Pantheon is the newest roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. This Intamin creation is
a dynamic ride experience combining multiple launches, strong airtime, and hangtime filled
inversions into one ride. This diverse layout is why it’s now one of the best launch coasters out
there and I’ll explain why in this review. Pantheon finally opened in 2022 after years
of rumors, planning, and delays. Back in the planning stages, the coaster was
nicknamed Project Madrid and envisioned as a far-larger giga coaster that would cross the
park’s Rhine River. This massive coaster was later transformed into two separate coasters.
One would be a launched giga shuttle coaster behind Festhaus Park nicknamed Drachen Spire.
Another would be a diverse Intamin launch coaster in Festa Italia.
The latter was known as Project MMXX and it would become the Pantheon we know today.
2020 was supposed to be a hallmark year for the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks.
All of their major parks were slated to get new coasters. However, the covid-19 pandemic threw
a major monkey wrench into those plans. SeaWorld San Antonio opened Texas Stingray in early 2020,
but all of the SeaWorld chain’s other coasters including Pantheon were delayed.
Originally, they were moved to spring 2021. I saw Pantheon test in the spring of 2021. However, the
opening dates for all the other rides were changed to “Anticipated 2021”. That seemed like the kiss
of death. After months of silence, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens confirmed their other new coasters
including Pantheon would open in 2022. Pantheon opened last month. I waited an
extra month before heading down for a few reasons. One, the member preview only guaranteed one ride.
Two, I wanted to experience this coaster in warmer weather when it would presumably
be running faster. And it in fact did ride a little better in warm weather.
Three, it was an Intamin. I wanted to assess the ride’s reliability before going down.
Pantheon has been fairly reliable since opening. I recently spent two full days at Busch Gardens and
Pantheon probably broke down for an hour stretch each day for mechanical issues. That seems to be
the norm thus far. There have been one or two days it has been closed entirely due to LSM issues,
but that seems to be the exception. And as we’ve seen with Hagrid’s down at Islands of Adventure,
this ride should only get more reliable in time. Weather can impact Pantheon more than the other
coasters at Busch Gardens. The minimum operating temperature is 40 degrees like the other rides,
but it seems to be the most sensitive coaster when it comes to wind.
Pantheon closed when ground wind speeds hovered around the 15-20 mph mark.
Pantheon is located in its own area on a field in the Festa Italia section of the park.
This area was previously inaccessible to guests and only home to animal exhibits. The area is
accessible via a bridge across from the Turkish Delight tea cups that goes over the train tracks.
The ride’s layout makes quite the impression. The massive spike, top hat, and outward bank
look imposing both in the ride’s immediate area and on the footbridge between the Oktoberfest
and Italy sections. The ride’s light brown track looks fine, but I love the look of the trains.
The new generation Intamin trains look sleek and I love the emblems on the side of the train.
Now let’s talk about the most criticized aspect about Pantheon, the theming or lack thereof. The
ride is plopped down in a big empty field. There is zero rockwork or landscaping along the course
like the original animation suggested. While that would have certainly plussed the experience,
I don’t think it’s an issue. The layout is strong enough on its own,
especially considering how fast you rip through it.
This location also results in an awesome night ride. A few weeks ago, the ride
had a multi-colored lighting package on the ride’s largest elements. It looked pretty cool off-ride,
but nearby residents complained. I don’t know if they have plans to bring them back, but this
currently means night rides are pitch black which is a truly wild experience. I think this is better
from an on-ride perspective. You cannot see any of the ride’s twists and turns coming.
The theming in the queue line wasn’t what I expected though.
While I liked the signage explaining how each of the ride’s elements related to a Roman god, I was
surprised by the generic wooden fencing around the queue line. That’s not a dealbreaker for me
by any means, especially since the queue line offers some of the best views of the coaster.
Pantheon has two trains, each seating up to 20 riders.
This makes it one of the lowest capacity coasters at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Combined with the ride’s popularity and newness, expect to wait a while for it unless
you visit on the quietest of days. The trains have just a lap bar,
so they’re fairly easy to check. And the park typically had the next train ready to go once
the prior one hit the brake run, so the line thankfully moved at a steady rate.
