Verbolten at Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a Zierer family coaster.
This coaster does so many different things.
It has theming, indoor and outdoor segments, two launches, and some surprises I’ll touch
on later (but not before giving spoiler warnings).
Verbolten replaced the beloved Big Bad Wolf and it is now the park’s premier family
coaster.
But was it worth the price?
Verbolten reportedly cost a whopping $54 million.
Yes, $54 million.
So in this video, I will be reviewing Verbolten.
The story begins with Big Bad Wolf, the park’s Arrow suspended coaster that opened in 1984.
This was considered by many to be the best suspended coaster in the United States for
the setting and wild swinging, particularly on the famous Rhine River drop.
However, the coaster reached the end of its service life at the end of the 2009 season,
necessitating its removal.
Busch Gardens knew they needed a replacement family coaster to compensate for the loss
of Big Bad Wolf.
Enthusiasts expected Busch Gardens to go big, but not $54 million big.
While this figure has never been confirmed by the park, many have cited that Verbolten
cost $54 million, which would be the most expensive addition in Busch Gardens’s history.
This is a total figure including the coaster itself plus the theming, show-building, and
terraforming.
It’s unclear if this also includes the renovation to the entire Oktoberfest area, but regardless,
Busch Gardens spent a pretty penny on this ride.
While Verbolten is among the park’s most popular attractions, it’s debatable if Busch
Gardens got the return on investment that they expected.
Verbolten opened in 2012, three years after the closure of Big Bad Wolf.
The park’s attendance increased from 2011 to 2012 by 4% according to the Themed Amusement
Association’s annual attendance report.
But the overall attendance from 2009, Big Bad Wolf’s final year, to Verbolten’s
opening year decreased by 1.5%.
Verbolten often has the longest line of any coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
I usually visit on summer weekdays or early-season Saturdays and Verbolten is usually a half-hour
wait unless you hit it first thing in the morning.
I suspect the wait time could reach an hour on summer weekends or Howl-O-Scream weekends
when the park is at its busiest.
Fortunately, Verbolten’s queue is well-themed.
It reused the old queue line and station of Big Bad Wolf, but it received a complete facelift.
It begins with an impressive entrance plaza that continues the colorful and happy vibe
of the entire Oktoberfest area.
The ride is themed to a motor tour agency, so the queue line starts with thematic advertisements
and ticket booths.
Eventually you reach a mysterious room with some radios and overgrown plants.
You then reach the station, which is adorned with German theming.
The quality of the theming in the queue line and station are on par with a Disney ride.
And that theming extends to the trains.
Verbolten has 5 trains, each themed to sports cars.
And they look fantastic.
I also love the restraints.
The lap bars feel a bit heavy, but they’re quite roomy.
One thing to note is that the lap bars have a metal guard to prevent riders from kicking
their legs forwards.
These metal guards shouldn’t be near the legs of riders like traditional shin guards,
so I don’t mind them.
One thing that surprised me is Verbolten’s height restriction.
It’s 48”, which is higher than the predecessor’s 42” mark.
While it is higher than most family coasters, I can understand why because of some of the
unexpectedly intense parts of Verbolten.
Verbolten has a dual load platform, so I recommend scouting which end has a shorter wait.
I prefer the back row on Verbolten both for the forces and view during the indoor section.
Once dispatched, you are warned to beware the Black Forest.
You slowly roll towards the ride’s showbuilding and suddenly you hit the ride’s first LSM
launch.
And this is a deceptively powerful launch.
The overall stats don’t look too impressive- it accelerates riders to 45 mph or 72 kph
in 2.3 seconds.
But you need to keep in mind this launch is inclined, so it has more power to it since
you have to overcome gravity.
It always pins me back in my seat.
This launch blasts you into the ride’s show-building.
If you want to avoid the spoilers of what happens inside this show-building, please
skip ahead to the time shown on your screen.
The end of the launch is paired with some multi-colored blacklit effects and a white
flash signifying your vehicle being struck by lighting.
As you crest the end of the launch track, you get some decent floater airtime.
And this airtime is more sustained in the back as you drop back down to the ground.
You then speed around a forceful low turn, seeing some more of the blacklit effects.
To be honest, these visuals don’t add much to the ride.
You pass them so quickly and they’re fairly indistinguishable.
But that’s ok since the indoor part is in almost total darkness, which heightens the
thrill.
