Busch Gardens to remove Big Bad Wolf

[BP317]

Its true, BBW will be closing right before the Halloween event starts

http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw2/CP/?page=BigBadWolf

[Coaster Justin]

I Know, I'm planning on going there By the End of the Month.

[Danhockey04]

Might go up there if I get a day off and utilize the free parking/free entry and discount beer! Though I get that at all Busch parks, except Discover Cove, only $40 to get in, but still...I might go with Colin if he wanted to just to ride Big Bad Wolf

[monsterfan99]

Looks like it is time for a side trip on the way home from FL on August 20th. Just a 9 hour side trip

[w00dland]

That is a shame. My mouth just dropped.

What the hell. I'm gonna go be upset the rest of the day now.

[Ilovthevu']

I never been on it, and probably will never get on it, but the ones at Kings Island, and Magic Mountain are just awesome. I wish SFGAm would buy this ride because it's probably not as bad as Cedar Points. I can't really believe that this park can't have more than 6 coasters. It seems like so little. Is it just too small of a park, or what?

By telling the public beforehand, I don't know about that. You might get another Whizzer thing, and they take down the other Arrow.

[FParker185]

Big Bad Wolf is generally considered the best or one of the best Suspended Coasters in the world. If it's reached the end of it's serviceable life, then it doesn't matter what park it's at, it's trash. Afterall it's an Arrow. For anything more than a standard corkscrew, it seems around 15-20 years is the maximum life without serious maintenance. Also the ride is built on the side of a hill/river valley. There can be no matching of BGW's topography at any other park in the country.

http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw2/CP/?page=BigBadWolf

There is the parks official word on the matter, along with an FAQ.

[BP317]

Big Bad Wolf is generally considered the best or one of the best Suspended Coasters in the world.

The best suspended coaster in the world hands down looks to be Eagles Fortress, which ironically also closed fairly recently

[Chitown]

^And you know what makes that so pathetic?

Iron Dragon at CP is the worst suspended I have on and it will probably outlast all the others because CP wants to keep the coaster count.

[monsterfan99]

^ Thing with Iron Dragon is it still looks brand new.

It would be a sad day if Flight Deck at KI also went down.

[vprlvr456]

^ Did you mean Iron Dragon?

[monsterfan99]

^ Did you mean Iron Dragon?

You are right. Has been edited.

[FParker185]

I always thought it was spelled Draggin' Iron.

It will probably outlast the rest only cause it is so bad/boring. It has no forces to speak of at all to work at tearing up the structure. Big Bad Wolf was a huge and forceful coaster, I'm sure it took a huge toll on the ride. Top Gun at Kings Island will be another to depart early, but it's alot newer than Big Bad Wolf, Top Gun is from the early 90's. However every night the entire ride is covered with welding crews. It's in worse shape than it looks, but again that's a pretty intense and fast ride. Vortex at Canadas Wonderland was clearly in bad shape also, which is a near clone of Top Gun (well technically it's the other way around). Although Top Gun has alot of structural modifications. The way Vortex shakes is just outright scary.

One way to counteract this is to replace the trains with the Vekoma Floorless trains like they did for Vampire at Chessington or Air Race at Bobbejaanland (though that is in fact a Vekoma coaster). Alot of the stresses are in the trains themselves so the cars wear out fast, which is probably an issue with BBW. Also the floorless trains are much lighter and produce less forces on the track and structure. However it's not really financially feasible to pay a million bucks for new trains for an old coaster. It's really not all that marketable, and hoping it helps an aging track and structure is not what the accountants want to hear.

[Director_Guy]

Man, that really sucks. Well, at least I had some good few rides on it. If anyone hasn't I highly recommend going there NOW. Great coaster and thankfully it comes with a great park.

[Ilovthevu']

Those trains on those Vekoma suspended coasters I've been on aren't really that good. I don't think it's worth putting those type of trains on an Arrow Suspended ride. I don't know if I said this before or not, but on those Arrow Suspended it doesn't really use the regular standard brakes you see on all the other roller coasters, but I wondered why that was the case. Well, look how small the track. It's tiny compared to a B&M. So, how could they fit it on this ride?

I think people complain about Arrow rides for their maintenance, but think about how long that ride, or any other Arrow has been around. 25 years is a long, long time to keep a ride working properly. Look at the Mine Train at SFOT. That's been operating since 1966. To me, it kind of seems like they could have it operating still (Big Bad Wolf), but they want another ride that gets more people on it. Why is Whizzer still operating today even though the whole thing is that it's old, and it's hard to get parts for it? I guess there is always a way to keep things going IF the crowds are there.

This park wants a new or multiple attractions, and BBW seems like a big area to fill in. Sadly (for the roller coasters future), when I went to Kings Island Flight Deck was a walk-on while other rides had waits. Their taller - sort of like Demon - sort of like Shockwave- was a longer wait, and that's an older ride than Flight Deck. However, it also got a new paint job.

[monsterfan99]

^The big problem for Flight Deck is where the ride is. Unless you know where it is or want to ride Son of Beast, you would never find it. It is now a coaster by itself off the beaten path past 2 upcharge rides. Plus the hike back to it is American Eagle que worthy.

When we were there for Ride Warriors weekend, most large rides had a minimum of 30-45 minute wait. The longest wait for Flight Deck in the front row was 3 cycles. It's sad to see a ride that, in my opinion, is great for people of all ages.

One does have to wonder on Big Bad Wolf, how much of this is reaction to the new Kings Dominion monster of a coaster that is coming in.

[w00dland]

Everything's in order, looks like I'll be taking a BGE and Kings Dominion trip to see my uncle at the end of August. Atleast I'll be able to ride one of the coasters that originally got me hooked in the first place one more time before it reaches its demise.

Honestly though to anyone who has been before, I think BGE is one of the most underrated parks. The place is beautiful, and there isn't a bad ride in the park to speak of. Go there.

[FParker185]

Regular coasters like loopers and mine trains are easy to keep running forever, all that ever happens is the train pushes straight down on the track. With the suspended's, the train is a huge dynamic load that basically tries to twist the track in addition to pulling down on it and whatnot. And all the moving parts on the suspended trains make the trains wear out very fast. I'd be willing to bet a majority of the reason they are tearing down BBW is cause the trains are shot.

I personally don't like the Vekoma floorless suspended cars either, the view is to restricted, especially on a ride such as BBW, but they are designed to be alot easier on the ride. Though I'm pretty sure the only examples of Vekoma suspended coaster trains are overseas. One set at Chessington and one set at Bobbejaanland. (they are quite different from the kiddie inverts). Here are the 2 examples

http://www.rcdb.com/ig784.htm?picture=6

http://www.rcdb.com/ig915.htm?picture=21

And Suspended coasters use the exact same brakes as all the other Arrow/Vekoma coasters, outside of the fact they are mounted upsidedown.