I visited on a Sunday and Monday during Virignia’s spring break. Pantheon had the longest line in the
park both days by far. Most of the rope-drop crowd understandably went towards Pantheon.
I was on one of the first trains, but it was a nearly full queue by the time I got off.
For most of the day, the coaster had a nearly full queue and a 45-60 minute wait. Keep in mind,
the ride is only available one time only on the highest tier Quick Queue, so pretty much everyone
is pulled from standby currently. Towards the end of the day, the coaster’s queue was roughly
half-filled and took closer to 30 minutes. And a note on wait times, there is an electronic
display at the main entrance estimating the wait time and it’s weirdly specific,
stating times like 11 minutes and 27 minutes, but I usually waited less than what it stated.
Once you reach the station, you are free to choose any row. There isn’t a bad row.
I thought the back had the best forces and the front was great to feel the speed to the fullest.
The stairs leading to the station state front row riders should stick to the left
and if the line for that row actually started there, it would take a very long time.
But it typically was only an extra 2-3 cycles more than the other rows.
Lockers are required for bags, but small items can be stored on the platform.
Recently, the park has implemented a policy that all glasses- even with a strap- are not allowed on
Pantheon. This was a bummer for me since it made it tricky to appreciate the view during the ride,
so I hope this is only temporary. Most of the newer generation Intamins have
overhead lap bars and elevated seats. Pantheon has the similarly comfortable lap bars as something
like Velocicoaster, but the seats are lower. Your feet will likely be resting on the floor.
The restraints were less accommodating than other new Intamins. They had a lower
verify. I saw guests who could easily fit on Velocicoaster struggle to get on Pantheon.
Just keep that in mind if you’re a larger guest. Pantheon will also be a problem if you’re on
the taller side. Riders must be under 76” tall to ride Pantheon. And Busch Gardens
is very strict about this. You need to walk under a bar just to enter the queue line.
While this may be related to the tight clearances in the ride’s second half, other
Intamins like Six Flags New England’s Superman the Ride have similarly strict height limits.
One other weird thing with this coaster is that it claims to be the world’s fastest multi-launch
coaster. It’s 73 mph or 117 kph top speed is certainly fast, but Intamin also built
Soaring with Dragon in China, which is another swing launch coaster that goes 5 mph faster.
Pantheon is the fastest multi-launch coaster outside of Asia though.
Once dispatched, you slowly roll out of the station towards the first launch.
Without pause, you rapidly accelerate. While this launch’s top speed isn’t too impressive,
it has some nice punch by the end of it.
You slowly coast through the first of two inversions, a zero-G winder. And this element
is loaded with hangtime. Since you’re entire upper body is free, it’s exhilarating hanging
upside-down like that for a few seconds. You then twist towards the ground getting
some decent positive Gs before navigating these two small outward banked hills.
Imagine the pre-lift on Twisted Colossus taken with more speed. The first one tries to pop
you out of the train sideways between the decent laterals and weak airtime.
The second hill only offers some lateral hangtime, but you definitely notice it since it’s banked
in the opposite direction as the prior hill. You then hit the ride’s swing launch sequence
and this is where the intensity really picks up. The set-up of this launch track results in some
weird sensations. There’s a subtle little dip into the launch. You then get boosted forwards.
The launch then cuts off as you coast over a bunny hill. Then the launch engages again.
These two spurts of acceleration don’t have too much power to them, nor do
the hills offer any airtime, but just wait… You then climb 2/3 of the way up the top hat
and stall out. This gives some nice weightlessness throughout the train.
You then fall backwards and are abruptly boosted backwards. You really feel this yank and then
you careen over that bunny hill. And this time, you get a very strong and surprising
pop of ejector airtime. It’s incredible in any row since you can’t see it coming, but
it seemed most pronounced in the back row since the train was still accelerating at this point.
You then get boosted backwards again and remember that subtle little dip?
You get this abrupt pop that slams you backwards.
