I have been spending a lot of time thinking about one of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's "mini-hamlets," Da Vinci's Garden of Invention, lately. I'll say more about why that is soon, but in the meantime, inspiration struck and I wanted to draw up a concept.
Much akin to my previous pitches (like the now partially-implemented Maypole Biergarten!) my focus here is entirely on feasibility. I understand that parks are a profit-driven endeavor and I really want to propose finacially realistic park improvements. I obviously don't know all of the internal details about every inch of Busch Gardens Williamsburg so I can't say with confidence that what I'm proposing could, 100% be built if the park wanted to, but, at least as far as my knowledge extends, I strive to make these concepts as realistic as possible.
Anyway, back to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention. This BGW mini-land, structured around the only formal garden space in all of Busch GARDENS Williamsburg, should be one of the most iconic, most visually-striking, "most-quintessentially-Busch Gardens Williamsburg" areas of property. Unfortunately, between a lineup of aging attractions, years of landscaping budget cuts, clearcutting inflicted by the Colonial Pipeline easement, and damage caused by years of hasty special event installations, Da Vinci's Garden of Invention is a shadow of its former self.
The ride that I would identify as the area's cornerstone, Da Vinci's Cradle, is no more—leaving a multifaceted scar that is incredibly difficult to fill. Cradle sat on a severely constrained plot of land bordered by the gardens, existing structures, and most importantly, the Colonial Pipeline easement. Plus, not only was Cradle the area's thrill apex, but it also did the best job of conveying not just its own, but the entire area's, concept. In fact, it was the only ride to bare Da Vinci's name and its loss has essentially removed Da Vinci from his garden of invention. I believe this mini-land needs a new cornerstone attraction—an attraction whose queue and station experience can relay the concept of the area and whose ride experience can tie together the entire area into one neat, tidy package.
Given that Da Vinci's Cradle was a family-accessible thrill ride, I'm sure most minds go to a similar attraction when considering its replacement. @Le Moose popularized the idea of the world's first Zierer Eclipse Flyer as the perfect replacement for Cradle and I don't disagree that it would likely fill Cradle's shoes perfectly. If the park wants to go the direction of a thrilling family flat, I struggle to imagine a better solution. That said, I believe there's an opportunity to do more than just replace Da Vinci's Cradle here. I believe this could be a grand opportunity to revitalize the entire Da Vinci's Garden of Invention area.
Earlier I mentioned the Colonial Pipeline easement. A handful of years back, for the first time in the park's history, the Colonial Pipeline required the clearcutting of the pipeline's entire easement across Busch Gardens Williamsburg's property—leaving a barren, hideous wasteland cut directly through the middle of the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park. Since that greenery decimation took place, little has been done to mitigate the aesthetic impacts it caused. One of the areas where the scars of this clearcutting are most visible is in Da Vinci's Garden of Invention. The pipeline easement runs through what is currently the San Marco side of the gardens and required the removal of all of that corner's trees and large shrubs. This exposed a long expanse of wooden fencing and, depending on where you're standing, even sight lines into the ugly storage yard behind San Marco.
This clearing has left part of what should be an elaborate, refined, Italian, formal garden looking neglected and forgotten. I believe any renovations made to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention must try to solve the pipeline easement issue by visually blocking the clearing and backstage areas as much as possible. In fact, my proposal goes even further and outright removes the entire back side of the current formal gardens altogether. I would much rather the park's landscaping budget and time be dedicated to areas in which they can work free of the pipeline's restrictions and, frankly, through areas of the park where guests are most likely to walk. Currently, the pathways to the right of the fountain circle serve very little functional purpose and few guests traverse them. Why invest the time and money on elaborate landscaping when we can shift that investment to paths that the vast majority of guests actually experience?
Here is my proposal: I envision an aerial leisure attraction themed to dirigibles encircling the core of the formal gardens and weaving around all of the area's other flat rides. My layout extends out beyond the current garden area though—fully encompassing the compass circle into the design. This attraction, which I've dubbed Da Vinci's Dirigibles, would be themed to the inventing history of Leonardo da Vinci—ultimately culminating in a flight aboard one of his airships for an aerial view of his other contraptions in action. Though I would love to see the park spring for on-ride narration to provide an in-story audio guide, realistically, it's far from necessary and the entire concept of the land and ride could be conveyed with some very basic queue theming and placemaking.
This attraction, as I've envisioned it, completely dodges the entirely of the Colonial Pipeline easement just as surgically as Pantheon's design did. It utilizes the existing Da Vinci Cradle queue building, preserves the ride's tower, and even offers a tiered, zig-zagging exit ramp inspired by Cradle's. It allows the preservation of the entire center of the existing gardens, retains the shape of all of the area's surviving planters, and accentuates the entire area with a new level of charm and kineticism.
To replace the loss of the back portion of the formal gardens, I have allocated new space for elaborate landscaping design in areas depicted in dark green throughout the plan—most notably a large semi-circular area around the compass circle. By removing a few trees and undergrowth from the compass circle area and replacing them with formal plantings, both the circle and it's central tree would be even more striking. Plus, given that this is such a heavily-trafficked area, the impact of elaborate landscaping through this area would be substantial—directly impacting the visits of essentially every park visitor.
