Kings Dominion & Busch Gardens TR

[bkroz]

Hey everyone. Got to spend some time in Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg this week, and thought I might just let you know what I noticed. (I'll add pictures as soon as I'm back home).

KINGS DOMINION

I've always been a big supporter of Kings Dominion. I always felt that they just got it "right" in so many ways, and I've praised the park in trip reports from previous years. The clientele is not always as desired, and this trip was no different. In particular, it appeared that every school from Richmond decided to have eighth grade class trips, basically dropping the students off at the gate then telling them they'd be back later. Very little supervision, so a lot of the "typical" middle school behavior of cursing and being obnoxious mixed with the wonderful attitudes of inner-city schools.

I was also upset with a major downgrade I noticed in the park.

The Crypt there has always been a stand-out. It's still flanked by warrior monkey statues from the Tomb Raider movie, but today, there was no synchronized music and no flame effects whatsoever. The ride's cycle is very basic, performing the same lift-and-flip twice in a row, but the music always made it a heart-pumping sensation while the water and fire happening on the first and second half respectively kept it interesting for observers and riders. That was obviously missing. I asked the ride operator, and she said "Oh, it works sometimes. Just not today I guess." So there you have it. At least things are going as expected around here, I tweeted after getting off the ride.

We next went to Backlot Stunt Coaster - ours may be without water and on-board audio, but we've got it good. At Kings Dominion, there were no lights on the billboards, no sirens or lights on the police cars, no music at the MCBR... The arm that supports the helicopter appeared "snapped" backwards so the helicopter was pointing up into the air. The train came to a stop at the MCBR, but there were no bullet noises, no helicopter rotor, no water, no music, no flames... I heard three clicks from the three lighters meant to ignite the plumes of fire, but nothing... Really, really sad... At this point, it may as well just skip through the MCBR without stopping like Canada's Wonderland's does. Makes me very grateful for Kings Island's.

So two rides in, I was sure that Kings Dominion would loose a place of respect for me.

Lunch was worse. We'd spent the two days before at Busch Gardens, eating cannolinis in Italy, knockwurst and Black Forest Ale in Germany, and stew in Ireland for $7 - 11 dollars. Certainly not reasonable, but worth it. At Kings Dominion, the "Trail's End Grill" offered 3 hamburger choices (hamburger, cheeseburger, and bacon cheeseburger). One of each sat under a warming lamp labeled with a colored square sticker on top. I picked up the one with the red sticker - apparently, that was the bacon cheeseburger. $7.50 with no fries, no drink, nothing. Of course, it DID get me access to the luxurious toppings bar, complete with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles, and packets of pepper. I was embarrassed that we'd selected to eat there, actually, and it was all my friend (a first time visitor) could talk about all day long... Left a bad taste in both of our mouths (literally).

We also noticed on the menu that a souvenir cup runs $12.99 with $1.99 refills. How is this perceived as a "steal?" The same souvenir cup at Busch Gardens was $7.99 and offered $.99 refills all season long, and you better believe I bought it and use it. Kings Dominion needs a major food overhaul... I've heard nothing but positive from Kings Island's change this year, and I believe the prices dropped while the quality increased... That shouldn't be rocket science at this point, because a $7.50 tasteless cheeseburger with shredded lettuce on top? I walked away and said to my friend "Remind me to NEVER support a Cedar Fair park again." That's how I felt. Very cheated.

I always enjoy Intimidator 305, but it put my traveling companion in major discomfort from the intensity, so she doesn't remember it fondly whatsoever. I like the ride, but the uncomfortable experience only further dampened her day.

I prefer the isolated feel of their Boo Blasters (with the individual carts instead of the Omnimovers). The fog effect wasn't working, but I guess that's just expected at this point. It was very rainy all day, so most rides were a walk on. Boo Blasters was no exception, but when our car came back to the unload area, I was surprised to see a full cart ahead of us. Two employees were gossiping together at the control panel. They very clearly noticed the two returned carts, but would not send empty ones through the building. So we sat there with this "are you kidding me?" look on our faces while they gabbed about nothing. After a minute or two (a long time to sit there for no reason), a group of 8th graders came in shouting for nothing. The employees literally talked with them and laughed back and forth with them for 45 seconds or so before sending them off and allowing our cart to advance far enough to unload. It was ridiculous.

