Project 2019: Finnegan's Flyer (S&S Screamin' Swing)

[metalman]

A quick search on the "Applicant Company", VBH showed an engineering firm in the Virginia Beach Town Center which has also done work on renovating King's Mill golf course.

 

[madmax]

Wild consideration - but seeing as Ireland is the only hamlet without anything coaster-like, I will suggest that something on the small- scale of Cobra's Curse, but folklore themed is not too crazy. The positioning would bring a nice enticing ride to the entrance, and draw more people to the area to spend time (money). Also Time Traveler and Cobra's Curse have been well-received, and Mack has done well with the reliability of these spinning models as of late. The land slopes nicely down there, and there is room for a ride to interact with that bridge into Ireland if meandered carefully.

Whatever the case, I just love seeing the words "expansion," "Ireland," and "Busch Gardens" in one sentence. It could very well be simple building additions, but I hope someone is considering how to make Ireland more than BFE and the theaters, and give it some more fun to bring greater foot traffic. It's a small spot that can be more relevant for sure.

PS Who wouldn't mind a Blarney Stone-themed spinner dubbed "Blarney Stormer" with a replica tower as the feature?

Fun Fact - The Blarney Castle is EXACTLY 90 feet tall. -_-

Please no. The park has enough family coasters.

 

[SLC Headache]

Wild consideration - but seeing as Ireland is the only hamlet without anything coaster-like, I will suggest that something on the small- scale of Cobra's Curse, but folklore themed is not too crazy. The positioning would bring a nice enticing ride to the entrance, and draw more people to the area to spend time (money). Also Time Traveler and Cobra's Curse have been well-received, and Mack has done well with the reliability of these spinning models as of late. The land slopes nicely down there, and there is room for a ride to interact with that bridge into Ireland if meandered carefully.

Whatever the case, I just love seeing the words "expansion," "Ireland," and "Busch Gardens" in one sentence. It could very well be simple building additions, but I hope someone is considering how to make Ireland more than BFE and the theaters, and give it some more fun to bring greater foot traffic. It's a small spot that can be more relevant for sure.

PS Who wouldn't mind a Blarney Stone-themed spinner dubbed "Blarney Stormer" with a replica tower as the feature?

Fun Fact - The Blarney Castle is EXACTLY 90 feet tall. -_-

Please no. The park has enough family coasters.

Still nothing for the 42" minimum height after Grover, though.

 

[snowman6996]

i would love to see a thrilling flat ride such as a mondail topscan or inferno, or any other flat. Busch needs more flat rides.

 

[Adam]

A quick search on the "Applicant Company", VBH showed an engineering firm in the Virginia Beach Town Center which has also done work on renovating King's Mill golf course.

VHB also has done the civil design work and submittals for a majority of park projects, at least in recent history (LandMark Design Group did it before VHB, but VHB acquired LandMark in 2010). They seem to have a good track record with the park, considering they have done site design for major attractions (InvadR, Tempesto, Verbolten, etc.), other additions (Log Flume basin restoration, Lumberhack maze, sidewalk widenings, Brady's Kiosk expansion in Ireland, etc.), and recent applications (Project Madrid, the new event building, this). They also have an office in Williamsburg that is a 5 minute drive from the park, which makes for easy site visits, if in fact the work is done though that office. Unfortunately due to their breadth of work with Busch, we can't get the best idea as to what this project is just from the civil consultant.

 

[warfelg]

i would love to see a thrilling flat ride such as a mondail topscan or inferno, or any other flat.  Busch needs more flat rides.

I really think it needs to be something like that.

If it is a small scale coaster (I kinda hope that it isn't the case so it doesn't kill Project Madrid); I would like to see something like Freedom Flyer or Merlin's Meyham in that area. Some smaller scale family inverted. They have 42" height requirements (might be even lower IIRC), they are inexpensive (relatively), and real quality rides.

But yea, I hope it's something smaller like just a flat with great theme elements or a building for something to be housed in (unlikely given the terrain).

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Please no. The park has enough family coasters.

A major criticism a lot of enthusiasts have is that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does NOT have enough family coasters. I know you're a young poster and with me being a single 20-something I also would prefer a massive thrilling coaster to a "family" coaster. But there are plenty of great family coasters out there that are just fun to ride. A version of Cobra's Curse would be FANTASTIC at Busch Gardens.

