The new rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Pantheon was due to open in 2020, due to the pandemic, this was delayed……..and delayed…….and you get the point.
Finally on 3/4/2022 Busch Gardens started having Pass Member ride times. I was very disappointed because that was the day of my surgery.
I didn’t want to make Blake, Ethan and Nick miss getting to ride it before it opened to the public due to my surgery. We decided to go on 3/13/2022. It is good for me to get walking in after my surgery.
The first thing we did when we got to Busch was go to Sesame Street – Forest of Fun. Going here was fun because it was at the kids request and we did not have Taylor with us.
Sesame Street – Forest of Fun
The kids wanted to see what Sesame Street character was in the photo both. Of course it was Big Bird. TAYLOR’S FAVORITE character and she was not with us. Ever since Taylor got hooked on Sesame Street, we saw every character except Big Bird and the one day she isn’t with us, it is Big Bird. The kids took a picture with Big Bird to show her.
We have the unlimited Busch Gardens Photo Key. I love this because it is fun getting all of the pictures with the characters as well as ride pictures. The boys have fun with the ride pictures because they know where the cameras are do funny faces and gestures each time.
***Sesame Street background is copywritten*** and guest who want to take pictures with the characters and not pay for them, are unable to take their own pictures with the sesame street backdrop.
The kids rode the rides in the Forest of Fun. They were testing the Grover roller coaster and the kids were disappointed they couldn’t ride it but it was okay.
Festa Italia
Once we leave the Forest of Fun, we head to Festa Italia – the location of Pantheon. We get to Pantheon and there is a large group of people waiting at the entrance. Come to find out that the ride hasn’t opened to guest for the day due to the weather. They outside temperature has to reach a certain degree in order for most of the coasters to run.
Blake and the kids got on the Turkish Delight a.k.a. the Teacups while I watched and took pictures/video.
Once the ride finished we went back over to the Pantheon waiting area. I guess the weather was getting better because it was at this time we were told we could begin forming a line for the ride. We all waited for about 20 minutes and then I told Blake and the kids they could go ride other rides and I would sit in line and wait since I can’t ride anything right now. He took the kids on the Battering Ram and the Flying Machine. This is the first time to my knowledge the flying machine has been open in the past couple of years.
I could tell it was getting close to the ride opening and I sent Blake a message saying to get back ASAP with the kids. Blake sent the kids and stopped to get me a glass of wine. When he got back, Ethan, Nick and Blake all went to get in the lines for which row they would be sitting. The boys wanted the back and Blake sat in the row in front of them.
We could see them from the waiting area and I tried to film the little I could of them on the ride.
https://youtube.com/shorts/g4zLu04tfkU?feature=share
As soon as I finished filming them, I raced over to the picture redemption to get their ride picture. They did a great job cropping the random person that sat beside Blake.
Once they got off, I was telling Blake that I really want to ride the coaster. We talked about it for a bit and then he went with me to do the Parent Swap. For the parent swap, we sat in the 4th row. I was very excited.
This coaster is amazing. Definitely the best Busch Gardens Williamsburg has. Very smooth and different. When the coaster went upside down, it stayed upside down for a couple of seconds. The launch part was also too, I love going backwards on roller coasters. I would have put my hands up like Blake, but I was protecting my stomach as much as I could. I actually didn’t have any issues or soreness from the ride.
It was nearing the time to leave and we had to get back. Loch Ness was finally open and the kids wanted to ride it. Arianna and Austin said they are still not ready to ride even though they ride Verbolten. It was okay though, I let them ride the Lil’ Clydes. They seemed very thrilled……
I was scrolling through Facebook the night before and came across a post of someone looking for an Elmo hat. Once the kids got off Lil’ Clydes, we went to the shop next to Finnegan’s Flyer to see if they had the hat since the Forest of Fun as out, unfortunately they did not.
When we passed Finnegan’s Flyer, they had sandbag people in the seats for ride testing. Arianna and Austin thought it was really cool to see.
Blake said they were able to walk onto Loch Ness which was nice but they didn’t have their pictures working. Oh well……Until next time Busch Gardens!
Nic of Time - Travel 