Bgw 05/24-25/04

[willski2002]

w00t! My first trip to BGW! Anyway, we left Georgia after the last day of school, and arrived in VA on Sunday morning after going to my cousin's wedding reception. On Sunday we went to Water Country USA and went (slid?) on every water slide. On our way back to our resort at Ford's Colony, we caught a glimpse of what was to come; and boy did it ever look good!
On our way to the park Monday morning, we came across many "ye olde" objects: "ye olde fire hydrant", "ye olde Brusters Ice Cream", "ye olde pimped out H2", and last but not least "ye olde 195 ft. B&M invert". We got into the park with our 2-day $38 dollar tickets, and immediately rushed to Nessie. I ran ahead and got the first ride of the day in the front. I must say I was very impressed by the way BGW has kept Nessie running in peak condition..

Loch Ness Monster:

Day 1-Line Length: Walk-on to 5 mins.
# of rides on Day 1: 6

Pluses:
-Smooth
-Almost no line
-2 train operation
-Sweet enclosed double helix
-I was on the first public ride of the day!

Minuses:
-No dueling loops

8.5/10

We then headed to the train station for a quick ride to Festa Italia for the main attraction; Apollo's Chariot! My first ride was in the back, and I was immediately struck by the comfort of the trains. In my opinion, the back right is tied for the best seat on the ride with the front left or right. This ride provides ample airtime, although the trim on the third hill kills most of the airtime on the third hill, and the trim on the banked bunny hop kills most of the airtime on the double up (or whatever, I forgot the term: I'm so upset). The "surprise finale wasn't surprising, but it did give a load of air.

Apollo's Chariot:

Day 1-Line Length: Walk-on to 15 mins.
# of Day 1 rides: 7

Pluses:
-Incredible Speed
-Airtime out the wazoo
-Awesome twisting third drop
-Surprise finale
-Annoying but catchy theme song (dum dum dada dum dada dum dum dum dum.....dadada)
-Two train operation
-Clamshell restraints
-I was on the last public ride of the day in the front so neener neener!

Minuses:
-Accursed trims! Aiyeeeeeeeeeee

9.9/10- My new No.2, but without trims it would be No. 1.

[willski2002]

Sorry for the double post, but I'll have more updates later when I'm not so pressed for time (I'm working on my AP US History summer work).

[willski2002]

Finally, an update!


After our spin on Apollo's Chariot, we headed over to Alpengeist via the train. There was a great view from the trestle bridge, and you could also see Drachen Fire's (rip) station. We then wandered around in New France and got a drink before heading to Alpengeist.

Alpengeist:

Day 1 line-length: Walk-on to 20 minutes
# of Day 1 rides: 4

[BryanWood]

Hopefully you will update more...BTW...Loch Ness Monster has a triple helix, not double. It just feels fast.

[willski2002]

Well, the helix is more like 2 and 3/4, so I said two. Anyway, on to Alpengeist.

I ran to the entrance of Aplengeist, and was immediately impressed with the amount of theming. BGW did a great job of making the ride fit the Alpine theme. We walked through the empty queue (I'm glad it wasn't full-that looks like a 2+ hour wait!). We came to a station full of riders with a 20 min. wait. I got in line for Row 6. At this point, I had hyped the ride up so much and I knew it would be awesome. As my train pulled into the station, I saw the skis on the back of each car: a very nice touch. I boarded the train, and soon we were on our way. The first thing I noticed was the amount of noise the lift was creating; I couldn't hear what my friends were saying only 2 feet away from me! The next thing I knew, we crested the lift and had an incredible view of the Busch brewery and Busch Gardens. After dipping into a trim, the train banked to the left and began an incredible swooping dive.

Faster, faster, faster and then we sped over a footchopping Alpine hut and into the enormous Immelman inversion. At the peak of the inversion, there was a nice pop of air when suddenly THE TRAIN SHUFFLED[U]. That's right, a B&M train, specially designed to eliminate shuffling. We flew down the rest of the Immelman and flew into the world's largest inverted loop. After having our picture taken in a tunnel, we roared into an intense Cobra Roll. We headed up a very powerful S-Curve into the MCBR via a very sharp and painful transition.

After nearly stopping on the MCBR, we coasted down a drop, through a shed, and into a fantastic 0-g roll. Next, we went through a very strange feeling flatspin (either because of the slow speed it's taken at, or because its elongated, or not), and entered a weak helix, which led to a 180* left hand turn into the brakes.

Ratings:
8/10 in Row 6 (hey it shuffled, okay?)
10/10 reride in Row 1 (Row 1 and 8 are definately the best on this invert)

I loved Alpengeist because it met my expectations and much, much more. It's my new #3, just behind AP and MF.

[RaptorXLC]

Sounds like you enjoyed the coasters. I love BGW and Alpengeist is awesome.

[rocketchk]

BGW did a great job of making the ride fit the Alpine theme. We walked through the empty queue (I'm glad it wasn't full-that looks like a 2+ hour wait!).
3 hrs and 15 minutes the first week it was open. Anytime after 9pm, you're almost guaranteed at least a walk on or multi-rides. My record is 7. And yes, the ride does look excellent. Themeing is BGW's speciality.

Jessica

[willski2002]

Yeah, Alpie and all of the coasters were walk-ons during my visit, even for the front seat. The most in a row I got on Alpie was 8 on my 2nd day and I also got 12 in a row on AP my 2nd day: the park was almost empty.

[Alpengurl]

*nic pics about my ride*
Alpie banks to the right
Montu banks to the left

And anywhere between rows 2-7 is gonna shake and hurt during the ride *especially in the block brakes*

My bud and I did 29 in one day when BGW was open on the weekends cuz most of the time there weren't people waiting in our line. Most straight rides on Apollo was eight, after that the head rush gave ya a headache

[willski2002]

Whoops, I did say left didn't I? I meant right. I can't believe I put that, after having ridden it so many times. DUH!

[willski2002]

Well anyway, here's my final ride count:

AP- 25
Alpie-16
LNM-8
BBW-5
Other rides-13

[thecrazie1]

Loch Ness Monster is a great ride! If you like the theming side of the rides you should definatly come see the Loch ness Que line. It has the neatest stuff! the ride itself is really shakey...yes it has 3 circle things in the tunnel... its a great ride. It would be even better if it still had the Mist and nessie at the end of the tunnel