Their Flight of Fear keeps a haunted house set up year-round in the hanger. I knew this and had seen it before - not ideal, and only saves a day's worth of setup at the expense of a great experience, but okay. This year (I kid you not) every single light in the hanger was off. Every. Single. One. The black walls outlining the haunted house stretched at least ten feet into the air, so entering the hanger was absolutely pitch black. Turning the corner toward the ship, the only lights were the flashing strobes of the ship's "thrusters" or whatever. I had to use my cell phone to find my way through. Their ride felt a bit rougher than I remember Kings Island's being, but nothing too terrible. The ride's launch was accompanied by awful scream-o music projected as loud as possible through the station... I mean, I'm 21 so I wasn't "offended," but it was pretty bad, especially over top of the Outer Limits score and the alien ship sound effects. Totally out of place and weird.

On WindSeeker, the hydraulic dampers failed (or whatever the appropriate word is) in mid-air, which caused the swings to all get precariously close, appearing to touch each other in the air. The swing in front of us was empty, so it swung all the way back, literally 6 inches or so from our knees. The only thing that stopped it was a loud clacking noise that was obviously that swing's joint reaching its full extension. The revolving stopped early and we were lowered back with a "We hope you enjoyed your ride" as though nothing had happened.

I know it sounds like I'm making all this up, but it was truly just a depressing experience at the park...

Volcano was wonderful as always, and Drop Zone was, too. Their Ricochet wild mouse was fine if you're into that sort of thing, though as soon as we were seated, they announced that the ride would close due to the weather. Everyone got out of line, but they sent our car through anyway. A little odd and definitely made us feel weird (it was the only ride closing, which I imagined had something to do with the skid brakes becoming slick during rain, so that wasn't very comforting).

Grizzly and Hurler, as always, could use a lot of work, and it's a shame that people who only get to visit Kings Dominion might think that all wooden coasters are like that.

We didn't go through their Dinosaur's Alive, though I imagine it really was nice - I truly enjoyed Kings Island's, and Dominion's vast Virginian wilderness would definitely make a great habitat. The only annoyance there was that I saw probably six or seven dinosaurs in the actual park. One stood on top of a really beautiful waterfall in the Old Virginia section of the park - a little annoying that it ruined a beautiful scene, but more than anything I felt like I'd seen half the exhibit already since theirs only has like 30 figures.

I thought we might see a show or something, but the only ones we could find were basically their "top 40 hits" show, a country show that, from Shockwave, we saw 12 people in the audience for, and a Rock 'n' Roll show. I'm sure they were pleasant enough, but can we be done with the "genre or decade" talent shows, please?

Might sound like a stupid, petty note to end on, but they appear to have closed the charming little Treasure Cave in the the kiddie land - a short little walkthrough whose closure must be due only to the cost of keeping the lights on, because the it was never staffed and didn't need to be if they leave the Flight of Fear queue pitch black...

Overall, I was disappointed. I'd always held Kings Dominion in high regard, and while I still think that the park is impeccably beautiful (particularly their International Street and Congo), I found much to be disappointed in... I do not have a Platinum Pass this year and decided to take a year off from Cedar Fair, only visiting Kings Dominion at the insistance of this friend who had never been. She said: "I'm glad we got the chance to go I guess. And all day long, each ride was worse than the last and I just kept thinking to myself, 'I'm okay with this, but I definitely don't want to do it again.'" It's not a terrible park by any means, I just felt a little let down compared to seasons before. Kings Dominion, perhaps more than any other I'd been to, seemed to have flourished under Cedar Fair. Now it's just a little irritating that operations and aesthetics have fallen by the wayside.

[The Interpreter]

Wow. And this from a fan of the park.

