Busch Gardens Williamsburg Celebrates 40 Years with A New Coaster and Much More!
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is celebrating “40 Years of Fun” in 2015! The Williamsburg Virginia park has been consistently rated as “the most beautiful park” by both the Golden Ticket Awards, and National Theme Park Historical Society.
For the 2015 season, Busch Gardens added yet another amazing roller coaster, a new show, and a whole lot more!
The addition making the most noise is their new roller coaster TEMPESTO! The all new coaster is modeled after an Italian daredevil called Tempesto. At first glance, the track looks short, but those who dare to ride Tempesto will be launched multiple times (forward & backward). The coaster will launch forward, then backwards through the station then launch forward again through the station at speeds over 60mph going up and over the huge 153 foot tall loop, where the rides signature loop-the-loop inversion takes place.
“Guests waiting to experience Tempesto will certainly feel its power as the coaster train races past them at highway speeds,” said Larry Giles, Busch Gardens” vice president of engineering.
Park President Carl Lum said: “I’m looking forward to seeing the expressions on our guests faces as they watch Tempesto in action. The speed of this coaster, along with the small footprint will make for an exhilarating ride.”
The ride is scheduled to open to the public on April 25, 2015. Pass members will have the chance to be among the first to ride. The park is holding a online contest to be one of the first 500 people to ride Tempesto. Pass members should be receiving a mailer any day now with a link to enter. (we received ours yesterday). Although the ride will not feature Quick Queue, guests have the option of winning passes via the in-park “Plinko” game (located near Verbolten) as a prize.
Fast Facts:
Ride Manufacturer: Premier Rides (headquarters in Baltimore, MD)
Type of Ride: Launch Coaster
Special Features:
- Three launch elements
- High-speed station experience
- 154-foot, high speed inversion
Track Length: 883 feet of track
Max Speed: 63 mph
Ride Duration: 55 seconds
Seats/Train: 1 train, 18 seats
Ride Height Requirement: 54 inches
Location: Festa Italia
Ride Open Date: April 25, 2015
A new roller coaster isn’t the only thing new in 2015. The park is also renovating everyone’s favorite log flume ride, Le Scoot. The water ride will be getting a unique overhaul with an all new track system, as well as all new ride vehicles. The new ride vehicles will be ACTUAL LOGS! The park is using real logs to make riding down a log flume feel more authentic. We’re excited to see these new ride vehicles and try them out!
BIER FEST!
Bier Fest is an an ALL NEW EVENT taking place September 12-13 and also September 19 – 20!
Raise your glass with a variety of draft beer, traditional German food, live music, and more at a unique Bavarian celebration Prost! This is the newest event we are most excited for!
Aside from what we mentioned above, here’s a few other new and / or upgrades for the 2015 season!
- Roll Out the Barrels – A new show at Das Festhaus
- New Ice Cream Shop – All new shop located underneath Griffon
- Food & Wine Festival – The annual culinary fun debuts two new food experiences, Asia and New Orleans.
- Limited Edition Steins – New steins to celebrate the parks 40th anniversary
- Limited edition classic merchandise – New merchandise from retired classic rides such as Big Bad Wolf and Le Mans.
- The Old Country – Before it was “Europe” or Williamsburg, it was called “The Old Country”. A small amount of limited edition merchandise is available that represents “The Old Country”.
The park doesn’t officially turn 40 until May 15th, so we are going to go out on a limb here and guess that there will be something special happening on that day as well!
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