BGE, KD, SFA PTR

[SilverBullet]

On Friday we arrived in Williamsburg around 2 am and the following morning we went to Busch Gardens Europe. As soon as you start nearing the park, you can see Griffon (Errr?The Griffon). It towers over the park as much as Kingda Ka does. You can see it from almost any part of the park. I entered the park through their automated turnstiles that lowered when you scanned your ticket it. I started walking towards Scotland where there was a big group of people waiting, which I figured was for the race to Griffon. At 10 the mad dash was on for Griffon. I got 2nd train of the day, back row, far right.

Griffon

As I boarded the train I noticed the back row is about 9 inches higher than the rest of the rows. The 2nd row is probably around 4 inches lower making a nice tier. I was kinda expecting another forceless new B&M. I was way wrong. The track on this thing is FREAKING HUGE (2x the size of normal track). We climbed the 45* and made the turn around to the drop. From the back row, you really can?t see much of the drop but as the holding brake dropped, ejector! Awesome first drop. Then the first immelman is very forceful and into the 2nd drop. The 2nd drop wasn?t quite as good as the first, but had great air nonetheless. After the 2nd immelman, it went into a nice little airtime hill with good floater/ejector. The water splash is really awesome on the sides and kinda pointless in the middle. After the turnaround and another small hill, you hit the harsh brakes.

Highlights:
-   Amazing 1st drop
-   Forceful
-   Good 2nd drop
-   Great crowd Interaction
Lowlights:
-   A little on the short side

Overall 10/10 (#3 on my top 10)

After Griffon I made my way over to Alpengeist. Walked into the station, front row far left.

Alpengeist

The zero car made this a little different than other front row inverts. It made the track in front harder to see and made it feel completely random. I much prefer back row on this. Front I?d rate it around the same as Talon, in the back its in a league of its own. The 270* twisting drop flows right into the first inversion the immelman over the walkway. After one of the most forceful loops I?ve ever been on, the cobra roll SNAPS you two times. (Back right really feels it) After a rough transition into the MCBR, the ride loses all momentum. The zero g roll is nice and smooth, then the wing over has nice snap and the last few turns in valleys of snow aren?t really too forceful.

Highlights:
-   Amazingly forceful
-   No Headbanging
-   Nice theming
Lowlights:
-   Heavily trimmed
-   The end crawls

Overall 10/10 (#5 on my top 10)

After Alpengeist I headed back to Scotland for Loch Ness Monster.

Loch Ness Monster

After getting in the middle somewhere, we made the S-turn out of the station and up the lift. The first drop was really good for an Arrow. After the turn around we went through the first of the signature loops. Nice and forceful. After the loop, the helix in the cave was a nice little touch. Then we went up another lift that brought us into the 2nd of the loops.

Overall 7/10

After LNM I headed over to Big Bad Wolf, which broke down as soon as I went into the station so I headed to Apollo?s Chariot. Got back row walk on.

Apollo?s Chariot

After climbing the slow lift, we made the small dip that gained us speed for the main drop. Nice ejector on the first drop. The only full sized airtime hill before the MCBR provided great ejector even though the trim is VERY harsh. The next hill goes up straight and leads into a nice swooping turn. The turn by the lake was superb. Great speed and airtime. The helix wasn?t too great, worse than Nitro?s. After the MCBR it has a nice swooping airtime hill and finally leads to 3 good airtime hills much better than Nitro?s.

Highlights:
-   Strong airtime
-   First drop is great
-   Nice setting
Lowlights:
-   2 Very harsh trims
-   A little short for a Mega

After Apollo I went to DarKastle and got in 3 trains. It was decent. Not really too scary but I liked it. The storyline was pretty bad though. I?d give it a solid 6. After DarKastle I went back to BBW to see if it was running. It had a line but I decided to brave it anyway. I waited 20 minutes for the 2nd row.

Big Bad Wolf

The ride gets right into the swinging out of the station. It has a few turns and a helix that give some good swings. After the turns, we headed up the first lift. After the first lift it drops into a helix and a couple turns. There was some nice village theming at the top with some good swings nearing 90*. After that section we go up the 2nd lift where at the top it goes down a fairly large drop into the trademark turn by the lake which was absolutely crazy.

Highlights:
Crazy swinging
Smooth

Lowlights:
Not much of a layout aside from a few turns

Overall 7/10

I then met up with my family and aunt and uncle with their little kids. The little 4 year old was tall enough for BBW so I ended up going once again. The ride was just as good and she absolutely loved the ride.

