Busch Gardens, Williamsburg....question?

[tiggerlover]

I have a question for those that have been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Can you tell me about the Escape to Pompeii ride and the Corkscrew Hill ride? My DS is not adventuresome and he thinks these two rides are far too scary for him to ride so I am looking for some first hand advice to pass along to him. Are they indeed scary or is it all in his 8 year old imagination?

Thanks.

 

[Dax]

Corkscrew Hill is a motion simulator....sort of like Shrek really. Or Star Tours.

Escape from Pompei is a big boat log flume. You know the ones that bring a wall of water in there wake. It does have some scenes inside the ride with lots of fire and stuff, but overall its a fun flume ride.

 

[snowball22]

Both rides are a blast!!! My kids loved them and were both under the age of 10. Corkscrew Hill is a motion simulator. If your young one gets scared, he can just close his eyes. Corkscrew Hill is one of my all time favorite "ride" experience! As for Escape from Pompei. My kids and dh were so pumped for this ride. It is a water ride. You go through a darkened area at the top which is hot and fiery like then you plunge down the hill and get pretty wet. It was fun.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I wouldn't say either one is very scary but my best friend's 7 year old brother hates Corkscrew Hill. He thinks it's too loud and moves too much. But if your son doesn't mind the noise and motion he'll be fine because the actual ride itself isn't scary. On Escape From Pompeii, as long as he doesn't mind the drop it'll be fine. It's not a very big drop and the inside stuff isn't scary. Have a great time

 

[isyne4u]

I have a boy that's afraid of everything and so we haven't tried either of these yet. I'm hoping this year he will want to try both of those. I agree with everyone else's descriptions. I was disappointed in Pompeii because with the great exterior and the look of a great "story line" I expected it to be more magical (like a Disney ride). It is very short and the worst is probably the expectation of the drop. But it is fun!!

I hope we can do another Dismeet there at the end of the summer!!

I'll be there on Saturday if hte weather cooperates!! My DS will be 5 on Saturday!

tara

 

[tiggerlover]

Thanks for your replies. DS gets freaked out pretty easily. We went for Howl-O-Scream and he made us leave when it got dark because he was just too scared.

On Corkscrew Hill is it one of those ride that someone who gets motion sickness will get sick? Sort of like the Back to the Future ride?

We are still trying to coax him on to the Big Bad Wolf.....he said maybe when he was 10! Jeesh!

 

[tiggerlover]

II'll be there on Saturday if hte weather cooperates!! My DS will be 5 on Saturday!

tara

Happy Birthday DS!!!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

What are the height restrictions for those two rides? We're planning on going to Water Country and Busch Gardens this summer. Is one day for each park enough or should we spend an extra day? We like to do most every ride and since my kids are 5-17yo we like it all, except for the young toddler rides. Are there lots of rides that my 5yo son will be able to ride (he's about 45" tall now and we're planning on going in August)?

T&B

 

[eeyore0062]

If I am not mistaken, Big Bad Wolf is 42" and Corkscrew Hill is 40". The height restrictions may be listed on the official Busch Gardens, The Old Country website. Apollo's Chariot and Alpengeist are 52" and 54" respectively. I believe LochNess is 48".

 

[grlpwrd]

I have a question for those that have been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Can you tell me about the Escape to Pompeii ride and the Corkscrew Hill ride? My DS is not adventuresome and he thinks these two rides are far too scary for him to ride so I am looking for some first hand advice to pass along to him. Are they indeed scary or is it all in his 8 year old imagination?

Thanks.

My 6yo dd loved Corkscrew Hill and she's the type to get spooked easily. It's a simulator ride and during the show she was apprehensive, but afterwards she didn't stop talking about it. I did do what I could to make her feel comfortable, like hug her, but it wasn't that bad, really.

There is usually along wait, but the preshow helps a little and it's good to go on a hot day because it's a/c'ed. Some simulations may be too thrilling and unexpected, such as the simulation of riding a horse or almost falling off a cliff. I think your son should be at least prefaced of what to expect (ie feeling like you're doing something real, but it isn't "real"), but don't give out too much info, of course, so as not to spoil the "ride."

Escape to Pompeii...um, nothing can compare to Disney. lol This is the sister ride to Journey to Atlantis at Anheiser-Busch's other park - SeaWorld. Escape to Pompeii is much, much tamer, though.

Yes, be sure to look at the Busch Gardens website for a map and height restrictions.

PS Howl-O-Scream had freakish looking clowns around the property. Even I was scared. lol

Have fun!

 

[Blondie]

On Corkscrew Hill is it one of those ride that someone who gets motion sickness will get sick?

