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Hey guys! Just realized this is my first trip report since joining CC, so let me know how I did so future reports can be better
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Would like to start out by recommending nobody to visit an amusement park when it is 50?? F (~10?? C?) with a constant cold rain. It makes for a very miserable day, and if I could've changed our school's itinerary for the band trip I would've moved Busch Gardens to one of the other days on the trip (was perfectly sunny on 4 out of the 5 days).
Anyways, our day started out amazingly back at the hotel, with one of the most amazing sunrises I've ever witnessed! Got to test out my new DSLR, and was able to catch some pretty amazing shots. Was really lucky to catch that 3rd pic
Fast forward two hours later though, and the beautiful day suddenly wasn't too beautiful anymore.
With our spirits lowered from the change of weather, we packed our things for the day and drove down (in our pretty sweet coach buses) to the marching band performance site for the last competition of the trip. After their amazing performance, and a light rain beginning to fall, we boarded the buses and were finally off to Busch Gardens after 8 long months of waiting!
Apollo's Chariot leaves a really nice impression coming into the park!
We entered the park around 12:30, with an awards ceremony at 2:00 that we had to attend, which did not leave us much time at all to get a running start on the coasters. All we were able to get done was lunch, which was not as expensive as I had imagined for the amount of food they served, and a single ride on Griffon.
After the ceremony, the majority of our group (150+ students) and the directors voted to leave the park early, due to the rainy weather. I, of course, voted against this decision with a few others, though we were overruled and now only had 2 short hours remaining at the park to ride everything. Things were not looking good in our favor, but by some perfect stroke of luck, we were able to fit all 6 coasters in! Let me just say that our investment in the Quick Queue passes was the right choice!
Below are my thoughts on each coaster, plus a little rating - having never ridden any of them (except for Youtube POVs
), and also not having been on several of their styles before, I wasn't sure what to expect from any of them. They're listed in the order that we rode them 
. Griffon - 9/10
You all know that wonderful feeling when you ride your first coaster after going long 7 months without riding one, and almost forgetting what one felt like? We picked Griffon, the star of Busch Gardens, to break our winter hiatus of coasters, and man did we make a good choice there. Griffon was my first ever B&M Dive coaster (had several "firsts" this trip), so I had no idea what to expect when I sat down in that front row. The 205 ft climb was actually fairly relaxing, despite being nearly vertical and, you know, having no floor, and it wasn't until we flattened out and spun around the bend that I had this combined moment of "This is going to be so awesome!"/"Oh sh!t why am I doing this in the front row??". Now let me tell you, if you've never ridden this ride, there is nothing like being held dangling over that edge as the ride slowly teases you into letting you drop. After what felt like a full minute instead of a few seconds, with a loud CLICK! we were suddenly sent plummeting down 205' at 71 mph, feeling completely weightless on that drop. The rest of the ride was literally a blur after that, I was still getting over that insane first drop by the time we went through the splashdown and into the final brake run - a sign of a really good coaster! I still have to think over an actual order, but Griffon has definitely found a place in my top 5 coasters!
Alpengeist - 8/10
After the awards ceremony, we quickly devised a plan to hit the remaining 5 coasters, all within the next 2 hours before we had to leave. First up was Alpengeist, being the closest to the amphitheater. Now I've been on several B&M Inverts before, so I actually had an idea of what to expect here, unlike Griffon. That being said, this ride also blew my expectations out of the water! We sat in the 3rd row, just so we could keep moving through the lines quickly (Quick Queue is priority boarding, not a true front-of-the-line pass as we discovered). You don't really get a sense of how high up you are, until you swing out to the right after the lift and there is nothing between you and the ground 195' below! What really stood out for me on this ride was how smoothly it was paced - Raptor and Great Bear both fly (literally) through their layouts and have somewhat snappy transitions, Alpengeist allows the speed to keep going between elements and gives you that never-ending ride feel. Along with its pretty sweet theming, this ride definitely earns a place somewhere in my top 10!
