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Now I want to visit Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a very nice park. They have outstanding landscaping and its a pruty park in general. I went this past August because of the BIG BAD WOLF closing and cant forget they have a great line up of coasters.

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The Interpreter - out of pure curiosity, what website did you find that story published? I was just wondering if it was screamscape, as you usually post your source and as that is where I saw it this morning too...

Of course I suppose you could tune in to the official busch gardens youtube page daily and just happened to catch it, but who really has that kind of free time... :-D

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I received it directly from the park (I suspect Lance at Screamscape did as well..).

Oftentimes, Lance picks up items I post here, often without a source. I am not saying he got them from me. Most of us who do what he does (or very similar things) get the same information at about the same time. That's the way the world works...

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So am I correct to assume that this new ride will be similar to Soarin at EPCOT?

Corkscrew Hill's seats were very similiar to Dollywood's simluator and Jimmy Neutron at Universal. Its basically 4 seats in an individual car. There are several rows, each with several cars in each of the rows. I actually enjoyed Corkscrew Hill, but I am a HUGE Soarin' fan. While I certainly don't expect this to be in the same league as Soarin', its great to see them update the attraction with a film that keeps with the theme of the park. I'm in particular interested to see how IllumiNights plays out. No doubt, they are playing off the very popular After Dark event at SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa's Summer Nights event, both of which are a lot of fun and create completely different experiences versus what guests get to do during the day.

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Busch Gardens is my favorite park. Its so beautiful there and have a great collection of rides. One thing that is missing though is a wooden coaster. A Gravity Group would be awesome there, but I think they will stick with B&M for a while. Corkscrew Hills was very fun, and I am expecting the new one to be even better.

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I don't think it's going to be like "Soarin'" The name itself is a pun (which I thought everyone understood but my friends didn't notice til I brought it up Europe in the Air = You're Up In The Air", so I think it has the potential to be comical and such, too. Don't quote me on it, though.

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I don't think it's going to be like "Soarin'" The name itself is a pun (which I thought everyone understood but my friends didn't notice til I brought it up Europe in the Air = You're Up In The Air", so I think it has the potential to be comical and such, too. Don't quote me on it, though.

I'm not really thinking comical will be the case. Read the section below from the press release:

"Europe in the Air" swoops guests across gorgeous terrain and past the continent's

most beloved landmarks. Dive low over Stonehenge. Soar past Neuschwanstein Castle

in Germany. Float over the Coliseum in Rome. With amazingly sharp video quality and

incredible surround sound, this high-tech simulator ride puts our guests in the

midst of all the action. Europe in the Air will replace Corkscrew Hill.

It really is going to be their version of Soarin', though it just won't be the same without the hang gliders :-)

- Todd

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Even if it is just a scenic ride, I don't think it'll be a huge problem. Corkscrew Hill was fun, but about 3 minutes of 'horseback riding' in the top row left me a bit exhausted. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has never let me down (save Big Bad Wolf), and I'm consistently impressed with their decisions (and might be impressed with Big Bad Wolf's replacement, so stay tuned!). I'm sure that they will do a fantastic job with the new ride. Perhaps the theme will be that we're in a hot air balloon or something - either way, the ride will be beautiful, fun, and entertaining, and I highly highly doubt folks will be leaving muttering about "that was a rip-off of Soarin'..." or anything.

If there's one park I trust to stay ahead of the game with thoughtful, unique, and innovative rides, it's Busch Gardens. I'm just excited to see how the old cavernous queue and Stonehenge style pre-show room will be updated or changed to fit the new ride.

And let's take a minute to recognize that this is Blackstone really stepping to the plate with these parks (see, Journey to Atlantis) and initiating ride rehabs and replacements just for the sake of an improved guest experience. Corkscrew Hill & Atlantis could easily continue on as they are, but Blackstone is taking charge where other owners might just let things get to an on-its-last-leg sort of situation.

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No. As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong) Questor was sort of a "cabin" simulator in the vein of Star Tours.

I don't know who made it or what exactly it is, but Corkscrew Hill resembles an Iwerks Atlas (though with tiered seating and was slightly larger) that sits in a large, open room with a movie screen fixed on the wall in front of it. (Sort of like Spongebob at Kings Island, but with one giant simulator base instead of many with only two seats on each.

It hasn't been announced if Europe in the Air will use the same simulator base. But who knows?

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I really need to get back to BGW. I've been twice in my life.. once about 16 years ago, and once about 7 years ago. Griffon and DarKastle alone are worthy of a trip in my mind, as I haven't been on either of them yet. And now the new stuff just adds more value. Not to mention how beautiful the park is.

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Griffon and DarKastle are probably, in all honesty, the two best rides I've ever been on at a seasonal park (save perhaps Tomb Raider: The Ride and, if the day is right, Millennium Force). That may not be saying much to some, but it's incredible what they've done on a seasonal budget. It would be no surprise to anyone who frequents Busch Gardens that nearby Kings Dominion is very well themed - arguably the best-themed of all the former Paramount Parks. Any park within a four hour drive of Busch needs to have superior thrills and superior theme, since Busch Gardens is top notch in both (very rare for any park - not to mention for a seasonal park!)

Plus, Apollo's Chariot is one of the greatest coasters out there. Adding DarKastle, Griffon, and Big Bad Wolf (RIP!) it's easily in my top five theme parks I've ever been to. Easily.

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'Terp--Thanks for posting the Questor videos! That was a walk down memory lane. (For it's time, it was not a bad little simulator.)

In answer to goodyellowkorn182's post, yes, I'm pretty sure it was of the "capsule" variety. (Although, if I recall correctly, I think the ride "vehicles" were bigger than Star Tours'...)

I haven't ridden Corkscrew Hill, so I didn't know what system it used. I guess I had always just assumed that it was Questor with new programming...

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