Welcome to another edition of Thrilling Thursday here on the blog. I've spent the last 10 weeks counting down my top 10 wood and steel roller coasters and with that coming to an end, I want to do something slightly different for the next few weeks. I am going to do a series where I look at a park's entire coaster lineup and rank them from my least favorite to my favorite.

I can't think of any place better to start than at my home park of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I live about an hour from the park and visit multiple times a year. This park has a great lineup of roller coasters and I can honestly say that none of them are bad rides. Sadly, that won't be the case with some other parks I will feature. Without any more fanfare, let's jump right into the roller coasters of Busch Gardens.

#8 – Grover's Alpine Express

Grovers Alpine Express Sign

This is a children's coaster that was manufactured by Zierer Rides. There's not a ton to say about it except that it is very smooth for a kid's coaster and it is a lot of fun. Both of my kids really enjoy it. The reality is that it just doesn't compare to anything else in the park.

#7 Tempesto

Tempesto is a Premier Rides Skyrocket II model. It is a quick (45 seconds) triple launch coaster. While it is short, it does pack a pretty good punch as the launches are pretty forceful. When you look at it, you can see the heartline roll at the top of the structure. Let me tell you that you get a ton of hangtime when you go through that element. This is a very solid ride, but for me, it is not incredibly re-ridable and because it is a shuttle coaster and can only run 1 train, it almost always has a line. Those two factors are the reason that I would put it this low on my list.

#6 Verbolten

Not many parks can claim to contain 2 roller coasters from Zierer Rides. Busch Gardens is one of them. Verbolten is another multi-launch coaster (2 launches), but unlike Tempesto, it is a full circuit coaster. This is easily the most well-themed coaster in the park. The ride takes you into the Black Forest (inside the show building) where you will encounter one of three different experiences. In the building, you will either encounter the spirit of the forest, a lightning storm, or the legendary Big Bad Wolf. Once you escape the forest you will then follow a familiar path. From the top of the drop to the end of the ride, you will retrace the same path from the coaster that used to stand in this spot. That coaster was the Big Bad Wolf. The fact that a unique and solidly themed coaster like Verbolten sits at #6 on this list tells you just how good the park's lineup is.

#5 Griffon

Griffon is a dive-coaster from Swiss manufacturer B&M. It delivers a very smooth ride that takes you through 2 inversions. The star of the show though is that initial 90-degree drop. As the train approaches that drop it comes to a stop with riders dangling over the edge. After a few seconds, the holding brake lets go and it's off to the races. The ride also features a splashdown ending.

#4 InvadR

InvadR2

This is the park's wooden coaster from Great Coasters International. Many enthusiasts don't give this ride great reviews. While it's certainly not one of the bigger GCI coasters, don't let its stats fool you. This ride delivers a really good family wooden coaster experience complete with airtime and laterals, not to mention several head-chopper elements. The back row is the best spot to ride this coaster.

#3 Loch Ness Monster

'Nessie' is easily the park's most iconic ride. This 41-year-old Arrow looper is still thrilling passengers of all ages. Not only is the ride very photogenic, but it is still a very enjoyable ride. It is the only ride still operating in the world with interlocking loops. Unfortunately, they no longer time the blocking of the trains so that the trains enter the loops together. Even without that added bonus, you can not miss this ride when you visit the park.

#2 Apollo's Chariot

Apollo's Chariot and Tempesto

This is the park's hyper coaster from B&M. In fact, this is the first hyper coaster that B&M opened. It edged out Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America by a few weeks. Opening in 1999, this is still one of the better hyper coasters out there.  In fact, prior to my ride on Mako in 2018, this was my favorite hyper out there. This ride is packed with airtime from start to finish and features an upward helix at the turnaround point. If you can grab a ride on it while the park's fireworks are going off during the summer, you are in for an even more special treat.

#1 Alpengeist

alpengeist edited

Alpengeist is an extreme inverted coaster from B&M. It is still the tallest B&M invert in the world and wow is this ride crazy. It is my second favorite invert of all the ones that I have ridden. Let me tell you, the cobra roll element is one of the more intense moments on a coaster that I've ever experienced. If you ride in the back row, you can feel the forces all the way down in your feet as you go through that element. The only thing keeping this behind Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa for me is the way it slams into the mid-course brake run. If that wasn't so jarring, I would rate this above Montu.

This year, if the parks are able to open, BGW plans to open Pantheon. This will be another multi-launch coaster. Intamin is the manufacturer and let me tell you, from what I saw in person last year during construction and what has shown up online since, this ride will be bonkers. I strongly suspect it will become my new #1 in this park, but until I ride it, I won't rank it.

Well there you have my countdown of BGW's roller coasters. How do my rankings compare to yours? Let me know in the comments.

Let me give you a little bonus.  The park has two legendary roller coasters that are no longer operating in Drachen Fire and Big Bad Wolf. For some hypothetical fun, I will let you know where those rides would fall in my countdown if they were still standing.

  1. Alpengeist
  2. Drachen Fire
  3. Apollo's Chariot
  4. Big Bad Wolf
  5. Loch Ness Monster
  6. InvadR
  7. Griffon
  8. Verbolten
  9. Tempesto
  10. Grover's Alpine Express

Finally, if this blog got you interested in learning even more about the park, check out this video that I was honored to record with Steven from Thrill Maxx. We talk about the roller coasters and so much more as we walk around the park. Give their channel a subscribe as well.