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The Olde Country or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Crowds - BGW, 14 July 2018

Mrsupersonic8

Roller Poster
Time for a trip report from a park I've always wanted to go to, Busch Gardens!

While I had come with my family, we parted ways early on as they aren't thrill seekers like I am, so I would've just dragged them around. Also, I had a plan in place: go clockwise around the park and clear out all the coasters. I wanted to do this as I knew it was going to be a very busy day. Typically for amusement parks, the weekends are the worst, especially in the summer. It worked out fairly well--at first. I'll elaborate on that more later.

I headed straight for Festa Italia as soon as the rope dropped at Italy. I ran ahead at a brisk pace to beat the morning crowd, and managed to get there with only a few other people. And so, the first coasters of the day...

Tempesto
I'm going to be honest, I thought the comfort collar was fine. What are you all complaining about? I didn't experience any discomfort whatsoever. Anyways, as for the coaster itself, the forces in the valleys were strong and contrasted nicely with the moments of weightlessness on the spikes. The launches were also a little stronger than expected. There's also a nice pop of ejector at the crest. Loved the hangtime on the heartline roll. If I had choose between Boomerangs and Sky Rocket IIs, I would pick the latter any day.

Apollo's Chariot
The clamshell restraints were very comfortable. Ride ops thankfully didn't staple me. Even for early in the day, it gave a great mix of ejector and floater. Helix wasn't as forceful as it should have been, but that was to be expected for a first run. I was caught off guard by the drop before the last hill and final brakes. A little somethings that's true for this and most of the other coasters is that they use the terrain to their advantage, squeezing in drops (like the one I mentioned before) and turns in some interesting locations.

There's something about the paths in the park that makes it easy to get lost without a map. They have a tendency to weave around and double back on themselves. While it seemingly doesn't make sense, I get the feeling that the park planners were trying to nail down the Europe theme, right down to the pathways. That being said, the theming is exquisite and takes quite a lot of attention to detail. The landscaping complements this perfectly, making for one of the most beautiful and photogenic parks I've been to. I'd say the park is worthy of the Golden Tickets that were awarded to it.

After figuring out which way went where, I headed for Oktoberfest. Of course I had to take the obligatory shot of Big Bad Wolf Verbolten sweeping over the Rhine.

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Verbolten
There weren't any lines yet as the crowd was still working their way through the park. Station theming was well detailed, keeping in line with the rest of the park. The first launch catapults you into the show building, where you get thrown around quite a bit, with a few moments of air in between. While I had been half expecting a drop track, I didn't expect it to make me think that the ride had legitimately broken, and the train had fallen through the floor. The second launch was just as strong as the first, throwing into the elevated brake run, and dropping you down for the finale: a series of deceptively forceful turns courtesy of Big Bad Wolf's footers. While it may not be the most thrilling coaster, it's definitely a crowd pleaser that could serve as a good "first big coaster" for kids. All in all, a solid addition to the lineup and a worthy successor to the Wolf.

Yet again I was befuddled by the paths, but I managed to get find my way. Nevertheless, I did quite appreciate the shade offered by the generous amount of trees surrounding the paths. It's a definite departure from what I'm used to, with only a few trees dotted on the side of paths. Again, it must be stated that there is a great attention to detail, especially with sight lines. Its everywhere in the park, either by drawing your attention by framing a ride or building or bringing it in close to increase the intimacy. It's a completely different feel compared to other theme parks, even Disney Parks, which pretty much have been the reference point for every major park ever since its opening. Credit to Busch Gardens for breaking the mold.

Enough waxing poetic, let's get back to the coasters!

Alpengeist
Take a B&M invert, turn the intensity dial up to eleven, and BAM, you get Alpengeist. The inversions are forceful (the vertical loop made my dlood rush to my feet) and whippy as hell, especially on the cobra roll. Also WHAT. IS THAT. DROP. It feels like you're endlessly spiraling until the moment you get to the immelman. While I don't agree that it's the best drop on an invert, it's certainly the most interesting.