I've always been impressed by certain of Kings Dominion's rides. I've never been so by the park's operations. I would think it'd be better, what with Busch so very wonderful and so very close.

[ohiocolts]

Didn't sound like a good day at KD. I wonder if it has been like this all year.

[TheCrypt]

I just need to get this out--Maybe the reason Kings Dominion's Crypt has the monkey warriors is because they are replicas, not originals? Kings Island's were almost all originals, with a few specially cast for the ride using moldings.

~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps the GM at Dominion doesn't value theming. Seeing as how parks are not micro-managed by the head in Sandusky anymore, yet rather by the GM, he/she must have something to do with the upkeep. Did you go to Guest Relations at the end of it?

I can't wait for the pictures. Sad to hear Kings Dominion was a bust, hope Europe was much better!

[bkroz]

I think the consensus among those of us who don't know (and I'm sure there are people who do, but would never say) is that Kings Island's Tomb Raider ride was highly protected legally. A legal patent was filed in March 2003 that accounted for nearly all of the thematic things within the ride. I'm not a legal expert or anything like that, but that may be part of it. Kings Dominion's was certainly not protected in such a way, as it is an off-the-shelf suspended top spin (of which there are dozens) that just so happened to have a few props around it. Props that were apparently sold off with the park and continue to be used today.

I think, in general, Kings Dominion does value theming and always has. As I mentioned, their Congo area summons great images in my mind, and that part of the park really is that beautiful. Their main competitor is Busch Gardens, so a level of theming is required to compete in that arena. Kings Island's competitors are / were Cedar Point and Kentucky Kingdom, primarily. With that in mind, there was never a dire need to make "theme" or "detail" a part of the experience, because they didn't have any competitors who pursued it, either.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

I am always impressed with Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It is very much quality over quantity. I'd rather ride any one of their five adult coasters over all seventeen of Cedar Point's. That continued to be true this year. I'll give a quick run-down of the rides and return later tonight with a few more details and photos. Thanks for reading!

Apollo's Chariot is one of B&M's more infamously subtle hypercoasters. Its first drop is taller than its lift hill thanks to a carefully placed ravine, and the course is very terrain-centered. Instead of Diamondback's almost-hammerhead turn, Chariot's turnaround is a banked dive to the ground followed by a rising helix. It's actually a fantastic element and one of my favorite roller coaster moments. The best part to me, though, is the last few seconds of the ride. Like Diamondback, the return trip is bunny hill after bunny hill, but towards the end, the track unexpectedly banks and tosses you under the lift hill. That's a great moment in and of itself, but a "trick" comes next: a very small, insignificant little downhill slope as if heading into the brake run is followed by one final, large dive into an unexpected slope in terrain. The result is moment that catches many people off guard, and of course, that's when they take the picture. If you're looking for B&M's more aggressive hypercoasters (which, I'm told, do exist!) Apollo's Chariot doesn't fit the bill.

Apollo's Chariot is also a fantastic example of how a little theme can go a long way. In ancient myth, Apollo (or Helios) was charged with pulling the sun across the sky each day in his golden chariot. One day, his foolhardy son decided to make the job his own, but was unable to control the flaming steeds that led the chariot, so he flew too close to earth, then too far from it, alternatively scorching and freezing the planet all along his journey. Simple, but the perfect explanation for a B&M hyper coaster, right?

Loch Ness Monster is a trusty Arrow looping coaster that's beginning to show its age, but still miles above Cedar Point's Corkscrew. It's a little simple and has some of those infamous track transitions and moments where you think "What were they thinking?" but these are the rides to ride while you can - the feeling of going through a steel loop whose dimensions were not calculated by computers is becoming a little too rare, and it's worth savoring while you can!

