Busch Gardens Williamsburg
For me, this was the most hotly anticipated theme park of the trip. For starters, it's themed. That alone made Busch something different. Plus, it is themed around European countries and it just so happens that so too, is my favourite theme park in the world, Europa-Park. So, naturally, I was keen to get exploring. I visited the sister park in Tampa in 2010 and enjoyed it, although found it lacking in some areas. However, Williamsburg looked different and sure enough, it was.
Firstly, Williamsburg is a very historical place. The town itself. It has many tourists visiting its colonial buildings and the surrounding area. Busch is perfectly placed to make the most of this.
We had almost two full days in the park. And I am glad we did, because as it turned out, I loved it.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is pretty much everything a good theme park should be. It has some good quality themed areas, some excellent ride hardware, good food and a range of entertainment options.
As we walked to the park entrance, it was clear that BGW wasn't anything like the other parks we'd been to. Here was a park that was proud of itself. And so they should be. It just so happens that parks which advertise the fact that they're good, generally ARE. "Welcome to the world's most beautiful theme park" a sign proudly proclaimed at the entrance. A cute, low key entrance area, which was adorned with floral displays, brought us straight into England. Beautiful sights immediately set about ensnaring the senses. It wasn't brash, it wasn't in your face. It was quaint, quality and well completed. A large ornate clock was the centrepiece of an open square, timber framed buildings lined the streets. It was just a pleasure to actually be there, let alone actually find any rides. This sets the park apart from many others I have visited.
We took a left at the top of the entrance area, and had to wait while a beautiful steam engine crossed in front of us. It had flags on the front and was carrying happy passengers to their next stop.
There's a kids area, themed to Sesame Street. It doesn't
really fit with the rest of the park, and was presumably forced upon them by the powers on high, but thankfully it's really quite out of the way and so in reality, most guests have little or no need to venture in there at all. Of course, we did - just to check out the kids coaster which, as we expected, was largely forgettable.
Moving straight on, we arrived into the Italian areas of the theme park, and firstly,
Escape from Pompeii. This Intamin Spillwater attraction had a nicely themed queueline, although a somewhat 2D facade, which frankly could have been improved upon. That said, the ride was very enjoyable indeed. After taking in the lift hill, there's a short dark ride section which packs many effects into it. Firebals bursting through statues, a fire ceiling, collapsing pillars... all of this to a great soundtrack. Then it's off down the drop for the predictable splash. Simple, yet fun!
Further round was
Apollo's Chariot, the parks B&M Mega Coaster, and the first one ever built by the Swiss company. It's quite small, around 170' if I recall correctly, but it's reasonably well operated, with 3 trains running (although stacking was usual). The theming was nothing special in this case, although the area immediately outside the ride was pleasant. Overall, you can tell that Busch have developed their ride theming since this coaster - just look at the later rides. Overall, I, and the group, were highly disappointed by this rollercoaster. In spite of fairly high praise from some others, we found it to be significantly worse than Shambhala, Silver Star and Nitro. There are uneventful straight sections, helixes which offer very little and, where there should be a floater airtime hill, this coaster has a banked corner. In short, Apollo's Chariot failed to deliver to expectations, and we re-rode many, many times in all the different seats and at different times of day and night to clarify - but sadly, it never seemed to hit the notes. However, this turned out to be the only real disappointment of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Roman Rapids is a nicely themed and well presentend rapids, which, as we had come to expect, was soaking wet. There's a ridiculous finale where the boat travels down a straight trough, with no waves - but in the distance you can see an enormous waterfall pouring from the right hand side. At this point, the entire boat is worrying if it'll be them who passes under it. As you have seatbelts, there is simply no chance for a Jordan Hatch style manouvre to outsmart the waterfall! A great ride, although not one for a cool day.
We had lunch at a great value Pizza/Pasta/Salad/Dessert buffet nearby. There was a lot of choice and, unlike Alton Towers, there were actually a good number of toppings on the pizza, rather unlike Alton Towers' pepperoni, where you're actually lucky to get any pepperoni on the slice...
Moving round, there's the delightful Italian village area. Here, you can see a live show (music and dancing, hilarious), have a Peroni (very authentic), try some Italian wines or ride on one of the nicely themed flat rides. None of them were really any good, but they looked lovely and the kids seemed to love them. The Magical Garden was also really lovely.
The next area was into Oktoberfest. Here, having crossed the Rhine River for glorious views of Griffon and Loch Ness, we would find Verbolten and
Mach Tower. Mach Tower was predictably closed for both of the days. The ride seems to be a standing joke.
Verbolten, on the other hand - well. It's perfect for a family coaster. It's what Th13teen really ought to have been. The queue moves nice and quickly. the theming is great and the ride itself great. The launches are punchy, the indoor section has some surprisingly intense manouvres and the Black Forest effects work really well. The drop section is equivalent to Th13teen (although doesn't really have much theming) and the final sections, over the collapsing bridge and plunging towards the river, are great. Upon exiting Verbolten, we all questioned 'why couldn't Alton Towers have done that?'.