Verbolten - 6/10
With the awesome start to the lineup that Griffon and Alpengeist left, I probably got myself a little too hyped for Verbolten. It's clear that it is not even in the same league as those other two, but I was actually a bit disappointed getting off Verbolten. The theming was wonderful, and the effects inside the event building were really cool as well (we got the wolf attack theme, liked that throwback to Big Bad Wolf!), but the ride itself just didn't really stand out. The freefall/drop thing before the 2nd launch probably would have been more fun if I wasn't expecting it, though it was still interesting to experience. The big drop over the river provided a really nice view of the park as well! Probably not a top 10 for me, but still an enjoyable ride that I recommend because of the effects!
Tempesto - 8/10
Now for the review I'm sure most of you have been waiting for. I approached this ride from an unbiased standpoint, and was prepared to endure the horrible capacity issues that I was sure it would bring on in such a busy park like Busch Gardens. However, I was actually shocked at how fast we were able to move up through the line - the posted "45 minute wait" only took us 25 minutes to move though, and the ride ops were very efficient at loading, dispatching, and unloading the trains to keep things flowing. And those OSTRs you guys were all complaining about? They aren't even plastic restraints, they're a cushy seat-belt thing that just clips into the lapbar, and makes for a very comfortable ride! And speaking of the ride itself, I was completely blown away by the intensity of this thing. Having not ridden the other rides of this style, I really have nothing to compare this to, but Tempesto exceeded my expectations by a long shot. The airtime going up over that first spike is crazy, and the hang time in the roll is complimented by an awesome view of the park from 154' in the air. I am glad I stayed optimistic about this one from its announcement, if capacity remains as little of an issue as it did for us, I truly think this was a good addition for Busch Gardens. Top 10 contender as well!
Apollo's Chariot - 7/10
With a half hour left until we had to leave, we began to be very thankful for the Quick Queue passes, since we still had Apollo and Loch Ness Monster left to ride, and Nessie (we kept referring to Loch Ness Monster as "Nessie", we tend to give coasters nicknames a lot
) wasn't on the Quick Queue list. Another first for me, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this traditional B&M Hyper, and my feelings are mixed to tell the truth. While fun and really fast paced, this glorious "floater" airtime that you all rave about really didn't stand out to me. Growing up with ejector airtime, I guess I'm just too accustomed to that to enjoy floater . Also, at this point the light rain, which hadn't stopped from that morning, picked up and felt like hailstones hitting against my hands - which wasn't too pleasant of an experience at 73 mph. I'm sure this coaster is much more enjoyable in nicer weather, but as of now I wasn't too impressed. Hopefully we'll be returning to BGW in a few months, and I'll be able to form a 2nd opinion!Loch Ness Monster - 5/10
Last coaster of the day, I was excited to try out my first true Arrow Looper! I knew this ride would be rough based on what people have said about old Arrow, and I was ready to get off this one with a mild concussion. Though despite some wacky banking and transitions, this ride was pretty fun! Especially the 2nd loop - it felt like we weren't going to make it through and we crawled into that final brake run. What actually sucked about this ride for us was not the ride itself, but the fact that someone got injured on the train in front of us; and guess who was stuck out on the brake run for 10 minutes in the pouring cold rain. Not pleasant by any means, I'm surprised I didn't go home with pneumonia afterwards. Another coaster that I would like to try again with nicer weather, though it was still neat to see what an old classic Arrow was like.
Overall? Despite the never ending cold rain, 50 degree weather, and a measly 4 1/2 hours at the park to ride the coasters, I definitely walked out impressed! And soaking wet. Not every coaster was as great as I had hoped, but I was blown away by others like Griffon, Alpengeist, and Tempesto. I really hope that I can return this July on a nicer day, so that I can actually walk around and enjoy this beautiful park, instead of rushing around to get at least a single ride in on every coaster. Which by the way, we completed with 10 minutes to spare of our arranged time to leave
-ADDITIONAL PHOTOS-
- Enjoying some authentic Irish cuisine
- Did someone request sexy B&M shaping?
- Nice view of Loch Ness!
- Walk-on!
- I was injured on Loch Ness Monster! Time to sue BGW!
- Some pics of Nessie's support structure
- Favorite view of the park right here
- Perfect weather for a water ride!
- How does BWG differ from Kennywood? They've got a specific place for your gum, and not a pine tree!
- Sums up the day nicely :/
