Inside the showbuilding
It’s no surprise to those who have ridden it that Verbolten cleverly takes place partly inside of a massive warehouse showbuilding like a dark ride. Brilliantly, that showbuilding is disguised from any pedestrian vantage point in the park, so first-time riders are unlikely to know that Verbolten is anything but a roller coaster through a real forest.
The blacklight forest inside is at least a few steps more developed than the blacklight ride on Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios, with full, dimensional sets, theatrical lighting cues, 3D sound, and more. A look at the building without a train in it would reveal nothing. Literally. The showbuilding is pitch-black between trains, without so much as a nightlight. Once a train strikes the launch motor into the building, the room comes alive at once with sound and light. The train races through massive, hanging blackout curtains with the branches, brambles, and roots painted on them.
Once the train reaches the midcourse break – positioned high up in the building – the coaster selects which of the three forest scenarios (wolves, spirit, or storm) the train will experience, adjusting the lighting and sound to match. Each path yields a different program, as lights turn on and off to highlight different parts of the room as a result.
Verbolten is fairly tame, and removed from the showbuilding, you’d know it. But in the darkness and with images both near and far whizzing past, the ride gives the illusion of great speed. After all, when you’re unable to see the helix in front of you, you’re unable to brace for it. When branches go flying past mere inches from you face, you sense that you’re passing by much, much faster than you are. It’s the same reason, of course, that Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom can feel like you’re racing at light speed, even as you max out at 27 miles per hour – the dull, agonizing speed you’re forced to travel along residential streets.
Marketing the secret
Perhaps Verbolten’s best move was in its marketing. Advertised from the start as a family roller coaster with a secret concealed within the Black Forest, expectations were high, but appropriate.
Compare Verbolten’s reception, for example, to Thirteen, its undeniable inspiration at Alton Towers in England. Thirteen is a family coaster that starts out meandering, dipping, and diving along bunny hills through a real forest before entering a dimly lit archeological dig on a ruined crypt. That crypt conceals a vertical drop a bit shorter than Verbolten’s, followed by a brisk backwards escape and return to the station. The (loose) story revolves around an evil forest (the ride had its own themed land created for it: The Dark Forest) with sinister vines overtaking ancient statues and hooded ghouls walking around.
Here's a video of Thirteen:
It’s a fun, fine, family ride. But Merlin Entertainment owns Alton Towers. It would be a tremendous understatement to refer to Merlin’s advertising as “over-exaggeration.” So ridiculously outlandish are the marketing schemes Merlin employs for its new attractions, it’s no surprise that Thirteen ended up an underwhelming experience.
Thirteen was billed as “the scariest ride in the UK” before it opened, the park claiming that it would be open only for people between the ages of 16 and 55, lest the young or old suffer a heart attack from its extreme frights. Those who could ride would be limited to one ride per day, they exclaimed.
Image: Martin Lewison, Flickr (license)
It goes without saying that Thirteen didn’t quite live up to the invented hype, and in the end the media circus Merlin tried to start is part of the reason Thirteen is still not celebrated as the great family ride it is.
What’s more – the unimaginable, terrifying, pulse-pounding, much-hyped, super-secret maneuver Thirteen does (the drop track) was revealed the day before the ride opened in a night-vision newscast with the park’s consent. Huh?
Busch Gardens at least knew to market Verbolten as what it is – a family coaster that was meant to fill the space left from Big Bad Wolf, both physically and in terms of its demographic. And to be sure, Busch Gardens doesn’t trumpet the vertical drop, and certainly didn’t show it off on national television. If anything, they threw would-be reporters off the scent by barely mentioning the “secret” hidden in the forest at all.
Manufacturer
Roller coaster aficionados know their manufacturers. There’s risk-taking, innovation-focused Intamin; there’s conservative, up-time focus Bolliger & Mabillard; there’s the inventive and theatrical Premier Rides; the tried-and-true clone rides by Vekoma… So, who manufactured Verbolten?
Well… none of them. Here’s the first surprise. Verbolten was manufactured by a German company called Zierer. Don’t misunderstand: Zierer has made roller coasters. In fact, Zierer has more manufactured coasters to its name than Intamin, B&M, or Premier. The surprise is that almost all of them are kiddie coasters. 15-foot hills, tire-drive lifts, and “dragon wagons.” Prior to working with Busch Gardens on Verbolten, their most well known installations were probably the two Shamu Express kiddie coasters at SeaWorld in Texas and Florida or Busch Garden’s own Grover’s Alpine Express.
Since Verbolten, Zierer went on to build one more freefall drop-track coaster (Polar X-plorer at LEGOLAND in Denmark) while Intamin has built two (Darkmare in Rome and Thirteen).
Knowing manufacturers, it’s no surprise that Intamin – infamous risk-takers to a fault – have tried their hand at freefall drop track. It is surprising that Busch Gardens opted to circumvent them and risk it all on Zierer. Their bravado cleared worked out, though!
Brave the Black Forest
Even if it’s not the only roller coaster on Earth to feature its most unique element anymore, Verbolten is still an outstanding family roller coaster that got almost everything right. Sure, we’ll be the first to admit that on a Disney-sized budget, the ride would likely have a more well disguised showbuilding and that the area would’ve been replanted with already-mature trees. Yes, the launch out of the showbuilding should be tree-lined on both sides. And yes, Verbolten could be a few hundred feet longer, if only because we don’t want it to end
All of that can come in time, and given the right powers in charge at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. In the meantime, we’re absolutely enchanted by this well-dressed family coaster that shows just how much a little extra effort pays off. After all, Verbolten sitting in a field at Cedar Point or Six Flags would be of little interest. But with a little “oomph,” it’s a world-class thrill that we can’t get enough of.
Now, you really MUST check out this fantastic behind-the-scenes, fan-produced documentary that gives a never-before-seen look at the ride with lights on, and traces its unbelievable similarities with the layout of Big Bad Wolf:
Have you ridden Verbolten? What do you think about this mysterious and well-loved family roller coaster at Busch Gardens? How can it serve as a blueprint for seasonal parks looking to expand their arsenal of accessible entry-level thrills?
Comments
Sorry, but I disagree. Verbolten is not a family coaster. I found it the single most aggressive coaster at BGW. The next nearest blitz-style coaster, Copperhead Strike at Carowinds, isn't as tall or fast, and though I haven't ridden that one yet, I doubt it's as forceful. If Copperhead Strike had a 48" minimum height, I'd call it a family coaster before Verbolten.
On top of that, the ride has aged like milk. It was awfully rattly, and the show building has deteriorated to about the same standard as Flight of Fear.
Mystic Timbers took the forbidden forest theme and did it better in every way.