Busch Gardens Williamsburg 50th Anniversary and Big Bad Wolf Previews
This past weekend, Busch Gardens Williamsburg celebrated its 50th Anniversary in tremendous fashion, commemorating the occasion with blasts from the past and a preview of its brand new B&M family invert rollercoaster, Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge. Here’s everything that we saw and experienced at this special event.
Around the Park
The first thing that I noticed were these great commemorative signs sprinkled around the park, celebrating the major events of each decade that the park has been open. It was a nice way to let fans literally walk through history as they made their way through the park. I’m not sure if these will stay up after this weekend, but they are definitely worth seeking out if they do!
Oktoberfest specifically featured a number of fun flourishes. There is a beautiful 50th anniversary piece in the center of the plaza, where a lot of fun character meet and greets would appear that harken back to years gone by. With the fan reactions that we saw every time these characters came out, I wouldn’t be shocked if Busch Gardens utilizes these sort of interactions more often. People were loving the walk-around characters. Inside Festhaus, they featured a 75-cent beer special, again a reminder of prices when the park first opened.
A Look Back Presentation
The opening day Globe Theatre was the perfect venue to host the official celebration of 50 years. Long-time fans were lined up for this 6:00 presentation from 4:30 on, not wanting to miss a chance to look back on the celebrated history of this beloved park. Shortly after being let into the theatre, The Williamsburg Classic Swing Orchestra took the stage. The reason this band in particular was selected was because for many years, the San Marco Theatre in Italy hosted the Starlight Orchestra. Multiple members of the band performing were members of that very orchestra that entertained Busch Gardens crowds for decades. Apparently, the band hadn’t performed at the park since 2008, but park president Kevin Lembke later remarked that they should return to the park soon, and we couldn’t agree more!
Speaking of the park president, he led the crowd through a retrospective of the entire history of Busch Gardens. We went from opening day all the way to present day with photographs, stories, and appreciation for the people who made it all possible. The presentation also featured a sneak peek at what to expect throughout the 50th anniversary. A few highlights included a brand new show led by the Burgermeister himself in Fasthaus. They also teased a really exciting after-hours event starting June 13th, emphasizing how many requests they’ve gotten for night ride opportunities. You can watch some highlights below.
The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge
With about five minutes left in the Look Back Presentation, Kevin Lembke took a moment to confirm with back of house, and then announced that as the presentation ended, Big Bad Wolf would be opening early for season pass holders. This resulted in a bit of a mad dash across the park. Suddenly, we were there in Drachen Fire plaza, walking the steps that we’ve walked to Howl O Scream’s Nevermore for the past few years, except this time we were approaching a brand new coaster. The entrance plaza features top-notch theming, including maypoles, warning bells, and a retheming to the side of their bumper cars building to look like an in on the outskirts of town. With some quick walking, we were lucky to be among the first hundred or so people to get to the ride.
Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge is a success in every metric that I can imagine the park was going for. It’s not a record-breaking thrill ride by any means, so don’t go in expecting intensity. However, this is by far the best themed coaster in the park. Every inch of the track has set dressing and storytelling, and the onboard audio influences the ride experience in all the right ways. This is the closest thing to a “story coaster” that I’ve ever seen at a regional park, and will only get better as the landscaping grows back in.
The basic “plot” is that you are the wolf, and off the first lift hill, the town is warned of your incoming presence, and you zoom around the buildings causing chaos. There are a few terrific near-miss moments built in, especially the church steeple, that I really hope will influence some future improvements on Pantheon. You are chased out of town and up the second lift hill, which drops into a trap. The wolf howls in defeat, and you zoom around in celebration that the wolf has been defeated. In just one ride, the story was completely clear.
Before any hardcore coaster fans start to complain about how tame it is, I want to share a story about my first experience on the ride platform. One ride before mine, a father and son were boarding the coaster. The son was barely pushing the 42-inch height requirement, and the staff made him get off to get measured. He just cleared the stick and excitedly went to his seat. The entire station erupted in applause for him, and there was a moment of realization as he got secured in his seat that he noticed the cheering was for him. He was visibly nervous about riding this “big kid coaster”, but held his dad’s hand, turned to the station, and gave a huge smile and wave, resulting in uproarious applause. Much like Hiccup of Hagrid, this ride is going to create the next generation of coaster fans. It’s just big enough to feel real, but just inclusive enough to give new riders that big-kid feeling. I prefer a full experience to pure thrill, and this coaster gives a heck of an experience. I look forward to riding this over and over for years to come.
The evening ended in fireworks over the Rhine River, and because the Big Bad Wolf line looked to be at least two hours long at that point, multiple walk-on night rides on Alpengeist. If you don’t like the tame nature of the Wolf, don't worry, Alpi will still rattle your brains to your heart’s content.
Busch Gardens went out of its way to honor the fans with this 50th anniversary celebration, which I think is what makes Busch Gardens stand out from the competition. They took every opportunity to make sure that we felt appreciated. We are very thankful for 50 amazing years, and can’t wait to see what comes next!
