Apollo’s Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia was the first Bolliger & Mabillard hyper
coaster. This coaster regularly places in the top 10 of Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards for
the best steel roller coasters, but is Apollo’s Chariot that good? Find out in this review!
In the 1990s, Bolliger and Mabillard were one of the hottest commodities in the amusement
park industry. The company was wowing the amusement industry with their looping coasters,
especially their inverted coaster model. Both guests and parks loved the coasters for
their smoothness, capacity, and reliability. The 1990s were also home to the Coaster Wars.
Parks were constantly building bigger and faster rides. And one genre in particular that
was becoming increasingly popular was the hyper coaster. This style of coaster exceeded 200 feet
or 61 meters in height and featured a series of airtime filled camelbacks. As of 1998, there were
only three manufacturers willing to build hyper coasters: Arrow Dynamics, Morgan, and Togo.
But everything changed in 1999. Three additional manufacturers started offering hyper coasters:
Their hyper coasters continuously placed highly in roller coaster polls and by the
number of installations, the hyper coaster has been B&M’s second most successful model.
They have built 18 worldwide to date and that includes their mega coasters just under 200 feet
and their giga coasters. B&M considers all of these rides part of their hyper coaster model.
Apollo’s Chariot’s opening is also notorious for one of the oddest roller coaster accidents
in history. Italian model Fabio was brought in to promote the park’s newest roller coaster.
He was seated in the front row. But he returned to the station with a bloody face. What happened?
the latter of which is placed directly in front of Apollo’s lift.
The ride’s layout runs alongside the roadway into the park,
so guests have a perfect view of the ride’s giant drop and camelbacks poking above the treeline.
In fact, this road and the parking lot are your best vantage points to see Apollo’s Chariot.
Very little of this coaster is visible from within Busch Gardens. You can only really see
the coaster’s lift hill, first drop, and finale. Everything else is deep within the woods.
This setting is one of the best aspects of Apollo’s Chariot. It’s incredible how isolated you
feel even though you’re actually quite close to the parking lot. The abundance of trees enhances
the ride’s sense of speed and you also pass over the Rhine River twice in your journey.
Plus, the terrain is hilly as well. You may have noticed that Apollo’s Chariot
doesn’t actually cross the 200 foot threshold to be considered a hyper coaster. Apollo uses
the elevation difference to its advantage, featuring a 210 foot or 64 meter tall drop,
which allows it to classify as a hyper. The ride is themed to Apollo, the Greek and Roman
god of the sun. Apollo is responsible for pulling the sun across the sky in a celestial horse-drawn
chariot. But one day, he allows his son, Phaethon, to pilot the chariot and disaster strikes.
First he travels too high, freezing the earth. Then he travels too low, burning the earth. The
wild, erratic motions sound perfect for a hyper coaster with giant camelbacks, don’t you think?
While the attraction is themed to a very cool epic, the ride itself
doesn’t actually have any theming in the queue line or along the ride’s course.
You just have a narration when you’re dispatched telling you to enjoy your voyage to the sun.
And you will hear that audio quite a bit. Apollo’s Chariot is a capacity machine. This ride features
3 trains, each seating up to 36 guests. The coaster is always running at least two trains,
but I have often seen it running three when I visit in the summer or on weekends.
Even in peak season, I usually never have to wait more than 15 minutes for this coaster. The only
time I normally have to wait longer is if I choose to wait a few extra cycles for the front row.
But rarely do I do that. Apollo’s Chariot is unequivocally a back row coaster for me.
While you have a superior sense of speed up front, the airtime in the back row
is far superior, particularly on the first drop. When Apollo’s Chariot opened, it held
the record for dropping guests a total of 825 feet or 251.5 meters over the ride’s nine drops.
So there are plenty of opportunities to levitate out of your seat.
Apollo’s Chariot features the traditional B&M hyper coaster trains.
And these are some of the best trains in the industry. They are extremely comfortable and
the clamshell restraints offer plenty of room to experience this coaster’s airtime. And unlike
the B&M hypers found at the Cedar Fair parks, Apollo’s Chariot does not have any seatbelts.
Once secured, you begin with the aforementioned lift hill out of the station. And if you look
to your right, you get a fantastic view of Busch Gardens. This is one of the prettiest
parks in the world, so I always relish the opportunity to see the park from above.
Once you crest the lift, you don’t actually head right down the drop.
All of the B&M coasters built in the 1990s featured pre-drops. These were short dips between
the lift and first drop to reduce tension on the chain lift. This is a relatively unique element to
have on a hyper coaster, but I really like it. For one, it gives you a few extra seconds to
appreciate the view. But more importantly, it gives Apollo’s Chariot some extra speed heading
into the first drop, making the airtime even stronger. And this is one of my favorite first
drops out there. The drop gives several seconds of fantastic and sustained floater airtime.
When paired with the visual that you’re plunging into the woods above the Rhine River,
it’s the complete package from both the thrills and visual perspective.
Apollo’s Chariot supposedly pulls 4.1 Gs, which is pretty strong. However,
I can’t recall a single section of the ride where I experienced G-forces that strong.
Apollo’s Chariot isn’t about positive Gs. This coaster is all about sustained floater airtime.
And that airtime continues on the monstrous second hill. It offers weak sustained floater
airtime up front. In the back, the airtime is a little bit stronger and equally as sustained.