My SIL's husband went on this ride on an empty stomach and he wasn't feeling too good afterwards! The rest of us had no problems! I have occasional motion sickness problems, and it doesn't bother me in the least.

With Escape from Pompeii, the only part of the ride that could/might frighten him is the ceiling of fire towards the end of the ride, it get's a little hot too! Maybe if you tell him about it in advance he'll be okay to ride it?

They are both fun rides, I adore Corkscrew Hill!

 

[snoopy]

Just the thought of Corkscrew Hill makes me feel sick to my stomach. That is one of those "never ever again" rides for me, although both of my boys liked it. FTR, I have never before had that feeling on any other ride but Back to the Future in Universal.

They both also loved Escape from Pompei (and fortunately, so do I!). I'd say of the two, Escape from Pompei would be the more frightening of the two.

 

[WDWNewbie]

What are the height restrictions for those two rides? We're planning on going to Water Country and Busch Gardens this summer. Is one day for each park enough or should we spend an extra day? We like to do most every ride and since my kids are 5-17yo we like it all, except for the young toddler rides. Are there lots of rides that my 5yo son will be able to ride (he's about 45" tall now and we're planning on going in August)?

T&B

You could buy a 2 day park-hopper (or whatever it's called) and then if you decide you want a third (or even a fourth) day, I believe you can upgrade for $10/per person to get another day added to your pass. (This is how it worked last year, check this year before you try it). They don't advertise this, so you really need to talk to guest relations to confirm. I think you can only do it before you leave the park on your second day.

Your 5 year old son will enjoy Land of the Dragons and Italy. There are also a couple of rides outside of the Oktoberfest house. I'm pretty sure the website has the height restrictions for each ride.

There's a lot to do there-- I would suggest you get to the water park right when it opens and go on Aquazoid (biggest scariest waterslide) for anyone in your family who is so inclined. The line ups get long after an hour or so.

Do all the slides until it gets busy, then the wave pool and hubba hubba highway have no lineups.

The first and last hour of the day are the best time to be there for the more crowded rides.

have fun--these are 2 fantastic parks!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You could buy a 2 day park-hopper (or whatever it's called) and then if you decide you want a third (or even a fourth) day, I believe you can upgrade for $10/per person to get another day added to your pass. (This is how it worked last year, check this year before you try it). They don't advertise this, so you really need to talk to guest relations to confirm. I think you can only do it before you leave the park on your second day.

We'll be going 2-3 days before our beach vacation, so if we want to do the 3 days, as opposed to the 2, we need to decide before the trip. Our plan if we do 2 days would be to arrive the late afteroon before and then have 2 full days between the two parks. If we do 3 days, we'd leave home early in the morning and drive down and then spend the rest of the day in the park and then have the 2 additional days. So it's not too much more expensive to do 3 days--the extra $ person for the longer pass, maybe an extra kennel day for our dogs, but maybe not, and then food. As long as we get going early in the morning to get there before too late in the day (we're maybe 3-3 1/2 hours away). It's hard being an obsessive planner!

I'll look up more about the height restrictions. My 5yo is such a daredevil and doesn't like to be left behind.

Thanks!

T&B

 

[WDWNewbie]

T & B. I think you will be so happy to take the 3rd day! Because the day day is a 'hopper' if you really love both parks you can always do Water Country in the morning right when it opens for a couple of hours, have lunch and then trek on to Busch. We have done both parks before and it's really a nice (but long) day!

In the heat of the summer Busch is much cooler and less crowded at night--we tend to like to show up around 3pm and then close the park at 10.

The last 90 minutes are the best time to do the 'coasters!

My 9 y/o daughter was a little timid last year, but she loved Big Bad Wolf and Pompeii.

Be SURE to see Irish Thunder-- a fantastic River Dance style show!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

T & B. I think you will be so happy to take the 3rd day!

Thanks and I think that we will plan to do that. I didn't want to have too much time there--you know, the feeling of "why did I allow so many days for this", but we also like to repeat our favorites several times. I'm all for long days, but my family isn't always that way and they tend to like a mid-day break, so having 3 days (or more like 2 3/4 days) will give us a little more flexibility.

We'll have a week at the beach to rest, so if we decide to go strong for 3 days then we'll at least be able to recover.

T&B

 

[tiggerlover]

Just the thought of Corkscrew Hill makes me feel sick to my stomach. That is one of those "never ever again" rides for me, although both of my boys liked it. FTR, I have never before had that feeling on any other ride but Back to the Future in Universal.

They both also loved Escape from Pompei (and fortunately, so do I!). I'd say of the two, Escape from Pompei would be the more frightening of the two.

If it is anything like Back to the Future I will pass, when I got off BTTF I was sooooooo sick!

Thanks all!