Roller Coaster Reviews - Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Here are some of the coasters, and what we think of them, at Busch Gardens, Virginia.

- This inverted coaster proves once and for all that SIZE DOES MATTER! Batman - The Ride had been our favorite steel coaster for years, but we knew this one would be different during the long ride up the lift hill. Of course, what goes up must come down, and Alpie delivers a really long, swooping first drop with such force that it feels like someone is hanging from your ankles. Next, you scream through a diving loop, a vertical loop, and a disorienting cobra roll, all with that wonderful B&M smoothness and comfort. The second half of the ride is full of more speed, curves, and barrel rolls, yet it didn’t make us dizzy like Batman does. We hear it used to be even faster when the ride was younger. Nevertheless, this is the best ride in the park, and one of the best steel coaster ever.

Apollo's Chariot - It’s a great big coaster! Apollo’s Chariot was B&M’s first hyper coaster (more than 200 feet tall). Their trademark speed and smoothness were there in abundance. The highlight of the ride, though, is the airtime. Whether it’s the pops of air you get going up hills when you sit in the front part of the train, or the wonderfully fun floating air you get going down hills when you sit towards the rear, the speed, height, and openness of the seat restraints really makes you feel like your flying. Yet despite the size, it felt a little short, especially when compared to Nitro. And watch out for the geese!

(No, we're just kidding about the geese. That was a freak accident. During this coaster’s opening ceremonies, famed model Fabio rode front and center on the first ride out, surrounded by beautiful “greek goddesses.” Unfortuantely, a goose was flying in the path of the train, and Fabio was smacked in the face. He arrived back in the station to a platform full of reporters with cameras all there for the media event. So there were pictures aplenty. But relax, this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day. And Fabio was not seriously or permanently injured.)

: This suspended coaster (as opposed to an inverted) has cars with floors that hang below the track on arms that can swing side to side. Most of the ride goes by too quickly to appreciate. There are pictures on the park’s brochures of a Bavarian village that the coaster flies through, but the ride actually whizzes by too fast to see the scenery. In sharp contrast, then, about 3/4 of the way through, the ride slows down to a pace not quite fast enough to be called a crawl. For nearly a full minute, the train inches forward until engaging a second chain lift. After that comes the best part of the ride when the coaster goes down a dramatic hillside drop and then skims the surface of the "Rhine" River before heading back into the station.

Loch Ness Monster - Innovative for its time, this double-looping steel coaster is now a bit dated. The ride seems to be a collection of elements rather than a smooth journey. For example, after the first drop, there is a section of straight slow track before the next element, the first vertical loop. The ride continues this way, alternately pausing and spinning through an exciting “trick.” It feels very disjointed, but overall, it’s fun enough to ride a few times. The breaks keep this coaster from being an “extreme” thrill ride and so shouldn’t scare away too many people.

Loch Ness Monster's interlocking double loops

When we visited this park, there was another coaster that has since been removed. The Wilde Maus was a fairly typical but boring mouse with painfully abrupt brakes. It was moved to Busch Gardens in Tampa, where it was renamed "Cheetah Chase."

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