The quasi-new Europe in the Air is a very clear take-off (no pun intended) on Disney California Adventure's Soarin' Over California. The problem here is that the old whole-theater-on-hydraulic-arms simulator from the park's Corkscrew Hill was reused, translating to a ride that's more awkward than graceful. There are beautiful sights to be seen, for sure, but the ride lacks the emotional depths of California's ride. Plus, the former ride was themed to Irish folklore (fairies, unicorns, witches, etc) and the building was repurposed without much care. It's still a dark, dank tunnel with Celtic inscriptions that leads to the pre-shows (now with a few vaguely "airport"-like lights drilled into the tunnel walls) and two pre-show rooms are used to prep you for the experience that could really speak for itself. It's a nice way to escape the heat and a fun attraction, but hardly a headliner.

The largest land by far is Germany (divided into the customary Rhinefeld land of shops, beer steins, Glockenspiels, and wrought iron, and the separate Oktoberfest). Alpengeist is on the outskirts of Rhinefeld in a Bavarian ski-lodge. The story, a few props and signs quickly establish, is that the ski lift to the height of the Alps has been closed due to odd disappearances blamed on the yeti (or Alpengeist - Ghost of the Alps). The ski-lift story perfectly fits the B&M inverted coaster that follows. They supposedly engineered a new support system just for this ride so as to make it look like a real ski-lift. I believe Alpengeist is the tallest, fastest inverted roller coaster in the world, and I rank it very, very highly. At the beginning, it's all about giant inversions. By the end, you're slaloming through canyons of concrete snow with an occasional wing-over to set-up the next visual near-miss with more canyon wall. Totally a winner.

Oktoberfest has been the park's focus of the last few years, with all of the land's restaurants, games, stages, and planters being unified under renewed, bright colors, the same festive flags, barrels of beer, and bright signage. This is where their Das Festhaus is. Believe it or not, it serves German food and has a German fairytale show called Entwined! Crazy, right? I was expecting a Good Ole' Country Stampede show and a hot spring roll with a slice of pizza, but maybe I'll find that somewhere else...

Mäch Tower opened last year after a massive delay that almost lasted as long as the WindSeekers'. It's 230 feet (so a bit shorter than Kings Dominion's Drop Tower) but revolves on the way up (which theirs doesn't) and plays European music through on-board audio (which, I imagine, might be one of the only instances of that on a Drop Tower?). At the top, the bustling German music ends in a dramatic note. Last year, the carriage vibrated from top to bottom before dropping, but that seems to not be the case this year. It might just be temporary - the ride was down quite a bit during the days I was there, with signs indicating that it would be closed all day without anyone even attempting to fix it. The ride was ridiculed last year as not being "Busch Gardens" enough when theme had always been the name of the game, but it's a nice thrill ride and absorbs quite a bit of crowd.

Curse of DarKastle is the incredible 4-D simulator (a la Spider-Man or Transformers) in Oktoberfest. Instead of the non-stop explosion-style action of its two sisters, Curse of DarKastle basically puts the fantastic technology to use by combining it with a traditional haunted house... at least for the first half of the ride. The first half is knives flying at you, being sucked into a smoking fireplace, etc. In the second half, the story finally picks up: we know from the pre-show that the evil King Ludwig killed his parents to take their throne and that he's granted eternal life so long as he never steps outside the caste walls. In the second half of the ride, the "simulator" part really kicks in as his mother leads the sleigh on a flying tour through the castle grounds as it collapses, holds us high above on a tower while she confronts her son, and then sends the sleigh crashing onto a glass dome below. It's a fantastic ride and a dramatic story, but the ride has always been just a little too tame.

During the off-season between 2011-2012, Busch Gardens hinted that a refurbishment would restore the ride just in time to re-open Oktoberfest. I was excited at the idea that the motion might finally be amped up to take full advantage of the technology, what with Universal opening Transformers and re-debuting Spider-Man with its enhancements. They reprogrammed it, alright... The motion is reduced to a few bumps and knocks. All of the "spins" to transition between screens were noticeably slowed, and the one instance of the ride that was really aggressive (a set of four or five tight spins in the darkness of the castle's fireplace) were replaced with one slow, gentle turn. The only noticeable improvement I noticed was the smoke in the fireplace (through which the sleigh is pulled) was finally restored after being absent for a few years. It's still a FANTASTIC ride and I'd kill for Kings Island or any Cedar Fair park to have a clone, but the newfound hope of catering to the whole family was really unnecessary - its previous incarnation was wilder, but still mild and I think that by doing anything except turning it into the aggressive, thrilling dark ride it can be, Busch Gardens made a mistake. Still, if you've never been on it, you likely wouldn't notice. Especially if you've never been on Spider-Man or Transformers, you'll be blown away.

