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 Review of Alpengeist @ Busch Gardens Williamsburg
0 Rating Posted by: ginzo on 7/14/2007 6:44:00 PM
This one left me scratching my head. Montu, built in 1996, is easily my favorite invert. It tracks well, has a high degree of rider comfort, and does a brilliant job of throwing you every which way. Why this sister ride, built just a year later, wound up being such a dog is beyond me.
Alpengeist is unusual for a Busch Gardens coaster in that it does not seem to be that well cared for. It tracked pretty poorly for a B&M, and the wheels made a bizarre noise. There are rough spots all over the course, and the ride just isnt fun in general. Like others have said here, bigger isnt always better. Many times its worse.
 

Review Comments

coasterf42 on 7/15/2007 7:35:13 AM said:
I sort of agree. Alpengeist being a kinda normalish invert is probably the reason why B&M hasnt built anything bigger since then.
ginzo on 7/15/2007 8:38:31 AM said:
Well, remember that B&M doesnt generally make the ultimate decision on that. They just build whatever a park orders from them. Though they can refuse a project if they dont like it, like how they generally avoid launched coasters.

I wouldnt be overly surprised to see a moderately taller invert constructed, just because parks love to market crap like that. Considering that Nemesis and Black Mamba (two highly rated inverts) have first drops of 104 and 88 respectively, going super high is completely unnecessary to making an ass kicking invert.
coasterf42 on 7/15/2007 10:21:57 AM said:
I completely agree. Although I havent gotten the chance to do one of the more compact, tightly winding B&M inverts for a while, Black Mamba and Nemesis easily look like the top two in the world.

I was at BGE with another enthusiast this year who really likes Alpengeist, and he claimed "if all else is equal, Alpie should be the best invert because it is about 30 feet bigger than all others." That may be true somewhat, but really every element is just as good on a smaller invert. And of course, everything isnt equal. However, I have to admit, the drop on Alpie is very good!
BobFunland on 7/15/2007 2:10:41 PM said:
I dont think too much should be said about Black Mamba, if it were in Florida, it would be the worst invert in the state
coasterf42 on 7/15/2007 9:28:05 PM said:
I thought that way too, until it outscored every Florida invert in last years poll.
ginzo on 7/15/2007 9:46:34 PM said:
"I dont think too much should be said about Black Mamba, if it were in Florida, it would be the worst invert in the state"



Since you have recent experience Ill assume that your take is generally valid. But, doesnt all that insane theming drive it up a notch or two?
coasterf42 on 7/15/2007 11:31:14 PM said:
Sorry, I didnt know that BFL rode it until after I posted.

But it still looks completely awesome to me.
BobFunland on 7/16/2007 1:50:46 PM said:
Yeah, the ride has GREAT visuals. The best I have experienced, and I would guess only Nemesis could match it. But my belief is that visuals are minor - it was a great front row ride, but I can see those visuals in a video. I cant feel the forces from home, and the ride did lack some kick-butt forces. I do give the ride credit though, I thought it may have had the best zero-G roll Ive experienced so far, and there was a nice funky bit of airtime down in one of the trenches, but I dont think that overall it was a spectacular ride and I thought I would share my opinion. Id still give it a high 8 probably rounding to a 9 By all means the 4th best Invert in Florida would still be hovering around my #5 or #6 overall. Oh, and Black Mamba beat GeForce head to head in Mitchs poll last year too, and thats just crazy IMO!
ginzo on 7/16/2007 10:07:25 PM said:
Another question: did they ruin EGF with those AWFUL new shin basher restraints? You know where they take the T-bar and make it into a cage with bars pressing into your shins. Id like to choke the jerk that signed off on that design.
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