Goodbye Big Bad Wolf Coaster

The rumors that have been swirling the past several weeks about Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Big Bad Wolf coaster appear to be true and confirmed. The Arrow suspended coaster, one of a handful left on the planet, will be "retired" September 7, 2009, to make way for possible expansion and a rumored new land. Curiously, this also comes on it's 25 year anniversary with the park.

While I, like many others, hate to see this coaster taken down, this move is understandable. You can have an old car you dearly love, but at some point it gets really expensive to keep up. It breaks down more frequently, parts are harder and harder to find for it, and the company that made it is long gone or changed so much that it doesn't make cars or support them very much. Transplant car with coaster and you have my partial take on this situation.

Now, if you put on your park manager hat, this move, combined with the ocassionally used old Drachen Fire area would open up a lot of room for a new land and new coaster. The current rumor is a B&M flyer and Spain for the theme, but my gut says don't count out a possible woodie like Thunderhead.

Additionally, though different perspectives on a suspended coaster, Alpengeist does most of the same things Big Bad Wolf does, plus. Granted Alpengeist is higher octane, but it's a similar situation to Python and Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa a few years ago. Both had cork screws, but Kumba did that, plus. In some ways, this made Python, a tried and true Arrow Corkscrew model, a bit redundant. That coaster was scrapped in 2006 to make way for Jungala and some of the trains went to Williamsburg for parts and to run on Loch Ness Monster.

That said, the yet unnamed, nor confirmed replacement for Big Bad Wolf, will have to be something pretty swanky to justify the removal, especially in fans and enthusiasts minds. Keep in mind, Busch has been in this situation before with Jungala. The general reaction before hand was "You want to replace a coaster with kiddie area? Boooo!" The result? Jungala has been a success and welcome addition for to Busch Gardens Tampa for families. The same could be true for Williamsburg and their long term plan. Ultimately time will tell here, but they have a good chance of repeat success, given the circumstances.

Will I miss the Wolf? Definitely. It was one of the big name coasters I grew up with and it was part of what defined Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Big Bad Wolf was a coaster icon of a grand era.