Busch Gardens Williamsburg

[JungleSkip]

A dark ride that costed too much to maintain?

That's not my problem.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

My beef with BGW as of now, is how they have handled the closure of DarKastle. I would be fine if they closed it, but not in the way and manner that they are handling it now.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Screaming Swings are fun, and having it go over the river is fun. Two new rides on that side of the park will balance out Spain/Giga in 2020.

 

[david10225]

Was at BG over the weekend. When we left mid afternoon they were parking across the street which always is a sign of big crowds. Last time we were there (last season), DK was a walk on so it seems to have lost popularity. As I recall, before they build that, there was a very entertaining Wild Mouse type coaster there.

It would be nice if there were more indoor areas. As the weather was brutal on Sunday, the Festhaus was pretty much the only place to get a break from the heat (they were not showing Celtic Frye which was a surprise for me.

 

[Magic-Man]

That's not my problem.

I don’t see anything wrong with replacing Darkastle with event space. It’s better than nothing.

 

[JungleSkip]

I don’t see anything wrong with replacing Darkastle with event space. It’s better than nothing.

"Better than nothing" doesn't mean it doesn't totally suck.

 

[Magic-Man]

"Better than nothing" doesn't mean it doesn't totally suck.

It doesn’t suck, though?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I don’t see anything wrong with replacing Darkastle with event space. It’s better than nothing.

Event space is nothing. When there are other event spaces and warehouses are cheap.

 

[JungleSkip]

It doesn’t suck, though?

So you think that replacing a state of the art dark ride with a space to house temporary haunted houses doesn't suck?

Uh, okay. Whatever.

 

[Magic-Man]

So you think that replacing a state of the art dark ride with a space to house temporary haunted houses doesn't suck?

Uh, okay. Whatever.

It was either event space or nothing. It’s nice to see the space get used somehow.

 

[JungleSkip]

It was either event space or nothing. It’s nice to see the space get used somehow.

I think that's clearing a really, really low bar.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

^ So let the park bleed even more money just to appease you... yeah okay. Don’t be so dense.

Here’s the bottom line. The ride was built during the Busch era, a time where the parks were considered more of a hobby supported by a family with more money than God. Now it’s being run as a business by a company that looks at things like operating cost. BGW doesn’t have the means to maintain the equivalent of what many consider Universal’s marquee theme park attraction. I could have told you this in 2009 when the parks were initially sold.

 

[JungleSkip]

LOL. Sorry I expect more from the "Most beautiful theme park in the world".

The fact is SeaWorld is run by cheapskates. The idea that they couldn't keep DarKastle running is propaganda you bought hook, line, and sinker

 

[GAcoaster]

I'm sure the people who run SWP&E would love to not be cheapskates, but economic realities have made them have to cut costs. Most of the management of SWP&E dates back to the AB years and would love to have those carefree days of spending money and getting free beer back, unfortunately unless you're Cher you can't turn back time...

 

[TDBLMT]

I'm sure the people who run SWP&E would love to not be cheapskates, but economic realities have made them have to cut costs. Most of the management of SWP&E dates back to the AB years and would love to have those carefree days of spending money and getting free beer back, unfortunately unless you're Cher you can't turn back time...

if they can find a way....

 

[JungleSkip]

I'm sure the people who run SWP&E would love to not be cheapskates, but economic realities have made them have to cut costs. Most of the management of SWP&E dates back to the AB years and would love to have those carefree days of spending money and getting free beer back, unfortunately unless you're Cher you can't turn back time...

In that case, you put the ride in mothballs and wait until you're doing better. To completely gut it and turn it into a warehouse with a fancy facade is a travesty. Sorry not sorry.

 

[Magic-Man]

LOL. Sorry I expect more from the "Most beautiful theme park in the world".

The fact is SeaWorld is run by cheapskates. The idea that they couldn't keep DarKastle running is propaganda you bought hook, line, and sinker

They have to run multiple other parks. You forget, there were rumors of SeaWorld parks being sold just a short year ago. They don't have the money to maintain major dark rides like DarKastle, and, even if they wanted to, they wouldn't have any money to expand the park like they're doing now.

 

[Prototype_82]

The thing is going to look so ugly and be so loud against the most quaint and quiet area of the park. It's fine that they wanted to build this thing. And I get that they are trying to cater to thrill seekers over dark ride enthusiasts - but this honestly compromises the charm of what makes Ireland stand out against the other lands of the park. I'm done complaining and I'm glad I got to see the area at least once before this thing goes up... But as someone who is so used to flat Florida parks, that bridge between both of those lands was really something special.

 

[cwgator]

Was at BG over the weekend. When we left mid afternoon they were parking across the street which always is a sign of big crowds. Last time we were there (last season), DK was a walk on so it seems to have lost popularity. As I recall, before they build that, there was a very entertaining Wild Mouse type coaster there.

It would be nice if there were more indoor areas. As the weather was brutal on Sunday, the Festhaus was pretty much the only place to get a break from the heat (they were not showing Celtic Frye which was a surprise for me.

There was a Wild Mouse coaster there. It's now at BG Tampa.

Celtic Fyre runs seasonally. They use that theater for something associated with Howl-O-Scream.

 

[Nick]

Wow, why the hell is everyone being apologists for BGW turning DarKastle into an event space? Like, I get the company can't afford it with how it's currently being run, which is fine, but it's still it's a bit odd to act as if losing the ride is just another thing that happened in the parks day-to-day operations so you'll accept anything they can give you.

No paying customer should be happy that a ride had to close simply because they couldn't afford it.