I also attempted to design in a realistic storage and maintenance area for the attraction along the service road behind the area. While I was at it, I took the opportunity to improve maintenance access to the Flying Machine ride area as well. Da Vinci's Dirigibles track, station, and maintenance area are all scaled appropriately match the size of the same elements on Kings Dominion's Snoopy's Rocket Express, a (non-suspended) Zamperla monorail.
That brings me to ride model. I have been intentionally vague here thus far as there are multiple suppliers who offer equally-valid products. That said, as I've been drawing this up, Zamperla's monorail offerings are what have been front-and-center in my mind. Specifically though, I think Zamperla's suspended monorail or a similar offering with a single overhead rail would be the best solution as it keeps the visual bulk of the ride hardware to a minimum and it raises the ride infrastructure further above guests' ground-level sight lines. Here's an image of Zeppelin, a Zamperla suspended monorail, located at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid just as a quick visual reference:
To round things out, the plan above utilizes existing pathways almost exclusively, preserves essentially every structure in the area, provides means of blocking views of the pipeline easement from the gardens, reintroduces a flagship, directly Da Vinci-themed and branded attraction to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention, and provides a new way to showcase the beauty of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It's an attraction type that requires minimal staffing, it's relatively inexpensive for the range and impact it offers, and I sincerely believe it could quickly become a quintessentially-Busch Gardens Williamsburg attraction in a similar vein to the likes of the Rhine River Cruise. Also, I almost fear how popular it would be during Christmas Town. Aerial views of the decorated gardens and the wrapped compass rose tree would be a sure-fire hit.
I acknowledge that from a thrill level perspective, an aerial leisure ride isn't exactly an in-kind replacement for Cradle. Given the incredibly tight space left by Cradle along the pipeline easement, the inability of the park to build over the pipeline easement as they could in years gone by, and the lack of a true all-ages, non-thrill attraction in Da Vinci's Garden of Invention, I believe something like a suspended monorail could be an enormous hit with families though—enough so that the change in direction may be worthwhile. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, it would provide a direct justification for additional, ongoing landscaping investment in Da Vinci's Garden as a core aspect of the attraction would be showcasing the only formal garden in the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park.
And hey, if you, like me, want additional thrilling flat rides at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I have ideas! If you like what I've put together here and want to see more, I encourage you to check my Das Spinnrad and ZeitMaschine concepts!
Much akin to my previous pitches (like the now partially-implemented Maypole Biergarten!) my focus here is entirely on feasibility. I understand that parks are a profit-driven endeavor and I really want to propose finacially realistic park improvements. I obviously don't know all of the internal details about every inch of Busch Gardens Williamsburg so I can't say with confidence that what I'm proposing could, 100% be built if the park wanted to, but, at least as far as my knowledge extends, I strive to make these concepts as realistic as possible.
Anyway, back to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention. This BGW mini-land, structured around the only formal garden space in all of Busch GARDENS Williamsburg, should be one of the most iconic, most visually-striking, "most-quintessentially-Busch Gardens Williamsburg" areas of property. Unfortunately, between a lineup of aging attractions, years of landscaping budget cuts, clearcutting inflicted by the Colonial Pipeline easement, and damage caused by years of hasty special event installations, Da Vinci's Garden of Invention is a shadow of its former self.
The ride that I would identify as the area's cornerstone, Da Vinci's Cradle, is no more—leaving a multifaceted scar that is incredibly difficult to fill. Cradle sat on a severely constrained plot of land bordered by the gardens, existing structures, and most importantly, the Colonial Pipeline easement. Plus, not only was Cradle the area's thrill apex, but it also did the best job of conveying not just its own, but the entire area's, concept. In fact, it was the only ride to bare Da Vinci's name and its loss has essentially removed Da Vinci from his garden of invention. I believe this mini-land needs a new cornerstone attraction—an attraction whose queue and station experience can relay the concept of the area and whose ride experience can tie together the entire area into one neat, tidy package.
Given that Da Vinci's Cradle was a family-accessible thrill ride, I'm sure most minds go to a similar attraction when considering its replacement. @Le Moose popularized the idea of the world's first Zierer Eclipse Flyer as the perfect replacement for Cradle and I don't disagree that it would likely fill Cradle's shoes perfectly. If the park wants to go the direction of a thrilling family flat, I struggle to imagine a better solution. That said, I believe there's an opportunity to do more than just replace Da Vinci's Cradle here. I believe this could be a grand opportunity to revitalize the entire Da Vinci's Garden of Invention area.
