Busch's New Coaster: Fast, Furious and Family-Friendly

By Sam Thrift Sunday, September 18, 2011

The sounds of a revving engine filled Busch Garden’s Das Festahus, exciting the crowd of 2,000 active pass members as they watched the curtain drop to reveal the name of the park's newest addition: Verbolten.

Scheduled to open in spring 2012, the family ride will take passengers through the Black Forest with two launches moving at 50 miles per hour and a 90-foot drop. Vice President of Design and Engineering Larry Giles said two German icons - cars and the mystery of the Black Forest - inspired the ride.

“Take an easy ride through the countryside,” Giles said. “Your car will go faster than a BMW and you’ll head right for the Black Forest. And we told you not to go there.”

Giles told the crowd before the ride was revealed, “The name of the ride personifies the ride you are going to get.” Verbolten is a play on the translation of the word "forbidden" from German ("verboten") to English.

The active pass members got an exclusive invitation to hear about the new ride and many liked what they heard. Danny and Janis Biggerstaff, coaster enthusiasts who got married on Apollo’s Chariot in 2000, are excited to try the new ride.

“I was on the last ride of Big Bad Wolf and I plan on being the first to ride Verbolten,” Danny Biggerstaff said.

The newest attraction is already under construction and will stand in the Germany section of the park, where the Big Bad Wolf coaster stood for 25 years. Giles said Hurricane Irene delayed construction, but the coaster should open on schedule.

“This ride will be taller and faster than Big Bad Wolf ever was,” Giles said.

Park guests can keep up with coaster progress and get exclusive Verbolten details by using their smartphones or other Internet-connected devices while at the park. A unique Quick Response Code, a.k.a. a QR code, will have content updated regularly, but it can only be accessed when guests are at the park and use their devices to read the in-park QR code.

The active pass members also learned all the details about Howl-O-Scream, a frightening park attraction filled with haunted houses and rides, which opens Sept. 23 and will run every Friday through Sunday until Oct. 30.