After this low turn, you traverse one of the most underrated helixes in the world.
Without fail, Verbolten’s upwards helix always causes me to start greying out.
It’s similar to the one on Backlot Stunt Coaster.
Neither seem like they should be as intense as they are, but they sustain the positive
Gs for a rather long time.
You then come to a near stop on a mid-course brake run and suddenly dip back down to the
ground, getting a faint pop of air in the back.
This is followed by another forceful low turn and then you rise up into another mid-course…or
so you think.
As you continue to pull forwards, you get one of three possible show-scenes: one themed
to a forest spirt, one themed to a lightning storm, and one themed to a big, bad wolf.
The latter is a clear nod to the ride that came before it.
The visuals are relatively minimalistic, especially up front since it seems like you travel past
the effects, but I love the ominous audio that really builds suspense.
Then all of the sudden, Verbolten surprises riders with a drop track.
A lot of enthusiasts knew of its existence before the ride opened and the park included
testing videos showing the drop track.
The element is most effective if you don’t know its coming, but you still don’t know
the exact moment you’ll drop, and it does offer a brief stomach-dropping sensation with
a quick pop of airtime.
I love all drop tracks and the one on Verbolten is no different.
You then dip down a small drop, emerge into the daylight, and hit the ride’s second
launch.
In general, I prefer the back row on Verbolten, but you need to be careful at this part.
Because the second launch seems to start before the back of the train has cleared the prior
dip, you’re head can really get thrown backwards if you aren’t expecting the launch.
So keep your head back as you’re exiting the show-building if you want to avoid this
jolt.
The second launch is flat, so it’s not quite as powerful as the first, but it still has
some good zip to it.
You then navigate an uphill s-bend that doesn’t really add anything to the ride and you enter
a bridge.
Here, you are slowed to a crawl.
If you look down, you’ll notice you’re staring at the Rhine River, just like you
did on Big Bad Wolf.
I understand why the slow-down occurs, but the thrill-seeker in me wishes you flew over
this 88 foot or 27 meter tall hill.
Verbolten is the spiritual successor to Big Bad Wolf by following the former’s second
half.
Verbolten not only has a similar drop over the Rhine River, but it actually reuses its
predecessor’s footers for the entire second half.
Not many coasters can say that!
The Rhine River drop was scarier on Big Bad Wolf since the suspended trains made it feel
like they’d snap off the track on the subsequent turn.
However, the drop is more forceful on Verbolten.
Even with the slow down, the back row gets nice sustained floater airtime the whole way
down.
That is followed by a decently forceful turn over the water, but the subsequent turn is
even more intense.
It’s extremely tight and pulls some serious Gs.
You then coast over a speed hill, getting a faint bit of float in the back row, and
then turn into the brake run, ending the 2835 foot or 864 meter long ride.
Before going into my final score, I want to talk about the coaster’s pacing and smoothness.
In terms of pacing, Verbolten is just ok.
This ride has 4 different bursts where it’s fast, but they’re short lived and broken
up by mid-course brake runs that slow the train down to a crawl.
I think the slow-downs would be more effective if the thematic elements during the ride were
stronger, as there’s only one slowdown that I think really adds to the overall ride.
For the most part, Verbolten is a smooth coaster.
The biggest issue is the abrupt jolt you get in the back car on the second launch, but
you also have some rattling, particularly in the second half on the uphill segments.
The rattle isn’t enough to ruin the ride for me nor does it hamper my ability to reride
it, but it’s definitely noticeable, particularly on that aforementioned high G-force turn.
So what would I rate Verbolten?
I would give this coaster a 7.5 out of 10.
Verbolten has some very good elements.
Both launches are quite punchy and the coaster has some decent airtime in the back row.
Plus, I love some of the surprise elements in the indoor section.
They’re my favorite parts on the ride.
I do wish the ride’s pacing was a little stronger and the excellent theming from the
queue line was carried over to the ride itself, but this is still a good family coaster.
I do prefer this over Big Bad Wolf by a slim margin and I cannot deny this is a more technologically
impressive ride.
I think Verbolten is a worthy successor to Big Bad Wolf.
While it may not have been worth the ride’s exorbitant price tag, it’s a real crowd-pleaser.
So those are my thoughts on Verbolten, the Zierer family coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Have you ridden Verbolten?
What are your thoughts on this coaster?
I’d especially love to hear if you preferred this or Big Bad Wolf.
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!