Verbolten
Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s new coaster, Verbolten, is scheduled to open on May 18th. However I was at the park today (May 13th) and they had a soft opening which I was exited about. I rode the ride three times throughout the day. Verbolten consists of an outside section, an indoor section, and another outdoor section. The ride features a surprise inside of the large building. Spoiler Alert! If you do not want to know what happens in the event building please do not read the next paragraphs.
The station appears overgrown by vines. The trains are themed to look like German cars. The ride starts with a turn down and to the left. A straight section of track follows this and then into a turn to the right. The trains start up an incline where they are launched into the darkness of the event building. Inside the building are drops and turns, all of which are taken at a high speed. The trains slow to a halt in the middle of the darkness.
The ride has three different events that could take place here. You could either be in the middle of a lightning storm, get attacked by wolves (paying homage to The Big Bad Wolf), or be attacked by an evil spirit of the Black Forest. On my first two rides my ride sequence was the lightning storm. On my third and final ride the sequence was the attacking wolves. Suddenly the train, with the passengers inside, drops vertically.
After this the ride comes back outside. The second launch shoots you up a twisting hill into an old covered bridge (pictured above). There are brakes here that slow you down so you can see the 80 foot drop that is coming. There is a little bit of airtime on the drop before the turn at the bottom. Finally the ride twists and turns through the woods up to the final brakes.
In the picture above the building in the background is the event building.
Verbolten was fun and is a good addition to Busch Gardens’ already excellent collection of coasters. I am giving it a 7 out of 10.
Have you ridden Verbolten? What do you think? Please comment. Thanks for reading! 🙂
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I guess you went to BGW at the right time and got to ride it! Cool. It looks excellent to me. Now when you say lightning storm, are there strobe lights and thunder sounds? And for the wolf thing, are there wolf howles? This seems to be one of the most hidden in terms of secrets part of a ride in roller coaster history.
Right place, right time is a good way to put it. I wasn’t expecting it to be open yet so it was an awesome surprise. I must say, it is kind of cool to have ridden a coaster before Rob Alvey. In the lightning storm there were actually streaks of light that were next to and above the car. The Wolfs did have howls along with glowing red eyes. I wish I could have been on a ride with the third option, the monster spirit thing.
I rode it. I thought it was jerky. Was really hard to hold you head. I don’t know what sequence got inside because it was do dark and going do fast I didn’t see anything.i felt it should have had a harness that came down instead of the bar would help with your neck. Many people I talked to that day felt it was too jerky as well.
I’ve ridden Verbolten 3 times-twice in row 3 and once in the front. Definitely better in the front, I think.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve gotten one of each ‘story’ thing, but I’m not sure. It’s hard to tell what the effects are to me. Lightning? No, wait…that was leaves..Or was it the wolf eyes?? IDK.:P
Yes, it’s a little jerky, but if you brace your head, it won’t hurt or anything. You’ll just get jostled some.;) My dad won’t ride it again; he says it gives him a headache.
The sound effects? I couldn’t hear them at all during the indoor portion ’cause everyone is screaming (including me). You can hear creaking at the bridge part right before the drop over the river, though.
Really like the freefall drop section! The drop over the river is fun, but really not all that ‘crazy’. I would agree-just a smidgen of airtime.
Lastly, I think I’d hate it with OTSR-that’d make us bang our head the entire ride. At least with the lap bars, you more shake around than bang your head.:)
I give Verbolten 8/10 (Docked down for being a little jerky & the fact that I still don’t know what all the effects are supposed to be)
P.S. I’m a girl between ages 12 and 15. I LOVE roller coasters, but my coaster count is only 10. I just found this site today and I really like it!:)