After our Halloween visit to Busch Gardens Williamsbug (BGW) at the end of October, I was pretty sure we were done visiting the park for the year. We had been twice and managed to ride all the coasters between the two visits. But just when I thought I was done, a friend of mine named Stephanie reached out to me out of the blue after a few years.
Stephanie and I got to talking. She saw all the fun I was having at amusement parks. Long story short, she loves Alpengeist and said she wanted to go to a park so bad. We decided to go. First, however, I asked Sam if she’d be interested in joining us. Naturally, she said yes. So after attending both the Taste of Busch Gardens and Halloween Harvest events, we’d now be visiting during Christmas Celebration.
Fast forward to about a week before the trip and Stephanie could no longer go. I asked Greg if he’d like to join us for one last BGW visit. It was a free ticket and he really wanted to go. He had one hurdle, however. He had agreed to take a shift at work since he figured he wouldn’t be going to anymore parks this winter. Long story short again, he was able to get off and the three of us would be meeting up with both Chris D. and Carrie one last time for 2020.
Experiencing Yet Another Park's Winter Holiday Festivities
Prior to Thursday’s visit, I had only ever been to three amusement park Christmas/Winter Holiday events – all coming within the last two years. Those were: Kings Dominion’s Winterfest (2019), Hersheypark’s Christmas Candylane (2019), and Six Flags Great Adventure’s (SFGAdv) Holiday in the Park (2020). I know this year’s event at BGW wouldn’t be the standard Christmastown event, but nevertheless, we were all looking forward to it. Neither Sam or Greg had done any Christmas/Winter event until this visit either.
Having five hours at the park and less rides for this December visit, we decided to make a stop at Funland of Fredericksburg (FOF). Both Sam and Greg needed the Twist n Shout credit. Read, “Funland of Fredericksburg – Another Indoor Credit for Sam & Greg,” for a look at that stop along the way.
We arrived at BGW around 6:15 p.m. and met up with Chris and Carrie by the fire pit. I almost didn’t see them because I was taken back by all the lights. It looked amazing and a group of Christmas carolers were entertaining those who had just walked into the park. I liked what I saw so far. After watching them for a few minutes, it was time to ride the coasters.
Invadr
First Ride: Whole Crew
The first coaster we came upon on the night was Invadr. Greg was excited because he saw it was running the photo booth for the first time during our 2020 visits. We jumped in line and took our assigned seats. We were lucky enough to secure both the front and back rows. Sam and I hopped into the back. Greg and Carrie sat in the front. Chris, who went solo on this first ride, took row five.
This might have been one of my favorite rides on Invadr to date. It was super smooth and best of all, super dark! You could barely see anything once you left the lift hill. One of the few things we were able to make out was the large poof of smoke coming from the train below. As an added bonus, we went straight through that smoke cloud too. Talk about timing.
Second Ride: Greg, Chris, & Carrie
The entire crew did not ride Invadr the second time. This was because at the end of the night, with only about 20 minutes left, we split up. Greg wanted to ride Invadr again and Chris and Carrie joined him. I ran over to Alpengeist with Sam. Of course she’d want to ride her favorite coaster for the last ride of the night. Speaking of Alpengeist…
Alpengeist
First Ride: Whole Crew
Seriously, you should have seen Sam power walking to Alpengeist. Usually I’m the one who walks quicker than most of this site’s crew members, although I’m sure Chris could lap me anytime with all his walking/running he does. Anyhow, we all got a laugh out of it, especially thinking back to July when Chris and Carrie first met Sam at Six Flags America (SFA). You know, the day she walked off Joker’s Jinx after sitting down. The same day she refused to ride Mind Eraser, Firebird, and Batwing? What a difference five months makes.
We rode Alpengeist two times back-to-back with the entire group. Sam and I jumped in the back row, Chris and Carrie took the front, and Greg went solo in the middle. This ride had tons of whip in the back seat, which is one of the many reasons I love Alpengeist so much. Between that, its setting, theming, and intensity, it doesn’t surprise me that it is Sam’s favorite coaster too.