After BBW again I headed back to Griffon for another ride. This time in the front row. I got lucky and ended up on the far left. The ride is much better on the sides and in the front. I filmed for a little bit before I headed to Italy for lunch and a couple Apollo?s Chariot rides. I had lunch at Cucina (Or something like that) where I had a cheese steak and fries. Pretty good.

I met up with my family and my dad, uncle and I we went on Griffon again. We got 2nd row this time. After that I went back to film a little and then we met up again in Italy where they ate at the same location I did. After their lunch/dinner we all went on Apollo?s Chariot.

After AC I went back to Alpengeist where I rode it 9x in about 30 minutes. All back row/2nd to last row. After Alpengeist I again went to Griffon where I used the SRL to get on in 10 minutes. I got 2nd row again.

After Griffon I went on Escape from Pompeii. The theming inside wasn?t nearly as good as I thought and I didn?t even get wet. I?d give it a 6/10.

Then my family and I went to Scotland again for LNM which we rode 2x. After LNM it was getting dark so I headed to Griffon for a night ride. The clock said an hour wait, but turned out to be a half hour. So I rode 2x before the night ended. After the night rides, my family and I went to watch a show. It was ok?I left to film Griffon a little.

Overall ride counts:
Alpengeist: 10
Griffon: 6
Apollo?s Chariot: 5
LNM: 3
BBW: 2

Overall 10/10

The weather was basically beautiful for most of the day with only about 5 minutes of light rain the whole day and the only lines there were all 30 minutes or less. Great day, amazing park.

Pictures:

[Bubba Z]

What, No Cork screw Hill ? You're description of the rides were spot on. Well, except that I heart Pompeii and got totally soaked. The other thing is, BBW in the last row...I actually thought it was rough. I also think the last little hill before the break run on Griffon is great.  Did you ride anything else beside coaster's... like  Davinci's Cradle or any other Flat rides.  I still need the Rapids and the Rhine river boat credits. 

Nice start to you're trip report! Looking forward to the rest.

[SilverBullet]

^I did ride Davinci's Cradle and their pirate ship but left it out for some reason...probably cause they're just normal flats and nothing special.

KD PTR coming today!

[ChuckR]

Wow, you found Griffon to be that good. I don't know the difference between that and Sheikra but Sheikra was no top ten quality to me. It was actually a let down to me...

[SilverBullet]

^It had 2 amazing drops, extremely forceful, nice theming, good crowd interaction and it was smooth.

I don't know what else I would want from a coaster.

Biggest let down of the trip: H:XLC
Biggest surprise of the trip: Italian Job

[CycloneMan]

Those are great pictures Matt! I excpected this review of BGE, Now I want to know what you think of SFA!

-Dainan "Clone land!" Rafferty

[UrsaMajor]

Ah, great TR. I pretty much feel the same way you do about the park, it's about as perfect as perfect can get.

Those ride totals are insane...when I went to BGE last April I got on each of the big four coasters (no Griffon obviously), CoD, and Corkscrew Hill each ONCE.

I agree with the Alpengeist assessment...it's just the best in the money seat in the back left. That Cobra Roll is one of the best elements on any B&M.

It's too bad you didn't eat at Trapper's Smokehouse. The ribs there are teh awesome. Looking forward to your KD review, another park fresh in my mind, especially my baby Volcano. Hope you liked it as much as I did.

[SilverBullet]

So after BGE on Friday, we stayed again in Willamsburg. We woke up at 8:30 but didn?t get on the road til about 9:30. We got to the park at about 10:30 when I noticed this park was just on the complete opposite side of the spectrum as BGE. Looked amazingly ghetto from the outside. But as soon as we walk in?we see the Eiffel Tower and fountains and it really wasn?t nearly as bad as I thought it was.





So we headed to the back of the park (Which this park was about 1/5th the size of BGE) towards Hypersonic: XLC. We get in line?wait 6 trains or so and I think? ?Isn?t this thing really unreliable?? and sure enough?it breaks down. So we head to Hurler. We get 2nd row.



Hurler

I heard this thing was absolutely rough as anything?but in the front of the train?that isn?t the case. The turns were kinda harsh, but weren?t too bad. But every airtime hill gave me amazing pops of airtime. It wasn?t ejector but wasn?t floater. It really shocked me how much air it gave me. The layout was kinda boring as all it was, was turn, airtime hill, turn, airtime hill. But it works as Shivering Timbers works.

