A lot of fun things have happened to me this summer; including a nice vacation to Orlando, FL. It’s nice to just take some time and get away from life at home to go to enjoy yourself and the ones you love. Which is exactly what I did in not only Orlando, FL, but also Williamsburg, VA.
Almost every year, my family takes either a vacation, or “mini-vacay,” to Williamsburg, VA. There’s so much to do there. From shopping at some of the nicest outlets. To the museums, exhibits, and reenactments of Colonial Williamsburg. But my ultimate favorite attraction in the whole entire town is Busch Gardens! One of the greatest theme parks in the country!
The park is themed around the continent of Europe. Each section of the park is basically a different European nation. You might be thinking, “that must be some park to have all of represented.” Well, unfortunately, not all of Europe is represented (but that sure would be something; I mean the park would be MASSIVE). Just only a select few countries like Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, Scotland, and England. Nontheless, the park is amazing and I always have a great time with my family. And this year was no exception!
Arriving at the park
The journey to Busch Gardens Williamsburg began as my family and I departed the Colonies of Williamsburg resort on Independence Day (July 4th). We made plans to get breakfast at our favorite restaurant The Smokey Griddle. There was one problem, however. It was closed for the holiday! Completely dismayed, we hopped into the drive-thru line of a nearby Wendy’s and got some quick food to go.
We ate all the way to Busch Gardens. I was very cautious about eating too much and/or too fast because I knew that I had planned on riding quite a bit of rides. But then I figured that I would have more than enough time for my food to digest.
From the moment we left Wendy’s to the moment we arrived at the park was about 15 minutes. We then had to buy our parking passes and figure out where exactly we needed to park. We had purchased preferred parking so that we would be closer to the park entrance. But it took us an extra 10 minutes more than it should’ve because nobody knew where we were going. Once we asked a nice gentleman who worked at the park, we finally found where we needed to park and made our way to the entrance.
After going through the security checks and scanning our tickets, we headed inside the park and took a few pictures by the fountain just in the middle of the England section of the park (not too far away from the ticket scanners). We then took a few moments for bathroom breaks and obtaining a wheel chair and handicap pass for my sister with Lupus. After that, we were off to explore the park!
The first ride!
My family and I walked deeper into the park and were approaching the beginning of the Italy section. That’s when we decided on our first attractions. One of my sisters took her children to the Sesame Street portion of Italy, while other family members followed suit. Meanwhile, my other sister, my wife, and I walked further into Italy and decided to meet up with the rest of the family later.
We walked by several more attractions, including The Escape From Pompeii and The Battering Ram. Keep in mind, I’ve had one main objective on my bucket list for the day. That was to ride their newest roller coaster, Pantheon (also located in Italy). We walked closer and closer to it and I couldn’t help but to bask in its beauty. We got close, but….didn’t ride it…at least not yet.
Instead, our eyes were set on a roller coaster “right across the street”; The Apollo’s Chariot. So some coaster enthusiasts already may be thinking that I’m pretty bold for choosing a big roller coaster such as this as the first ride. With its first drop of 210ft and maximum speed of 73 mph. Hey, sometimes you gotta go big or go home. And I surely wasn’t going to go home at that point (I just got there).
My wife doesn’t really do a lot of roller coasters, so she sat and watched our bags, while my sister and I rode the ride. Due to my sister’s handicap status, we were able to catapult ourselves to the front of the line. Excitement and nerves overtook my entire body. I hadn’t ridden this ride, let alone any roller coaster in a couple years. But I was ready to accept my “fate” and face the 210 ft. plunge and six additional airtime hills that lied ahead. And that’s exactly what my sister and I did.
We made it through the ride and were officially warmed up. We were ready for our next ride. But the question was, which one was it going to be??
A few more rides in
The Pantheon was calling my name. Buuuut…we had other plans. We decided to ride another nearby roller coaster: Tempesto. Now this is a unique coaster that acts as a shuttle; it goes from one place to the next then back. All while standing at a height of 154 feet and reaching speeds up to 63 mph.
My sister and I approached the ride and went through the exit to access the handicap entrance. For this ride, we had to wait a little longer to get on. One of the ride operators gave us a specific time that we would ride. In the meantime, we left and went to check out a nearby arcade.
