A week ago Chris D. and I were talking about mailing each other some pins we have collected for one another. The thing is, while I was at at Kings Island a few weeks ago, I bought a gift for him that would be a pain in the butt to send through the mail. That was when we discussed just holding onto the items until we could meet up in person. That was when the gears in my head began turning. What if I ran down for a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) for the final weekend of Howl-O-Scream? We could swap these items and I’d get to visit the park for the first time since December 2020. It sounded like an idea.
Long story short, after looking at ticket prices, I ended up splurging on a platinum pass. I liked the idea of the pass allowing me access to Pantheon’s member events and as well as being able to visit Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I have yet to visit the park, but have always balked at their high prices. With the platinum pass, I can now go get Vapor Trail and Oscar’s Wacky Taxi.
I asked a few crew members if they’d like to join me, but with such short notice, it looked like I’d be flying solo. Then, with just a few days left before the trip, Kaylee asked if I was still going and if so, she was now be able to come. I told her she could be my wingman and I was excited to get her to the park for her first-ever visit.
I wouldn’t be the only one bringing wingmen along for the day. Chris was bringing both his daughter, Carrie and Hannah along. It would be good to see Carrie again and get in some rides with Hannah, who just recently braved some of the parks bigger coasters earlier in October.
Filming My Best POV Content Yet
For the first time since We Were Inverted’s opening I decided to take advantage of BGW’s on ride filming policy. With the right equipment and park inspection of its security, guests can be granted a pass to be able to film on ride footage. I knew about this policy last year, but since all three visits to BGW in 2020 came during evening time limited operations events, I decided to wait. Having 12 hours here on Halloween Sunday, I charged up the batteries for the GoPro and was granted approval to record. I recorded front row point of view (POV) content on the following rides:
- Griffon
- InvadR
- Alpengeist
- Apollo’s Chariot
- Tempesto
Kaylee Falls 1 Credit Shy of Completing the Park
From 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., when Chris, Carrie, and Hannah arrived, Kaylee and I managed to ride: Loch Ness Monster, Griffon (2), InvadR, Alpengeist, Verbolten, Apollo’s Chariot (2), Tempesto, Busch Gardens Railway, and the Skyride. If you noticed, every one of BGW’s active coasters was in that list, minus one – Grover’s Alpine Express. Sadly, when we walked over to get Kaylee her kiddie coaster credit, we were told that the ride was down and would most likely be down for the remainder of the day. That section of the park was set to close at 5 p.m. anyhow. I playfully told Kaylee that until she claims her Grover credit, she is not allowed to ride Pantheon next year.
After 3:30 p.m. the park began to see an increase in capacity for Howl-O-Scream activities. Crowds were still manageable, but the lines were certainly longer than they had been during the morning and afternoon. Once the sun went down, we caught a few shows before splitting during the final hour to run through haunts or catch last minute night rides. Here’s a look at some of the ride experiences:
Alpengeist
Many of you know that Alpengeist is my favorite inverted coaster and sentimental value. I’ve ridden it so many times with too many friends and family members to count. Well yesterday, I got to add a few more people to that list with two more amazing rides – one in the front and one in the back.
The front row ride came earlier in the day with Kaylee when I filmed my POV footage. The ride rode smoother than I remember it riding just last year. It was either that or I was used to the Banshee rattle from a few weeks ago. Who knows? Regardless, it was an awesome ride and one that Kaylee also thoroughly enjoyed. I think she sees why Sam, Chris, and I all rank it so favorably.
Later in the day, with the sun beginning to set, I was able to get in a back row wide with Kaylee and Hannah. I was happy to see brave the back row. Hannah seemed a little hesitant about a back row ride at first, but ultimately decided to go for it. By the end of the ride, she was saying how she enjoyed that extra pull in the back and that it wasn’t much different than the front.
Speaking of riding in the back, just one row in front of us was Chris and Carrie. I was happy to see Carrie give the back a go as well. Last year Carrie would only sit toward the front of the train on Alpengeist. She said the back was too rough for her, but by the end of our ride Sunday, she was admitting that her opinion might be changing. I’m sure that makes Chris happy. He loves back row rides on Alpengeist and having both of his girls riding with him will surely create lots of memories.
Verbolten
If you’ve never ridden Verbolten, maybe you should skip this portion of the blog. There will be spoilers here pertaining to something that I hate ruining for first-time riders and those who haven’t viewed a POV video, or read reviews about the ride. This paragraph will be your final chance to skip ahead.
