the end of the night. Invadr was maybe 20-25 minutes with a decently filled queue around 11/11:30am but we saw it got up to two hours later. Tempesto we waited 5 minutes for row one on the last train of the night right at 10pm park close.

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We are visiting BGW in the first week of June (same week as we do Kings Dominion). It will be quite a nostalgia trip as this was the first US theme park I ever visited after moving to Canada (from the UK) over 10 years ago!. The reason why Apollo's Chariot ranks so highly in my list is it was my first ever B and M hyper and I just remember being blown away by the scenery and how smooth and fun the ride was. I am almost "scared" to go on it again as I don't want to ruin the memories from the past! Pretty sure it will still be great though!

I recall getting a kick out of the attempt at Irish accents in the show...a bit like me doing a US accent! I look forward to all the entertainment.

 

All the Quick Queue talk has convinced me that this is still the best way to go. I also wanted to ask...are the best beers still sold in the German beerhall area....or are there other places to go for "refreshment" also.

Is Tempesto a good evening ride.....or is better to do earlier in the day (both for capacity and scenery?).

 

Looking forward to our trip. My son is very excited that he gets to do TWO dive coasters this year...with Yukon Striker and Griffon on the list!

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First off, depending on weather/what day of the week you go, you may not need quick queue. BGW, IMO, is a wait and see decision for QQ. Apollo is still great, and it's still one of my favorites. Where else can you ride a hypercoaster over a river and through the woods? The brewhaus in the Festhaus has a ton of variety, including lots of microbrews. However, for some more "thematic" beers, the German food side of the festhaus has a Hofbrau from Germany that is fantastic. Also, the pub in Ireland has a good selection as well.

 

As for Tempesto and InvadR, they are really the only ones you need to worry about for capacity. Usually, the Italian section does not open with the park, so if I'm mainly concerned with hitting coasters early I like to walk around and hit InvadR first thing and then head to Italy for Tempesto.

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are the best beers still sold in the German beerhall area....or are there other places to go for "refreshment" also.

 

This park sells beer literally everywhere. Basically every gift shop sells beer and each area tries to have a few cool foreign or craft beers. The best selection is absolutely in the Festhaus as you remember it but they sort of hide it. You'll see a giant courtyard thing on the right that sells underwhelming pizza... walk right by that towards the back and you'll see the beer room. The selection is absurd (they must have like 30 taps) and they have flights.

 

Apollo is still great. Ride in the very back and you'll totally fly out of your seat all the way down the first drop.

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We are visiting BGW in the first week of June (same week as we do Kings Dominion).

Apollo is still butter smooth and the scenery/location of the ride is one of the best in the park. I think you'll enjoy it as much if not more than you did the last time you visited. I enjoy it more each time I ride it.

 

Tempesto has no scenery to speak of lol, its just kinda there. And since its not on QQ just ride it early or late like we did. As I mentioned above, we had almost no wait for the front after showing up at the ride 5 minutes before park close.

 

But yeah like Bill said beer is everywhere. Literally everywhere in this park. BUT the craft beer room in the back of the Festhaus is the place to be for the best beers - they swap them out often it seems so no telling what they'll have in June but here is a sampling from Saturday.

 

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First off, depending on weather/what day of the week you go, you may not need quick queue. BGW, IMO, is a wait and see decision for QQ.

Agreed 100% with this. This last weekend was my fourth visit in the last few years but only my first time that we had to get QQ, and to be honest with being able to look @ the app for wait times, we didn't really need it but we planned on spending a good chunk of our day... ahem... doing things besides riding, so we didn't want to spend all day in queues. Just budget for it, but definitely do not buy in advance. Just keep in mind if one place in the park (like Guest Relations in the front) is sold out of it, go to another retail location that has it as they give out a certain amount to different spots in the park as we learned Saturday.

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^ We really need to go there one of these days. We always pass it on the way in, say we'll come back to check it out, and then never do because, well... Festhaus.

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great pics Boldy & bill.

 

glad you had such a great time.

 

in my opinion, InvadR is a night time ride. it's good during the day (and the views of Le Scoot and Alpengeist are fantastic). . . but when we rode it at night during the 2018 TPR USA trip? It's so dark you can't see the track in the tunnel. . it was freaking insane, and would gladly wait in a longish line if that's what it took for an evening ride.

 

I LOVED it at night, and iven

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BUT the craft beer room in the back of the Festhaus is the place to be for the best beers

Lie. The last few times I went they didn't sell Coors Light or Yuengling in the Festhaus.

 

Thanks for the info on QQ. We've had it a couple times, but never when the park has sold out of them. And yes. Verbolten's loading always seems to be a shit show. It's like a 20 minute wait once you get into the station.

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BUT the craft beer room in the back of the Festhaus is the place to be for the best beers

Lie. The last few times I went they didn't sell Coors Light or Yuengling in the Festhaus.

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Oy, all this talk of beer. Let's not forget, they have wines, plenty of them. We generally, are wine drinkers, so it came as a nice surprise that there is a place in the France section that does wine tastings. And the bonus was, you could buy a bottle ( for as little as $20) have them uncork it and take it with you around the park. We found a nice table outside by the festy house with a view of a bunch of coasters, had lunch and wine. Perfection IMO. There were quite a few people that came up to us to ask where we got the wine.

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Thanks for tips everyone. Very much looking forward to it...and we will follow the advice here. Beer selection looks awesome (love the Coors lite quip!).