, but use it sparingly! If you plan to ride it ever, don't watch the video. It's best to be surprised by the capabilities of the attraction.

The new roller coaster this year is VERBOLTEN. Do not read on if you don't wish to read spoilers about the ride!

Verbolten takes the place of the Big Bad Wolf, the famed Arrow Suspended coaster that used to run through the woods of Oktoberfest. Its old station is now converted into a Visitor's Center for Gerta and Gunter's Tours & Rental. The pair, we learn, are twins with a great passion for Germany! In the first queue house, we meet Gerta, still in her Oktoberfest best, who welcomes us to the tour center and teaches us the German word for travel (fahrt, pronounced exactly as you imagine) and invites us to do so all over the countryside; to the castles; along the Autobahn! But, Gerta warns sternly,do not go near ze Black Forest. It ist verboten With a cheery giggle, she returns to the festival and we proceed into a second office, this one a little smaller - it's Gunter's.

It turns out that Gerta's twin brother (who we never see) has an odd fascination with the forbidden Black Forest. His office is stacked to the rafters with old luggage and gnarled, twisted plants that are almost literally trying to burst through his glass display cases. A few video monitors amid a shelf of books show some misty, foggy views of the forest where every once and a while, we see a car's headlights flash or a person running. An answering machine picks up a few off-putting messages by tourists of varying nationalities explaining that their car has stalled in the forest and that they hear something. Most messages cut off there. The ones that don't end with a scream in the distance.

Still, the line proceeds up a ramp into the automobile repair bay where Gunter obviously does much of his work. Luggage on moving conveyer belts overhead pass by huge empty plastic barrels labeled "Weed Control." They seem to be empty.

The trains themselves are sleek sports cars with authentic German tires (likely found quite cheap by German ride manufacturer Zierer, whose previous, extensive work is mostly in family coasters, including the park's own Grover coaster and SeaWorlds' Shamu Expresses). They only seat 16, so a double-loading station helps whisk things along.

The first train takes off down a slow gravity drop into the course while the second idles just outside the station to the sound of an engine trying to turn over. Finally, it revs and the car flies smoothly into a set of S-curves. Pretty quickly, a menacing wall appears ahead - old stone with some nasty looking vines crawling out of it. The car hits the first LSM launch and flies into the "Black Forest," contained entirely within a showbuilding. The layout is surprisingly simple, but you wouldn't know it from riding. A few black light cutouts of vines flash while a strobe light with lightning-patterns blinds you just before the car is thrown sideways into a downward helix. It races through the forest, passing more vines and leaves (very much like Revenge of the Mummy at this point) before rising up a hill into the mid-course brakes. This is where I was stunned. The final helix before those brakes travels around a giant glowing moon globe built into the floor. Vines appear to be suffocating the light coming from it just as you pass, and it turns from white to blue.

The car then rises up a small hill and into the MCBR. Here, lights turn up to reveal the forest before you - full, floor-to-ceiling scenes that surround you with incredible beauty. You can see the set, dozens of feet tall, and it's lighting is clearly theatrically controlled. When you stop on the brakes, it's pitch black. Only after a moment do the lights rise to reveal the forest as you dive down into the roots of a particularly nasty tree. It's just a quick banked turn to get you into the real prize: the not-so-secret secret element of the ride.