 

[Zachary]

Please no. The park has enough family coasters.

A major criticism a lot of enthusiasts have is that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does NOT have enough family coasters.

I can point to a grand total of like three people who I have heard claim this. We have more family coasters than many parks out there. More importantly, we have had a string of tiny, often kid or family-focused additions since 2007. It's time for something bigger.

That said, I can see one justification for this being a family coaster: If Grover is being assimilated into a possibile Sesame Place Williamsburg, maybe BGW thinks another, similarly tame, kiddy-targeted coaster is in order—a mouse of some kind possibly?

---

Anyway, I have some additional documents related to this permit that I'll post soon. These documents contain something else too—something exceedingly bizarre—something possibly relating to that one project everyone wants to know more about right now...

 

[SLC Headache]

i would love to see a thrilling flat ride such as a mondail topscan or inferno, or any other flat.  Busch needs more flat rides.

I really think it needs to be something like that.

If it is a small scale coaster (I kinda hope that it isn't the case so it doesn't kill Project Madrid); I would like to see something like Freedom Flyer or Merlin's Meyham in that area.  Some smaller scale family inverted.  They have 42" height requirements (might be even lower IIRC), they are inexpensive (relatively), and real quality rides.

But yea, I hope it's something smaller like just a flat with great theme elements or a building for something to be housed in (unlikely given the terrain).

Freedom Flyer actually swings - does Merlin's Mayhem swing? If not, at least Merlin's Mayhem has like a 39" minimum height IIRC.

And if it swings, then the park is complete again. A suspended coaster returning after the loss of the Wolf is my fanboy dream.

Please no. The park has enough family coasters.

A major criticism a lot of enthusiasts have is that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does NOT have enough family coasters.  I know you're a young poster and with me being a single 20-something I also would prefer a massive thrilling coaster to a "family" coaster.  But there are plenty of great family coasters out there that are just fun to ride.  A version of Cobra's Curse would be FANTASTIC at Busch Gardens.

BGW really needs both. They need another headliner on par with Griffon to get back on the map, especially when KD's additions of this decade were I305 and Twisted Timbers. And they need a 42" ride between Grover and Nessie. Whether that involves working with GCI to modify InvadR's trains further, or the spinner / modern suspended...

 

[Adam]

Anyway, I have some additional documents related to this permit that I'll post soon. These documents contain something else too—something exceedingly bizarre—something possibly relating to that one project everyone wants to know more about right now...

You got my attention! Very interested to hear how all of this ties together and plays out in the big picture of Busch Gardens's plan.

 

[warfelg]

Freedom Flyer actually swings - does Merlin's Mayhem swing? If not, at least Merlin's Mayhem has like a 39" minimum height IIRC.

And if it swings, then the park is complete again. A suspended coaster returning after the loss of the Wolf is my fanboy dream.

Freedom Fryer and Merlin’s Mayhem do not swing. They are both inverted family coasters. Neither have any inversions, big drops or extreme forces. Mostly helixes.

The unique thing Merlin’s Mayhem has that could be worked to BGWs favor is speakers for each seat to further immerse ever rider into the story of the ride. If BGW can develop a great story and put sound effects to the ride, along with a shorter ride height, then I would be inclined to think they have a hit on their hands.

But as I said, I hope this is just a well themed flat. As Zachary said, we haven’t had a major thrill coaster since 2007. And if they scrapped Project Madrid in favor of a small family coaster in Ireland, I personally would be unhappy. KD and Car keep going bigger and better; BGW needs to find a way to steal some of that thunder.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I can point to a grand total of like three people who I have heard claim this. We have more family coasters than many parks out there. More importantly, we have had a string of tiny, often kid or family-focused additions since 2007. It's time for something bigger.

That said, I can see one justification for this being a family coaster: If Grover is being assimilated into a possibile Sesame Place Williamsburg, maybe BGW thinks another, similarly tame, kiddy-targeted coaster is in order—a mouse of some kind possibly?

I definitely do not disagree with you that the park could use a new larger coaster. That's just something I've seen on other forums but it does not matter to me one bit (for now with my lack of children). By all means I would prefer large coasters go up over anything else at all parks and you definitely won't see me beating the drum of "more family coasters" over "more larger coasters."

