InvadR - Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2017

Reminds me of the Ravine Flyer 2 @ Waldameer....if you took out all the actual fast exciting bits.

It reminds me of a slower, less eventful version of Hades's station dropout.

[Turbo]

This is hands down the worst GCI layout I've seen. like by a long god damned shot.

The only real hope it has is if it's very heavily wooded/tunneled/themed. Other than that looks likely to be a snoozer.

Please excuse my incorrect opinion -- I think it looks like a really good family coaster.

[Turbo]

My opinion was declared from my own personal desires. Yes it's a great family coaster. But for me it's lacking

[Dirk_Ermen]

Looks like a fun little family coaster.

This is likely the worst roller coaster ever designed.

I think some people may have been expecting a little too much out of a family wood coaster. To me, this looks like a perfectly decent family ride that fills a spot BGW was previously lacking in their lineup. No, it is not the greatest GCI ever, and while it isn't the most interesting ride it certainly isn't a bad coaster.

[mkingy]

Objective thinking isn't allowed in coaster enthusiasm.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Where was this advertised as a family ride? Also, what the hell has this park's management been smoking for the past few years? Tempesto was a terrible investment in a stupid location. It's not a bad ride, but it makes no sense compared to the size of the park. I mean Verbolten made sense, but these last two ride choices are just stupid.

It's like upper level management was pissed off that they bought GCI trains to try and rescue Gwazi and then was like "love it lets put a tiny thing in Virginia since we already had Virginia send its wild mouse to Florida".

^That's what I was wondering. I'm personally not aware if it was advertised as a family coaster. I think all it was advertised as was wooden, if that. So I can't say that it's decent for a family coaster--it is objectively not great for a roller coaster and as a result we could call it a family coaster.

[Coasterkidmwm]

tiepilot35 wrote:

^That's what I was wondering. I'm personally not aware if it was advertised as a family coaster. I think all it was advertised as was wooden, if that. So I can't say that it's decent for a family coaster--it is objectively not great for a roller coaster and as a result we could call it a family coaster.

It looks exactly like a standard weak GCI coaster. I don't understand why people are so quick to hate on it while orgasming over their other similar projects. If anything it's a shorter version of Prowler with more straight hills that might actually have air. People calling it a family coaster when it's clearly intended not to be one if they're pushing airtime is the GCI fanbase pretending it's not what it is. I think it still has hope and GCI could have accidentally included air in the back rows since it appears smashed into a small space, which forces them to be creative instead of sprawling a bunch of turns around.

This is from Verbolten's press release, where they actually call it a family coaster:
"Verbolten???s low 48-inch ride-height requirement and exhilarating but not overpowering ride experience, will appeal to extreme coaster aficionados as well as to parents who want to introduce their children to the thrill of a roller coaster ride"

Where is the family coaster description for this ride?

If you want to get bumped around in a turn for a bit go on an old Jet Star, which executed that concept much better, and has that same amount of "airtime".

And while I'm in a ranty mood, why is Tempesto painted such ass colors and built almost on top of Apollo? They have room at that place!

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

Where was this advertised as a family ride?

While I can't find anything official from the park, a google search pulled up three different articles on the first page that referred to the ride as a family coaster in some way (either explicitly or by referencing that the height requirement allows parents and children to ride together, which I'd say is enough). Additionally, based on the fact that Verbolten is considered a family coaster and a comparison of the statistics I think it would be pretty obvious the park wasn't going for a big thrill ride with this one. Just because a ride has airtime doesn't mean it isn't a family coaster.

I'm actually curious what led people to think the project would be a serious thrill ride. After rewatching the videos, there are plenty of hints at a family attraction but few (if any) that point toward thrill ride.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Well I did some googling too and I'll stand corrected since the corporate announcement (not park announcement) does out right say it's family in clear english, but the park's own webpage doesn't lol. Would be nice if you didn't have to dig through the perils of corporate for that and they said it on the park's website.

Makes more sense now as an investment at least, however literally any other family coaster product would have been a better choice. Perhaps they requested a family coaster so that the ride doesn't tear itself to pieces and maintenance is cheaper?

[mkingy]

Yeah perhaps. I heard that the Gravity Group family coasters like Roar-a-saurus age pretty badly too - so perhaps why they didn't plump for that?

[Coasterkidmwm]

Still wouldn't get a staple like a Vekoma or something?

If only it was a Wooden Warrior / White Lightning.

[mkingy]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

Still wouldn't get a staple like a Vekoma or something?

Screamscape says they're reusing expensive parts from Gwazi - if that's true then it probably made a lot more financial sense (to their accounting department)

Don't forget that a lot of family coasters are also targeted for thrill seekers. Youngster Coaster by Mack is, I think, a pretty good example.

Train parts.

From BGW's website.

Glad they're reusing the only decent part of Gwazi

Looks tame or not, I don't care about it at all.

InvadR has gone vertical.

From BGW's Facebook.

They seem to be working on a perhaps "final" brake part.