The train then flies up the massive 178 foot or 54 meter tall spike. This element is amazing.
You travel much higher up the spike than you may suspect and it feels even taller because of the
ride’s placement. And this element also induces several seconds of weightlessness. It feels
similar to the spike on Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast, minus the extra LIM boost that ride offers.
You then rip through the swing launch track one last time. The sense of speed for the remainder
of the ride is incredible. That little dip only gives a tiny pop towards the back of the train,
but you then get another speed boost and that bunny hill delivers powerful,
semi-sustained ejector airtime. It’s probably the strongest airtime moment on the ride.
You then get one last bit of acceleration and coast over the ride’s top hat.
While the train travels much slower than the original test footage, it still delivers. Those up
front get some good sustained ejector airtime over the top and some float on the descent. Those in
the back get the inverse. You levitate out of your seat at the apex and then are launched out of your
seat on the drop. This plunge is a beyond vertical one at 95 degrees, but I honestly couldn’t feel it
on-ride. But I didn’t care since the drop still provided in the visual and airtime department.
You then zoom around a low-turn adjacent to the Rhine River.
Pantheon doesn’t do much in terms of positive Gs,
but this turn does deliver in that department and I started to greyout on a few rides.
The train then heads over the giant outward bank. While this hill wasn’t as extreme as
we anticipated, it’s still really fun. This was the one element on Pantheon that seemed
temperature dependent. In the front, you are out of your seat for most of the element. It’s solid
sustained floater in cooler weather and as strong as weak sustained ejector in warmer weather.
In the back, you lean sideways out of the train on the ascent,
gently levitate out of your seat at the apex, and then come out of your seat more on the descent.
The large drop gives decent floater in cooler temps and weak ejector in warmer conditions.
After a speedy valley, you quickly rise upwards. This gives a faint
little pop of airtime throughout the train. You then twist to the right through the zero-G
stall. And this is easily one of the best stalls on the planet. It delivers amazing
hangtime and I love how you’re still levitated out of your seat as you dive towards the ground.
You twist upright at the last possible second, which is a cool visual. You also have some awesome
head-choppers with the nearby supports. I think this may be my second favorite stall after the
one on Joker at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. And speaking of headchoppers, you then charge
under the top hat and most people nervously yank their hands downwards due to the tight clearance.
You then navigate a speedy s-bend towards the ride’s last element. These turns offer
some laterals whips, particularly on night rides when you cannot anticipate them.
The train then charges over a wave turn. You have so much speed through this hill
and it’s paired with some decent floater airtime.
You then hit the brake run, ending the 3328 foot or 1014 meter long coaster. But keep in mind,
you traverse the same bit of track multiple times on the swing launch sequence, so Pantheon feels
considerably longer. This ride definitely has enough elements to give a satisfying experience.
Now let’s talk about the ride’s smoothness and pacing. Most Intamins are very smooth and
that’s certainly the case with Pantheon. This ride doesn’t even have a hint of a rattle.
As for pacing, Pantheon really excels in this department. While the ride starts a little slow,
everything from that initial stall on the top hat is incredible.
The sense of speed from that point is sublime and every element lifts you out of your seat.
So what would I rate Pantheon? I would give this coaster a 9.5 out of 10.
This is a unique coaster that dabbles in a bit of everything. It has some great airtime moments
going both forwards and backwards, two inversions loaded with hangtime, and incredible speed.
Everything from the swing launch onwards is near perfect in my opinion.
Add in how diverse and reridable this coaster is and you have a winner.
Really the ride’s only weaknesses are the absence of theming, which isn’t a big deal for me,
and the somewhat slow start. This is my new favorite attraction at
Busch Gardens Williamsburg. While the park now has 3 launch coasters, and possibly 2 more on the way,
Pantheon offers a different ride experience and it may be a while until this park gets
an attraction that can top it. This truly is one of the better launch coasters out there.
So those are my thoughts on Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. What are your thoughts on
this new Intamin launch coaster? Do you agree it’s a top notch attraction? Let me know what
you think about this ride 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.