Jul 2, 2017, 06:42 PM
Hey everyone, this last week I was away in Virginia Beach on vacation and I visited Busch Gardens, Williamsburg while away. Now that I'm back I thought I'd post a review of the park to give everyone an overview of what it has to offer.
Scenery/Immersion:
Busch Gardens is the first large amusement park I've been to in a long time (the last time was Canada's Wonderland back when I was about ten or so, so it's been some time). With that in mind, it wasn't exactly how I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be Disney-esque to a point, and with the scenery and theming of not only the park, but the rides as well it nailed that part. For those of you that don't know, the park is separated into areas based on portions of the world (countries/geographic areas). When you enter the park you are in Britain/England, and immediately work your way to a crossroads where you can proceed into Virginia, Ireland, or Scotland. Britain is just the "Main Street" of the park with shops, restaurants, games, etc. Ireland is the zoo area, with an aviary and other animals. Virginia is a small hilltop area immediately overlooking the queue and entrance to The Loch Ness Monster, and Ireland surrounds Virginia and houses one of the park's three cable-car stations.
Other areas include: Spain, Italy, Germany, Oktoberfest, the Caribbean, France, French Canada, China, The Land of the Dragons, and more.
Each main area (Britain, Ireland, France, French Canada, Italy, Spain, Oktoberfest, The Land of the Dragons) is excellently themed and quite immersive, at least until you reach the edge of the zone where it feels more like you're just in a generic theme park.
Overall the park was quite immersive, although sight lines between themed areas and transitions broke the immersion quite often. Their scenery definitely doesn't measure up to Disney's but they certainly do a good job.
Ride Diversity:
One of the big issues with the park that I noticed was the lack of rides. Yes there are some flat rides mixed in with coasters (for example a Chinese Junk Ship ride, a Drop Tower, TeaCups, a Cable Car and Train), but the emphasis is placed far more on the coasters. I went to the park with some of my family and my younger cousins who aren't too adventurous with roller coasters ended up going on the same few flat rides most of the day because there weren't many others to choose from.
Overall I'd say this park is great for coaster enthusiasts, but it isn't really a family park.
Customer Service:
The staff and management at Busch Gardens are easily the best I've ever seen at an amusement park. All of the staff were friendly and constantly trying to make sure you had both a great time and got your money's worth, and unlike other parks I frequent (Darien Lake...) all of the coasters were running at least two trains constantly (except for Tempesto, which can't).
Finally what you've been waiting for: the coasters - (in order I rode them)
The Loch Ness Monster:
http://pinterest.com/pin/203154633161692004/
Busch Garden's Arrow Looper, it features two inversions (those being a pair of interlocking vertical loops) and a high-speed indoor helix. This was probably one of the roughest coasters in the park (keeping with Arrow's reputation), and it didn't exactly start the day off on a high note. I much prefer The Viper from back home, but it was a good ride, just be prepared for the jarring exit to the helix as you ascend into the second lift hill.
Apollo's Chariot:
http://imgarcade.com/1/busch-gardens-apollos-chariot/
This B&M Hyper was not only the first of its kind, but it's visible while entering the park. It was a really smooth ride with plenty of airtime, although be wary if riding in the front row because it's fast enough to make you cry (literally lol).
Tempesto:
http://www.coastercrazy.com/forums/busch...05-75.html
Also visible from the front entrance, but much smaller, Tempesto is really just a glorified Boomerang coaster with a launch system rather than chain lifts. The seats weren't that comfortable during the ride, and the barrel roll was painfully slow. I'll take my normal Vekoma Boomerang back home please...
Verbolten:
http://www.adventuresbydaddy.com/2012/05...r-coaster/
What I thought was going to be a dinky Intamin family coaster turned out to be one of the most painful coasters in the park. It is a good ride and well themed (especially the queue and stationhouse), but be prepared for the section of track that drops because I wasn't. I had a headache from this one for a good hour afterwards and my Dad was out of commission for the rest of his day after his back was hit during the drop.
The Curse of Dar Kastle:
http://allwomenstalk.com/10-best-attract...ey-world/6
Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking - "But Chris that's a dark ride, not a coaster!" - well it's the only ride I rode all day that wasn't a coaster, so I'm adding it. Scenery and theming were absolutely on-point for this ride, although I wish they would have had the volume on the intro-video louder so I could hear it over the crowd in line. If there isn't a line while you're at the park definitely go for a ride, but if there's a wait I'd say it isn't worth it, we waited about an hour and were disappointed.
Alpengeist:
http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/vie...hp?t=65821
Busch Garden's lone inverted coaster, Alpengeist has a somewhat bad reputation of throwing riders around too roughly. Personally, this was my favorite ride in the park, and it wasn't rough at all (it might have something to do with me being tall enough to stick my head out form between the shoulder restraints... I have a lot of practice from The Mind Eraser back home - which is quite rough). Couple the ride experience with the fact there were no lines for the coaster and it's the best in the park in my opinion.
Invadr:
The park's newest coaster and also the smoothest wooden coaster I've ever been on. Unfortunately because it opened this year there's still plenty of crowd to fill its queue all the way, thus making it feel as though it was never worth the wait in the first place.