The car advances forward through an almost-dark-ride like moment of leaves and branches around you as you're propelled slowly into the apparent treetops. At this point, one of three scenarios is discernable, with different lighting, effects, sounds, music, and props visible in each. In the first ("wolves") you hear howling in the distance and the branches burn red. You can hear the crackling of the unsturdy tree you're apparently stuck in, and a few pairs of red, malevolent eyes appear all around. In the second ("storm") branches are revealed only during lightning strikes, rain sounds and lights come from above, and a deep, rumbling bass seems to shake the whole building. The third ("spirit") occurs when you hear the gentle calling of a spirit, speaking softly and inviting you closer and closer. Here, the leaves and branches glow in blue, as if the train is being supported by magic.

In each, there's a moment of silence as the brakes engage and you either see all the red eyes illuminate at once, feel one final, massive strike of lighting, or see the face of the spirit cast before you on the wall. The entire track then drops about 15 feet in complete freefall, leaving the entire train screaming in surprise. Even those who re-ride are caught off-guard by the indescribable moment, but the real fun is only telling your friends that there's "a secret" in the Black Forest. A friend of mine was convinced beyond a doubt that the train would suddenly reverse and be propelled backwards. Incidentally, it caught her so by surprise that she got off calling the ride "her favorite roller coaster ever" has not let up on it since.

That's not the end, though - as rumbling sound effects come back up, the train is propelled down a small hill before hitting one of the more intense and surprising launches I've ever felt - it truly feels like 0 - 60. Just an instantaneous acceleration without the "gradual" climb of Backlot Stunt Coaster or even Flight of Fear. The train races through a few rising banked turns and reaches a shuddering, creaking covered bridge 90 feet over the river below. From there on, the ride might as well be a bolt-for-bolt recreation of Big Bad Wolf, falling to the river's surface, slamming onto it's side, blasting through banked turns as it makes its way back up the hill to the station, and hitting the brakes with enough speed to coast for another quarter-mile.

People come back cheering every time. It's that kind of ride. Verbolten is easily my favorite ride at Busch Gardens, and even now that the adrenaline has worn off, I, too, would call it my #1 roller coaster ride. That said, it's a bit of a sticky wicket for the park. After relying almost exclusively on ultra-reliable B&M and simple Arrow creations for years, Busch Gardens now has a ride with two launches and that complex drop mechanism (can we just take a minute to appreciate how many computer systems must be aligned to make that work? If the sensor reads even a centimeter of train being off from where it's "supposed" to be, the whole system must shut down...).

The yellow train was damaged during testing and is still in the shed, leaving only 4 of the 5 trains operable. The dual-loading station is not utilized on "slow" days (which in turn doubles the wait time, thus not making it a very "slow" day at all). I don't think the ride has gone a single day without at least an hour of downtime, and the first three days of passholder ERT were cancelled because the ride couldn't seem to wake up in a good mood. One of my days arriving at the park, the parking attendant handed out a slip of paper announcing that Verbolten wouldn't open at all that day, and the park later tweeted that it wouldn't open the day after, either. It shut down for four hours on my last day at the park, and on one evening, it shut down two hours before closing time and they made the announcement that it wouldn't re-open. BGWfans.com speculated that the ride's two-day shut down was because they were "awaiting a part from Germany" (sound familiar?). It's true that the ride has far more uptime than down, but here's hoping they can iron out the problems, get to "know" the ride, and keep this from happening regularly.

In other words, go to Busch Gardens as soon as you can. Ride Verbolten over and over again, and appreciate the differences each time. But plan more than one day, because you may not get your chance the first time you try...

[jdawg1998]

I have a question for you. What exactly is Busch Gardens? Based on the website, there aren't a ton of rides like an amusement park, and there are animal exhibits. What exactly separates it from other theme parks?

[KI FANATIC 37]

Ive been to KD once, and really liked. I liked the atmosphere of the park and the variety of rides that they have at the park. The food, ehh, Im not surprised. Its Cedar Fair. Not their strongest branch.

Ive been to Busch Gardens several times and cant think of one complaint about that park! Its clean, great food, great rides, great atmosphere everything! Love it.

[KI FANATIC 37]

Sorry for the double post, but reading jdawg's post I went to the website and saw Verbolten. When was this built?

