Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2015 Rumors

[StarTrekGeek]

From Screamscape:

2015 - New Ride / Coaster - Rumor - (10/10/13) According to this local news report the new attraction permit BGW filed refers to the ride as a 2015 attraction, so that rules out a mad rush to have it installed for 2014. This begs the question… will the park install any new major attraction for 2014 or opt to let things sit stagnant for another year?
(10/9/13) BGWFans reports that Busch Gardens Williamsburg is preparing some kind of expansion and renovation to the park’s Festa Italia area. The project will include a new 156 foot tall attraction according to permits filed by the park. BGWFans takes a look at where markings have been found on the park, where soil testing is said to have been taking place and more to try and come up with an idea of what may be in the works for 2014 or 2015.

More details can be found here, including sight line testing:

http://bgwfans.com/2013/festa-italia-expansion/

I wonder what this could be.

 

[Smitty]

All signs are pointing to a large flat ride, according to this thread: http://forum.parkfans.net/thread-2677.html

With that let's hope we get a new coaster for 2016, the park has had a bleak 2013 season with budget cuts amok and a very subpar HOS.

 

[StarTrekGeek]

All signs are pointing to a large flat ride, according to this thread: http://forum.parkfans.net/thread-2677.html

With that let's hope we get a new coaster for 2016, the park has had a bleak 2013 season with budget cuts amok and a very subpar HOS.

Wouldn't surprise me. If BGT really is getting the rumored giga in 2015, it would make sense for BGW to delay their next coaster to 2016. Hopefully if it's a flat ride, it would be a HUSS Giant Frisbee like MaxAir. We need more of those!

 

[Smitty]

Yeah it also looks like a new Summer event to replace Illuminights is rumored for 2014/, and a new show will overtake the renovated globe in 2014

 

[shiekra38]

Does anyone know if the Drachen Fire plot is still open or was that taken by Griffin?

 

[StarTrekGeek]

Does anyone know if the Drachen Fire plot is still open or was that taken by Griffin?

That plot is still open I believe. Griffon used LeMans Raceway's plot.

 

[Smitty]

I'd highly doubt they'd put a coaster back there again, they use that area for HOS houses and special events. I'm guessing if a coaster comes in it is between England and Ireland

 

[Tobias]

Since it's about 12 days to the parks Passholder weekend/preview, it might be good to catch things up.

So over at the park in the Festa Italia section, they have built a clone of the Premier Ride's launched coaster that first debuted in Six Flag's Discovery Center in California. An' this has quite frankly been the scource of drama for several reasons.

- It's a bit of a shock that for a brand new major coaster for BGW it's a clone, let alone one that can be found at Six Flags. Normally BGW goes full-on custom with a major coaster to have something unique. Now to the rides credit, it's a really fun coaster. But it also brings up the next point.

- They're putting in a coaster with a shockingly small capacity, after all with the way the coaster is it only has one train...that can hold 12 people max. Now BGW is doing theirs a little different by adding a third card to the train, so the capacity will be 18...though for a park of BGW's size that's still very small. (Strangely enough, a small park in Mexico is getting the same coaster, however they're going to have a dual sliding station to run two trains...so it's a puzzle why BGW didn't spring for that option.)

- Lack of marketing. Just recently, the park is now starting to tease that they'll announce the coaster on the 21st which is one week before the park opens. For the whole Summer and offseason they have said nor teased nothing about this, meanwhile farther down a really big coaster has been getting widespread attention since last year. What kinda' hurts even more is it's rumored that the lack of marketing has been due to the issues of the various budget cuts.

Finally speaking of hurt, over at BGWFans they recently spotted the train arriving for the coaster...and in another mindbender it's reported the cars have OTSR's. (From the sounds of it, there's also a seatbelt that connects the OSTR to the lapbar so there's something else that'll add to capacity and thoughtput issues.)

OSTR's from Premier...a company that gave everyone a huge sigh of relief when they were able to replace their OSTR's with lapbars on their launched looping coasters, and that's pretty much been the standard on the launched coasters they've been doing. Sky Rocket, lapbars. Full Throttle, lapbars. Deep Space, lapbars. The very coaster BGW is cloning, lapbars.

The last time Premier was involved with OTSR's? Creating new four across trains for Six Flags New England's Giant Inverted Boomerang. They wern't ready the first season so SFNE opened the coaster with the original Vekoma trains, which actually worked just fine. So once the Premier trains were finally added well...as many stated they turned one of the best coasters in the park into easily the worst.

Should be interesting to see if the addition of the OTSR's were BGW's idea or Premiers, since this is par for the course on how screwy this project is turning.

 

[Mad Dog]

One word, "Blackstone". They have the Medusa touch.

 

[Teebin]

One word, "Blackstone". They have the Medusa touch.

I have come to think of them as, "Treadstone Blackbriar". I wonder why.

 

[Andy]

BOLD PREDICTION

This ride will open with little advertising and poor reviews. The park will struggle through the 2015 season with this ride and at the end of the year they will "reevaluate" the rides need, operational issues, and poor guest feedback. It will then be determined the ride has too many issues and will be removed for "future" additions, when in reality it will be sold to the highest bidder as a used ride to a regional park for cash that can be thrown into the struggling 2015 bottom line.

