Busch Gardens Williamsburg!

Today's group of slides was a bit of a mystery to me... they are undated and unlabeled (I am guessing that they are from the mid to late 1980's). But there were enough clues to figure out that they are of  Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Virginia). The park opened in May of 1975 as "Busch Gardens: The Old Country"; it had a European theme, as you probably gathered. Among the different "hamlets" were "Branbury Cross" (England), "Heatherdowns" (Scotland), "Killarney" (Ireland), "San Marco" and "Festa Italia" (Italy), "Rhinefeld" and "Oktoberfest" (Germany), "Aquitaine" (France), and "New France" (French Canada). 

This particular area is known as "Da Vinci Gardens". In the center is a large armillary sphere, and there are a number of statues, presumably of notable Italians such a Chef Boyardee and Roberto Benini. In the distance is the "Little Balloons" attraction, a simple spinning ride.

Blimey! It's Branbury Cross, a bit of Olde England, with attractions such as the 400-seat Globe Theatre (now the home of "4-D" shows), and one leg of the park's sky ride. The clock tower is known as St. Stephens Clock Tower, often referred to as "Big Ben" by guests. 

In the New France area you'll find "Le Scoot Log Flume", featuring a 50-foot plunge through a saw mill. Will you avoid the razor-sharp teeth of the giant rip saw? Probably not.

I'm suddenly in the mood for a soft pretzel and a beer. Luckily, we're in the "Oktoberfest" hamlet. Besides eating and dancing, you could ride bumper cars, a classic yo-yo swing ride, "Das Katapult", a basic carnival scrambler, and "The Curse of DarKastle", an indoor, technologically-advance dark ride/haunted house in which an ancient German king terrorizes guests through 3D and 4D effects in a motion-simulator style. Sounds pretty cool!

How's this for a spectacular scene? One of the park's 3 locomotives crosses the "Rhine River Trestle". The "Rhine" is not an actual river - it is a man-made lake, in fact. I couldn't find any info as to how high the trestle is, but it appears to be around 30 or 35 feet above the water. If you are interested in the trains at the park, here is some info (too much info?):

There are 3 locomotives, all built by the Caledonian Railway Company. They all have a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement, and roll along 3 foot narrow-gauge track. The ride is about 2.5 miles, and guests are welcome to ride for as long as they wish.

Two of the engines were built for the park. Number 661 (the Balmoral Castle) features British styling, painted in a blue livery. Engine number 238, Der Hochbeinige, has European styling and red livery. Engine #17, the Alpengeist Express (later shortened to the Alpen Express) was originally built for the Lakeside Amusement Park in Salem, Virigina, and was acquired by Busch Gardens in 1997. It has a green livery and maintains an American appearance.

In the distance you can see a second trestle, the “Loch Ness Trestle”, named because of its proximity to the Loch Ness Monster rollercoaster.

The boat is part of the "Rhine River Cruise".

Speaking of the "Loch Ness Monster" rollercoaster, we are getting closer and closer to it. It is a looping Arrow Dynamics coaster with interlocking loops - the only of coaster in the world with this feature, nowadays. At the time of its 1978 debut, this was advertised as the "World's tallest and fastest rollercoaster".

There's the Sky Ride! And that yellow, twisting track is the dreaded "Loch Ness Monster" coaster that I mentioned earlier. Here's a description of a journey on that rollercoaster: The ride begins by departing the station and ascending a 130-foot (40 m) lift hill with a small, tight turn (with views of Griffon's lift hill and first drop) before descending 114-foot (35 m) toward the park's Rhine River. A large upward hill crosses over the park's 'Land of the Dragons', bringing the ride to the first of two interlocking loops, after which the ride accelerates through a descending, spiraling tunnel. 

The train descends 2.75 spiraling revolutions in a tunnel, subsequently ascending its second lift hill, making a wide turn and dropping into the second loop – ascending one final time before stopping. For years, there were special effects in the tunnel section of the ride, including lights, mist, and a mural of the Loch Ness Monster. These effects have not operated for years, and the mural has since been removed from the tunnel wall. In 2018 Busch Gardens restored the effects except for the mist.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg!