Alpengeist
Website: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Homepage
Ride Type: Inverted Steel Coaster
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 4.4194
TPC Overall Rank: #62 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 141
Last Review: 9/17/2013 11:43:00 PM
In User Top 10: 231 times.
User Tracker Count: 310 times.
 


Alpengeist

Immelman

The towering structure

Hanging off the chain...
 
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3 Rating
-1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Steve NY on 5/2/2008 6:40:00 AM
Alpengeist is a massive invert, but is bigger better? No, not in this case. The ride certainly is intimidating, overlooking the entire park and Busch, as usual, did an excellent job at theming this ride. The snow banks during the second half are an excellent touch in my opinion. Well, the first half is by far the best part of the ride since it is absolutely huge and the Gs on the drop are incredible. Now for the disappointments. First came a forceless Immelman. Its just too big for its own good and is taken way too slowly. The following loop didnt blow me away, but it actually had some moderate forces. After that came a very jerky cobra roll and then the roughest moment Ive ever experienced on a B&M on the MCBR. Then came a good zero-G roll followed by a disappointing corkscrew and then some dull and very slow turns. Alpengeist just is too big for its own good and is just beneath Montu, another highly rated but disappointing coaster.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up m311ton on 3/22/2008 6:42:00 PM
As I sit down to write this brief review, Im realizing that my high expectations of this ride might have hurt its score a little bit. Needless to say, I had extremely lofty expectations. The ride was a blast, but it didnt quite blow me away like I was hoping. (That being said, it should be noted that my friends were blown away.) The theming of the white snow below your feet is pretty cool, and the twists are by far the best part of the ride. The queue went extremely fast, and the ride was no doubt fun. This is an above average coaster as far as thrills go, but not quite in an elite category either. Overall, I highly recommend this ride and it is a spectacular thrill!

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/6/2007 5:56:00 PM
Alpengeist was a darn good coaster, but I thought it would be a bit better. The snow theming was incredible and that first drop was incredibly long and it let the train gain some pretty good speed. The immelman wasnt all that strong as it seemed to just be too big, but the vertical loop delivered powerful forces, just as the second half did. The break run had a rough jolt though.

3 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up B&M Fan on 8/10/2007 6:27:00 PM
After waiting so long and looking at all the pictures of this ride, I finally was able to ride it. I was looking very forward to riding this ride because it is the tallest inverted coaster there is. When I went, I got to this coaster right when this part of the park opened and walked right on to the back row of the train. This coaster is so awesome to look at. One is able to stand in the middle of the walkway and see basically the whole ride in its beauty. Sadly, it is not as much fun to ride as it looks. The first drop is one of the best. Very powerful and long. After that, it quickly went down from there. The ride was the roughest B&M I have ever been on, even more so then Kumba. The cobra roll was the most intense part of the ride, a little too much, especially from the back of the train. After the mid ride brakes, you go through the inline roll and finish the ride in a very boring way. Basically a few turns in snow theme into the brakes. Very dissapointed with this ride and unfortunately I did not want to ride it again after one go.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up ginzo on 7/14/2007 6:44:00 PM
This one left me scratching my head. Montu, built in 1996, is easily my favorite invert. It tracks well, has a high degree of rider comfort, and does a brilliant job of throwing you every which way. Why this sister ride, built just a year later, wound up being such a dog is beyond me.
Alpengeist is unusual for a Busch Gardens coaster in that it does not seem to be that well cared for. It tracked pretty poorly for a B&M, and the wheels made a bizarre noise. There are rough spots all over the course, and the ride just isnt fun in general. Like others have said here, bigger isnt always better. Many times its worse.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up thare on 6/18/2007 9:06:00 AM - User's Top Ride #4
Awesome coaster! This coaster has nice inversions, and nice themeing. The station is awesome. The only bad thing is that it is becoming more and more rough. (can only be expected)

