Busch Gardens Williamsburg

July 2, 2003

We arrived at 10:30AM EST. From the time we pulled into the lot until we were in the actual park was about one half hour. The park had been open for an hour already and 2 of the 5 major rides were open. They were Alpengeist and Loch Ness Monster. Apollo's Chariot, Big Bad Wolf, and Wilde Maus were still under daily inspection and would not open until noon. So we headed towards Alpengeist. It is at the rear-most area of the park. Queue for row 5 of 8 was approx. 15 minutes. Alpengeist is the best B&M inverted I have ever been on! You actually experienced about a total of 6-8 seconds of airtime...on an inverted! Plus, compared to the compact Batman, the spread of area this ride covers is amazing! After that, we went over to Wilde Maus. We queued for about one half hour and it was definitely NOT worth the wait. I had never been on a wild mouse ride before, so I decided to try it. Advice: they suck. Period. Then we went on over to Big Bad Wolf around 12:05. It had just opened so we queued for about 5 minutes for the entire back car. That ride was SWEET! Constant overbanking on every turn swaying back and forth barely missing every support. The final descent is 70+ ft. right over the Rhine River. About 10 ft. from the river, you swing into a 120 degree bank to the left. It looks impossible from the onlooking bridge, but is the most intense part of the ride. We were all pretty hungry after that, so we ate at the Italian Piazza. It was okay. $7 for a half plate of spaghetti and a 20 oz. soda but what do you expect at a theme park? The walk to Apollo's Chariot was quite a ways so we headed straight for it. We queued 45 minutes and were the next to board when it poured down rain and lightning and everything. Ride closed. Little did we know it'd be as well as everything else for the next 3 hours. So, we went over the the newest area, Ireland, to the 4D Adventure, Corkscrew Hill. It's indoor of course, so it was still open. 20 minute wait. The theming was excellent and the ride itself was pretty fun too. It's a lot different from the Star Tours at Disney World. Let's just say this one is more 'untame.' Then we decided that since nothing else was open to just go wait for Apollo's Chariot. There was already a 20 minute wait, so we waited the remaining 2 hours, 40 minutes plus the queueing 20 minutes equalling a 3 hour wait. But it was well worth it. The first drop is 100% freefalling as you whoosh over the river rapids and Rhine. Every drop you were out of your seat and there is a very interesting turn around. This ride could STILL be improved about 500% by removing each of the 7 trim brakes along the way. You are thinking, "WOW! This next hill you're out of your seat for sure!" <<Trim brake enables>> "There was no airtime at all! Damn trim brakes!" So, after our 3 hour Apollo's Chariot excursion, we headed over to Loch Ness Monster. One of two interlocking looping rides in the world. (I have been on both; the other is Orient Express at World's of Fun.) It was pretty fun for being 25 years old. It was pretty intense going into the second loop at a high speed for the last part of the ride. The rain clouds started to peer over so we took a quick second ride on Alpengeist and Apollo's Chariot with a combined wait of about 30 minutes. We had all had enough and since it had cleared out, the guest population doubled in about 5 minutes. We left the park at about 5PM no problem and as we all packed into the car, it flat out poured. So we all went to Ruby Tuesday laughing at the people running out of the park. And that is my trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Winner of most beautiful park 10 years in a row and counting, and world class original rides like no other park.

-Elfman2519

sounds like fun, that sucks about the trims on Apollo's Chariot though, Nitro has 2 trims but still delivers excellent airtime.

Same with AC. It had 7, but you still had a TON of airtime.

just listening to you makes me wanna go back[:)] this is pretty much my most recent trip...
We got there at about when it opens or 30 min after, i dunno. So we got in and we went on RL Stines Haunted Lighthouse(4D Cinema) then we went on Escape From Pompeii which is pretty fun and has the best special effects on a water ride that ive ever been on. Just some advice, dont sit in the front row, your shoes will get soaked when you first go into the building[;)] Then my bro and everyone decided to go on Apollo's Chariot. My friend and i wanted to go at the end so we didnt go. We also didnt want to go because going at 73mph, water is like bullets and when you ride a big ride, all other rides seem dumb and that would ruin the day. So we just played some arcades then went on the Roman Rapids. Then we went on Lockness Monster. It was very fun and the loops have a wierd touch to them, it was also my first loop! Elfman, when you went on LM, was there the serpent in the tunnel cuz with me, only flashing lights. I think the serpent broke or somethin. Then Corkscrew Hill. It was pretty fun, better than the haunted lighthouse. ok, then we went to the festhaus and ate, then

OH YEA!! It was the second best coaster i have ever riden and my first B&M inverted! It was also my first Immelman, Cobra Roll, and Zero-G Roll. Then we traveled across the park to Apollos Chariot. The best rollercoaster i have ever been on!!!! After teh first camel hill, that tunnel kinda makes ya wanna duck your hands. Its like if you keep your hands up theyll chop right off cuz the tunnel looks so small. I didnt ride Big Bad Wolf though[:(] but it was a pretty fun day. I think i might have missed out some rides, but those were all the fun rides, basically.

I agree with you on AP and Alpengeist. On the Loch Ness, it was broken for me too because I thought the flashing lights was the on-ride photo so when we got off I just thought it was a fake out or accent lights in the tunnel [?]

PS-You missed a lot with Big Bad Wolf. That ride is a definite classic.

I've riden it before, it was my first coaster.

I would love to ride Big Bad Wolf and all the other coasters there, especially Appolo's Chariot, it seems like a great ride because it came in the top 10 steel coasters by Golden Ticket Awards.

yea its my favorite coaster, and also all of BGW's coasters are historic in a way.

ROCK ON!