[The Interpreter]

It just opened.

BGW is a truly immersive experience. It feels far more like being in Europe than being in a park. It's one of my favorite parks, and I really need to get back there. I was there last year, right before I was offered the Georgia position. It's truly a magical park.

[bkroz]

I didn't get many photos at Kings Dominion because we weren't there long.

"Somehow," the flag dotting second i had found itself removed from its base. This, we would find, was a sign of the park to come.

It really is almost like being at Kings Island except for the magnificent Virginian forest setting. Fitting that their Royal Fountains appear more like natural geysers from a natural lake, where Kings Island's has the pristine urns and the SeaWorld blue pool. Little differences like that throughout the park - like a much, much more detailed International Street - give the impression that Kings Dominion was built with more money able to be invested from the get-go as the second park.

This pathway is located about where the Backlot Stunt Coaster is at Kings Island, extending straight back from International Street and toward the "Coney Mall" area (which, at Kings Dominion, is called The Grove). To the left, the antique cars are located in almost the same spot as they were originally at Kings Island. The Starlight Experience happens along this dark, forested path. I'm sure it's beautiful.

Volcano is difficult to describe. The launch and the ultra-wide helix following are intense and exhilarating. Immediately after "erupting" vertically out of the mountain's mouth, the ride becomes almost relaxing - it gently swirls around the mountain and through three spectacular heartline rolls, after which is dives 80 feet into the side of the mountain and immediately stops. It's just a very unique setup and feels like two roller coasters fused together in terms of pacing. Definitely one of a kind, and certainly my favorite roller coaster at the park.

Kings Dominion's Crypt is beautiful and thrilling, inverting riders nine times as it spins over fire (sometimes) and water. When the synchronized music (used to?) work, it was all the more incredible and an obvious Paramount addition. When the flames do work, they come from the eyes of the goddess statue seen above, and the entire bottom lake in which her head is resting catches on fire.

http://youtu.be/yh02WTSnz_E?t=35s

Doubt I'll make it to Kings Island this season so I don't know if these new aliens have yet made their way to our Flight of Fear. Not sure if I like them better than the "trapped humans" or not. There was definitely something eerie about the girl with the stuffed animal. And maybe these are just costumes from the haunted house inside Flight of Fear that they figured they might as well put to use during the summer.

[bkroz]

Busch Gardens is indeed an experience. At that park, dining, entertainment, landscaping, etc. are part of your visit, not a necessary evil. It has a modest five roller coasters, but each stands as among the best examples of its manufacturer's works. Kings Dominion is about an hour away, and it's there that you'll find the younger, hipper, more thrill-oriented crowd. Busch Gardens, meanwhile, caters to everyone - grandma may really feel like she's in "the old country" when she eats traditional Irish dishes in the Ireland area, junior can enjoy the Sesame Street Forest of Fun, animal encounters, and Germany's Land of the Dragons, adults can enjoy the shows and atmosphere, thrill-seekers have incredible rides... Just a well-rounded experience. It's owned by the same company that operates SeaWorld, which gives you an idea - a few thrill rides, a few animal encounters, pristine parks, great themeing, something for everyone, etc.

A treacherous hike down the waters of the "Rhine River" offers this spectacular view of three of the park's main roller coasters - in the foreground are the two interlocking loops of Arrow's Loch Ness Monster - the only interlocking loops in the world. In the background, Alpengeist's (B&M invert) white cobra roll sits right next to B&M Dive Machine Griffon's first Immelmann loop. The park's other two coasters, Apollo's Chariot and Verbolten, are not visible in this shot.

Before Verbolten came along, Griffon would easily have been my favorite of Busch Gardens' roller coasters - the massive train has got to be the widest on Earth, seating ten across in three rows (seen above nearing the top of the lift-hill). It's a perfectly-vertical 90-degree drop. After the drop, the train barrels through an Immelmann, then hits another vertical drop and a second Immelmann before splashing down in a pool and banking back toward the station. Short but sweet.