3 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Hercules on 6/11/2007 12:33:00 AM
Alpengeist is a big boy that does not make big boy noise. Flat out and straight to the point, it does not deliver the kind of ride that is expected. It is a towering structure. "Geeze, this is high." However, the height and speed do not equal thrills and quality.
The ride is basically over after the first drop. The drop is good and exciting and seems to last forever. The train takes the elements with such speed and grace that there are no noticable forces throughout the ride, making it less than thrilling. You would think that the large elements would compensate for the speed and there would be some Gs and lateral forces, but alas, there are none.
The cobra roll is an element that I believe should only be used on a ride where the train is on top of the track. It does not flow with the ride and is a little jerky. And speaking of jerky, that mid-course break gives me flash backs of a Vekoma SLC.
The ride flat out dies at the end. Aplengeist is supposed to be an intimidating beast, but it leaves a feeling that the beast has been tamed at the end. It has no stamina.
I will take a compact B&M any day. This is "bad" for a B&M.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up millforce on 5/19/2007 2:27:00 AM
My #2 favorite inverted coaster. It would be a 10 if it didnt bang my head around a little bit. Im assuming that it gets more rough with age.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up metssuck on 5/16/2007 5:02:00 PM - User's Top Ride #7
Alpengiest is starting to get a bit to rough for my liking. The theming is great and the ride is thrilling but my head was banging. Sadly, it has become my least favorite coaster at the park.

3 Rating
+4 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Canobie Coaster on 10/9/2006 11:59:00 AM
Alpengeist is often regarded amongst enthusiasts along with Montu and Nemesis as the best invert out there. Why? Well, the ride has height, a wide variety of massive inversions, superb speed, and great theming to boot as usual from Busch. In fact, Alpengeist commonly places in the top twenty annually in Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket awards, beating out many other distinguished inverts and hyper coasters to boot. However, is it really worth all the acclaim? I for one think not, as this is a prime example that bigger isn’t always better.

Located in the very back of the park in the Germany section, Alpengeist is nestled very nicely in the woods, concealing almost the entire layout from view except for the peaks of Alpie’s colossal inversions and also the impressive cobra roll and daunting lift hill. Most inverts lack any theming at all, but Busch absolutely blew my mind away with what they did. Themed to a ski lodge, the station looks absolutely great and the little touches featured all around the ride such as the nice snow banks that the track hugs during the finale or the wiped out skiier beneath my feet during the lift. They may not seem like much, but they are just one of those things that I can’t help but be amazed by since they really help capture a snowy atmosphere, even on a 100 plus degree day.

Lines also were in my favor during my visit, as they didn’t exist! Well, maybe it was because it was within a half hour of park closing. Maybe it was because of the stifling heat repelling people from visiting. But I attribute it to the attraction’s incredible capacity. Not only were two trains utilized, but each held plenty of riders and the operators were working their rears off to dispatch us as fast as possible. Props to Alpie’s ops! If they’re this good when they really don’t have to rush, I can’t imagine how fast they are when the station is swamped.

So for an attraction that had no wait and incredible theming, the stars were aligning and I was ready for an intense, top-notch ride like others have experienced. Well, that began with the simply massive, winding drop that seemingly went on forever, and the Gs sustained the whole way down were simply amazing and the speed attained was unearthly.

However, from there the ride just fizzled out in my opinion as the following inversions, while mammoth in size, completely lacked any real forces at all and just couldn’t match the intensity of the stellar drop or of the smaller, more compact inversions of other B and M inverts such as Dueling Dragons, Talon, or the Great Bear. Sure the vertical loop and Immelman were smooth, I was just asking what happened to the forces the whole way through. And then comes the rough spots as well, namely in the jerky cobra roll and the nightmarish jolt during the mid-course brake run. Brake runs are supposed to be a place to catch your breath, not be slammed into the restraint, as I experienced a beating that even Vekoma’s SLCs would be jealous of. The thing that really enhanced the discomfort of this jolt was that I was totally off-guard by this jolt like a quarterback blindsided by a 300 pound defensive lineman. Ouch!

Maybe the second half would redeem itself? After a nice, swooping drop, a superb zero-G roll followed. Unfortunately, it was taken rather slowly and wasn’t intense at all, but it did provide some decent hang-time on the way through. Afterwards is an intense little corkscrew, but from there, the attraction really sputtered. Now I know it’s the finale and speed will be lost, but I was at least expecting more than a crawl back to the station. Those tight turns would have been capable of producing some incredible Gs had there been any real speed maintained through the finale. Sure the theming was great with the snow banks on these turns, but the slow speed ruined the full potential of the effect in my opinion since the ride just didn’t feel out of control.

Alpengeist simply was one of the most disappointing coasters I’ve ever been on. After hearing so much acclaim and praise for this simply gargantuan invert, I was expecting a world-class ride and only got a decent ride at best. Sure the theming was great, and the first drop, zero-G roll, and corkscrew delivered, but the aforementioned roughness and mostly forceless inversions really detracted from my ride significantly. So do I recommend it? Of course I do since it still is a pretty decent coaster and very unique, but just don’t go on expecting it to live up to its lofty reputation.

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