Construction Photos

[jedijunky]

I have always loved going to BG, and the history/evolution of the park has continued to interest me. I was wondering if anyone has some construction photos of the park and it various countries.

Also has anyone on here come across a book or made a book detailing the history of the park and how it has changed and grown through the years?

 

[Balak95]

I dont know about a book but i think we should pull a couple members together and make one!!!!

 

[Mushroom]

Also has anyone on here come across a book or made a book detailing the history of the park and how it has changed and grown through the years?

Check out "Amusement Parks of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware" by Jim Futrell. I got it for Christmas because I was always checking it out from the library. The book details A LOT about past-present BGW.

 

[mc14]

^Well I know which book I will be reading next..... well not next on account of I am not reading anything, so now!

 

[Zachary]

Which library were you getting it from? I may just have to go check it out (and buying the book if it's worth it).

 

[Mushroom]

Lots of libraries have it. try looking for it on Amazon.com. By the way, the book contains cool info on ALL of the amusement parks in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware (KD, 6F, BGW, and minor parks).

 

[Parkgoer]

My dad has a bunch of 35mm shots of this somewhere. I cannot seem to located them for some reason though. There is another coaster he has a bunch of pictures that used to be there as well.

 

[wombat96]

After searching for what feels like forever I finally found pictures of construction from 1975 by simply going to the Daily Press and typing in "Busch Gardens".

And the first ever aerial.

 

[James]

I'm going to go ahead and try not to cry the rest of the night now.




So many trees..



So much promise...

 

[wombat96]

James, that aerial picture was the whole park back in 1975. Think about how far we've come. Oktoberfest, Italy, Festa Italia, Land of the Dragons, Forest of Fun, Word Class Roller Coasters, High Tech Dark Rides, and much much more. If you asked anybody in 1975, "Could you see Busch Gardens Williamsburg having all this in the future?" They'd think your'e crazy. Busch Gardens The Old Country was an advertisement for AB and that's all it was meant to be. Of course people loved it and the demand grew and so did the park. All of the changes are for the better of the park. While some people wish the park was what it was like in 1975, people have to accept change, and Busch Gardens is changing.

 

[James]

I was just being dramatic...

 

[wombat96]

Oh. Sorry bout that. If you look in the first photo you can see the railroad track in the upper right corner making a turn. I would assume it's near where Festa is located or the turn when going from Caribou to Tweedside.

 

[Mushroom]

All of the changes are for the better of the park.

?

 

[MAZ]

That looks way more like a road than RR tracks in the 1st picture. You can see dirt spilling onto it from an unpaved road around the turn. My guess is US RT60.

 

[wombat96]

All of the changes are for the better of the park.

?

I meant as in if the park changes something, the goal is not to ruin what ever their replacing or make an addition as terrible as possible.

 

[Jrbgwfan06]

That's the goal, but that's sometimes not what happens.

 

[John]

Times change and management changes. Not necessarily for the better, but it's really due to the times. Now that is no excuse for the park to snub its past and refrain from reverting back to some of the charm the park once upheld...KD is a great example of this being possible.

 

[wombat96]

Ah let's take a look back at some more photos of the early days of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Photo Credits to the Daily Press: Bea Kopp, Buddy Norris, Jim Livengood, Thom Slater, and Joe Fudge.

 

[Nicole]

I miss the Spider.

 

[Zimmy]

I liked the spider, but it was like 2 hours of line, for a 30 minute load and a 45 second ride.