The Oktoberfest area was also home to the Festhaus, a huge beer arena. There was a live Oktoberfest dancing show, with live band, and great food - Bratwurst, Sauer Kraut - and real, authentic German beer. I had a Bitburger. The beer prices were hideous, but hey - it had to be done! The customer service was also really friendly, and we had a great hour in there, avoiding the rain and having a great time.
Curse of DarKastle was over the way, the parks only dark ride. It's a half way house between Huntik at Rainbow Magic Land and Spiderman at Islands of Adventure. Overall, it's a little rough around the edges with some entirely blank corridors, plus it can stack, but it's a great ride. Some nice effects, cool audio and excellent theming. The fireplace scene was a particular highlight for me. The theme idea is also great, much better than Spiderman in that department, it's just a shame they didn't have a little more budget to make the ride as good, too. But still, an excellent effort and it clearly didn't come cheap!
Into the other half of the German area, down a lovely street, and to the parks monstrous B&M -
Alpengeist. The biggest Inverted coaster they have ever built, with a lift hill themed as a ski lift (they even changed the supports) and a massive, sprawling layout. It's great. The first drop is immense, the cobra roll is very intense and the dive into the tunnel is fab! Sadly, the MCBR trims it terribly and it dies by the end. But it's an awesome coaster, one which I would love to ride again. I loved the details on the trains, ski's attached to the back of every seat! I am surprised B&M allowed them too
- a quick mention for the German shopping area, some great facades and some great stuff to buy - beer tankards and cuckoo clocks, amongst other things!
Moving on from the German area, and it was into New France (Canada). Here, some great eateries - including a place for delicious chicken and ribs. The log flume,
Le Scoot, was a classic Arrow affair. It was surprisingly wet and surprisingly intense. I really enjoyed it! So much so, we re-rode it several times.
The French area was home to some truly delightfully themed buildings. The detail was intricate and borderline educational - "Cotes de Rhone" on one building. Here, you could taste French wines. There were plenty of places to buy French merchandise and try French foods.
Griffon, the anchor ride of the area, was awesome. It turned out to be my favourite coaster in the park. I don't even know why. SheiKra I found fairly plain, but Griffon I enjoyed much, much more. The HUGE shuttles seat 30 people, 10 abreast and no floor. The height is spectacular, and the two inversions on the outside seats are breathtaking. There are also some airtime pops, especially towards the end. I rarely stay on and re-ride several times, but on the final night at the park, it was walk on, so I sat on the back row, right hand seat and just stayed on for 15-20 minutes. Awesome, I <3 Griffon! One of the rides was serenaded entirely by fireworks in the sky. Truly, a magical experience.
Walking through the Irish area, home to Celtic Fire, a show which we watched (dancing, music - all good fun!), we noticed the closed
'Europe in the Air' attraction. Shame, but I hear it's nothing special. However, the park lacks indoor rides so it seems poor to close it. Pity that such a stunning theme park has to suffer at the hands of the corporate baffoons who've probably never even visited the place... The Irish area felt a little lacking as a result, but had some lovely theming and beautiful facades.
Busch theme parks have a key focus on animals, and BGW was no exception. There were wolves, and shows during the day where you could find out more. Birds of Prey and other animals were also on hand to occupy the guests, giving BGW a unique edge.
We strolled up into Scotland, where there was bagpipe music playing, Tweedside railway station, horses in the stables and sheep grazing. Honestly, it was just amazing. The main ride here was
Loch Ness Monster, a classic Arrow looping coaster - which has interlocking loops. It was great! Not too rough at all, and really - great fun. The helix was insane, round and round in the pitch darkness. We rode LNM several times, everyone enjoyed it.
On our second morning, we had a Backstage Tour. Well recommended. We saw loads of interesting things, and found out interesting facts. From the garages of Loch Ness, Griffon and Alpengeist to the warehouse of Verbolten, we were given access to so much. The tour guide, JP, was very friendly and also very interested about our European parks! We were given 2 exit rides on LNM, Griffon, Alpengeist and Apollo's Chariot, and then the same for Verbolten. We then had a Quick Pass for use later in the day - so it was also great value and lasted 4-5 hours in total! Wow! We couldn't go up the Griffon lift due to it being a Sunday and the park not usually hosting tours, but for that reason they showed us round Verbolten for no extra cost. We managed to stand over ride operators and watch the control systems and camera's - just so, so much. It was amazing and I will recommend it to anyone. I now wish to do the same at Tampa next time I go!
Overall then, Busch was incredible. The park was immaculate, beautiful and had many great attractions. The atmosphere was great and the whole place was buzzing. The late opening, fireworks and musical specials that were on for the summer added an extra dimension, too.
It has become my 2nd favourite theme park in the world, and my favourite in the USA. For that, I thank the team at Busch Gardens for rising above the glass ceilings imposed on parks by the corporate behemoths and running a theme park that is true to itself, in every sense of the word.
Highly recommended.
