Jump to content




THE Trip: BGE, KD, SFA, SFGAdv

??? looper

  • Please log in to reply
41 replies to this topic

#1 Antinos

Antinos

    Is it smooth and long?

  • 8086 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 08:40 PM

Busch Gardens Europe <3

I'll try not to bore you guys, but...EVERYTHING about this park is absolutely WONDERFUL! The landscaping, the food, the theming, the friendliness of the staff. Everything is as good as it can get. The park is absolutely gorgeous and all the rides fit in with the terrain and landscaping well.

Pics are from my phone...

We got to the park at around 9:30. We entered, and waited. Off to Griffon we went. We ended up getting on in like five minutes, and ended up riding three times to start off the day. Griffon is one of the coolest experiences you could ever experience. After going up the lift, you get a great view of the bay and the beer factory, but then you're hanging 200 feet above the ground. Straight down you go, and into the immelmann. The forces and airtime of the ride took me by surprise. The ride has insane positive Gs all the way up to the mid course brakes. Down the second drop and into the second immelmann. The hill after provides some decent airtime and the water splash is just cool. Griffon fell in at number 3 in my top. The only buff I have with the ride is that it's just a bit short, but that's not too big of a deal.

Posted Image

Next was Alpengeist. We got on quickly, and were thrown into submission. The ride was much better than I thought. The drop was fast and the immelmann had good forces. The loop intensified those, and the cobra roll put you through a centrifuge. After the mid course brakes, you dive down into a 0-g roll and then a corkscrew. The final turns make you nice and dizzy before heading into the brakes. We heard that the ride was one of the most intense out there, and it sure was. Alpengeist was number 10 for me, but was short lived when we rode Apollo. We got in line again for a front row ride.

Posted Image

Since we were in the area, we went to Darkastle, which was an interesting ride, but not much to talk about. The A/C felt nice after being in the 90+ temperatures all day. We skipped Big Bad Wolf for now due to the long line.

Apollo's Chariot was the surprise of the day. I wasn't expecting anything special from this, but I was blown away by the airtime that the ride was hiding. For those who say that there is no ejector on it, they're on cocaine. I left about four inches inbetween my lapbar, and I was off my seat over every hill, especially in back. The terrain interaction was great, and made for some awesome drops with insane airtime. It's enough to make it my number 6. We got a reride right away.

Lunch was a cheese steak and fries for me. We ate right under Apollo's lifthill.

Loch Ness Monster was next. I thought it was a cool ride, but nothing special, other than the interlocking loops and the triple helix.

Finally, we headed back to Big Bad Wolf. The wait wasn't too bad now, so we did it. We waited for front row, and once again, were surprised. The first few turns were great and pulled great forces. The second lifthill was good suspense for the final drop and turns, which were almost too intense for us. It'll definitely be a loss to the area when this ride closes.

We headed back to Apollo's Chariot next for another ride, and then went to Grover's Alpine Express so we could ride it. We then took the sky ride to France and then went to Griffon and Alpengeist again. We then went to Trappers Smokehouse for dinner. We got a ton of food and couldn't finish it, and it was delicious...with a capital D.

Two more rides on Griffon, and one more ride on Alpengeist, Big Bad Wolf, and Apollo's Chariot were enough for us. We headed home after having a great day, and we look forward to Thursday.

Ride count:

Griffon x6
Apollo's Chariot x5
Alpengeist x4
Big Bad Wolf x2
Loch Ness Monster x1
Grover's Alpine Express x1
Darkastle x1

King's Dominion is next!

Posted Image
Goliath(SFGAm)|Bizarro(SFNE)|BDash|Toro|Maverick|Voyage|Banshee|WickedCyclone|Skyrush|Leviathan
Coaster Count: 312

Character - What you do when nobody is watching.
Facebook | Youtube | Twitter


#2 NitroDude319

NitroDude319

    Compact or Nothing

  • 1846 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 08:48 PM

Sounds like you had a great time! I always liked BGE. It is one of my favorite parks to go to.

Posted Image


Posted Image


#3 BGTKing

BGTKing

    Administrator

  • 7516 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 08:55 PM

A bit surprised you rated Griffon so highly. It and SheiKra are both fun to me, but the two good drops are not enough to overcome the shortness. SheiKra feels longer to me even though it doesn't have the second Immelmann and the first Immelmann is better to me too.


