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Busch Gardens Williamsburg Project 2011 and 2012

Feb 27, 2010
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Oviedo, FL
From The Virginia Gazette:

JAMES CITY — Busch Gardens plans to build a 26-story “tower” coaster that will easily eclipse the 205-foot peak of Griffon.

An application to the county for a height waiver describes a “thrill attraction of a single tower not to exceed 260 feet above ground level.” That strongly suggests a drop coaster, along the lines of “Tower of Terror” at Universal Orlando or “Drop Zone” at Kings Island in Cincinnati, which tops out at 315 feet and holds 40 passengers.

A similar drop coaster ride is in Germany’s Hansapark. “Monte Zuma” lifts 30 riders 160 feet in the air, and either drops them, catapults them up, or goes up and down like a yo-yo.

The Busch application is timely, since the theme park tends to roll out a new ride every three years. A balloon was lofted last Thursday to gauge the visibility of the ride.

Expansion reinforces Busch’s place as the driver of tourism in greater Williamsburg.

The new ride will be located in Germany, next to Der Wirbelwind swing ride. The plans suggest the ride will not be built on the site of the Big Bad Wolf, which has been retired.

The Griffon was the last coaster, in 2007. Typically thrill ride blogs are loaded with speculation long before the rides open, but those websites have focused on the “Europe in the Air” simulation ride that Busch Gardens will debut this year.

The investment of millions in a new coaster shows that Blackstone Group, which bought Busch Entertainment’s 10 parks last year, is willing to invest heavily in new hardware before attempting to flip the park. Last week Blackstone released its first-quarter financials for 2010, reporting a $360 million profit. That’s a big turnaround from an $82 million loss a year earlier.

Haha, they thought Tower of Terror was in Universal! :lol:

Anyway, this seems exciting.
 
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Wow, if you don't know than you need to check your facts. Hopefully they correct that, unprofessional.
 
I was looking to get back to BGW. I last went the year before Griffin opened, so I'll look to make a trip down there when this opens.
 

A lot of news outlets do this. The only thing worse than reading errors like this, is seeing locals comment on these stories. "I went to Disney, and I was told that they'd be building Disney's Minneapolis Adventure next year!" and so on. That, and the occasional "Disney secretly owns Universal and Sea World"-type comments.

Also, the ride is (generically) named "Drop Tower" at King's Island, and has been for two or three years now. "Drop Zone" was a trademark owned by Paramount.
 
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Recently, a permit was filed for new food buildings, walkways, and a new major ride (the drop tower maybe?):

2011/2012 - Tower Ride / New Land / Flying Coaster - Rumor - (7/22/10) Busch Gardens Williamsburg has put in a building permit to the local county planning office for an expansion to Germany that will include new food buildings, walkways and “a major ride and ride locations”. You can read it yourself here.

http://first.jccegov.com/CaseTrak/searchdetail.aspx?caseid=61518

EDIT: http://behindthethrills.com/index.p...g-bad-wolf-location&catid=64:news-&Itemid=121

Looks like some surveying is occurring in the old Big Bad Wolf station area.
 
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Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2012

Why didn't I make a topic about this yet...? :shrug: Anyways, Screamscape reported this a few weeks back:

2012/2013 - New Coaster / New Land - Rumor - (7/11/10) Time to shake up the rumor mill… as we’ve been sent a new rumor about BGW’s next coaster project tentatively planned for 2012. According to our source the new coaster could actually come from a German company. I’m going to assume Schwartzkopf is still out of the picture, and they would likely avoid Maurer at this point given the troubles Universal has had with the Rockit coaster. This pretty much narrows things down to Mack and Gerstlauer. While Mack is mostly known for the Mouse coasters, they did make a big splash into the launched coaster market last year with Blue Fire, and their spinning coasters are very cool as well. Plus they have a long standing relationship with the Busch parks.
While Gerstlauer hasn’t been used by the former Busch parks yet, their impressive Eurofighter line of coasters (launched and vertical lift hill varieties) have already proven to be very adaptable to highly themed environments as seen with Dollywood’s Mystery Mine and Hansa Park’s Curse of Novgorod. A highly themed indoor/outdoor ride like this would be a great fit into BGW’s already impressive coaster collection.

Your thoughts on this?
 
I could see the new B&M protoype coaster working there if it is a success at Gardaland. I could see them using the terrain to make it work well. I think it would be a nice addition and definitely something different for the area and parks they compete with.
 
From Jp at AmusementParkAuthority:

Busch Gardens has announced today that on september 18th they will announce their 2 year plan for Busch Gardens and Water Country U.S.A.. They say that both park will be receiving new attractions.
 
Looking forward to the announcement. BGW was an amazing park when I visited last year but Big Bad Wolf will be sorely missed.

Hope they theme this drop tower though, if it's true.
 
From Screamscape:

2011/2012 - Tower Ride / New Land / Flying Coaster - Rumor - (9/16/10) BGWFans has some new details about the upcoming announcement for the Williamsburg parks. In short, the drop tower is still coming, but will likely have a structure around the lower part of it like Dr. Doom in Florida. Catapult looks like it will be moved to New France, buildings revised, and coaster still on track for 2012.