Griffon:
The first B&M Dive Machine I've had the pleasure of riding, Griffon did not disappoint. Although it was short (just two drops and two dive loops) it was a great ride, and the feel you get hanging form the first drop while in the front row is indescribable.
Scenery/Immersion:
Busch Gardens is the first large amusement park I've been to in a long time (the last time was Canada's Wonderland back when I was about ten or so, so it's been some time). With that in mind, it wasn't exactly how I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be Disney-esque to a point, and with the scenery and theming of not only the park, but the rides as well it nailed that part. For those of you that don't know, the park is separated into areas based on portions of the world (countries/geographic areas). When you enter the park you are in Britain/England, and immediately work your way to a crossroads where you can proceed into Virginia, Ireland, or Scotland. Britain is just the "Main Street" of the park with shops, restaurants, games, etc. Ireland is the zoo area, with an aviary and other animals. Virginia is a small hilltop area immediately overlooking the queue and entrance to The Loch Ness Monster, and Ireland surrounds Virginia and houses one of the park's three cable-car stations.
Other areas include: Spain, Italy, Germany, Oktoberfest, the Caribbean, France, French Canada, China, The Land of the Dragons, and more.
Each main area (Britain, Ireland, France, French Canada, Italy, Spain, Oktoberfest, The Land of the Dragons) is excellently themed and quite immersive, at least until you reach the edge of the zone where it feels more like you're just in a generic theme park.
Overall the park was quite immersive, although sight lines between themed areas and transitions broke the immersion quite often. Their scenery definitely doesn't measure up to Disney's but they certainly do a good job.
Ride Diversity:
One of the big issues with the park that I noticed was the lack of rides. Yes there are some flat rides mixed in with coasters (for example a Chinese Junk Ship ride, a Drop Tower, TeaCups, a Cable Car and Train), but the emphasis is placed far more on the coasters. I went to the park with some of my family and my younger cousins who aren't too adventurous with roller coasters ended up going on the same few flat rides most of the day because there weren't many others to choose from.
Overall I'd say this park is great for coaster enthusiasts, but it isn't really a family park.
Customer Service:
The staff and management at Busch Gardens are easily the best I've ever seen at an amusement park. All of the staff were friendly and constantly trying to make sure you had both a great time and got your money's worth, and unlike other parks I frequent (Darien Lake...) all of the coasters were running at least two trains constantly (except for Tempesto, which can't).
Finally what you've been waiting for: the coasters - (in order I rode them)
The Loch Ness Monster:
http://pinterest.com/pin/203154633161692004/
Busch Garden's Arrow Looper, it features two inversions (those being a pair of interlocking vertical loops) and a high-speed indoor helix. This was probably one of the roughest coasters in the park (keeping with Arrow's reputation), and it didn't exactly start the day off on a high note. I much prefer The Viper from back home, but it was a good ride, just be prepared for the jarring exit to the helix as you ascend into the second lift hill.
Apollo's Chariot:
http://imgarcade.com/1/busch-gardens-apollos-chariot/
This B&M Hyper was not only the first of its kind, but it's visible while entering the park. It was a really smooth ride with plenty of airtime, although be wary if riding in the front row because it's fast enough to make you cry (literally lol).
Tempesto:
http://www.coastercrazy.com/forums/busch...05-75.html
Also visible from the front entrance, but much smaller, Tempesto is really just a glorified Boomerang coaster with a launch system rather than chain lifts. The seats weren't that comfortable during the ride, and the barrel roll was painfully slow. I'll take my normal Vekoma Boomerang back home please...
Verbolten:
http://www.adventuresbydaddy.com/2012/05...r-coaster/
What I thought was going to be a dinky Intamin family coaster turned out to be one of the most painful coasters in the park. It is a good ride and well themed (especially the queue and stationhouse), but be prepared for the section of track that drops because I wasn't. I had a headache from this one for a good hour afterwards and my Dad was out of commission for the rest of his day after his back was hit during the drop.
The Curse of Dar Kastle:
http://allwomenstalk.com/10-best-attract...ey-world/6
Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking - "But Chris that's a dark ride, not a coaster!" - well it's the only ride I rode all day that wasn't a coaster, so I'm adding it. Scenery and theming were absolutely on-point for this ride, although I wish they would have had the volume on the intro-video louder so I could hear it over the crowd in line. If there isn't a line while you're at the park definitely go for a ride, but if there's a wait I'd say it isn't worth it, we waited about an hour and were disappointed.
Alpengeist:
http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/vie...hp?t=65821
Busch Garden's lone inverted coaster, Alpengeist has a somewhat bad reputation of throwing riders around too roughly. Personally, this was my favorite ride in the park, and it wasn't rough at all (it might have something to do with me being tall enough to stick my head out form between the shoulder restraints... I have a lot of practice from The Mind Eraser back home - which is quite rough). Couple the ride experience with the fact there were no lines for the coaster and it's the best in the park in my opinion.
Invadr:
The park's newest coaster and also the smoothest wooden coaster I've ever been on. Unfortunately because it opened this year there's still plenty of crowd to fill its queue all the way, thus making it feel as though it was never worth the wait in the first place.
Griffon:
The first B&M Dive Machine I've had the pleasure of riding, Griffon did not disappoint. Although it was short (just two drops and two dive loops) it was a great ride, and the feel you get hanging form the first drop while in the front row is indescribable.
Team CoasterTech