#4 Mikecoastermaniac

Mikecoastermaniac

    Where'd He Go?

  • 1770 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 09:25 PM

Must get more pictures!
But great trip report, none the less. Did you ride BBW in the back?

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Watch My Coasters!

http://youtube.com/u...CoasterCreation


MaXair732865 (9:31:57 PM): seriously, i need a really compact layout
TehMike23 (9:32:07 PM):drop, loop, diveloop, zero-g, up into break run, helix..
MaXair732865 (9:32:12 PM): im not going to post this, dont worry
TehMike23 (9:32:15 PM): cockscrew, then station
MaXair732865 (9:32:28 PM): cockscrew? what the hell is that?
MaXair732865 (9:32:44 PM): sexuall? Innuendo much?
MaXair732865 (9:32:55 PM): Dang
TehMike23 (9:33:06 PM): ahahahah


My Top 5 Coasters
1-Maverick
2-Top Thrill Dragster
3-Millenium Force
4-Griffon
5-Apollos Chariot


#5 Antinos

Antinos

    Is it smooth and long?

  • 8086 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 09:34 PM

We rode in both the front and the back. I'll post A TON more photos when I get back to Michigan. I'll be able to upload them on my new computer.

Posted Image
Goliath(SFGAm)|Bizarro(SFNE)|BDash|Toro|Maverick|Voyage|Banshee|WickedCyclone|Skyrush|Leviathan
Coaster Count: 312

Character - What you do when nobody is watching.
Facebook | Youtube | Twitter


#6 SnooSnoo

SnooSnoo

    BANNED

  • 139 posts

Posted 28 July 2009 - 10:13 PM

What a woman.

Posted Image
-260


#7 BGEurope Kid

BGEurope Kid

    Architect

  • 476 posts

Posted 29 July 2009 - 08:13 PM

Seems like you had a great time. I love BGE because people talk about the long waits for other parks and here the lines are short during most of the year. I'm not sure if this was the case for you but BBW's line is normally the longest. I'm sure you did this ,with what you said about BBW, but most of the ride operators at Apollo's are quite lazy and don't push your restraint all the way down and it is 5x's better. The report was nice and described everything very well.


#8 Maverix

Maverix

    Aieght

  • 2281 posts

Posted 29 July 2009 - 08:33 PM

What a woman.


Hey Marcus ;)

God I really wish I wasn't so damn busy with swimming to go on these trips. Get some good pics of Project 2010 Marc!!!

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Top 10 Coasters:
1. Intimidator 305 2. Maverick 3. Storm Runner 4. Millennium Force 5. Gatekeeper
6. Diamondback 7. Manta 8. Wild Eagle 9. Thunderhead 10. Apollos Chariot


#9 Antinos

Antinos

    Is it smooth and long?

  • 8086 posts

Posted 29 July 2009 - 08:55 PM

Ok, we got to sleep in today, so that was a plus. We hit the road and drove around East Virginia. One of the coolest things we saw today was the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush, the worlds largest air craft carrier:

Posted Image

after seeing that monster, we drove over some bridges and saw Virginia Beach. We then drove through three or four rain storms. It was nuts. Visibility got down to probably 200 feet. We then arrived in Ashland. Since we had so much time to kill, we decided to get dropped off at King's Dominion.

We entered at 6:00 PM and headed for Dominator. The first thing I noticed is how you can walk under it. It looks so nice in it's new area. We got on it, and climbed the lifthill. Down the first drop and into the loop. The loop has nice hangtime and the following turns have nice forces. The cobra roll is decent as well. The trims don't bite as much as I remember and the corkscrews are taken at a decent speed. Dominator has definitely moved up in my list.

Scooby's Ghoster Coaster is really ugly, but probably the smoothest out of the four clones I've been on. Nothing else to say.

Avalanche came next. It's nothing special, but it was a fun ride. There was a bit of a vibration, but I think that's because the sled I was in was covered with large Canada stickers.

Volcano was next. It was our longest wait at 15 minutes. We waited for the front row, and everything was awesome. The launch is pretty intense and the immelmann pulls some nice forces. the heartline rolls have nice hangtime as well. If only the ride was longer.

