|
Usually my feeling of shoot the chute rides is something like “good, but...” However, this outstanding Busch Gardens Europe attraction takes the average splash down ride into a different universe. Riders start up the lift hill in a familiar, rubbery, shoot-the-chute fashion. Suddenly, instead of a simple turnaround into the waterfall, the boat enters a giant building and is greeted by shaking walls, dramatic music, statues falling all over the place, and quite a bit of fire effects! This "dark ride" part of the ride is simply wonderfully put together and almost makes the ride worthy of a ten by itself. The fire effects just seem to last forever. It really does get hot in the building, certainly enough to get your blood pumping with adrenaline! Then, the boat enter daylight after the unforgettable dark-ride section. What comes next completely surprised me. Down the waterfall hill, my butt flew off the seat more than it seemed to do on Pompeiis B&M hypercoaster neighbor! What a plus! The airtime down the hill alone would make the ride worth riding. As of this point, the ride is basically perfect in my mind. The ONLY thing disappointing about it is what seemingly every other splashdown carries out so easily: the splash! I was barely sprinkled on my 2007 ride! I know that it is a bit luck-of-the-draw, as a few people on my boat needed a change of clothes, but still, half the boat was dry. I don’t expect a Mile High Falls sort of effect, but consistent splashing is preferred on a boat ride. Still, I appreciated the sprinkle I got from an attraction that was literally so good, had the splash been a bit larger I would have to think about it being my number one ride!
|