Roman Rapids
Website: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Homepage
Ride Type: River Raft
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 3.2222
TPC Overall Rank: #377 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 51
Last Review: 7/1/2009 4:56:00 PM
In User Top 10: 3 times.
User Tracker Count: 213 times.
 

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2 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Canobie Coaster on 10/17/2006 5:26:00 PM
River rapids have always been a fun attraction for me ever since I was a kid. While they lack any major thrill or drops typically, there’s just something undeniably pure and fun watching others get periodically drenched and then having the tides turn literally on you. In a park like Busch Gardens with such a famous river rapids ride in the Roman Rapids that I had seen featured in my amusement park videos for years during profiling of this incredible park, I was expecting a very high quality ride, but ultimately it turned out to be a major disappointment for me.

Located in Italy, I love the fact that the entire layout is concealed from view prior to boarding, adding a feeling of mystery to the attraction. The attraction’s use of the park’s beautiful landscape is ingenious, as it really captures the feel of a white-water adventure because of the woodsy setting that is successfully obtained and maintained throughout. In regards to the boats, they’re just okay. I mean they aren’t highly themed or anything, but they aren’t flagrantly bad or anything with their fresh blue coat of paint.

Well, I visited Busch on a 100 plus degree weekday in July, so you’d expect there to be unbearably long lines for water rides like this, right? Surprisingly, lines weren’t that bad at all, as they were around 25 minutes, which was more than worth it on a steaming, hot day like it was. But probably the main reason for my rather short wait was the way the line is structured. Once in the queue, the line divides into two sections- one for parties of 3 or more and one of parties of 2 or less. Being a single-rider, my wait was a good portion shorter than the other line, but either way, lines weren’t overly bad, even despite the massive backup of rafts caused by incredibly slow dispatches. On a pretty slow day like it was, this wasn’t all that bad of a problem, but on a busier day that could lead to much longer waits.

Judging by the damp seats I boarded, I was expecting a soaking adventure like a river rapids should provide; however, most of the ride was far from it. While the landscaping around the attraction is unbelievable and there are some incredible, very rare views of Apollo that can be witnessed, most of the attraction honestly lacks any major excitement. There are a few rapids scattered here and there, but they don’t do anything more then send a few drips onto the raft due to how weak they are. A geyser, some sprayers, or misters really would have helped this ride significantly in its absence of strong rapids, but the ride was simply just lacking.

So what accounted for the damp seats? The finale, and boy is it one heck of a finale! Spinning out of control, the raft approaches a series of three or so consecutive waterfalls that are guaranteed to soak anybody who’s fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your perspective) to experience them. I was lucky enough to get hit by all three and came off absolutely drenched, but the problem is only about half the boat gets hit by the waterfalls and comes off drenched, while the other half comes off pretty much completely dry. I know some people like the chance to come off dry, but I’d prefer a guaranteed drenching any day, especially on a 100 degree day. This really is the ride’s saving grace and unfortuantely the only element featured on the entire ride capable of soaking riders.

Roman Rapids unfortunately is a sub-par river rapids ride that currently holds the claim as the worst of the ones I’ve been on. While the landscaping is flat out incredible and the finale is a total soaker for a few lucky riders that will have them wringing their shirts for weeks, the rest of the ride just lacks any real excitement or soaking elements. So do I recommend it? Well, it is moderately fun still despite being a poor version (granted I always enjoy river rapids rides) and there is a chance you will get drenched so it is good on a hot day, but don’t wait more than 20-30 minutes tops for it or you’ll surly be disappointed.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up sowinski on 9/19/2006 11:28:00 PM
I thought that this ride was decent. Noone in my boat got terribly drenched, but it was the wettest that I got on any of the rides at this park. Fortunately, Apollos Chariot makes for a pretty good blow dryer. A fairly typical rapids ride with a bit better theming.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Horizons12 on 8/1/2006 10:39:00 PM
Wow, Im going WAY back here and am going to attempt to review a ride that I rode all the way back in 1991! I was a whopping 7 years old when riding this but my ride experience was fairly tramautizing so I remember some of it, it may have changed though considering the huge gap. Am I mistaken, or did this have a turntable loading platform? If it did, then that is odd for a rapids ride. I remember nothing before a little waterfall with a statue in from of it where I got wet. Then the boats all got all rounded up into a little holding area while water sprayers shot up all over around the area. Next was a turn and the waterfall section where I got hit by EVERY SINGLE WATERFALL. That part is absolutely vivid in my mind, I will never forget it. I was soaked to heck. So...was my review fairly acurate people?

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coasterf42 on 7/27/2006 1:05:00 AM
I generally am a fan of rapids, and from what I remember of Romans this was pretty good. The themeing really makes it unique. I know the ride has been getting less than par rating recently, but the last time I rode it in 2002 I managed to get wet and have fun, so Ill give it an above average score.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coasterwom on 5/10/2006 1:21:00 AM
Roman Rapids is a river raft ride. It is a good water ride with nice theming. The ride duration was long, it had a large capacity, and you didnt get very wet on it. It is never the same ride experience it has water falls and sometimes you get wet and sometimes you don't. It is average speed, fun, rerideable.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up fergusonat on 5/9/2006 9:38:00 PM
Sort of pointless if youre looking to get wet, but its still a pretty fun ride for the scenery and landscaping

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Animan1 on 1/11/2006 8:33:00 PM
This ride was the 2nd biggest disappointment to me at BGW after Curse of DarKastle. I had not heard great things about this ride, but I expected it to be at least average, which it barely was. By the time I rode this, at maybe 11:30 in the afternoon or so, it was already at least 90 degrees, so a raft ride seemed to be just the ticket. After a long wait (over 30 minutes), much of which was in direct sunlight, I finally got on. The loading procedure was horrible, they needed more rafts, and it would help if the rafts held more people. The ride itself was decent, but nothing special. The theming was average, and I didnt get that wet except for my shoes, which got soaked. The high point was the great views of Apollos Chariot - when the high point of one ride is views of another, something is wrong. Overall, a poor job running and designing the ride on the part of BGW, and I rate it 2 points lower than Escape from Pompeii, the other water ride in Italy area. My advice - unless the line is significantly longer, go for Pompeii over Roman Rapids. Youll probably get as wet if not wetter, and the theming will be on a whole nother level.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up penguin22 on 9/8/2005 1:03:00 PM
I normally like these rides, but this one SUCKS! I came off of it bone dry after waiting a half hour. A complete waste of my time.

2 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up ladeda on 5/3/2005 10:14:00 AM
Busch Gardens needs to take a year or two to refurbish this ride. Make bigger rafts, more exciting elements and more chances to get wet. The ride used to have 5 strong waterfalls, but now only has 2 and 1 that is a trickel. Lines are too long, and this ride can make you miserable if you dont ride it at the right time of day.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up WAR2174 on 4/6/2005 10:20:00 PM
By far the weakest ride at BGW. It seems like they didnt put full effort into the design. I seem to remember Cedar Points and Dollywoods as the best. I wish this had a drop or a tunnel. I think it could be improved.

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