Griffon and its sister SheiKra were the first B&M coasters to have physical splashdowns, as far as I know. You can see why the maneuver made so much sense in the extra-wide Dive machine model, as it creates a beautiful effect. After knowing and appreciating the look of the splashdown here, I always felt Kings Island's was a little dopey - it looks like it sprays up one plume. But to each his own!

Ireland, as I understand it, was originally a sub-area of England in the park. All they needed to do to transform it to Ireland was to age it, add crawling vines, and put down an emerald path through the city! Ireland contains the park's signature show, Celtic Fyre, a few Irish shops, Grogan's Grill, and Europe in the Air.

The daunting Curse of DarKastle takes place in the frozen Bavarian palace of the evil King Ludwig. Wolves are a recurring theme in the ride, and it's fitting that they're immortalized in icy stone in the castle's courtyard. The castle tower is a "weenie" in Oktoberfest, visible from almost anywhere in the land.

Mach Tower

Crossing the bridge into Oktoberfest, guests can get their first glimpse at Verbolten and its finale - a dive toward the Rhine River from a creaking, collapsing covered bridge above. This is the only part of the ride visible to onlookers, as the rest is hidden away in the woods and the Black Forest show building. Even on the map I posted at the top of this post, you can see how what happens in the Black Forest is kept very secret up until the exact right moment...

This is an image of Arrow's suspended Big Bad Wolf that previously stood where Verbolten does today. You can see that Verbolten does more than pay homage to the revered coaster - it borrows its entire finale. It's a great tribute and a way to preserve the extremely awesome end of that ride. One of my only complains about Verbolten is that little work has been done (so far) to retore the natural foliage around it and its show building. Busch Gardens' landscaping blog made sure to point out that the park's location in the Chesapeake Bay actually REQUIRES that they replant, and that they had a number of shrubs picked out to do so. But this ride needs heavy pine trees and crawling vines, not shrubs, so hopefully that get addressed.

In line for Verbolten, you pass through Gunter's creepy office where the remnants of lost tourist's baggage seems to be collected. Gunter appears to have an eerie fascination with the Black Forest, and a growing interest in its effect on humans... Security cameras catch occasional images of the tourists he's "accidentally" sent into the Forest.

Gunter's unhealthy obsession with the forest appears to have gone too far when a few wayward vines begin to push their way out of their containers. You only pass through Gunter's office for a second, but the detail inside is incredible. A full-sized map of the Black Forest is pinned to the wall with tiny plant samples pinned over the places Gunter found them as he tries to uncover the Forest's secrets.

This promotional image from the park shows Verbolten's German touring roadsters blasting out of the Black Forest (with the creepy, vine-entangled entrance just behind). The car is speeding toward the old covered bridge - the only way to get out of the Forest.

[TheCrypt]

I would actually not like to have those aliens/monsters/whatever in our Flight of Fear. 1. It gives us a (minor) distinction. 2. It just doesn't seem fitting how an alien is trapped inside their own ship...? But other than that, you took some great photos, glad you had a good time in Europe!

P.S. I just figured this out yesterday from my sister who took German. Verbolten is actually pronounced "ver-boat-un", not "ver-bolt-un".

[bkroz]

Thanks! I definitely wasn't trying to take pictures on this trip and didn't get many, so I had to scrounge up what I had to post here.

Verboten is German for "forbidden." (Which is why Gerta says "The Black Forest is verboten!"... It almost sounds like "forbidden" if you say that sentence out loud.)

Verbolten (with an added l) is the ride's name - I imagine they did this to make it more easily pronounceable to English speaking visitors and to subtly add in the word "bolt," which implies speed.

[The Interpreter]

...and to be able to protect the ride name as intellectual property.

[beastrider97]

Kings Dominion and both Busch Gardens have always been parks I have wished to go to. Verbolten looks amazing and is a good risk for the park. The downtime seems to remind me of an Intamin roller coaster. Hopefully, after a year of operation, they will keep it operational for extended periods of time.