 

[SLC Headache]

Freedom Flyer actually swings - does Merlin's Mayhem swing? If not, at least Merlin's Mayhem has like a 39" minimum height IIRC.

And if it swings, then the park is complete again. A suspended coaster returning after the loss of the Wolf is my fanboy dream.

Freedom Fryer and Merlin’s Mayhem do not swing. They are both inverted family coasters. Neither have any inversions, big drops or extreme forces. Mostly helixes.

The unique thing Merlin’s Mayhem has that could be worked to BGWs favor is speakers for each seat to further immerse ever rider into the story of the ride. If BGW can develop a great story and put sound effects to the ride, along with a shorter ride height, then I would be inclined to think they have a hit on their hands.

But as I said, I hope this is just a well themed flat. As Zachary said, we haven’t had a major thrill coaster since 2007. And if they scrapped Project Madrid in favor of a small family coaster in Ireland, I personally would be unhappy. KD and Car keep going bigger and better; BGW needs to find a way to steal some of that thunder.

RCDB says Freedom Flyer is suspended, not inverted: https://rcdb.com/10347.htm

However, Merlin's Mayhem somehow flows much better from its POV. The one advantage inverts have over suspendeds is tighter clearances - so tight, Merlin's Mayhem ran into construction issues.

(I will also continue to argue that Verbolten is less of a family coaster than Nessie is.)


Wasn't there rumors of sticking an S&S tower in the Ireland area way back when? But does S&S make towers that small or will they dig deep enough to make it work?

 

[lightninlady]

S&S Screamin' Swings can range anywhere from 65' to 100' according to their website. Not that I think that would happen, but Lord knows how much I want one of those at the park.

 

[SLC Headache]

S&S Screamin' Swings can range anywhere from 65' to 100' according to their website. Not that I think that would happen, but Lord knows how much I want one of those at the park.

Yeah, I'd like a Screamin' Swing on the East Coast, but I was talking about the Space Shot, etc. towers.

...Oh right, the Kisses tower of Hershey's triple tower might be small enough. Dig for that, make even a half-decent attempt at theming, and you have something to play the role Mach Tower fails at right now.

 

[lightninlady]

Oh I know, it's just that you mentioning S&S made me think of it. Sorry about that!

 

[warfelg]

Freedom Flyer actually swings - does Merlin's Mayhem swing? If not, at least Merlin's Mayhem has like a 39" minimum height IIRC.

And if it swings, then the park is complete again. A suspended coaster returning after the loss of the Wolf is my fanboy dream.

Freedom Fryer and Merlin’s Mayhem do not swing. They are both inverted family coasters. Neither have any inversions, big drops or extreme forces. Mostly helixes.

The unique thing Merlin’s Mayhem has that could be worked to BGWs favor is speakers for each seat to further immerse ever rider into the story of the ride. If BGW can develop a great story and put sound effects to the ride, along with a shorter ride height, then I would be inclined to think they have a hit on their hands.

But as I said, I hope this is just a well themed flat. As Zachary said, we haven’t had a major thrill coaster since 2007. And if they scrapped Project Madrid in favor of a small family coaster in Ireland, I personally would be unhappy. KD and Car keep going bigger and better; BGW needs to find a way to steal some of that thunder.

RCDB says Freedom Flyer is suspended, not inverted: https://rcdb.com/10347.htm

However, Merlin's Mayhem somehow flows much better from its POV. The one advantage inverts have over suspendeds is tighter clearances - so tight, Merlin's Mayhem ran into construction issues.

(I will also continue to argue that Verbolten is less of a family coaster than Nessie is.)


Wasn't there rumors of sticking an S&S tower in the Ireland area way back when? But does S&S make towers that small or will they dig deep enough to make it work?

I was just on Freedom Flyer last month. It doesn’t swing.

It’s also listed as suspended because that’s what that manufacturer lists it as.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I cannot describe how much I would love an S&S Screamin Swing in Virginia. The Barnstormer at Dollywood is arguably my favorite flat ride. Such a simple concept but so good.

 

[SLC Headache]

I was just on Freedom Flyer last month. It doesn’t swing.

It’s also listed as suspended because that’s what that manufacturer lists it as.

RCDB lists the first-generation Vekoma family inverts (like the ones at Kings Island and Carowinds) as inverts.

 

[Thomas]

If this is a coaster, I will buy everyone on this forum a dinner at La Cucina.