Justin Thorn

So last week Lauren told me that plans were being made for the weekend but couldn’t tell me exactly what those plans were since it was a surprise for me. All I knew in advance was I needed comfortable walking shoes, sunglasses, and to be ready to leave by 8AM Saturday morning. Two of those three requirements were met fairly easily. You can guess which two. As she drove us out of town we were heading west toward Raleigh. I asked if we were going to be heading north on I-95. Once I knew that was when I realized we were going to Busch Gardens for the day.

We arrived in Williamsburg around noon. We were early enough that the first two rides we got on had a shorter wait than usual. As the day progressed it got more crowded as expected but the most we waited in line was 35 minutes, with the exception of DarKastle which I will get to later. The weather was nice and sunny but not unbearably hot. A couple trips to the water rides kept that in check. We got to go on every coaster at least once and most 2-4 times. The Loch Ness Monster and Alpengeist are still probably my most favorites. It was a full day experience that lasted until the park closed at 10PM. All in all it was a great way to spend a sunny, summer Saturday in June. The ride back seemed to take forever, arriving back about 1:45AM.

If you visit Busch Gardens any time soon you will surely run across this new attraction/ride called “The Curse of DarKastle”. Being a brand new addition to the park that just opened in May the lines were outrageously long all day. The fact that the whole thing was hidden inside a huge black warehouse added to its mystery and appeal. We waited until the sun went down around 8:00 and the line was a lot shorter. One employee guesstimated a 45 minute wait which really became 60 minutes. We decided to stick it out and see what everything was about. Needless to say it was disappointing. It was a motion ride with 3D glasses and huge IMAX size screens that projected images that popped out at you while you spun in all directions. Others may like it better but I would certainly recommend not waiting more than 20 minutes to see it. You will probably have more fun on the giant swings which we got on immediately after this junk. That was ten times more fun and only took 5 minutes in line.