Concepts Think Tank
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
Pretty sure you go to the Guest Relations outside the park entrance and ask for the hard card. I think it's somewhere around $7 in the form of a donation to the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. The printer may or may not be working so YMMV.
I assume you mean build inside the show building? The majority of Pompeii's show building first floor is in use. The maze that exists there now is actually built around ride components, pumps, compressors, control rooms, etc. There's not room to build much of anything at all inside the building even with the maze gone.
Behind Pompeii is woods, steep ravines and a Pompeii/Loch Ness service yard that's used daily. Can't build much of anything back there either (even a maze) with the existing layout of attractions.
What if Busch Gardens Williamsburg had a new electric summer event themed to the old country. For this year and next year where many new activities will be added showcasing the historic significant riches of the park. For example there will be bears in the forest of fun area supervised by conservation care team, Verbolten will have a cut out village on the second launch and will feature wolf statues. Darkoaster will have old Darkastle set replicas and audio from the original ride. Maybe even old character meet and Greets. Old shows at night will be a Summer spectacular with fireworks and lights hints the electric entertainment. Sky projections of all of the ride from the past 49 and 50 years will be included.
Last edited:
No disrespect meant by this, but like how high are you right now? Did the punctuation marks disappear from your keyboard? I hope you’re having a good time, it sure seems like it.
Old country or old attractions?
Fwiw the whole park is supposedly based around the old country concept.
Nostalgia for previous attractions is something, perhaps that focus would be good for some kind of limited retrospective event seeing as there isn't any kind of permanent history exhibit.
There won't be any significant changes to the rides just small touches to current existing attractions
I mean, everything mentioned (except the bears - no way they'd ever have such animals within touching distance to any guest... Unless you were referring to something else?) sounds related to a past attraction and would likely require a significant amount of effort and cost to install/maintain.
The old BBW sets are long gone, and supposedly the old DK sets are as well. Non Sesame Street walk-around characters haven't been a thing in the last few decades, so it's unclear if they'd unearth any of the old designs or just come up with brand new characters and costumes.
Your last sentence or two is befuddling, mostly because there's something about fireworks (normal), some kind of unexplained electrical entertainment (no clue what that means)... and something about projecting rides in the sky (like the Batman symbol, but for defunct BGW rides?).
Hence my thoughts for a park history event of some kind in lieu of an on-property museum (like CP's Town Hall).
The old BBW sets are long gone, and supposedly the old DK sets are as well. Non Sesame Street walk-around characters haven't been a thing in the last few decades, so it's unclear if they'd unearth any of the old designs or just come up with brand new characters and costumes.
Your last sentence or two is befuddling, mostly because there's something about fireworks (normal), some kind of unexplained electrical entertainment (no clue what that means)... and something about projecting rides in the sky (like the Batman symbol, but for defunct BGW rides?).
Hence my thoughts for a park history event of some kind in lieu of an on-property museum (like CP's Town Hall).
Last edited:
Another idea would be to gut the entire Killarney sim building and turn it into a family coaster. Themed to Corkscrew Hill with an incredibly themed queue as well as a renovated grogans pub. The coaster will use the sim building and castle O Sullivan with a new show themed to Clancy. The coaster could have a Haggrids style story and theming. The coaster could be a b&m family launch coaster like penguin treak because they already have darkoaster
Sadly, the CP museum has been closed for years.
I thought it was closed during their corn festival thing, but only to give staff a backstage space.
Pretty sure this idea has been discussed in some form or another for years now. The issues are the limited space that doesn't require cutting much of the tree cover, become a parking lot, and with FF positioned where it is the coaster can't really make use of the valley terrain to interact with the bridge.
Not a bad idea as a whole, but definitely some placement issues.
Realistically, they could revive an old idea for the sim building and place a drop tower in there. Make it a themed space shot and drop shot unless someone knows a better twin set of models that can be run in the twin theater bays?
Vekoma/MACK Madhouse
I've mentioned it once or twice before. It just sounds foolproof to me as something quite literally everyone can enjoy from toddler to seniors. BGW already has a working relationship with MACK in their flat ride(s) as well.
The ride concept of a Madhouse in its essence fits the magical Irish setting it would be in.
Do those types of rides have longevity?
It seems like a one-trick pony, albeit an impressive trick.
The sims had the longevity as they switched shows and theming periodically (not always for the better), but were supposedly on their last legs and gave up the ghost in recent years.
Could the madhouse concept portray different stories over the years to keep it fresh?
The way I sort of look at it is, if you have a well constructed story, through queue scenes, ride, soundtrack etc. the ride doesn't need to change or be fresh. If Corkscrew Hill was still around, it would be over 20 years old and we would all still love it. And I believe that's due to the well done, creative story and setting, not so much the ride system itself. (Even though simulators are pretty dang cool, especially for a regional park like BGW.)
On another side of things. Busch Gardens needs no more roller coasters. By nature, they deter some guests even if they're tame. Also, some variety in flat or dark rides is needed nowadays in Busch's portfolio, as well as indoor attractions. Small footprint rides that make an impression are very valuable. Building a pair of these madhouses for capacity, just like the simulators, would be valuable in my opinion. They (or at least one) could always be open year round.
On another side of things. Busch Gardens needs no more roller coasters. By nature, they deter some guests even if they're tame. Also, some variety in flat or dark rides is needed nowadays in Busch's portfolio, as well as indoor attractions. Small footprint rides that make an impression are very valuable. Building a pair of these madhouses for capacity, just like the simulators, would be valuable in my opinion. They (or at least one) could always be open year round.
While I agree that Corkscrew Hill was a great short story set properly, I don't know if it would have enthralled as many guests in these last few years more than just being an air conditioned ride and queue to beat the summer heat with. At some I'd guess point there would have been a decline in popularity leading to diminished returns thus necessitating switching out the story to keep it fresh. It would have been great if they could have continued the narrative somehow but with more modern graphics resolution.
However, I just don't see that with a madhouse. Once the average guest goes through it a few times, they're either going back because they're like us and love innovative rides or otherwise enjoy the sensation, or else it's either once again an air conditioned queue and ride to beat the heat with or else something to skip.
Of course, I could be very wrong about that...
And it does make an interesting thought process in itself: why can the average guest enjoy riding the same coasters over a long period of time but otherwise show-based attractions get stale over time?
However, I just don't see that with a madhouse. Once the average guest goes through it a few times, they're either going back because they're like us and love innovative rides or otherwise enjoy the sensation, or else it's either once again an air conditioned queue and ride to beat the heat with or else something to skip.
Of course, I could be very wrong about that...
And it does make an interesting thought process in itself: why can the average guest enjoy riding the same coasters over a long period of time but otherwise show-based attractions get stale over time?