Post by coasterfreak101 on May 26, 2007 9:12:42 GMT -5
Yesterday, I got surprised by my mom with a trip to Busch Gardens Europe!! We've been wanting to go for Griffon, so she took me down for the ride's Grand Opening (not including the Sneak Peek Week). We got there and soon enough found out that every local school had the day off, and schools from farther away had a band competition on the same day!
Needless to say, we waited two hours for Griffon yesterday morning. The ride wasn't running fluently whatsoever in the morning, there were frequent breakdowns the entire time. Three words of advice - single riders line. We got a second ride on Griffon in 20 minutes using the single riders line! We were able to get on Griffon and everything else...but in the ten-and-a-half hours we spent at the park, we were only able to ride seven rides! Here's some ride reviews, pictures will come a little later (they're uploading now!):
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GRIFFON - Wow, Griffon was definately an amazing coaster. My mother and I completely enjoyed SheiKra last year, and with Griffon being a floorless version ten hours closer to our house, we had to get down to BGE for this thing! The two hour wait sucked, but the ride was definately a great thrill. We got the second and third seats to the left in the front row for our first ride, it was an awesome ride. Plus, it gave us a chance to sit down after the long wait! It beats SheiKra in my book, which would make it my #1 coaster!
APOLLO'S CHARIOT - Personally, I enjoyed this coaster more than Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure. I know, something's probably wrong with me, but I thought that Apollo's Chariot gave some better airtime than Nitro! The ride mixed together both floater and ejector airtime, a combo that makes the ride what it is. Definately worth a ride and a couple rerides - make sure one of them is in the back row!
ALPENGEIST - Out second coaster of the day, this one gave us a nice dosing of whiplash. We sat in the back row hoping for some more forces, and the cobra roll definately did that for us! I hate trim brakes, but I think that cobra roll needs one...it was actually a little too fast for me. The transition into the brake run looked painful from offride, and it felt painful from onride. Alpie definately wasn't the best ride of the day, but if you go to the park, definately give it a ride.
BIG BAD WOLF - Unlike Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, this one actually qualifies for a swinging coaster! Big Bad Wolf swung like mad, and each swing gave some good forces! I was pleasantly surprised with this one in the front seat, though the back seat was a lot rougher. In the front, you actually felt like you were going to hit the buildings - and when there weren't buildings, the supports!
LOCH NESS MONSTER - I expected a little more headbanging out of Nessie, but the ride actually wasn't all that bad! There was your normal Arrow headbanging, but Loch Ness Monster was a decent coaster! For the parks' first coaster nearly thirty years ago, this one still provides a thrill! Ride in the back, the first drop gave some unexpected airtime.
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Final Ride Count:
GRIFFON - 2
APOLLO'S CHARIOT - 1
ALPENGEIST - 1
BIG BAD WOLF - 2
LOCH NESS MONSTER - 1
Needless to say, we waited two hours for Griffon yesterday morning. The ride wasn't running fluently whatsoever in the morning, there were frequent breakdowns the entire time. Three words of advice - single riders line. We got a second ride on Griffon in 20 minutes using the single riders line! We were able to get on Griffon and everything else...but in the ten-and-a-half hours we spent at the park, we were only able to ride seven rides! Here's some ride reviews, pictures will come a little later (they're uploading now!):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRIFFON - Wow, Griffon was definately an amazing coaster. My mother and I completely enjoyed SheiKra last year, and with Griffon being a floorless version ten hours closer to our house, we had to get down to BGE for this thing! The two hour wait sucked, but the ride was definately a great thrill. We got the second and third seats to the left in the front row for our first ride, it was an awesome ride. Plus, it gave us a chance to sit down after the long wait! It beats SheiKra in my book, which would make it my #1 coaster!
APOLLO'S CHARIOT - Personally, I enjoyed this coaster more than Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure. I know, something's probably wrong with me, but I thought that Apollo's Chariot gave some better airtime than Nitro! The ride mixed together both floater and ejector airtime, a combo that makes the ride what it is. Definately worth a ride and a couple rerides - make sure one of them is in the back row!
ALPENGEIST - Out second coaster of the day, this one gave us a nice dosing of whiplash. We sat in the back row hoping for some more forces, and the cobra roll definately did that for us! I hate trim brakes, but I think that cobra roll needs one...it was actually a little too fast for me. The transition into the brake run looked painful from offride, and it felt painful from onride. Alpie definately wasn't the best ride of the day, but if you go to the park, definately give it a ride.
BIG BAD WOLF - Unlike Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, this one actually qualifies for a swinging coaster! Big Bad Wolf swung like mad, and each swing gave some good forces! I was pleasantly surprised with this one in the front seat, though the back seat was a lot rougher. In the front, you actually felt like you were going to hit the buildings - and when there weren't buildings, the supports!
LOCH NESS MONSTER - I expected a little more headbanging out of Nessie, but the ride actually wasn't all that bad! There was your normal Arrow headbanging, but Loch Ness Monster was a decent coaster! For the parks' first coaster nearly thirty years ago, this one still provides a thrill! Ride in the back, the first drop gave some unexpected airtime.
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Final Ride Count:
GRIFFON - 2
APOLLO'S CHARIOT - 1
ALPENGEIST - 1
BIG BAD WOLF - 2
LOCH NESS MONSTER - 1