Onto New France, where I discovered that the crowds had finally caught up to me. I had briefly considered riding Le Scoot to take a break from walking, but I quickly decided that If I had any hope of picking up the rest of the coasters, I had to keep up my pace.

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RIP cajones

InvadR
Ah yes, the parks *ahem* "family" woodie. Line was about a 20 minute wait, which gave me plenty of time to realize how little the queue was themed. A bit of a let down compared to the rest of the park. The drop and turn out of the station surprised me with some strong laterals, a characteristic that held true through the rest of the ride. I got stapled on the lift hill, though, and stapled further on the other parts of the ride. I don't get the hype for the Millennium Flyers, they're really not that much different than say, PTC trains, which I happen to like more. But anyways, the rest of the ride gave some strong floater as well as a few pops of air on some of the transitions into the turns, which gave some strong laterals as stated previously. It's nothing spectacular, but it fills the niche for a woodie within the park.

While my plan worked out well for the first few coasters, I was swiftly discovering that the afternoon crowds had finally taken hold. As I waited for front row on Griffin, waves of people kept coming into the station. I suppose I was lucky that I got into the line just in time, but it killed any hope for a re-ride. However, I can only fault the crowds and not the operations. Every coaster had as many trains running as they could, and the ride ops were working at a fairly fast pace.

Griffin
Even before you get on, it's enamoring to watch. The splashdown is a great way to cool off, as it generates an impressive cloud of mist. As I mentioned previously, I was lucky to beat the bulk of the crowds and get a front row wing seat. The top of the lift has an amazing view of the park and surrounding area. While the holding brake had no effect on me, it did give me time to notice an empty pack of cigarettes sitting on a track tie, which gave me a bit of a laugh. (It's amazing how little knick knacks find their way to the strangest of places.) That aside, the airtime on the first drop was pristine floater. Like, absolute zero-g. Then there's more of it, going into and out of the MCBR, before the splashdown, and a surprise pop of ejector before the final brake run. If there's one thing that defines this coaster, it's the airtime. I'd be damned if isn't my most favorite ride in the park.

Once again, the paths vexed my route. Either I had to go all the way around the park through Ireland, or double back to Germany and take the path down to the Rhine. In the interest of time, I decided to take the lower pathway. I'm glad I did, as I was treated to quite a sight: the interlocking loops of Loch Ness Monster.
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It was time to conquer Nessie.

Loch Ness Monster
An unabashed classic. There's some strong floater airtime off the first drop, though I was riding towards the back, so that probably helped that. The loops might not have much to offer in forces ^Damn trims, they make up for it by being very visually appealing in a "no way we're going to fit" way.
It was a fairly smooth for an Arrow, with no major headbanging. (Seriously folks, DON'T hold your head forward, it actually makes it worse.)
Personally, I don't see it getting removed any time soon, which is good. The last thing I want to see is yet another classic coaster lost to the sands of time, especially since it's a landmark coaster for the park.

I headed for to Fetsa Italia and stopped at La Cucina for lunch. I got the chicken tender combo, which was pretty good. However, it was pricey at $9.99, which is highway robbery if you ask me. But luckily the lines for Apollo's Chariot weren't long, so I decided to have another go, especially since I rode it before it had warmed up.

It warmed up, alright.

While I had ridden front row, generally speaking, back rows give more airtime. Even then, it was way more than expected. The back row turned was previously floater into ejector. Additionally, the helix was wicked forceful, even more than I ever could have anticipated. I would have absolutely marathoned it if line hadn't grown by the time I got off.

I looped my way back around the park, seeing if I could reride anything, but it was way too crowded. Every line was likely close to an hour wait. So I decided to find a shop to and get a shirt. It's a tradition of mine to pick up a shirt from the parks I visit ever since I started it at Kings Dominion. There was a crummy selection to say the least, but I managed to find one that was half decent. I waited to meet up with the family at the France skyride station. From there, we took our leave and a few final pictures.

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(My cousin, BTW)

I'll leave you with a tip: Try to come on a weekday as crowds are thicker than molasses on the weekends, especially in the summer.

Since I'm on mobile and inserting images is a pain in the arse, I'll just leave the albums here:
Part 1
Part 2
 
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