The pullout from this drop passes through a short tunnel that offers a fleeting headchopper
and then you rise up into the third hill. This hill has a trim halfway up,
but it rarely engages the train. And if it does, it just lightly taps it. So the front gets another
dose of decent sustained floater airtime over the top. Back row riders get the ride’s most powerful
airtime on the way down. The drop twists to the left and it offers sustained fl-jector airtime,
particularly if you’re on the right side of the train.
Then comes the turnaround section. These are always the weakest part of a B&M hyper for me
and it’s no different on Apollo’s Chariot. While this section has a great sense of speed up front,
it offers no positive Gs or laterals. It’s a sterile element to me.
You then twist up into the mid-course brake run and weakly rise up of your seat for a
split second. You will then likely get trimmed a bit unless you’re riding Apollo on a cooler day.
Thankfully, the return run is strong even when it is trimmed.
The drop off the mid-course delivers great sustained floater airtime if you’re trimmed.
If you’re untrimmed, the initial pop of the drop is stronger
and the airtime is more of the fl-jector variety. That’s followed by a sizable drop that sneaks up
on you, as you plunge back down over the Rhine River. The entrance into this drop gives some
decent floater airtime up front, but glorious sustained floater airtime in the back row.
You then glide across the water and rise back up the hillside.
This hill features the ride’s final trim brake. If you were untrimmed on the mid-course,
it will likely slow the train a bit here. If you were trimmed on the mid-course,
the brake likely will not engage the train. So the following hill rides similarly in all conditions.
The hill twists to the right at the top, so it’s more about the laterals than the airtime.
You’re gently pulled to the side as you crest this hill. But if you’re
on the left side of the train, you get some weak lift that accompanies these laterals.
You then twist to the left over a small hill that passes over Roman Rapids. This
hill delivers a meek pop of airtime up front and some brief but decent floater airtime in the back.
But this is another tease. As the following drop is significantly larger.
This is the coaster’s finale drop. It runs alongside the queue line and also features
the ride’s on-ride photo. Everyone gets another dose of sustained floater airtime on this hill.
You then rise up into the brake run, getting one last bit of lift if you’re towards the
front of the train. And if Apollo’s Chariot is running three trains, you better be praying
they have another train on the course. If Apollo’s Chariot has stacked, you abruptly come to a halt.
If Apollo’s Chariot has dispatched the third train on-time or if they’re running two trains,
you calmly glide through this brake run, round a corner, and head towards the station,
ending your 4882 foot or 1488 meter long journey. Before going into my final score, I want to talk
about three other things about this coaster. First, the smoothness. Apollo’s Chariot
is one of the smoothest coasters in the world. Some of the B&M hypers have developed a bit of
rattle in the valleys, but the original B&M hyper coater is still glass smooth,
which shows how well Busch Gardens maintains this coaster. I could ride Apollo’s Chariot all-day.
Two, the pacing. Apollo’s Chariot’s pacing is interesting. While the
layout seems straightforward, the drops do not follow the stereotypical flow.
The drops on coasters get progressively smaller as they go, particularly on hyper coasters.
On Apollo’s Chariot, the coaster will randomly mix in these smaller drops that serve as teases
before a larger drop. I like how this keeps the rider on their toes. Overall, I think Apollo’s
Chariot is pretty well paced if you’re in the back row. It’s not as agile as the newer B&M hyper
coasters with the shorter trains, but every single one of Apollo’s hills deliver in the back row. The
only dead spot is the far turnaround. Up front, the pacing isn’t as strong since the airtime isn’t
as consistently good hill to hill, but it does offer that superior sense of speed to compensate.
Three, the night rides. Apollo’s Chariot is one of my favorite night rides.
There is zero light along the course and it feels like you’re plunging into the abyss on each drop.
I always try to visit Busch Gardens when they have a late close for this reason.
So what would I rate Apollo’s Chariot? I would give this hyper coaster an 8.5 out of 10. If
you love floater airtime, this is the coaster for you. Especially in the back row, Apollo’s
Chariot will have you levitating out of your seat on almost every hill. And the coaster is extremely
reridable with those comfortable trains and smooth ride. Combine that with a fantastic setting
on a wooded hillside and you have a winner. Apollo’s Chariot does have three faults I touched
on. One, the back row is significantly better than the other rows. Two, the turnaround section is
boring. And three, the coaster doesn’t have much variety. It’s just sustained floater airtime. If
none of these things bother you, you will likely really enjoy Apollo’s Chariot just like me.
While I do prefer B&M’s newer hyper coasters and giga coasters over Apollo’s Chariot,
this is probably my favorite B&M hyper built before 2012. I think the coaster was worthy of
its high placement in the Golden Ticket Awards when it opened. Keep in mind, the only hypers
that existed at this time were the Arrow, Togo, and Morgan ones. And the hyper coaster Intamin
opened that year was the fun but flawed Ride of Steel. While Apollo’s Chariot probably isn’t
worthy of that high placement anymore, it’s still an incredible source of sustained floater airtime
and an absolute delight to ride. It’s my favorite ride at Busch Gardens,
although that could change with Pantheon. So those are my thoughts on Apollo’s Chariot,
the original B&M hyper coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
What are your thoughts on this coaster? How do you think it compares to the other B&M hypers
out there? I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!