Earlier I mentioned the Colonial Pipeline easement. A handful of years back, for the first time in the park's history, the Colonial Pipeline required the clearcutting of the pipeline's entire easement across Busch Gardens Williamsburg's property—leaving a barren, hideous wasteland cut directly through the middle of the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park. Since that greenery decimation took place, little has been done to mitigate the aesthetic impacts it caused. One of the areas where the scars of this clearcutting are most visible is in Da Vinci's Garden of Invention. The pipeline easement runs through what is currently the San Marco side of the gardens and required the removal of all of that corner's trees and large shrubs. This exposed a long expanse of wooden fencing and, depending on where you're standing, even sight lines into the ugly storage yard behind San Marco.
This clearing has left part of what should be an elaborate, refined, Italian, formal garden looking neglected and forgotten. I believe any renovations made to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention must try to solve the pipeline easement issue by visually blocking the clearing and backstage areas as much as possible. In fact, my proposal goes even further and outright removes the entire back side of the current formal gardens altogether. I would much rather the park's landscaping budget and time be dedicated to areas in which they can work free of the pipeline's restrictions and, frankly, through areas of the park where guests are most likely to walk. Currently, the pathways to the right of the fountain circle serve very little functional purpose and few guests traverse them. Why invest the time and money on elaborate landscaping when we can shift that investment to paths that the vast majority of guests actually experience?
Here is my proposal: I envision an aerial leisure attraction themed to dirigibles encircling the core of the formal gardens and weaving around all of the area's other flat rides. My layout extends out beyond the current garden area though—fully encompassing the compass circle into the design. This attraction, which I've dubbed Da Vinci's Dirigibles, would be themed to the inventing history of Leonardo da Vinci—ultimately culminating in a flight aboard one of his airships for an aerial view of his other contraptions in action. Though I would love to see the park spring for on-ride narration to provide an in-story audio guide, realistically, it's far from necessary and the entire concept of the land and ride could be conveyed with some very basic queue theming and placemaking.
This attraction, as I've envisioned it, completely dodges the entirely of the Colonial Pipeline easement just as surgically as Pantheon's design did. It utilizes the existing Da Vinci Cradle queue building, preserves the ride's tower, and even offers a tiered, zig-zagging exit ramp inspired by Cradle's. It allows the preservation of the entire center of the existing gardens, retains the shape of all of the area's surviving planters, and accentuates the entire area with a new level of charm and kineticism.
To replace the loss of the back portion of the formal gardens, I have allocated new space for elaborate landscaping design in areas depicted in dark green throughout the plan—most notably a large semi-circular area around the compass circle. By removing a few trees and undergrowth from the compass circle area and replacing them with formal plantings, both the circle and it's central tree would be even more striking. Plus, given that this is such a heavily-trafficked area, the impact of elaborate landscaping through this area would be substantial—directly impacting the visits of essentially every park visitor.
I also attempted to design in a realistic storage and maintenance area for the attraction along the service road behind the area. While I was at it, I took the opportunity to improve maintenance access to the Flying Machine ride area as well. Da Vinci's Dirigibles track, station, and maintenance area are all scaled appropriately match the size of the same elements on Kings Dominion's Snoopy's Rocket Express, a (non-suspended) Zamperla monorail.
That brings me to ride model. I have been intentionally vague here thus far as there are multiple suppliers who offer equally-valid products. That said, as I've been drawing this up, Zamperla's monorail offerings are what have been front-and-center in my mind. Specifically though, I think Zamperla's suspended monorail or a similar offering with a single overhead rail would be the best solution as it keeps the visual bulk of the ride hardware to a minimum and it raises the ride infrastructure further above guests' ground-level sight lines. Here's an image of Zeppelin, a Zamperla suspended monorail, located at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid just as a quick visual reference:
To round things out, the plan above utilizes existing pathways almost exclusively, preserves essentially every structure in the area, provides means of blocking views of the pipeline easement from the gardens, reintroduces a flagship, directly Da Vinci-themed and branded attraction to Da Vinci's Garden of Invention, and provides a new way to showcase the beauty of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It's an attraction type that requires minimal staffing, it's relatively inexpensive for the range and impact it offers, and I sincerely believe it could quickly become a quintessentially-Busch Gardens Williamsburg attraction in a similar vein to the likes of the Rhine River Cruise. Also, I almost fear how popular it would be during Christmas Town. Aerial views of the decorated gardens and the wrapped compass rose tree would be a sure-fire hit.
I acknowledge that from a thrill level perspective, an aerial leisure ride isn't exactly an in-kind replacement for Cradle. Given the incredibly tight space left by Cradle along the pipeline easement, the inability of the park to build over the pipeline easement as they could in years gone by, and the lack of a true all-ages, non-thrill attraction in Da Vinci's Garden of Invention, I believe something like a suspended monorail could be an enormous hit with families though—enough so that the change in direction may be worthwhile. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, it would provide a direct justification for additional, ongoing landscaping investment in Da Vinci's Garden as a core aspect of the attraction would be showcasing the only formal garden in the World's Most Beautiful Theme Park.
And hey, if you, like me, want additional thrilling flat rides at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I have ideas! If you like what I've put together here and want to see more, I encourage you to check my Das Spinnrad and ZeitMaschine concepts!
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I wouldn't be surprised if they could see it from the ISS