Overall 8.5/10

After Hurler we jumped back on line for H:XLC because it had a shorter line than before and we knew the capacity blew on this thing. After waiting 30 minutes we finally reached the station. We opted for 2nd row.



Hypersonic: XLC

The restraints/trains on this thing just SUCK. Well first off?there?s like the biggest lap bar ever then ankle restraints. And you have basically a egg that you sit in and the wheels are FREAKING tires. We roll out to the launch track and wait for the Christmas tree to count down (Which didn?t really work properly). And BAM! Best launch ever. It was insane. Way faster than any hydraulic launch?I can?t even imagine what Dodonpa would be like. After the crazy launch we go way too fast into the transition because my restraint pinned me very hard. The trims on the way up are just pointless because you peak the top still insanely fast. After the crazy top hat, you make a turn, then a crazy rough S-turn followed by a small airtime hill. The whole thing was a freaking blur. It was really rough and really uncomfortable.

Overall 5/10

After Hypersonic we wondered around trying to find Grizzly, which doesn?t really have a sign for it (Only a bear). We walk on, wait a train for front row and go.

Grizzly

The ride was basically and out and back, much similar to Phoenix at Knoebels. This thing just lacked the airtime that Phoenix had. It was decent, not too rough but it was lacking some sort of airtime that could make this a really good ride.

Overall 7/10

After Grizzly we went over to Volcano to see how the line was?and HOLY CRAP. Full queue. And so far the ops at KD haven?t been the greatest?so we?ll pass on that til later. So I went to see if FoF would have a queue and YEP! Big queue even though it doesn?t even look like it?s a coaster, nor have a sign. So I just went over to Anaconda. Waited 15 minutes for front row.

Anaconda

The first drop was?definitely on the weirder side as it gets pretty steep, then makes a random turn. The water splash does nothing on the ride but looks cool for on-lookers. Then you go into one of those one-size-fits-all Arrow loops which was wayyyy too fast for comfort. Then followed by some sort of an immelman. Then you hit the MCBR. After the MCBR you start doing these weird turns that were just painful and not fun. The corkscrews were smooth as usual and then you made a few turns back into the station.

I really didn?t think it would be worse than GASM, but it was. Alot worse.

Overall 5/10

After Anaconda we went and braved the FoF line since we figured it was just the 6 or so switchbacks then you?re in the station. We were wrong?there was still another building of lines. The theming in there was really cheesy too. So after an hour wait, we board back row.

Flight of Fear

Maybe the fact it was in the dark made it rougher, but this thing really shook me around. Way more than B&R:TC or Joker?s Jinx. I can?t recall much of the ride but I didn?t appreciate the trims that were on it that JJ didn?t have.

Overall 6/10

After FoF we went for the other Premier launch coaster in the park, Italian Job. After about 10 minutes of waiting we were in the back car, back row. This ride is a very nice, very clean-cut ride. I really liked that.

Italian Job Turbo Coaster

The launch on this wasn?t too great, but it was fun. The launch got much quicker when the in car stereo said ?ACTION!? and we were up the first helix which was mildly intense at the bottom. At the top we make a few smooth turns and we hit the MCBR/2nd launch. The theming up there was pretty nice with a nice fire effect and helicopters shooting at you. Then you launch again into a cool tunnel for a little while until you blast out of the movie poster near the queue. I got nice air coming out of the tunnel too. The whole ride has a nice atmosphere and the soundtrack really helps emphasize that.

Overall 8/10 (Would be more if it was more intense/longer)

After IJTC, I went to get my credits at Taxi Jam and Scooby Doo Ghoster Coaster but unfortunately you need a little kid to ride Taxi Jam so I just skipped it. So after a 10 minute wait, I get into back row of Scooby Doo.

Scooby Doo: Ghoster Coaster

The ride isn?t too bad, it?s an mini out and back woodie for kids. The trains are mini-PCT?s which aren?t too comfy if you?re over 5?6?. It would be a great ride to start a kid off with.

8/10 for kiddie rides, 5/10 overall

After SD:GC we went to get dinner at Subway which was decent. After dinner I went on Drop Zone. I waited 4 cycles and I was on.




Drop Zone

The ride is FREAKING massive (305 ft). You?re brought up slowly and at the top you stay for a moment or two then you drop in perfect freefall for like 5 seconds. It?s quite a feeling. I?m not sure if I prefer the forced drops of S&S?s or the freefall feeling of Intamins. Either way?