Posted Image

We hit flight of fear quickly. There's nothing special to say, since we rode it's clone at KI a month and a half ago. It was fun, and these rides are underrated in my opinion.

Anaconda was our last credit tonight. We both agree that it looks just like a ride taken out of RCT and it sure rode like it. It wasn't terrible, but we're definitely not riding it again tomorrow.

We ate, and then got one more ride on Dominator in the front row before calling it a night to come waste a few hours on the laptops...how sad...We ended up getting half the park's coasters done in 2 and 1/2 hours. I'll leave you guys with a pic of Dominator at dusk:

Posted Image

More King's Dominion and Washington DC tomorrow!

Posted Image
Goliath(SFGAm)|Bizarro(SFNE)|BDash|Toro|Maverick|Voyage|Banshee|WickedCyclone|Skyrush|Leviathan
Coaster Count: 312

Character - What you do when nobody is watching.
Facebook | Youtube | Twitter


#10 Antinos

Antinos

    Is it smooth and long?

  • 8086 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 09:01 PM

Day two at King's Dominion was swell. We got to the park at around 10:15 and got in early with our passes. We got on Dominator quickly and headed to Volcano. After a 20 minute wait, we were riding in the front row again. Once again, it was a fantastic ride. The Crypt was next.

Posted Image

I only waited one cycle, and Pat sat it out. This ride was great. It was suspenseful, intense, and actually made me gray out a bit. I walked off the ride dizzy. It's definitely better than it's big sister at King's Island.

We walked over to Shockwave, but it wasn't open yet, so I went over to Drop Tower to get a ride. I got on in five minutes and ascended to the heavens. Down we went, and while the freefall was good, I remember Drop Tower at King's Island having more airtime.

Shockwave was next. After a 15 minute wait, due to slow loading, we were on. The ride wasn't very good. It was a bit rough and had minimal airtime. Skyrider at Canada's Wonderland was better.

We walked over to Rebel Yell, only to find out that they were running only one side. When we got to the station, we then found out that they were only running one train. This ride's operation was a failure, and fortunately we found a short row to wait in. Overall, the ride wasn't terrible, but it wasn't as fun as Racer at King's Island.

Ricochet was right around the corner, so we hopped on that and didn't have to wait too long. They actually cleared the line after us. There's nothing special to say about this ride other than there's a ton of lateral Gs.

Across the midway was Hurler. We hopped on that and were rattled around the turns, but the hills had some decent airtime.

We got some food next and headed to Grizzly. I never realized that this was a clone of Wild Beast at Canada's Wonderland. This was all around smoother, but Wild Beast had a better second half to it.

We headed up the Eiffel Tower to get some pictures. After snagging a bunch, we headed to Flight of Fear to get a reride on that. This was our longest wait today, which was about 25 minutes. The air conditioning was comfortable though.

Posted Image

To end the day, we headed to Dominator for three consecutive rides. We then left around 4:00 and started driving to Washington DC. We arrived at 6:00. We instantly looked up some restaurants and found a steakhouse around the block from the hotel. I got a 14 oz. Delmonico Bison ribeye topped with lemon butter and a side baked potato. It was delicious...with a capital D!

Tomorrow is Six Flags America.

Posted Image
Goliath(SFGAm)|Bizarro(SFNE)|BDash|Toro|Maverick|Voyage|Banshee|WickedCyclone|Skyrush|Leviathan
Coaster Count: 312

Character - What you do when nobody is watching.
Facebook | Youtube | Twitter


#11 pkiknex25

pkiknex25

    Ello!!!

  • 8238 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 09:05 PM

What?!?! No giga update!?!?! FAIL!!!

Sounds like a good visit though. Still laughing at you for missing that credit on Yell though.

SSCoasters Staff
The SSCoasters Forum Rules

cincinnatibearcats07sp-1.jpg

GigaSonic XLC, Déjà Vu, Werewolf, WildSide, Thunderhawk, Kaibutsu, Diamondback, Couloir

SVengeance|Voyage|LightningRod|Goliath(SFGAm)|OutlawRun|Fury325|RF2|Taron|StormChaser|Orion|

Coaster Count: 300


#12 Little Kuriboh

Little Kuriboh

    ωτς

  • 486 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 09:30 PM

Kings dominion is great, been there twice. i goto BGE at least 4-10 times a month xD


#13 lazor 22

lazor 22

    Enter The Rage

  • 5967 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 09:41 PM

BGE: What!? No Corckscrew Hill??? Both Times I've been to BGE I've eaten at that same spot under AC's Lift.

