Yesterday I got my second crack at riding Busch Garden’s Williamsburg’s (BGW) newest coaster, Pantheon. This trip was one Renee and I threw together only a few days ago. We reached out to Mindy and thankfully she was also free on Tuesday. Neither had visited BGW in a few years, so they were excited to see what this new coaster was all about. I, on the other hand, was eager to ride it with temperatures in the low-80’s since my first experiences on Platinum Pass Preview Day took came on a day in mid-40’s.
New Coaster & Newly Painted Coasters
My goal for yesterday was to head directly to Pantheon and ride the front row for the first time. I brought my GoPro along this visit and got approval to film on-ride content. I shot four POV videos that will make their way onto the We Were Inverted YouTube channel soon. These include my front row ride on Pantheon, Finnegan’s Flyer, Loch Ness Monster, and another POV on Griffon.
Pantheon
I was so happy to see the line for Pantheon’s front row to be only a few minutes longer than the rest of the train when we first arrived. Since there were three of us, I told Mindy and Renee to ride together and I would board the next train solo. I will say that being in the front was awesome for the unobstructed view and the maximum drop backward off the top hat. The airtime was okay, but nothing compared to my second ride to end the evening in the back row.
Finishing up our evening we were right by Pantheon after getting off the Busch Gardens Railway. I went up for one last ride while the girls waited for me in the courtyard. I left my GoPro with Mindy so I could just enjoy the ride and not be tempted to film something and be sidetracked. I wanted another ride in the back row. My first-ever ride on Pantheon was in the back with Chris on preview day. The ride was sluggish compared to the four other rides I got later that day. All of them were sluggish, including yesterday’s front row ride, compared to this one!
I felt more airtime and speed on this go around, even having my shirt fly up on the backward launch airtime hill. That ejector moment was nuts. The airtime off the top hat was also better. The only thing still not hitting as strong as I had hoped is the outward banked airtime hill. It felt better, but not at all ejector-like. Orion’s at Kings Island still feels stronger and it’s nothing close to what you’ll get on one found on an RMC.
On this second ride I also met a fellow enthusiast named Brandon. We talked about a bunch of our favorite coasters and it was fun riding with him. Be sure to check out his Instagram page (@BramboBuschPics). Sadly our ride photo never made it into my PhotoKey account, which I am going to address down below.
Griffon
At the end of last year I was happy to see Griffon and Alpengeist both getting a fresh coat of paint. Although I was more intrigued by Alpengeist’s changing color palette, I was also eager to check out how Griffon looked yesterday. I was also excited to give it a much overdue ride. Since my last few visits fell during the colder months, Griffon was never one of the rides open due to its splash down element.
We had an awesome ride in the front row. I much prefer the front on this ride for that unobstructed view on the dive. Mindy gave me some grumblings about having to sit up front, but she braved it nonetheless. That view was not the only reason I wanted to sit in the front, however. I wanted to shoot an updated POV showcasing the ride’s new paint. So yeah, there will soon be two Griffon POV’s on the channel soon. Is that a bad thing though?
Alpengeist
Speaking of paint jobs, when I first saw some of the icy blue color being applied to Alpengeist last year, I was apprehensive. This is a coaster I have loved since my first-ever ride. It is a sentimental favorite and I rank it higher than most. It currently sits at 12 out of 404 on my Complete Rankings list. Whether you agree with that or not, I don’t really care. I love the coaster and that love is what had me hoping that I’d like this new paint scheme. Well, with most of the coaster updated I can say that not only do I like it, I love it! It just fits with the skiing theme so well.
As for our ride, we jumped in line for the back row, only having to wait for a train or two. Had the paint job been finished, I would have rode in the front and shot an all-new POV. Since it is not, the back row was the only thing on my mind.
I’ve always loved the extra whip the back row offers on Alpengeist. It feels more intense than most other inverts too. She did have a bit of a rattle yesterday, but I still had zero head banging. I see people mention how much of a head banger the coaster is online and I just don’t understand. It’s never been that way for me since the coaster debuted. Oh well! Chalk up another awesome ride for me on this coaster.
Final Ride Counts
Alpengeist (1)
Apollo’s Chariot (1)
Busch Gardens Railway (1)
Finnegan’s Flyer (1: Patrick, Mindy)
Griffon (1)
Loch Ness Monster (1)
Pantheon (2: Patrick, 1: Mindy, Renee)
Tempesto (1)
Verbolten (1)
Complaint: PhotoKey
A day at BGW is always a positive experience. The rides are top notch and the staff is always kind. There is, however, something that has been bothering me during these last few visits. I don’t even know if it’s fair to blame the park for this, but since the service is something included with season passes, or even worse, something a guest can pay for inside the park, I think BGW should at least listen.
PhotoKey sucks!
Last October I bought my season pass and it took me weeks to even log in to retrieve my photos. I was promised that PhotoKey was having issues and all would be resolved. Eventually the site be fixed and I was able to claim my photos from our Halloween visit toward the end of November. Since that time, however, another issue is a constant. That issue is some photos not being added to the account.
In three separate visits now in Decemeber 2021, March 2022, and yesterday, I have an ever-growing number of missing photos from my visits. These come from both kiosk and employee scans and various rides/experiences. Just yesterday a Pantheon photo and a photo of Mindy and Renee with one of the horses never showed up. On the preview day last month half my Pantheon (kiosk scanned) rides failed to make it as well as a photo from Apollo’s Chariot (employee scanned). I also had some idiot ruin our photo on Griffon by flipping middle fingers, but that’s a whole other soap box issue. Still, who knows if that photo would have even made it to my account anyhow had that not have been the case?
The fact that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for what photos fail to load, or whether it’s done at a kiosk or by a staff member, tells me it’s a hiccup on PhotoKey’s end. I just hope BGW can address this as people pay money for this service and expect it to work. Does anyone know if this is an issue at any of the company’s sister parks? If worse comes to worse, maybe it’s time for the park to cut ties with the company and seek out a more stable solution.
An Amazing Day w/ Amazing Friends
Missing pictures aside, yesterday couldn’t have been much better. I hoped that Chris would be able to join us, but it just wasn’t in the cards on such short notice. We’ll catch up another time and hopefully both Mindy and Renee can come along again. We all love BGW and Renee said it best yesterday, “I wish Busch Gardens was closer to us.”
I agree, Renee. I agree.
Busch Gardens Photo Gallery - April 12, 2022
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
Mindy
Captain
New Credit(s): Pantheon
Renee
Commander
New Credit(s): Pantheon
