Just posted: On-ride video from Busch Gardens' Verbolten

May 21, 2012 at 3:29 PM · Robert,

I would love to get one of those T-shirts to wear in Orlando.... if they are available for purchase, let me know who to send the money to.

The coaster looks fun BTW. It doesn't have to be all loops and cobra rolls, Raging Bull is still one of my favorites and it doesn't even invert.

May 21, 2012 at 3:56 PM · Seems like a great ride! seems like a more thrilling version of the Mummy. Reason 472 to go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg...

May 21, 2012 at 8:44 PM · I haven't been to the park nor ridden this new ride, but to me, it already seems a disappointment.

A) the exact same layout for the drop to the river and return to station - except you're above the track. Why not a flying coaster and Manta wing dip? That would be a better effect.

B) the show building doesn't seem themed from the outside and won't blend in to the park. BBW village at least looked like it belonged there.

Regardless, since I'm currently working on the east coast, I will probably be making a trip to the park in the next few weeks. Maybe with that Behind the Scenes Coaster tour. Elevator lift to Griffon platform, YES PLEASE!

May 22, 2012 at 3:05 AM · It is most definitely not a disappointing ride. While it won't win an award for being best at any single thing, it is solid the whole way through. the queue is the best I've ever seen Busch Gardens do by a mile. The loading system is efficient and fast (we waited 15 minutes our first time second). The action inside the show building was pretty impressive. The drop, while nothing huge, is surprising and good for a laugh. And the drop to the river is classic. I give Verbolten an A- for sure.

May 22, 2012 at 5:24 AM · Looks very fun! Like Tom said, I doubt this will get best ride though.

May 22, 2012 at 8:27 AM · The ride does look better than I expected. One of my random complaints - the cement support pillars in the river look so large and out of place. It really irks me for some reason.

May 22, 2012 at 1:43 PM · The footers are repurposed from Big Bad Wolf. They look overly large and out of place because the BBW supports were larger in diameter than the ones needed for Verbolten. Park officials rarely talk specific dollars and cents, but I did ask how much was saved by reusing the footers, and was told it was "significant."

I wouldn't be surprised if the park saved between $500k and $1M in doing this. I know for a fact from working around construction engineers that drilling and installing footers or caisons is not a cheap process, which is magnified when you have to do it on water. Those footers may not be pretty, but if it meant they could commit more resources and funding to the theme and building affects, then it was worth it.

May 22, 2012 at 2:08 PM · I wonder how Busch Gardens could camouflage those footers, though. A Year Two, off-season tweak?

May 23, 2012 at 9:55 AM · It didn't occur to me they were reused from BBW. When you compare it to most pictures of BBW, they look so much more out of place on Verbolten. Maybe someone can confirm this for me - it looks like the footers come out of the water a lot higher than before. I'm guessing perhaps they poured more cement? I have nothing against the park re-purposing supports, these just seem to stick out rather oddly (too clean perhaps?)

May 24, 2012 at 9:51 AM · They did add to the top of the footers, I think partially to cover the effects of the BBW supports on the concrete surface. I watched them pour on top , but that's all they did.

Personally I think they could have done something really cool and done a small amount of rock work to make it look like boulders or rock outcroppings coming out of the ground and water.