The music you hear was being played on the bridge at Busch when I filmed this. The timing with the coaster worked out perfectly! Notice the Great condition of this 25-Year Old coaster. This is typical of Busch Gardens. The Scorpion at Busch Tampa was built in 1981 and looks brand new. I hope the new owners, the Blackstone Group, will carry on with Busch's excellent maintenance and care. Sadly, Blackstone seems to horribly neglect the coasters at Universal Studios. They didn't even bother to put a fresh coat of paint on the 11-year old re-branded "Dragon Challenge" before opening the new Harry Potter area, of which it is part. It's badly faded, the long-rusted track rails show no sign of paint or even grease, and you can see rust runs at every joint and bolt. You can hear and feel the rusty areas on the 11-year old Hulk's track. I can honestly say I've never even seen a carnival coaster in such poor condition. [ Update 2011: ABC News reported that they are going to paint the Hulk due to complaints. 7-8 years late! Let's hope they don't allow Busch's beautiful coasters to rust away! ]
I rode this Great Unique coaster in 1984 when it opened, and 20 more times just before it closed forever, September 7, 2009. The Great Ron Toomer of the legendary Arrow Dynamics designed it. ( Other spectacular coasters designed by Mr. Toomer's Arrow are: the Loch Ness Monster - Busch, Vortex - King's Island, The Steel Phantom - Kennywood, that amazing coaster called "X" that "reclines" your seat while you're hitting serious hills, loops, etc. - Six Flags Magic Mountain, among many more Unique Greats ). He designed 9 other Swingers like the Wolf, all custom and different. There never was a coaster like this, and I think there never will be again. This one ran reliably for 25 years and probably would have for another 25. It was a favorite of many, including me. What makes these coasters so unique and such a Blast to ride, unfortunately is also why we may never see ones like them again; they SWING! Unfortunately, this means maintenance is expensive. Each of these great cars had 8 Industrial Strength Shocks, times 7 per train, times 3 trains ( 168 MegaShocks ). Mr. Toomer's first design, The Bat at King's Island in Cincinnati, swung MUCH more extremely. I heard that they had to replace the shocks weekly when it opened. This was likely the reason the GREAT Bat only flew for ~2 seasons. Mr. Toomer perfected his design with his second, The BIG BAD WOLF! 25 years of Unique Fun! Thank you Mr. Toomer; you gave so many of us so many great memories on this Spectacular Coaster. If you want to ride some of his other Swingers before they too are retired, here's a list I've compiled ( with the help of Joel Rogers at CoasterGallery.com - thanks Bradah ):
OPERATING ( at Last Check Early 2010 )
1) Flight Deck (previously Top Gun) - King's Island
2) Iron Dragon - Cedar Point
3) Ninja - Six Flags Magic Mountain
4) Vortex - Canada's Wonderland
5) ** Vampire - Chessington's World of Adventures, England
** Note that this coaster was modified to have floorless swinging cars, which sounds cool, but they appear to swing even less by design - that would be lame.
STANDING BUT NOT OPERATING
1) Eagle Fortress - Everland Park, Korea
** Very Sadly, I just read that Everland does not plan to re-open this Great coaster due to difficult economic times. I've seen pics. It looks like the 3rd BEST ( behind The Bat & The Big Bad Wolf ) of all of Mr. Toomer's Swingers. It goes WAY up a Korean Mountain, then Swishes it's way through the trees back down, much of it hidden from view so it's a total surprise what you're in for! I'd go to Korea if I heard they would re-open it. The cars are shaped like Golden Eagles too.
RETIRED
1) The Bat - King's Island - THIS one looked like the best of them all. It SWIRLED it's way down from the first Lift. I wish I had ridden it!
2) The Big Bad Wolf - Busch Gardens, VA ==:(
3) XLR-8 - Six Flags Astro World - Houston, TX ( This is the only one that didn't look extremely exciting - maybe the Park wanted a more kid-friendly "family" version . . or one that didn't swing as much to save on Shock Absorber Costs. )
4) Hayabusa - Tokyo Summerland Park - Tokyo, Japan ( the Earthquake proofing on this one looked to greatly limit it's mobility, but looked fun )
None of them, however, had a Drop like the Big Bad Wolf's Drop through the Trees from the Tree Tops down to the river below. And none had that cool German Black Forest Village in the Woods that you, The Big Bad Wolf, terrorize. I LOVE going on it last ride at night when it's PITCH Black and the only lights are little candles in the Villager's windows. Only Busch puts that sort of medium theme into their rides. It was very hard turning my back on it from the other side of that bridge from where I filmed this. Five days later, the Great Wolf's Howls were silenced forever.
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Ariel View of Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Va, As Seen From the Skyrideby CincinnatiGifts4,451 views
I rode this in 1984 when it opened and really had a blast on the ride, it continued to be a favorite until 1989 when the last time I rode and left Virginia basically for good. I'm surprised that they've retired it and I suppose that since it was pretty much a terrain coaster, would have difficulties moving to a new operator.
Tunnelfish2 10 months ago
@Tunnelfish2
Yeah, it was a great coaster. Unique. Always fun. I hope they NEVER retire the Loch Ness! It's THE symbol of Busch, and probably the most beautiful centerpiece in any park. They've recently announced a new coaster that I assume will replace the BBW. Tampa Busch just opened a new one THIS year. My guess is they'll be similar in operation (electromagnetic launch, lifts, & on-course impulses) and by the same builder, like Busch did with Montu / AlpenSheist and Sheikra / Griffon.
AllllllllRightyThen 10 months ago