We shall see where we stand at the end of 2015...

 

[UNIrd]

What happened to this park? This is so sad.

 

[Mad Dog]

What happened to this park? This is so sad.

So true. Before I started coming to Florida, it was my favorite park. I was first there their second summer of operation, and they really played the old country role well. There were a ton of streetsmosphere people in period costume reenacting scenes. It was a truly immersive atmosphere. The park always had a lot of live entertainment, and only a few, but great, coasters. While the Busch's ran the park it was excellent. Then, when In Bev bought Busch, the park was in limbo for a year or so until Blackstone stepped in. Blackstone management immediately began cutting live entertainment, shows, and all the little ambiance factors that place a theme park above the Six Flags Amusement Parks of the world. They sucked the profits without returning much back. Of course attendance started falling, so what did Blackstone management do? They cut even more, slashing entertainment even more & shutting down attractions to save money....I used to go to BGW & Williamsburg every other year or two for vacation. I will not go back until Blackstone is gone.

 

[GAcoaster]

Finally speaking of hurt, over at BGWFans they recently spotted the train arriving for the coaster...and in another mindbender it's reported the cars have OTSR's. (From the sounds of it, there's also a seatbelt that connects the OSTR to the lapbar so there's something else that'll add to capacity and thoughtput issues.)

OSTR's from Premier...a company that gave everyone a huge sigh of relief when they were able to replace their OSTR's with lapbars on their launched looping coasters, and that's pretty much been the standard on the launched coasters they've been doing. Sky Rocket, lapbars. Full Throttle, lapbars. Deep Space, lapbars. The very coaster BGW is cloning, lapbars.

The last time Premier was involved with OTSR's? Creating new four across trains for Six Flags New England's Giant Inverted Boomerang. They wern't ready the first season so SFNE opened the coaster with the original Vekoma trains, which actually worked just fine. So once the Premier trains were finally added well...as many stated they turned one of the best coasters in the park into easily the worst.

Should be interesting to see if the addition of the OTSR's were BGW's idea or Premiers, since this is par for the course on how screwy this project is turning.

Actually, the OTSRs are there to improve throughput, eliminating the need for the seat belt which has to be bucked BEFORE the lap bar on the other installations. OTSRs speed the load process, with riders simply pulling it in place and then latching the belt (like on many of the B&M coasters) so it's not wait for the seat belts to get checked, then lower the lap bars and check them. Also, these OTSRs are more the INTAMIN style from what I hear where they are more of a lap bar with thin, narrow shoulder straps.

 

[Tobias]

Actually, the OTSRs are there to improve throughput, eliminating the need for the seat belt which has to be bucked BEFORE the lap bar on the other installations. OTSRs speed the load process, with riders simply pulling it in place and then latching the belt (like on many of the B&M coasters) so it's not wait for the seat belts to get checked, then lower the lap bars and check them.

Here's the thing about seatbelts, they're nowhere to be found on the original version. Case in point just look at the video of S:UF at SFDK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob0yjL2wOQY&feature=player_detailpage#t=129

Over there it's just a lapbar and nothing else, as plain and simple as it get's. Remember this kind of coaster uses Premier's newer trains, NOT the kind of trains that can be found on the Flight of Fear coasters which do involve seatbelts.

Also, it's being reported that BGW's coaster has more then just a OTSR, but it's also using the lapbar as well. So one has to pull the lapbar down, then the OTSR and then connect the OTSR seatbelt to the lapbar. This is not helping thoughtput whatsoever when they could've just had just the lapbar like the other versions of this coaster.

Now there is a thought going around that possibly they're using the OTSR to have a lower height requirement, now if that's the case then it's still something I really disagree with on doing since capacity and thoughtput is already going to be bad enough as it is...and you're going to make it even more complicated with the restraints just to have a even bigger crowd get in line for it?

3/19 UPDATE

Alright, a good amount of stuff has been revealed since this last post. The cars/train have arrived on site and it is now fully confirmed there are OTSR's. They look to be a fairly thin rubber, like as thin or thinner then Intamin's strap restraints without the padding. (No idea if there's going to be padding added to these restraints, but they don't look too pleasant. Not the kind you want to get pushed to the side or hang against...which is what will happen.) Also as reported earlier, both the lapbar and OTSR are compleately seperate from one another. So one will have to pull the lapbar down first, then pull down the OTSR, then connect the OSTR to the lapbar.

Also today there was a leak on the BG's website, showing the page for Tempesto. It was quickly pulled, but not before many people could screencap the page.

https://www.facebook.com/BGWFans/photos/pcb.10152819760973721/10152819759553721/?type=1&theater

Perhaps BGW pulled it because they realised on the page they have a name generator that is incredibly stupid. (Seriously, Six Flags Magic Mountain came up with a far better name generator to promote Twisted Collossus.) Though the page also reveals the height requirement for the coaster, 54 inches...which is exactly the same as it's west coast and European counterpart. Which really does beg the question, if the height requirement is exactly the same as the same coaster that features lapbar only...why on earth were OTSR's added to this one?