Overall 10/10 (Best ride in the park)

After Drop zone I decided to brave what looked like a massive line for Shockwave, but wasn?t. The line went right into the station. So after about 20 minutes, I was in those Saw-esque restraints



The ride for a Togo was amazingly smooth. But Togo really didn?t think this out because why the HELL would they put 90* turns and airtime hills on a freaking stand up?! The ride wasn?t too bad aside from the airtime and insane turns.

Overall 7.5/10

After Shockwave we decided to go on Rebel Yell (My first coasters). We hit backwards first. We got 2nd to front (back) row after little wait.

Rebel Yell: Backwards

The whole ride is willy lift filled. Amazing airtime, mostly smooth and a nice out and back layout. I really enjoyed backwards.

Overall 9/10

And my dad suggested that we should ride both to see which is better. Smart thinking. We got back row on forwards.

Rebel Yell: Forwards

Forwards was much rougher, had a lot less airtime and overall was definitely the inferior Yell.

Overall 6/10

 So after Rebel Yell we head back to Volcano to see how bad the line is?yep still huge. So we went on Avalanche. I got front car to myself after about 15 minutes.

Avalanche

The ride was a fun bobsled and had some nice out of control transitions but going into the MCBR and final brakes were really rough.

Overall 7/10

After Avalanche we decided to brave the Volcano line. The line ended up being an hour and a half full queue. We actually saw security remove 2 kids for line cutting during our wait. I found the Volcano just kinda cheesy and not really great theming. So after an hour and a half we jump on back row.

Volcano: The Blast Coaster

So after making the left turn out of the station, we go into the Volcano and BAM. The launch doesn?t feel like LIM, much much much quicker. And after a few turns in the volcano we hit the 2nd set of LIMs and go vertical into the immelman. The turns up there aren?t taken very fast and are kind boring. I got knocked around a couple times too. It was a decent ride, but Intamin should definitely stick to on top of the track.

Overall 8/10

So finally I decide to queue up Tomb Raider. The ride was just a normal Top Spin, but the water effects and soundtrack made this definitely the best top spin ever. I loved it. After Tomb Raider, we go back to ride Ricochet which we got very lucky with since the line was huge the whole day, we get there right as its re-opening and we get on the 3rd car out.

Ricochet

Its really just a typical wild mouse. Not too bad.

Overall 6/10

And after that we ride Hurler one more time. Still a very kick ass ride. And as we were leaving Hurler we see Ricochet is down again. Phewww. Got lucky with that ride. On my way out I snapped a photo of the fountains which are beautiful at night.



Unfortunately it was already 9 and we had to drive to Maryland for our next park, Six Flags America so we headed out.

Overall, the park was beautiful. No doubt. But the steels were very meh. Volcano is the best steel and honestly, it didn?t impress me. Woodies were actually all very good and might?ve been the best collection of woodies I?ve seen.

So I?d give Kings Dominion a 7.5/10

[ChuckR]

You should of rode Hypersonic in the front, the launch is impressive in the front but the rest of the ride sucks.

[SilverBullet]

You should of rode Hypersonic in the front, the launch is impressive in the front but the rest of the ride sucks.

It was like a 12 train wait for the front and it would've probably been over an hour more.

[UrsaMajor]

Drop Zone is insane...what a great ride, honestly it must feel like that when you skydive. Yeah, I think I actually do prefer the freefall feeling to the 'stomach-dropping' drops of an S&S.

[CycloneMan]

Hypersonic sounds alot like Dodonpa!

[SilverBullet]

Meh, SFA TR coming...eventually. For now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwW0Ok3uDE

[Millennium Force 44]

Great video, although the second song did not mesh well with roller coasters. You got some great clips, what kind of camera do you use?

[SilverBullet]

Great video, although the second song did not mesh well with roller coasters. You got some great clips, what kind of camera do you use?

Haha that was the point...it was Six Flags America, which was ghetto. lol So i threw that song on.

I used a Canon Powershot 330 or something. Digital Camera, not the best for shooting video.

[Millennium Force 44]

Haha that was the point...it was Six Flags America, which was ghetto. lol So i threw that song on.
I used a Canon Powershot 330 or something. Digital Camera, not the best for shooting video.

K gotcha. The videos came out very well for being recorded with a digital camera. I have a Cannon SD 450 and any little movement makes the camera shake while I take videos. I just bought a little tripod (Gorilla tripod by Coby) that is sort of like a hand that can stand up or wrap around fences, rocks, etc. It is pretty cool and helps minimize the amount of shaking in my videos. It also fits in my pocket so it us not a pain to carry around the park.