Okay, I was lucky enough to visit BGW yesterday with someone who I just described above. Kaylee knew nothing about the coaster, so she was clueless about the ride’s drop track portion. I didn’t mention it and had asked Sam, Greg, and Chris not to bring it up if they talked to her before our visit. I wanted to see her natural response to the element, which turned out to be classic!
I never saw Kaylee laugh as much as she did immediately following that drop all the way until we got our ride photos after we returned to the station. It was great and reminded me of how it was for my friend Kristina and I back in 2013 when we experienced it. Neither of us knew either and because of how we felt, I always try to make sure my friends get that same chance for a surprise.
Trust me, if you have friends who haven’t ridden Verbolten, don’t spoil it for them. When they jump on the train with you, just sit back and watch those reactions. You’ll be talking about the experience for years to come every time you talk coasters or head back to BGW.
Apollo's Chariot
Just like with Alpengeist, I wanted Kaylee to experience Apollo’s Chariot in the front and the back. We began with the front for my POV and immediately circled back around afterward for a ride in the back row. There was no one in the station, so I said we should take advantage of it while we could. Kaylee agreed.
There is no doubt that Apollo’s is a back row ride. We had little to no airtime up front, although the view was incredible. In the back we were floating in our seats throughout the ride’s course. Those two rides, however, had nothing on our third ride and final ride of the entire night.
With Chris and Hannah splitting off to do one of the park’s haunts before close, Kaylee, Carrie, and I ran over to get in a night ride on Apollo’s. Last year Apollo’s night rides were amazing with the majority of the ride running in pitch black conditions. Well yesterday, that was also true. One thing that was a bit different, however, was all stars in the sky. You could see so many of them going up the lift hill. Check out the night photo of Tempesto in the photo gallery. I took it after picking up our Apollo’s ride photo.
Final Ride Counts
Alpengeist (2: Ka, Pa, 1: Ca, Ch, Ha)
Apollo’s Chariot (3: Ka, Pa, 1: Ca)
Busch Gardens Railway (1: Ka, Pa)
Finnegan’s Flyer (1: Ka, Pa)
Griffon (2: Ka, Pa)
InvadR (1: Ka, Pa)
Loch Ness Monster (1: Ka, Pa)
Skyride (2: Ka, Pa, 1: Ca, Ch, Ha)*
Tempesto (1: Ka, Pa)
Verbolten (1: Ka, Pa)
Haunt: Dystopia (1: Ch, Ha)
Haunt: Killarney Diner (1: Ca, Ch, Ha)
Show: Jack is Back (1)
Show: Monster Stomp (1)
Show: Phantoms of Festhaus (1)
Ca = Carrie | Ch = Chris | Ha – Hannah | Ka = Kaylee | Pa = Patrick
The Night Brings Shows, Haunts, Rides, & Oopsies!
Although We Were Inverted focuses heavily on roller coasters and rides, I wanted to mention the amazing shows and Halloween themed events throughout BGW for Howl-O-Scream. You can tell that the park invests heavily into this event and is unmatched when compared to other parks in the region.
The outdoor show, “Jack is Back” and “Monster Stomp” inside the park’s Globe Theater were good fun with amazing performances. We also caught the “Phantoms of Festhaus” show while eating dinner, but I will be honest, I was quite distracted during that show. Why you ask? Let’s get into some fun, shall we?
You see, Chris is an admin for the popular Facebook group, Busch Gardens Williamsburg Insiders (BGWI). Well, Mr. Admin brought his souvenir cup for drink refills yesterday… his souvenir cup from Kings Dominion, that is! I told him I was going to get him canceled, but Carrie beat me to it. She wasted no time posting it to BGWI while we ate.
In closing, yesterday was just an downright amazing day. Seeing Kaylee enjoy an all new park for the first time and later on, meeting up with Chris, Carrie, and Hannah, made it even better. As much as I’m proud of all the amazing content I was able to shoot yesterday, what made the day great was spending it with all these friends – friends I would have never met if it weren’t for this hobby.
Note: With my platinum pass I was able to claim all of our ride photos. Sadly, the Photo Key app/site has been down all day and I did not want to delay this blog. Once Photo Key is back up, I will add those photos to the gallery retroactively.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Photo Gallery - October 31, 2021
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
Kaylee
Commander
New Credit(s): Alpengeist, Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, InvadR, Loch Ness Monster, Tempesto, Verbolten
Carrie
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
Chris D.
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
