Part 1 ended in New France, and after crossing a covered
bridge over the river (with excellent views of Griffon, Le Scoot, and
Alpengeist, you end up in Germany .
Alpengeist, and inverted coaster (the seats hang below the
tracks vice sitting on them), is a world-class coaster that often shows up on
"best of" lists. It's my personal favorite of the BGW coasters.
Here's a video of the ride
Moving past Alpengeist, you enter the main
"village" of Germany
I think the gift shops in Germany are my favorite in BGW.
Along with the park and ride "usual suspects" souvenirs, you can find
some really nice "authentic" German items - steins, Black Forest
Cuckoo Clocks, Hummels, and woodcrafts from Erzgeberge (the last of which I
collect).
My wife and I are "seriously" into Christmas
decorating; we put up about 20 fully decorated trees, and virtually every table
and shelf in the house have decorations on them. SO, any time there is a
Christmas shop, I'm in heaven. The BGW shop is beautiful, with many imported
German ornaments (mixed with others) are available.
Off of Germany
is a "mini-land" called The Land of the Dragons, a beautifully
designed children's play area. With a splash zone, several elaborate climbing
structures, and a few rides for the very young, this may become the favorite
area for the under 10 set.
The other "ride" in Germany
is the "Rhine " River cruise. A path
down a long (and very steep) hill takes you the boat dock on the banks of the
"Rhine ". This is a very relaxing 15
minute ride up and down the river. Other than the “big hill” on the Verbolten
rollercoaster, there's nothing really to see other than water and trees but
it's relaxing, and will give you a rest prior to hiking back up the hill after
the cruise.
One of the few walking "short cuts" connects the
boat dock to the back side of Scotland ,
providing the park's best views of the Loch Ness Monster - but be prepared for
a long flight of steps back up to the park at the other end.
And that's what there is to Germany - almost. Right next door
is...
Oktoberfest
In the spirit of the "real" Oktoberfest, this
"land" is a combination of food, drink, and rides.
BGW's newest coaster, Verbolten, is the "premier" ride in this area. This is a very unique coaster; it has two "launches", a "dark" middle portion, and a final dive to the surface of the "
Here is a video of the ride (although like Space Mountain
Right next to Verbolten is BGW's drop tower Mach Tower
The third major ride is a high-tech dark ride called The
Curse of Darkastle" that combines a ride vehicle that moves along a track
through sets with 3D projections (similar in concept to Universal's Spiderman).
The combination of the architecture, story line (the"curse" is that the family who owns the castle are werewoves, and the ride is an "escape" from them), and ride system makes this one
of BGW's premier attraction.
Rounding out the ride category are a few "carnival" type rides.
But the centerpiece of Oktoberfest is the Festhaus,a huge,
beautifully themed, dining facility that has live shows 3 or 4 times a day.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the food
at the Festhaus on my last trip. Back in the 80s, the food quality was very
good (almost as good as Epcot’s Biergarten), and quite "authentic" to
a person who grew up on German home cooking (and they had an amazing Black
Forest Cherry Cake). But now, they've converted the larger of the two food line
areas to pizza and chicken nuggets, and have relegated the "German"
dishes to the smaller line (which is easy to miss if you aren't looking for it).
I had the Wurstplatter which had 3 (fairly small) sausages, portions of potato
salad, sauerkraut, and braised red cabbage. None were bad, but none were
anything to write home about either. But mix it with beer and a very good live
show, and it made for a completely enjoyable dining experience.
Roll Out the Barrel is BGW's newest show, which replaced the
much smaller (and more traditional) song and folk dance show. With a
traditional "oop-pah" band, a cast of about 20 singers and dancers,
acrobats (why, I don't know), and a very nicely done set, this 25 min show is
quite spectacular; along with Celtic Fyre, I consider this
"not-to-be-missed".
As this is a very new show, there aren't very many YouTube
offerings; in fact, I could only find one of the whole show. Technically, it's
not very good, and watching all 25 min may be difficult, but it gives you an
ides of the scope and feel of the show
the Rhine Cruise
and Verbolten
At the other end of the bridge is...
Like Germany ,
Italy is divided into two
"lands"; Italy
(originally called Plaza San Marco), and
Festa Italia. The "theme" of the former is loosely
"Renaissance" and the theme of the latter is... well we'll get to
that later.
The bridge from Oktoberfest terminates in the "San
Marco" section of Italy ,
which houses Ristorante Dell Piazza (the main restaurant in Italy ) as well
as the "upscale" Italian gift shop and a few smaller food kiosks. Having
not eaten in Italy
in many years, it would be unfair of me to give my opinion of it - although
looking at the trays being carried by people to their tables, it reminded me of
mall food court Italian food.
The gift shop in Italy
is probably my second favorite in BGW (to look, not buy) as it has the largest
collection of Capodimonte (porcelain sculptures from Naples ).
The primary attraction in this area is Il Teatro
di San Marco, an open air performance venue that has both regular seating and
table seating for those who want to eat while watching the show.
The show currently playing there, called Mix it Up,
featuring brass, percussion, and flag waving, had not yet opened for the season
when I was there (I have seen it in the past), but here's a video of the 2015
edition.
Heading down a short path past the theater you come to
the "garden" area of Italy
The final offering, and only "big"
ride in Italy is Escape from
Pompeii
Here's a video of the ride
Crossing a bridge from Italy
Festa Italia
For the lack of a better term, Festa Italia is the
"midway" of BGW. There are booths with traditional carnival games of
"skill", various food booths, three carnival "spinner"
rides (with a mysterious oriental theme), a river rapid ride, and two
super-headliner coasters.
Much like Dinoland at Disney's Animal Kingdom, the theming
of this land is somewhat lost to the average visitor. The "backstory"
is that this is a festival set up to celebrate Marco Polo's return to Italy
after his trip to China (thus the seemingly out of place oriental theming to
some of the rides). How do I know this? I researched it on line.
BGW's newest coaster, Tempesto, is themed after
barnstormers that used to be a regular feature at county fairs. This is a new
technology coaster with both forward and reverse launches, and a high,
seemingly unsupported barrel roll at the top. Unfortunately, the grand opening
was the day after I visited, so I was able to watch "the press" ride,
but was not able to ride it myself.
Here are two videos of the ride; the first is watching it
from the ground, the second is a POV ride.
Although Tempesto is the newest coaster, in my opinion the
"star" of this land (and perhaps all of BGW) is Apollo's Chariot.
This hyper-coaster, with it's 200+ foot first hill and speeds in excess of 70
mph make it one of the best in the country. It's situated in such a way that
other than the lift hill, you have no idea of what's coming until you actually
ride it.
Here's a video of the ride.
Tucked between Italy
and England
It has several rides (including a kiddie coaster, similar to
the Barnstormer in the Magic
Kingdom
And that brings us back to England.
As you can see, there is really quite a bit to do at BGW,
and especially on a first visit, if you want to see all of the shows, ride all
of the rides, and enjoy the beauty of the park, I could easily see spending two
days (especially if you go at a crowded time and have to deal with WDW-length
lines.
As for touring tips, it's really pretty basic. Hit the
coasters first (note, Festa Italia typically doesn't open until an hour after
park opening). Then take a look at the show schedule and determine which you
want to see (most only show 3 or 4 times a day, so you don't have a lot of
choices). Once you have that set, fit with other attraction in between.
I hope you enjoyed my tour and that it has you excited about
visiting BGW.
Stay tuned for a tour of Busch Gardens Tampa, coming
soon to a screen near you!
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