Busch Gardens Williamsburg- New Coaster for 2020

Busch Gardens Williamsburg to build a new coaster for the 2020 season.

Image from Screamscape

New plans came out involving Busch Gardens Williamsburg and a new coaster coming to the park for the 2020 season.

Not that many details have gone out yet but the slide seen to the left gives us some basics.

Opening in May of 2020.

Rider height of 54 inches.

Fastest Launch in Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

A multi-launch coaster that will top speed around 76 MPH. Going into the Italy section of the park. The final drop will be seen from the Italy bridge.

Image from BGWFans

Our friends over at BGWFans also released this teasing image at an internal conference on March 19th. Teasing the roman numerals for '2020' and confirmed the location to be Italy. Along with this, it was strongly hinted at this ride having a 95 degree drop!

Multiple elements will be involved with this coaster, including a long drop into the Rhine River Valley, over-banked turns and multiple launches. New pathways, lockers and even a bridge going over the Festa train station will also be included with the construction process.

Finally, we now know why Busch Gardens was doing all those height servery's in the 2017 season!

Track Completed, Testing to Begin Soon for Gardaland's New Dive Coaster?

Well, there's still no official announcement from the folks over at Italy's Gardaland on their newest coaster, a B&M dive machine. That said, it hasn't stopped construction one bit and by the looks of things, everything has been finished up now for a few weeks. Pretty quick work on this one! Almost as fast as Holiday World's Thunderbird, also a B&M coaster. Makes ya wonder, right?

Anyway, here's a bit of video, from Airtimers.com, of the final piece of track going to into place and a whole slew of construction photos after it from the folks over at Roller Coaster Revolution.


And now...the pictures. First up is one of the first shots of the actual trains that will be in use. Definitely in the testing phase here as the water dummies can easily be seen strapped into the seats. Going to bet that they've either started testing or are getting ready to do so very, very soon.

Image via Themeparks.it

Now for the construction pics! Again, we're kind of not in Italy, but the folks at Roller Coaster Revolution are, so thanks to them everyone else can get a glimpse of what's been going on.

Gardaland Dive Coaster Hype at Full Throttle

Construction of Gardaland's newest coaster, what is heavily believed to be a B&M dive machine, is underway and they're not wasting any time getting the word out there that something is coming. Not only is there a whole teaser website set up for the new coaster, but they've been tying it into displays in the park as well.

The display, pictured left, was empty for a while but that didn't last long. Once the teaser site went up, there was a strange orange glowing crater inside the structure as well as two uniformed staff standing outside of it. Weird, huh?

Now, this does make a lot of sense given what was shown in the video on the site in the form of a fake news report talking about some kind of otherworldly disturbance appearing over the park.

There's actually three videos, one of them going back to the beginning of the park's construction and the weird crater showing up then. Then, in the newer newscast, some kind of giant rift in the sky can be seen, taken from a "German tourist's cell phone". You can catch the videos here, if you don't understand Italian, there's a slider at the top for English subtitles.

Since then, another video has surfaced on the site as well. This one interviewing people who spotted yet another sighting of the strange vortex in the sky with hints that this happened back in the '70s as well and reports of seeing the beams of light coming from it as well.

Since we know it's a B&M coaster, the hints being given are a bit obvious at this point but it's still fun to follow along with the clues and all that. Then again, we have no idea what the ride will be called or it's theme and size either really. So, that's still a good mystery to try and solve. Stay tuned for more updates out of Gardaland and their new coaster for 2015!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Site Plans for Festa Italia Expansion

Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Site Plans and Specs for Festa Italia Expansion.

 Well, the folks at BGW Fans have done it again. Finding the decoding the plans for the 2015 Busch Gardens Williamsburg expansion to the Festa Italia area. 

 It's pretty obvious that the fears of a stock Premier Rides coaster had come to pass, with nothing original about it. A stock ride which is often found in Six Flags Parks will soon be raising into the sky for the Festa Italia expansion. While myself and many others have been attempting to deny this, it's getting harder and harder to stand when so many plans are being found then released. 

 While it's still impossible to say if the ride builder is Premier Rides, it's seeming more obvious due to past relationships with other ride builders and the parks. So it's very likely an announcement will be coming soon from Busch Gardens, which will either confirm or deny the facts we've uncovered for ourselves. 

 If the plans are accurate and all guesses to the ride manufacturer are correct, we can easily know the stats for this new coaster.  While some folks who've ridden this style of ride assure me it's more fun then it appears, I think it's likely a mistake. You don't get people coming back to the park for a stock ride, that privileged is often reserved for new, original design coasters. People will come but I doubt they'll get the turn-out they seem to be hoping for with this move. 