I saw the QQ unlimited option, I think I shall wait and see till we get to the park (we are going on a weekday) as it sounds like we "should" be OK.

 

We are driving from Washington to Richmond, then to Williamsburg. On our first trip back in the day...I wasn't quite used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, so part of the adventure was just getting there!! A lot more experience with that now!!!.....it takes me afew minutes to get used to being back on the "right" side of the road when I fly back to the UK each year!

 

Thanks again all, and if I have any other queries, this forum is always my first port of call.

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^ don't miss the Rhine River cruise while there.. it's a nice 20 minute getaway (entrance is on the lake (on walkway between LNM (from front of park) & Carousel from German side).. . and offers some great views of Verbolten & Apollo from the boat.

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^I agree. The tour is really cool.

 

Oy, all this talk of beer. Let's not forget, they have wines, plenty of them. We generally, are wine drinkers, so it came as a nice surprise that there is a place in the France section that does wine tastings. And the bonus was, you could buy a bottle ( for as little as $20) have them uncork it and take it with you around the park. We found a nice table outside by the festy house with a view of a bunch of coasters, had lunch and wine. Perfection IMO. There were quite a few people that came up to us to ask where we got the wine.

 

I remember the first time we went they offered a wine tour package where you received a souvenir Busch Gardens glass. There were three or four wine stations to visit where you received a sample or two from each. Germany, France, Italy, and maybe one other. We had a good time with that and we still occasionally use the glasses.

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^ We really need to go there one of these days. We always pass it on the way in, say we'll come back to check it out, and then never do because, well... Festhaus.

 

The selection at Grogan's isn't as extensive as the Brauhaus, but they improved it a few years ago. Grogan's is a nice place to relax, too (but it can get crowded at times).

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^ We really need to go there one of these days. We always pass it on the way in, say we'll come back to check it out, and then never do because, well... Festhaus.

 

The selection at Grogan's isn't as extensive as the Brauhaus, but they improved it a few years ago. Grogan's is a nice place to relax, too (but it can get crowded at times).

 

the Cider options they had there were fantastic.

 

I'm not a big drinker, but I had a couple of the Ciders when there with TPR (and they were soooo good)

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pic Courtesy of Robb.

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don't miss the Rhine River cruise while there.. it's a nice 20 minute getaway (entrance is on the lake (on walkway between LNM (from front of park) & Carousel from German side).. . and offers some great views of Verbolten & Apollo from the boat.

 

Thanks for that tip Bert. Your advice for Kennywood last year was spot on, so we will definitely do this.

Give me a heads up if you are coming up to Wonderland anytime soon.

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Planning for 3 days in Williamsburg in July. Original itinerary had us spending 2 of the 3 days at Busch Gardens. That said, is Water Country a worthwhile visit? And if so, is it a full day's worth of activity? Any other water parks that it is comparable to?

 

We did the Holiday World water park last summer, I was very impressed.

 

They are opening their first water coaster this year: Cutback. Water Country is a very good water park (especially Aquazoid, Big Daddy Falls, and Hubba-Hubba Highway, a fast lazy river).

 

Thanks. I did see the news on the water coaster. I appreciate the feedback. Its easy to just check reviews on Yelp or Trip Advisor but I love to get the opinions from this forum. Haven't been to Busch Gardens in 20+ years so we are excited to get back and check it out.

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Flyin' High Over Ireland (and a Bit of Scotland): Finnegan's Flyer Media Day

 

Finnegan's Flyer is now roaring high over Ireland and a wee bit of Scotland at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The park officially opened its new S&S Screamin' Swing to the public on Friday, May 3 (they held a "soft opening" the previous Sunday, too).

 

It's hard to miss this huge new attraction as you walk across the bridge between Ireland and Scotland, or even as you emerge from the path between France and Ireland. Finnegan's Flyer is huge--and a lot of fun. As many of you know, I'm not a "flat-ride" person, but I do enjoy Screamin' Swings, and I like what BGW has done with their version, from the placement to the color scheme. That little pop of airtime at the top of the arc doesn't hurt, either. Here are the essential facts:

 

Swinging height--81 feet

Capacity--32 riders

Maximum speed--45 mph

 

One thing to note about the "swinging height": The ride sits on a 30-foot platform, which adds to the whole experience as you're propelled by whooshes of compressed air. It even swings out over the queue house; sit on the green side facing the Loch Ness Monster, and you can look straight down at guests who are waiting to ride. They provide plastic bins for your loose items, too (and glasses require a strap).

 

The park shot videos of all those who participated in the media event on May 3: POV, 360-degree, and "foot cam." (Yes, a camera was attached to a rider's foot.) I still have to upload the video footage to Robb, but here are some photos of FInnegan's Flyer in action.

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Sign photos for the park index make Larry happy.

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Finnegan's Flyer from the far side of Ireland. As I said earlier, it's hard to miss.

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Here's how it looks from the Scotland side of the park.

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I'm sure you'll be OK, guys . . .

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. . . well, reasonably sure.

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A wee bit of "hair time" on the green swing.

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High kicks with the foot cam.

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This gives you a better look at the camera rigs.

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Yep--I think this'll be a hit for the park.

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Hi Griffon--how you doin' today?

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Remember that Grogan's is the place for Cinco de Mayo! Arriba and begorrah! Thanks for reading.

Edited by cfc
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