I spent most of the day at BGE riding DarKastle, although I did get around to Roman Rapids, Emerald Beat, Pirates, and Kinetix.

Big Bad Wolf was not runnting towards the beginning of the day. The map said it wouldn't be open all day. I saw a few cast members huddled around the back of the train around 3:00 and later that day around 4:30 it was running.

DarKastle:
at 12:40 the garden maze wasn't open. The hallway going into the preshow and the preshow itself now have permanent queues in them. I still say that's a mistake in setting the mood of the ride. By 1:00 the maze outside was open. There's now a new swinging gate that closes off that part of the queue. Inside the ride, I noticed the cobwebs in the kitchen looked new. The steam for the fireplace wasn't working all day and nor were the heat cannons. I hope this is a temporary breakdown and not a concious change. During one of my rides the car's audio skipped a little and during another ride, the projector for the right eye in the armor scene was frozen at the last frame. The wndows are not working for the dining room scene. Every time I rode it, the left was down and the right was up, but they weren't working. I wish they'd get that working. DarKastle's line got up to an hour wait.

I got soaked on Roman Rapids and Emerald Beat was as good as ever. That's my favorite show in the park now.

Pirates was pretty good. The air blowing effects didn't work, and I think a couple of the water ones didn't work either. There's still no theeming in the lobby. Is this the same movie as the new one at BGA?

Kenetix was a pretty good show. I think they could have always made it longer. There was also a lot going on and It was hard to tell waht to pat attention to. I liked the costumes from Imaginique better, but these were just as bright.

Nice trip report. I need to get down to BGE to try Dark Castle. When I went it was constructed but not yet operational.

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"I go out and see a kid grabbing his crotch. Ain't nobody telling them that. Where do they get it from? They watch MTV. I say, 'If you wash up more often, you won't have to grab your crotch.' I'm telling these guys, 'Why you gotta grab your crotch?' Then you see Michael Jackson grabbing his crotch 50 times. What's with him?" - Mr. T

Nice trip Report......I am going to BGE this summer.

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What were the wait times like for DarKastle and the coasters? I have heard that the new virginia fun card is increasing attendance significantly this year, and I just wanted to know what to expect and if one day will be enough for the park when I visit from Ohio next week. I'm debating whether to spend one day at BGE and one at PKD or both days at BGE to get plenty of rides on everything. On my last visit in 2000, I was there for 2 weekdays plus 1/2 a Saturday in late June and got 60+ rides on Nessie, AC, and BBW (sorry, no Alpie on that trip). I think the waits were 10-15 minutes for AC, <5 minutes on Nessie, and 15-30 minutes on BBW. I loved not waiting more than 30 minutes for a ride my entire trip, but I'm guessing that has changed since then.

I know that it will largely depend on the weather, but I just wanted to know what waits were like during your trip on 6/17.

I didn't go on any coasters, but BBW was all the way full. From my past experiences, that's about 45 minutes, but I'm not sure how many trains were running then. I didn't notice the lines for the other coasters because I didn't really pass them. DarKastle's line ranged from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day. The line is shorter earlier in the day.

It def. depends on the time of day, and also the weather. School's in the surrounding areas are out now, so of course, there are going to be more kids, but less school trips. I'm sorry you didn't get to ride Alpie - I'm not biased or anything, but it's my fav. coaster there! Well, the next time you're at BGE be sure to stop by Alpengeist and say hi! Just ask for Cari, and they'll find me. :-)

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Alpengeist Ride Operator - '03,'05,'06