  Either way, the stats are as follows for this style coaster from premier rides:
150 Feet Tall
863 Feet Long
1 Inversion
62 MPH Launch Speed  
50 Seconds Ride Time
 






All images are from BGW Fans

Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Possible Premier Rides Coaster for 2015?

Image from BGW Fans

 Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Possible 'Primer Rides' Coaster coming for 2015?

Well, it's no real secret that fans of Busch Gardens Williamsburg have been in an uproar for months over the possible 2015 'Festa Italia' expansion.  For months the speculation has run wild over a project which we know will be roughly at a height of 156 feet.

Image from BGW Fans

Now, while it can't be confirmed, the great folks at BGW Fans have been posting up blue-prints of what looks like a stock (off the shelf) Premier Rides coaster. This also has fans in a complete tizzy, with many feeling that the park is going cheap with using a stock design and not something custom built.

While the 'Festa' area has never had a well set theme, being that more of a carnival feeling, this addition could cement the area of the park. The project name (or the working name) seems to be that of "Diavolo' who was a big name bicycle stunt rider in the 1880s.

So, while we're speculating, could this coaster have the 'moto-seats'? Meaning, your coaster train would be designed off the old 'steeple chase' idea. 

Honestly, these seats are hard to explain, so I've liberated a picture from Coasters and More. This photo is from "Booster Bike" which is in Towerland, The Netherlands.  Very similar to 'Pony Express' at Knott's Berry Farm and Steeple Chase at Coney Island.

However, Premier Rides has never used this system of seat before...but it's also not entirely unknown to have another company design the coaster trains while someone else does the track, it's just very rare in steel coasters.

Now, with that said, I can't say if this restraint system will work with a coaster that has inversions involved since nothing using them has any. Most coasters which have inversions have the normal 'over-the-shoulder' style restraint system, leaving us with a stock Premier Rides coaster with little to no themeing involved but that doesn't fit with the way Busch Gardens normally does business.

Which, in the end, leads us right back to the fact that we simply don't have enough information on this ride yet. So, until such a point, I shall resume my 'fence sitting' position and hoping against hope that Busch Gardens isn't falling into any bad habits.

Solving the B&M Track at Clermont Steel Fabricators - Where's it Headed and What's it to be?

For those that don't know, Clermont Steel Fabricators is the location where Bollinger & Mabillard (aka B&M) manufactures all of their track for coasters around the world. B&M is responsible for some of the best steel coasters in our opinion as well. Rides such as, Leviathan, Manta, Kumba, Griffon, and the newly opened Banshee.

In the past few months there has been an uptick in activity around the facility and several different colored track segments have been spotted laying outside. This has gotten the rumor mill all abuzz in the coaster enthusiast world and we're here to help try and decipher the madness of it all, or at least try to.

Image via ThemePark.nl

While we know that the white track is headed to Italy for Gardaland's new Dive Machine Coaster that's set to open in 2014, the other sections aren't so clear. In addition to the track headed overseas to Italy, there's also been yellow, orange, red and a blueish/teal colored track spotted in recent weeks as well.

That's 4, maybe 5, coasters and while we know who is getting something shiny from B&M in 2015, we're just not sure which is going where just yet.

Many insiders and coaster enthusiasts believe that at least one of these is bound for Carowinds and their rumored B&M Giga coaster coming in 2015. So, that leaves the others for contention between various parks. Some believe that one is headed to somewhere in China and the other headed to The Netherland's Efteling for their "mini Dive Coaster" that's slated for a 2015 opening as well.

Official POV from ALTAIR at Italy's Cinecitta World

Italy's newest theme park, Cinecitta' World, opened to the media not long ago and will be opening to the public on July 24th.

That said, there's already some very interesting footage from one of their centerpiece attractions. Their hot off the line Intamin 10 inversion coaster, ALTAIR. Parksmania obtained a front of the train POV showing future visitors just what they can expect and it looks nothing short of spectacular.

The 108.3' tall coaster features 10 different inversions spread out over it's 2,870ft of track. Riders will hit speeds of around 52mph as they slam through a loop, cobra roll, double corkscrew, heartline roll and then go for a spin through the quad heartline at the tail end. It's compact size means there's no time for breathing on this one.

So, without further ado, here's your first look at ALTAIR!


Also, have to say, the ride building for this one is completely insane as well. I mean just look at that, it's like something out of a Sci-Fi flick or video game. Loving the detail and overall look of this, can see a good view of what the overall building looks like from the image taken below by Theme Parks Italia.

Gardaland 2015 Coaster Construction Update

Two weeks ago we reported on the possibility of a Bollinger and Mallibard Dive Machine coaster coming to Gardaland in 2015.