Second Ride: Whole Crew
On the group’s second ride, Sam ran through the queue to the back row once again. This time, Chris joined her. Carrie was walking to the front row when she noticed everyone left her. I decided to go ahead and get in a front row so she wouldn’t be alone. While waiting in line up front, Carrie talked smack about her dad ditching her to ride in the back, all while giving him the evil eye. It was funny listening to her.
Carrie and I ended up having to wait one more train since there was a couple in front of us. Surprisingly, BGW was running two trains on this slow night, so the wait was only minutes. I’m so glad I decided to join Carrie in the front though. The unobstructed view on an invert is always a blast. True, there isn’t as much whip up front, but the trade off is worth it for the experience. I always try to ride inverts in both the back and front rows whenever I visit a park.
Third Ride: Patrick & Sam
Since Sam had the two back row rides, when we split up at the end of the night, I told her we should do the front row. She agreed and loved how much wind blew into our faces throughout the course. While the wind was cold, the open view in front of us made for a good final ride of the night.
Verbolten
First Ride: Whole Crew
During our last visit to BGW we rode Verbolten four times. Each and every time we had the spirit-themed event in the show building. We got on Thursday hoping that we’d be able to experience the other two – the storm and the wolf.
First ride, I went solo with Sam and Greg riding together in front of me. Chris and Carrie sat in front of them. All four of their silly butts decided to look back when told not to look back when entering the Black Forest. And you know what? I told them by doing that they gave us bad mojo. I said they jinxed us and we’d get the spirit show once again, or maybe even all night. And guess what? We got it the first ride. I laughed my butt off!
Second Ride: Whole Crew
We sat in the same arrangement on the second ride, although some of us switched from left to right seats and visa versa. Once again all four of my wingmen decided to look back as the train departed. I said, “We’re getting the spirit again cause of you!”
We didn’t, however, getting the storm for the first time in 2020. Well, for Sam, Greg, and myself anyhow. Chris and Carrie go to BGW on a weekly basis and have lucked out with getting all the different shows, including that elusive wolf theme.
Third Ride: Whole Crew
As they say, third time is a charm, but it wasn’t the case for us on this day. We jumped back on for a third ride while we were in the Germany section of the park. We ended up getting the storm again. On this last ride, I got in a front row ride with Sam. I think Greg was behind us and Chris and Carrie were behind him. I could be wrong on that though. You know why? Because I didn’t look back when entering the Black Forest!
Pantheon, in the Dark, From the Train
Once we got off Verbolten our plan was to secure some hot chocolate and board the train. Even though it was dark, we wanted to ride it since the tracks go right up against Pantheon. The park had Pantheon’s ride station all lit up too so we could make out some of the coaster’s course.
I’ll tell you what… I can’t wait! Waiting for Pantheon has only made me more excited every single day. I hope I’m not hyping it up too much in my head, but it might be my most anticipated coaster for 2021. I want to get to Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) and VelociCoaster at Universal Studios Orlando (USO) too naturally. Who knows if I’ll be traveling to Florida in 2021 though? I do know that I’ll be back in Virginia without a doubt.
Shopping for Goodies
After the train ride and us splitting up for our final ride, we hit up some of the stores on the way out of the park. We all grabbed some goodies, including pins and some Pantheon merchandise. Both Sam and I picked up a BGW beanie too. I wore mine to my first-ever visit to Storybook Land, which garnered me some compliments from fellow American Coaster Enthusiast (ACE) members. That blog will be coming soon!
With the park closing, we left and said our good byes. After another amazing visit to BGW, I can honestly say, I wish we were just a little bit closer to this park. Chris and Carrie have such an amazing home park that enthusiasts everywhere should envy. Not many parks can boast about having such a solid ride collection while also featuring great food, good shows, and landscaping second to none. Sam, Greg, and I can’t wait to go back!
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Captain
New Credit(s): n/a
Greg
Lieutenant
New Credit(s): n/a
Chris D.
Engisn
New Credit(s): n/a
Carrie
Engisn
New Credit(s): n/a
