For the second time in less than a month Sam, Jen, and I took a trip down to Viriginia to ride some coasters. Our first trip, in late June was to Kings Dominion. This time was to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW). Other than all three of us visiting both parks and both being located in Virginia, there was one other common item present during both of these trips. The heat!
On Monday, July 15, 2024, the forecast was calling for mid to upper 90’s – near record temperatures for the day. We knew it was going to be hot, but we weren’t going to cancel our plans. Kings Dominion was a ghost town back in June, so hopefully BGW would be similar. Luckily for us, the crowds were indeed low and just like at Kings Dominion, we got in a ton of rides.
Water Rides Didn't Exactly Cool Us Off
With the extreme heat coasters were not the only rides we wanted to experience. Le Scoot, Escape from Pompeii, and Roman Rapids were all rides we wanted to ride throughout the day. Sam had yet to experience Le Scoot and Roman Rapids. It had been years since Jen had ridden any of the three. As for me, I’ve done them all, but my last ride on Roman Rapids was easily way back in the late 90’s.
As much as we enjoyed all three rides, Le Scoot and Escape from Pompeii failed to do more than lightly spritz an arm or a leg. It wasn’t until Roman Rapids that we got wet, but not soaked. For all but the final waterfall element, we stayed bone dry along the rapids. Thankfully the falls managed to hit us a little bit. We cooked out in the heat prior waiting about 15 – 20 minutes for the ride. Le Scoot and Escape from Pompeii were both less than five-minute waits.
Thankfully our need to get wet was fulfilled by the large water spraying fans scattered throughout the park. I’m not talking the smaller, overhead oscillating fans. No. These bad boys were about seven feet square and very popular with park guests.
Okay, enough about the water rides and fans. Let’s talk about some coasters. These were some of our stand-out experiences.
Alpengeist
I’ve been on this ride a ton of times. That doesn’t mean I grow tired of riding it. Quite the contrary. As a matter of fact, my last visit to BGW with Jen, Alpengeist was closed. I haven’t ridden it since 2023 and I was very much looking forward to giving it a couple of rides. Sam was eager to hop back on it too as it had been even longer since her last ride.
Both of our rides came in the back row. The train hauled through the course on both rides until, of course, that mid-course brake run. While still a sudden stop, it didn’t feel like the almost complete stop it has been in recent years. It has been a while though, so I might be remembering it wrong.
The one plus of the slow speed after the mid-course is the zero-g roll. That element provided a brief moment, yet enjoyable moment of hangtime. It’s a nice contrast on what is an otherwise whippy coaster.
Griffon
So, Jen really likes Griffon. No. You don’t understand. She really, really likes it! During our first time on that side of the park she wanted to ride in every row, so we hopped on three times starting with the back, then the middle, and finishing up in the front.
When we came back through at the end of the evening, we hopped on two more times with both rides being in the back. We thought we were done, but nope. There were still a couple minutes left before close and Jen wanted one last ride in the front row. While I grabbed my stuff out of the locker, she ran back into the line. She got the end of row, which you can see in the station photo in the gallery down below. She finished off her night with six total rides on what I still say is my favorite B&M Dive Coaster.
As for our rides, I typically enjoy the front of Griffon for the view from the top of the drop. The back row barely hangs over the drop, and it’s always been my least favorite row to ride. Well, during this visit all three of us felt like the back row had a bit more force throughout the course. I know it’s weird to say that with the train featuring only three rows. It might have helped that we were usually on the end of the rows when we rode, but we all noticed it. It’s either that or we just were experiencing a much better Dive Coaster compared to the last one we all rode. Ahem, Iron Menace!
Pantheon & DarKoaster
So why am I grouping Pantheon and DarKoaster together? Well, it’s due to something that both rides had in common – one train operations. This limited our rides on both, but thankfully both were open for us to ride and weren’t closed outright.
When we entered the park, we started with Loch Ness Monster and then went directly to DarKoaster. We hoped to avoid crowds riding it early. Things looked like they paid off as the line ended in the showroom featuring the painting of King Ludwig.
After standing in this room for a few minutes and then finally getting into the station, we realized why things were moving slower than normal. Frostbite was the only train on the tracks. With Sam needing the credit, we weren’t backing out.
We waited around 40 minutes for our only ride on DarKastle. We did check out the wait time later in the evening, but it was posted at 45-minutes, so we assumed the one train operations were still in effect.
We didn’t circle around to Pantheon until later in the day. Our timing couldn’t have been worse. It went down right as we were about to cross over the train tracks to the ride plaza. We turned around to go ride Tempesto, Apollo’s Chariot, and Roman Rapids thinking it would be back up and running shortly.
It was during our wait for Roman Rapids when we saw one of the trains being moved to the service station. Thankfully the ride didn’t outright close though. All three of us, especially Sam, was looking forward to a few rides on Pantheon. We managed two rides, once in the back and then again in the front. Both were amazing, but the waits clocked in around 25-30 minutes each, starting at the bottom of the station stairs. With it being the hottest it was all day at this time, it was a bit uncomfortable. Still, we were glad we got to ride it a couple of times.
Final Ride Counts
Alpengeist (2)
Apollo’s Chariot (2)
Busch Gardens Railway (1)
DarKoaster (1)
Escape From Pompeii (1)
Finnegan’s Flyer (1: Patrick, Jen)
Griffon (6: Jen, 5: Patrick, Sam)
InvadR (1)
Le Scoot (1)
Loch Ness Monster (1)
Roman Rapids (1)
Tempesto (1)
Verbolten (1)
Not Even Extreme Temperatures Can Ruin a BGW Trip
Even with the hot sun, constant sweat, and one train operations on two rides, this visit was amazing. Sure, it would have been better if it was a little cooler and we got in more rides on Pantheon and DarKoaster, but how can anyone complain about clocking in over 20 ride experiences between the coasters, water, and flat rides?
And before I wrap up, I just wanted to say that we finished up this awesome day with yet another visit to Sal’s By Victor. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve visited this restaurant while in the area for a BGW trip. The food and service are always top notch, and the We Were Inverted Crew always leaves with full stomachs and wishing both the park and Sal’s was a bit closer to home. Give them a try if you haven’t already!
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Photo Gallery - July 15, 2024
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): DarKoaster
Jen
Lieutenant
New Credit(s): n/a
1 thought on “Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Cooling Off With A Lil’ Airtime”
Was a wonderful trip! Thanks for having me!!
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