(Note: I'm going out of town early tomorrow, so I'm just providing a brief overview of the ride here, and will have a full report up by Monday night)

I was lucky enough to attend the media day today (5/16) for Busch Gardens Europe's newest coaster, Griffon. Driving up to the park, the ride is easily visible. It's only my second trip to the park, but as I remembered from before, you couldn't really see any of the rides from the road. Griffon was very easily seen and provided some anticipation before arriving. After some brief presentations by the ACE President and higher-ups in the park, we were given the chance to ride. I have never gotten a chance to ride Shiekra (or Oblivion for that matter), so I really had no basis for my comparison.

The first thing I notice is how much of the ride is extremely close to the paths in the park. This makes for some great photo and viewing opportunities (I'll post pictures when I return). I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the ride, other than what I got to see from the ground in the few test runs in the morning. My first ride on Griffon was from the middle row, about 2 seats from the outside. Going up the lift hill, I noticed it was quite steep. At the top, the ride is extremely quiet, and provides for some views that are unbelievable! The ride eventually creeps towards the vertical drop, and after some cliff-hanging moments of being held over the edge, the ride falls down the hill. The airtime provided is amazing! The ride proceeds at a pretty quick pace, and the second drop is fun as well (although it doesn't provide the airtime that the first drop does). The water splash is fun as well, although the visual aspect of this element is best appreciated from the ground. I expected the ride to slow down considerably from dragging through the water, but this wasn't the case. I barely felt the ride slow any, if at all. A nice over banked turn into the brakes completes the ride.

Overall, the ride exceeded my expectations. It was extremely smooth, and was something I could ride repeatedly without loosing interest. As I said at the top, I've got to get some things ready for tomorrow, but I'll post a full report when I get back. I'll share my experiences riding in different locations within the train as well as some other things to note about the ride.

As mentioned in the Construction thread, the ride will be open for a 'sneak peak' next week! If anyone is going this weekend, enjoy! Otherwise, I'll share the rest of of my experience in a few days!

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