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Busch Gardens Williamsburg: General Discussion
- Thread starter BigAl
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Rob
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I'm sure the park is still a fantastic place to visit. It's just when you hear of cuts you start to wonder if it's also changed the atmosphere on park etc. The staff might know that things aren't great and it can sometimes be passed onto guests. Hopefully it's not the case. And whatever happens the world class coasters remain! And you can be sure the park is looking as wonderful as ever! Whatever is going on is clearly a financial thing, I think the park's management really care about the place.
CGM
TS Member
It sounds like BGW is getting the Merlin treatment; a brilliant park being taken over by a company that purely sees it as an opportunity for profit and just doesn't get what makes a good theme park.
BGW is a park that I've always wanted to visit and it has always struck me as one of the most loved parks in the enthusiast community worldwide. I was quite upset when Big Bad Wolf was removed and I've never even been there! If the park is declining in quality, that's a huge shame as the Busch parks have always been shining examples of how to run a theme park properly. It's worrying to think that this sort of thing can happen to a park like BGW.
BGW is a park that I've always wanted to visit and it has always struck me as one of the most loved parks in the enthusiast community worldwide. I was quite upset when Big Bad Wolf was removed and I've never even been there! If the park is declining in quality, that's a huge shame as the Busch parks have always been shining examples of how to run a theme park properly. It's worrying to think that this sort of thing can happen to a park like BGW.
Rob
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I'm afraid I have to deliver some more bad BGW news. The beautiful English entrance to the park, Banbury Cross, is getting a makeover next year so to fit with the new show for the area, London Rocks.
This will almost certainly be tragic. Apparently the plans have been called "downright horrific" by some. It will be re-themed to London after the 1960's, which is just completely not what the area is.
Fans of the park over in the States are saying that they're looking forward to Kings Dominion more next year than BGW, and that is saying something. It appears major management changes are needed to stop this massive decline.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg said:
This will almost certainly be tragic. Apparently the plans have been called "downright horrific" by some. It will be re-themed to London after the 1960's, which is just completely not what the area is.
Fans of the park over in the States are saying that they're looking forward to Kings Dominion more next year than BGW, and that is saying something. It appears major management changes are needed to stop this massive decline.
Sazzle
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What in God's name are these people thinking?! I can't understand why they'd want to ruin something for the sake of "updating" it. If it ain't broke..!
I hate to sound like a broken record but this screams Phantasialand, who removed a beautiful replica Brandenburg Gate plus a stunning children's area and encompassing flower gardens, and replaced it with a vile concrete plaza with zero atmosphere. Blleaaarrghh!!
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I hate to sound like a broken record but this screams Phantasialand, who removed a beautiful replica Brandenburg Gate plus a stunning children's area and encompassing flower gardens, and replaced it with a vile concrete plaza with zero atmosphere. Blleaaarrghh!!
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Rob
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I've just been having a look into this. The obvious idea as to what it could be is a woodie using Gwazi's trains. Another suggestion is that it could be a relocation of Time Machine from Freestyle Music Park (that is 155 feet tall, so a very similar height. Plus the footprint apparently fits the area where this new ride seems to be going).
The general consensus amongst members on BGWFans is that this will not be a significantly expensive investment purely because SeaWorld Parks and Ents are not willing to invest a lot of money into BGW at the moment. There had been a five year plan for after Verbolten opened which included a resort, dark rides and year round operations but this announcement seems to signal that this plan has either been cancelled or indefinitely delayed. So although this does appear to be good news, it's not all as good as it seems.
The general consensus amongst members on BGWFans is that this will not be a significantly expensive investment purely because SeaWorld Parks and Ents are not willing to invest a lot of money into BGW at the moment. There had been a five year plan for after Verbolten opened which included a resort, dark rides and year round operations but this announcement seems to signal that this plan has either been cancelled or indefinitely delayed. So although this does appear to be good news, it's not all as good as it seems.
Sazzle
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This is definitely one I will be keeping an eye on! Despite the fact the five year plan might have planned other investments, a cheap B&M sit down would do the trick to attract guests... providing speculation comes to fruition!
After reading Dan's trip report and seeing the photos, it has made me desperately want to visit! I feel the park has a Europa vibe, so I'm intrigued to see how they progress under Seaworld Group's tight purse strings!
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After reading Dan's trip report and seeing the photos, it has made me desperately want to visit! I feel the park has a Europa vibe, so I'm intrigued to see how they progress under Seaworld Group's tight purse strings!
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Rob
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BGWFans have managed to obtain the full permit, all the details can be found here.
Also Busch Gardens Williamsburg has updated their permit application and reworded the title from “Busch Gardens Festa Italia Expansion” to ”Busch Gardens 2015 Festa Italia Attraction.” So it does appear it will be only a single attraction and not an expansion. It does however confirm that the attraction is for 2015.
There is now a lot of speculation that this could be a flat ride of some sorts.
Also Busch Gardens Williamsburg has updated their permit application and reworded the title from “Busch Gardens Festa Italia Expansion” to ”Busch Gardens 2015 Festa Italia Attraction.” So it does appear it will be only a single attraction and not an expansion. It does however confirm that the attraction is for 2015.
There is now a lot of speculation that this could be a flat ride of some sorts.
Sam
TS Member
The Zamperla Giant Discovery which has been wowing guests at Kennywood is 147ft - pretty close.
Rob
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I'd imagine this might interest some people, it certainly has me! Some old photos of Drachen Fire, the parks former Arrow looping coaster, have appeared online. I thought I would post there here to be seen, some of them are rather high quality and I've never really seen high quality photos of Drachen Fire before.
EDIT: I had posted the photos but I think you need to be a member of BGWFans to see them. So instead here is a link to where they can be found, it's worth signing up to see them if you can't already!
EDIT: I had posted the photos but I think you need to be a member of BGWFans to see them. So instead here is a link to where they can be found, it's worth signing up to see them if you can't already!