And also from BGWFans:

This information comes via an extremely reliable source with knowledge of the project plans, but is obviously not going to be confirmed until this Saturday.

We all know that there is a drop tower on the way. The questions have been, what will it look like, where exactly will it be and what has to move to make room for it. Well, it turns out that the swings will be staying in place, as will the bumper cars. Katapult is indeed on the move and will replace the Canadian Palladium in New France.

Many of the existing structures in Oktoberfest will be getting remodeled and in 2011 a “pretzel market” and “soccer game” will be added to the area.

As far as the drop tower itself, the source wasn’t able to see plans of the actual tower, but judging by the site and base plans, the tower looked, “Dr. Doomish”, meaning the base will clearly be enclosed.

In 2012 the park will add a “big coaster” on the former site of the Big Bad Wolf. The reason the footers are still in the area is because the final plans have not been completed and the exact configuration of the project is unknown.

There are also some smaller things mentioned, renovation of the restrooms in Heatherdowns and the addition of food kiosks around the park.

As far as the Water Country USA slide, they described it as a system where you drop down into a slide with multiple slides. Aqua Loops do have a drop in and the plans that have leaked seem to show that is what we should expect.

Stay tuned for more information as it comes available and of course, follow us on Twitter as we cover the official announcement on Saturday. Also, drop by our FORUMS to join in on the discussions.
 
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Today was anouncement day for the new 2011 attractions for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA. Also mentioned is the 2012 attraction.

Here is the annoucement from their website:

Announcement - Big News | Busch Gardens in Virginia

Big_News2.jpg


[video=youtube;kSr2PcUttU4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSr2PcUttU4&feature=youtu.be[/video]


For spring 2011 @ BGW: Mach Tower

Rides - Mach Tower | Busch Gardens Virginia

As you enter Oktoberfest and pass by the fun-filled halls of Das Festhaus, you see it rising into the sky – the massive spire known as Mäch Tower.

Craning your neck to see the top, you notice a group of revelers being lifted and spiraling into the stratosphere. Suddenly, in a rush of wind and screams, they drop. So does your jaw.

This is Mäch Tower, the highest ride in Busch Gardens. It’s 245 feet of adrenaline-pulsing thrills with a view of the park and surrounding countryside you have to see to believe. That is, if you can keep your eyes open.

Mäch Tower – Heart racing. Jaw dropping. Spring 2011.


Water Country USA 2011: Vanish Point

Rides - Vanish Point | Water Country USA

Get ready for the slide of your life on Water Country USA’s epic new drop slide: Vanish Point. Inspired by the point on a wave where water and gravity form a perfect partnership, this summit supplies two wicked wet ways to drop out of sight.

The crest of this 75-foot tower challenges you with two wave paths. You can step into a skybox where you drop down when the floor drops out. Or get horizontal on the 300’ speed slide where you drop down as soon as you flop down … straight down.

Brace yourself for pure liquid adrenaline.

Vanish Point. Coming in 2011, only to Water Country USA.


For 2012 @ BGW: Multi-launch Coaster
(more info coming)



Intamin in 2012? Or will it be the new generation B&M (ala X-Raptor)?
 
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I really hope it's not the same type of ride as Cheetaka... It gets annoying how BGT gets an amazing one of a kind ride, than BGW makes a bigger one...

And yay for Aqua loops and drop towers!!!
 
^^They may make bigger versions up there; but bigger doesn't always mean better. I love Montu much more than Alpengeist (even tho it was my first inverted). Many others I know agree. I also prefer Sheikra over Griffon (even with it's extra inversion and 5 feet in extra height). Sheikra just has better theming with the dive into the tunnel.

Another one they tried to do up there was a disaster; the defunct Drachen Fire (even though I actually liked it- having ridden it first after it's modification). Kumba is definitely a winner in my book over that one (of course B&M is definitely superior to Arrow so we got the better deal down here).

IMO the only coaster that BGW built that is superior is Loch Ness Monster vs. the now defunct Python.
 
Intamin in 2012? Or will it be the new generation B&M (ala X-Raptor)?

I have to think this will be an Intamin coaster, they are known for there package deals. Whose to say that BGT won't get a freefall tower in 2012 as well.
I really hope it's not the same type of ride as Cheetaka... It gets annoying how BGT gets an amazing one of a kind ride, than BGW makes a bigger one...

I see your point but it makes no difference, why you ask because we have Mark Rose.... The man is a genius and takes GREAT PRIDE in his creations and it shows.
 
I really hope it's not the same type of ride as Cheetaka... It gets annoying how BGT gets an amazing one of a kind ride, than BGW makes a bigger one...

I think it just shows non-creativity. If a concept works for BGT, then they'll copy it with a twist for BGE. It'd be better if the two parks had a little more variation.
 
The drop tower looks a little underwhelming in the theming department. I'd except more from a new attraction at BGW.
 
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