Well, new pictures have surfaced of the construction and it definitely appears that is indeed the case. The white track that appears in the photos is definitely B&M track and has recently been spotted at the Clermont Steel Fabricators plant in Ohio.

Just what elements, style or other details of this new coaster coming to Italy are unknown at this time.

Here's a look at just what I'm talking about in regards to the track that's shown up in the park over the past couple of weeks, courtesy of RollerCoasterRevolution.eu:

You can see more pictures of the site on RCR's website here.

With more track showing up at the park regularly and construction soon to start going vertical, it's only a matter of time before some kind of announcement comes out of the officials at Gardaland so stay tuned!

Gardaland Building a B&M Dive Coaster for 2015?

Italy's Gardaland Resort is definitely building a new coaster for 2015 and from all accounts out there, it looks to be a B&M Dive Machine coaster. This would be the park's second coaster from B&M as they already have a wing coaster, Raptor, in the park.

While nothing has been formally announced from the park other than a cryptic question mark that appears on the park map, the folks over at Themepark.it have uncovered permits for the new ride. The biggest news about them? The plans are labeled as “Attrazione “Dive Coaster”". If anything, that's pretty convincing stuff. That and the teaser image looks and feels like a Dive Coaster as well.

Interestingly enough, this one would be going right behind where their other B&M, Raptor, sits. According some rumors, this could even have a similar look and style that of Alton Towers' "The Smiler" at that. I'm a little skeptical there as there's not much known in that department as of yet.

Regardless, construction has begun on the new ride with land being cleared and we expect an official announcement to be made soon in regards to just what this new B&M Dive Coaster will be like. For those unfamiliar, check out Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa and Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg...or the original, Oblivion. at Alton Towers. If it truly is the case (and it looks like it) coaster fans in Italy are in for a treat!

Here's all we have to go on, let the speculation commence!

BREAKING NEWS: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Expansion and New Attraction? UPDATE!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg will Expand and build a New Attraction in 2015.

Image from BGWFans

Today BGWFans found permit proof that Busch Gardens Williamsburg will be expanding the Festa Italia area and adding in a new attraction.

 The permit states the attraction will have a height of 156 feet with an approximate total elevation height of 242 feet.

Image from BGWFans

 They report this began almost two months ago when a "line of sight" test happened and lately lots of "ground marks" have been seen in the Festa Italia area. One member of BGWFans has even reported that soil tests have been taken from the area around Teatro di San Marco. However, this dosn't exactly explain what the park has in the work for the area.

 Most of the 'ground marks' are found surrounding where the teacups currently are plus ranging back to the entrance area of Apollo's Chariot and upwards towards Roman Rapids.  They believe this will put the highest area of the ride smack in the middle of the Clydesdale and Sheep paddocks which surround the area just outside of the Festa Italia train station.

While no one is currently sure what this may mean. Could Festa Italia be getting a complete re-theme to their area? Are we seeing the ground work for a new roller coaster coming to Busch Gardens Williamsburg?

We'll have to watch and see!
Please visit BGWFans for a more detailed explanation about this breaking news from Busch Gardens Williamsburg!  Because if something is going on, these are the people I look to for information!

UPDATE 10/10/13

BGWFans has located the full permit submitted to James County for the Busch Gardens Expansion! Please visit their website to read the full letters and view the images attached with it, it's way to much for me to try and break down or explain here! Once they've gone through it and broken it down completely, we'll post of the findings!
-Because really, I'm not good at translating these types of permits.  

Busch Gardens Willamsburg- Food and Wine Festival

Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Food and Wine Festival

  We here at InSanity lurks Inside completely LOVE festivals that mix two of our favorite things, Drinking Adult-type beverages and Tasty Food! So when we heard that Busch Gardens Williamsburg was opening their very first "Food and Wine Festival" we got excited! Needless to say our excitement was doubled when Busch Gardens responded to our inquiry about reviewing this event, we packed up and high-tailed it south!


Event Dates: Friday thru Sunday May 31-June23
Dates of our Review: May 31-June-2
Event Rating: Great but prices are a bit high.


 To start we made a stop at guest services right at the beginning. Busch Gardens offers a wonderful wrist band program which you can link to your credit card. Thus allowing you to go cash free (or in my case, purse free) for your day by allowing you to charge to a general account! With this account you can either go limited (say $100) or unlimited depending on your spending ability. This is a splendid little tool for their Food and Wine Festival but is offered all year.
 However, a word of warning! I'd suggest using a credit card only for this, not your debt/bank card as it takes $50 authorizations as your original $50 runs low. This really isn't much of an issue but depending on your bank, those authorizations may hang around for a few days tying up your money. So think about that in advance!

Carrie, Shut Up and get to the FOOD AND DRINKS!

Okay, here we go!