Editor's note: Here are excerpts from the press release:
Teased since early July with park billboards touting "Like Nothing Else in the World," Busch Gardens Europe took the plunge and unveiled its latest steel marvel, Griffon, the world's tallest and only floorless dive coaster. Currently under construction, this diving, driving force in roller coaster engineering will debut at Busch Gardens late spring 2007.Griffon will send riders through an extraordinary journey 205 feet up and 90 degrees straight down at more than 70 mph – and that’s just the beginning. The name Griffon evokes the power and speed of a mythical beast that is part eagle and part lion. The ride twists, turns and plunges – giving riders a breathtaking adventure unlike any coaster experience in the world.
Griffon will incorporate two Immelman loops (a simultaneous loop and roll, the name of which was derived from the World War I German flying ace who invented the tactical maneuver). The world’s first floorless dive coaster also incorporates a second 130-foot dive and one water feature with spectacular viewing platforms where ride watchers can share in the thrills. Each floorless coaster car will consist of three, 10-person wide rows.
The roller coaster is being constructed by Bolliger & Mabillard of Monthey, Switzerland on the former LeMans Raceway site in the French section of the Williamsburg theme park. Griffon is the fifth member of the park’s family of renowned coasters.
Construction began July 6, 2006. The most recent roller coaster to debut at Busch Gardens was Apollo’s Chariot in 1999.
Everyone is going to want to draw comparisons to SheiKra, and rightfully so since this coaster is very similar. However, the designers have made enough changes to the coaster to differentiate it from SheiKra with a second Immelman and wider, floorless trains. Griffon is definitely not a clone like we've seen from some other park chains (Six Flags and Paramount).
Walking around the park today, I was trying to visualize what a 205' coaster in the middle of the park would look like, and all I could think is that it would dominate the landscape. Where Griffon's drop will be is topographically one of the highest spots in the park, which means the top of this coaster will be seen from just about anywhere in the park. Not only that, but riders will look down over Alpengeist, no slouch itself at 190 feet, as they round the first turn before the ominious first drop.
I think the most significant detail revealed about Griffon is the trains. With floorless trains 10 seats wide, riders sitting in the 2 seats on either end of the front row will be wide open with nothing in front of you, nothing above you and nothing below you, not even the track. Griffon will offer the closest experience to flight we've seen in a coaster since X and Eejanaika (the new 4-D coaster at Fuji Q Highland). The outside seats on SheiKra are pretty amazing, and I'm just salivating to think what the outside seats will be like on Griffon. The only problem will be trying to manage the queue to get people on and off a coaster with such wide rows. Theme park guests have a hard enough time counting to 4. I can only imagine how difficult it will be to force people to fill in every seat in every row.
Am I completely satisfied with Griffon? I can't really say since so many details were already known about this coaster before the announcement that it was a bit of a letdown to find out there wasn't much of anything that we didn't already know about Griffon. The coaster does bring a MAJOR attraction to a land in desparate need of one. Guests frequently just walked right through France just to get to their next destination. Now guests have a destimation in France. However, I'm a bit dissapointed that neither of the drops go through a tunnel or underground, a feature that was a staple of the three previous dive machines. The first drop does go under a pedestrian bridge, but other than that, both drops are wide open. I'm also a bit saddened that two Immelmans are the best the minds at B&M could come up with for this coaster. I realize rolls and corkscrews are pretty much out of the question for trains so wide, but a dive loop or a straight loop would have further separated Griffon from SheiKra. I am also a bit concerned that the park has eiliminated two family attractions (Wild Maus and LeMans Raceway) in favor of a huge coaster and a massive dark ride. The park still feels they have a strong collection of rides for all ages, but I would contest that BGE could use an infusion of smaller, well-themed flat rides targeted at the whole family.
As BGE management have said, this new coaster will not come close to breaking any height or speed records, but having the tallest and fastest coaster is not what they're aiming at. They want to have the "BEST" coaster, and Griffon is likely to be near the top of "best coaster" lists for years to come.
For those who are curious, the construction site is pretty difficult to view now since they have close the skyride. The skyride will remain closed through the rest of the 2006 season. For the best glimpses of the construction site, guests can ride Loch Ness Monster and Alpengeist to get the best view of what's going on. Today, they were in the process of driving piles and digging pits for footers, which would mean that a crane and track are probably still about a month away from showing up at the site.
Check it out for yourself...Steel Coaster Poll
Busch is obviously a top park and a major contender in the biz ... so I'm sure Griffon will be a great ride that will be enjoyable year after year. After several years of season passes, I still love the BGE coasters and still can't pick a fave between AC and Alpie -- so great in their different ways.
Anyway, nobody needs me to say how good Griffon will probably be. Any park that can inspire the kind of singleminded devotion to its every move, every nuance, and EVERY SINGLE discussion thread as BGE does at TPI has got to be excellent. Can't imagine anyone getting that excited about (CF)PKD, for good or ill. You've gotta be a major factor or nobody would bother criticizing you at all, much less your every move.
I no longer reside in VA, but when I return to visit, I will make special plans to visit my favorite park to view the new attraction.
Current medical conditions prohibit my riding of coasters :-(
However, I still get a thrill watching their operations. And, BGE is one of the few parks in the US where you can see nearly the entire ride's operation (except the cave on LochNess and parts of BBW).
-ras
And what the hell is your point exactly?
For someone who lives in VA, he has zero respect for other's opinions.
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First Floorless? I thought Kracken was floorless?