Wooden coaster thrills invade Busch Gardens Williamsburg
There is a wide array of technologically advanced roller coasters to test your mettle these days. At Busch Gardens Williamsburg for example, you could soar down 200 feet and hit 73 mph on an incredibly smooth hypercoaster, experience tight inversions and powerful positive G- forces on an inverted coaster train that hangs beneath the tracks, or plummet 18 feet in the dark tethered to a vertical drop track that gives way on a magnetically launched coaster.
For its eighth thrill machine, however, the Virginia theme park has gone decidedly old school. In April, Busch Gardens opened InvadR, its first wooden coaster.
Located in the rustic New France section of the park, the ride incorporates a really old school theme: Marauding Vikings, it seems, have invaded the village and are threatening its loggers and trappers. The spelling- challenged warriors duke it out aboard InvadR ( apparently the seafaring Scandinavians aren’t all that fond of vowels – or at least the letter “e”).
Featuring a 74- foot drop and a top speed of 48 mph, the traditional woodie doesn’t aim for the stratospheric heights or the bugs-in- yourteeth velocity of some of Busch Gardens’ other coasters. “We were really trying to make this a family coaster,” explains Suzy Cheely, the park’s director of design and engineering and the person leading the charge for InvadR. “But make no mistake. It really is not a kiddie coaster,” she adds.
Despite its modest stats and its comparatively low 46- inch height requirement, InvadR delivers a surprisingly potent ride and hefty doses of rise- out- of- your- seat airtime. The front row provides unencumbered views, but, like many coasters, the back of the train is where airtime junkies would want to head. The negative G- forces are nearly unrelenting there.
Cheely says that depending on their appetite for thrills ( and their height), children as young as six years old could ride the new coaster. While it is accessible to youngsters, the park wanted to make InvadR exciting for adults and provide an opportunity for parents and grandparents to share a thrilling ride with their kids and grandkids. “It’s a great in- between ride,” says David Cromwell, president of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. “It’s kind of the first ‘ big- kid coaster.’ ” The Vikings’ whimsical battering ram graces the front entrance of the coaster. The fort- like loading station, made with rough- hewn timbers and decorated with Viking shields and other artifacts, fits in nicely with New France’s log cabin motif. The Millennium Flyer trains, manufactured by the ride’s builder, Great Coasters International, are roomy and comfortable. There are two trains: One outfitted with a bear head on the lead car represents the villagers, while the other one, designed for the Vikings, sports a dragon’s head. The restraint system is a single ratcheting t- bar.
The train click- clacks up the lift hill, rounds a corner, and enters a tunnel for the first drop. The covered section of track limits passengers’ views and helps build anticipation. The screaminducing drop is followed by a slightly banked turn and the first – and most pronounced – of nine airtime hills.
InvadR offers a characteristic rough- andtumble wooden coaster feel, although the Millennium Flyer trains handle the twists and turns with aplomb. The no- frills ride does not include any inversions or any gimmicks. Its nonstop action is exciting and satisfying.
The new coaster’s structure snakes around the existing Le Scoot log flume ride and passes over the Busch Gardens Railway’s train tracks. When all three attractions are operating, they interact with one another and create a frenzy of activity in New France.
Unlike most wooden coasters, the lattice structure that supports InvadR’s wood tracks is actually made of steel. “Less maintenance” is the reason that Clair Hain, Jr., president of Great Coasters International, gives when asked why he used the alternate building material. “There are less bolts, and steel doesn’t move as much.”
Wooden coasters typically cost much less to build than steel ones. But they require more tender loving care to maintain. The ride experience can also degrade more quickly over time. The only other wooden coaster at the parks operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment was Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa. The twin- track ride opened in 1999 and closed in 2015 after its ride became notoriously rough. The park chain repurposed its trains for InvadR.
While steel coasters far outnumber wooden ones throughout the industry, woodies have been experiencing a resurgence recently.