We managed to kill about 15 minutes, which was just the right amount of time we needed in order to be back in time to ride Tempesto. We made it back and the ride operator let us in. My sister and I sat down in the middle car of the coaster train. For some reason, I’ve always struggled with putting on the safety belt; and today was no different. After about 30 seconds, I finally strapped myself in and got ready to be blasted both forward and backwards at speeds a cheetah can run.
After a quick and exciting 60 seconds, my sister and I got off of the ride and were ready for the next. Well, my sister and my wife that is. The next ridfe they wanted to ride was the “Turkish Delight” teacup ride. Something people should know about me is that I will ride the biggest and fastest roller coasters ever built, but will refuse to ride any rides that spin. Not unless people want to see what I ate for breakfast and lunch. But I digress.
After my sister and wife had their fun on the teacups, my sister and I were finally ready to ride the only coaster left in the Italy section of the park was Pantheon. We began to walk over until…we got a phone call from my sister to come and meet the rest of the family by the train…all the way in Scotland.
I couldn’t believe it! We were so close to accomplishing my mission of riding the park’s newest roller coaster. I wasn’t happy, but I refused to let that ruin my day.
We met the rest of the family in Scotland and decided to ride the train…ironically back to Italy. Hey, I was just happy that I could have another chance to accomplish what I came to the park to do!
The moment I’ve waited 3 years for!
My family and I hopped onto the train and rode it all the way to the Italy section of the park. When we arrived, we got off and everyone had different agendas. People wanted to get ice cream. People wanted to have a seat in the shade. My nieces and nephew wanted to ride the different kiddie rides that were nearby. As for me and my sister…it was FINALLY time to ride the Pantheon. My step dad saw the ride and wanted to tag along. I can’t believe I was getting ready to ride what I’ve been waiting 3 years to ride.
Pantheon was announced in 2019. I saw an animated front seat POV (point of view). I stalked You Tube for construction progress videos. Week after week, I wanted to know anything and everything about the status of the roller coaster. That’s how bad I wanted to ride it.
The ride was scheduled to open in May of 2020. Then…the pandemic came and delayed everything. Construction, park operations, and my chances of riding the ride any time soon.
Fast forward about two years to the very moment I was standing just a few hundred feet from the Pantheon entrance. My step dad, sister, and I walked eagerly to the ride. The closer we got, the more anxious I became. I was extremely excited, yet extremely nervous; which isn’t unusual for me when it comes to new rides.
Speaking of getting anxious, Here’s A Little Something that can help. It’ll be sure to get your mood from uptight to just right! You can read more about it RIGHT HERE!!
We walked up to the handicap entrance and were just a couple minutes away from riding the ride. Meanwhile, I watched the coaster trains as they left the station and endured the multiple launches and intense speeds breaking 70 mph in less than 2 seconds.
After a couple minutes had passed, it was our turn to tackle the beast they call Pantheon. I secured myself into my seat and held tightly to the handle bars. I was having the most intense adrenaline rush I’d experienced in a while. After I heard the words “all clear” from the ride operator, I knew right then and there…it was time.
The ride slowly started moving and made its way through the first feature which was a small launch through a corkscrew (a popular inversion on roller coasters). The ride got faster and launched us almost completely up the 180 ft crest. It didn’t clear and we were sent backwards up another steep incline. After going down the incline, we were launched forward toward the crest and sped through the rest of the ride, which lasted about two minutes.
When the ride ended, we got off of the ride and were definitely not let down by the experience. We couldn’t stop talking about everything the ride did to us. Before Pantheon was in the park, the Griffon was my favorite ride in the park. At that moment (even now as I type this page), Pantheon became my new favorite ride in the park! Mission accomplished!
Wrapping up the trip
So after that exciting adventure on Pantheon, I got to ride several other rides for the next few hours. These include The Battering Ram (a fun pendulum pirate ship ride), Verbolten (a well-themed multi-launch coaster), and Finnegan’s Flyer (an exciting pendulum ride that looks like two giant swings). We would’ve gone on The Griffon, but it was closed down for quite a bit due to wasps (I know right…why would wasps even think about building nests near a roller coaster??).
After riding Finnegan’s Flyer, everyone decided it was time to leave the park. Thus ends another great trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the books. Looking forward to going back next year!
Response Magic