KD: I wish Volcano was open when I went, I love hangtime. Seems like lines weren't to bad for you. I hear Dominator is usually a 30-40 minute wait.

Can't wait to hear what you have to say about S: ROS, and if it is really better then AC.

LAZOR22SIG2.png
I305, El Toro, Goliath (SFoG), Time Machine, Talon, Apollo, Griffon, Georgia Scorcher, Nitro, Manta
Coaster Count: 77


#14 Mikecoastermaniac

Mikecoastermaniac

    Where'd He Go?

  • 1770 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 10:14 PM

S:ROS is no comparison to AC

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Watch My Coasters!

http://youtube.com/u...CoasterCreation


MaXair732865 (9:31:57 PM): seriously, i need a really compact layout
TehMike23 (9:32:07 PM):drop, loop, diveloop, zero-g, up into break run, helix..
MaXair732865 (9:32:12 PM): im not going to post this, dont worry
TehMike23 (9:32:15 PM): cockscrew, then station
MaXair732865 (9:32:28 PM): cockscrew? what the hell is that?
MaXair732865 (9:32:44 PM): sexuall? Innuendo much?
MaXair732865 (9:32:55 PM): Dang
TehMike23 (9:33:06 PM): ahahahah


My Top 5 Coasters
1-Maverick
2-Top Thrill Dragster
3-Millenium Force
4-Griffon
5-Apollos Chariot


#15 lazor 22

lazor 22

    Enter The Rage

  • 5967 posts

Posted 30 July 2009 - 11:58 PM

That's what I would think but S:ROS beats it every year in the polls.

LAZOR22SIG2.png
I305, El Toro, Goliath (SFoG), Time Machine, Talon, Apollo, Griffon, Georgia Scorcher, Nitro, Manta
Coaster Count: 77


#16 Outerlimits659

Outerlimits659

    Lead Engineer

  • 1448 posts

Posted 31 July 2009 - 09:23 AM

Rebel yell running only one side with one train is the situation almost every time I ride. What row did you ride in??

-OL659-

Posted Image

TTD l I305 l MF l Maverick l Dueling Dragons l Montu l Apollo's Chariot l Raptor l Hulk l Kumba


#17 Chubs33

Chubs33

    Roller Coaster Humanist

  • 2842 posts

Posted 31 July 2009 - 10:18 AM

Not to jump to conclusions, but Rebel Yell's backward side was not running when I went there in April. Not sure if it's just a coincidence. That ride is a tank anyway, love all of them especially Racer at KI.

Check out my blog: Life Is A Roller Coaster

 

(Coaster count: 504)

 

Blitzen Cyber Chase Prowler Tuscarora Ra: God of Sun Jersey Thunder Phoenix La Bestia Ripsaw

 


#18 lazor 22

lazor 22

    Enter The Rage

  • 5967 posts

Posted 31 July 2009 - 10:20 AM

When CF bought out Paramount they closed backwards side on Rebel Yell and Thunder Road. They don't have any plans of re-opening them either.

LAZOR22SIG2.png
I305, El Toro, Goliath (SFoG), Time Machine, Talon, Apollo, Griffon, Georgia Scorcher, Nitro, Manta
Coaster Count: 77


#19 SnooSnoo

SnooSnoo

    BANNED

  • 139 posts

Posted 31 July 2009 - 11:18 AM

I don't know what fanboys are voting for SFA's S:RoS.. but that ride is atrocious. It has.. maybe 2 pops of airtime.. and is destroyed by its long, boring, meaningless helices/straightaways.

Posted Image
-260


#20 fantom

fantom

    Screaming!

  • 1745 posts

Posted 31 July 2009 - 01:58 PM

I thought they just turned the trains around on Rebel Yell... huh. It was awesome backwards though, CF sucks at life though. Also, if you didn't ride Grizzly at night, you missed out on an entirely different experience.

Xbox GT: xxwarlordxx11
Posted Image

Posted Image

PM ME PLEASE IF YOU PLAN ON ADDING MY GAMERTAG!





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: ??? looper