I am rewriting my review on Alpengeist after the simply awe-inspiring ride I experienced on this magnificent B&M masterpiece this past Sunday. I will begin with the basics. The ride itself is probably the most beautiful coaster I have come across in my travels. I am confident that I could easily spend all day just taking pictures of the thing. From a design standpoint, Alpengeist is pure genious. All of the ride elements were obviously carefully laid out to enhance the aesthetics to near perfection. Now you may be saying to yourself that all B&Ms are beautiful in their own way. Well, while many parks have beautiful B&Ms, Busch Gardens took their B&M invert to the next level by providing the ride with a textbook "Busch Environment" and great theming. The foliage that dominates the ride area is nothing short of phenomenal; far too many parks strip their construction sites of all life these days, and yet Busch Gardens persistently preserves as many of the natural towering trees as humanly possible.
Now on to the ride itself and the reason for rewriting this review. For some reason I have overlooked the nonstop action and mind-numbing forces that this ride packs up until this past Sunday. Thus, Alpengeist has always hovered in the middle range of my Top 10. This past Sunday, the ride was running in its prime, and I had the privelege to ride it at its ultimate height. The unrelenting intensity of this ride propelled it easily above the other B&M inverts Ive ridden, driving it higher still into my Top 10. Currently (as of May 2nd, 2006) Alpengeist sits as my #3 coaster overall, displacing Storm Runner and Thunderbolt (Kennywood Park). From start to finish, the ride seems to have an undeniable grudge against the hapless riders it has snared in its clutches. Compound the superb ride quality with the scenery, immersing theming, and the sheer beauty of the rides structure, and you have one hell of an experience.
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