“But y’all already leaked what Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA are building next year! Why y’all writin’ another article?!”
Well, dear reader, a closer look at either of the articles you’re referencing (BGW’s, WCUSA’s) would reveal that those were theories. Pretty good theories in my honest opinion, but theories nonetheless. This article is very different.
In the two previously mentioned posts, we did our best to analyze source documentation that we were able to publish alongside our interpretation.
This time around, thanks to a very helpful source inside SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, we are working with far more confidential information. Due to the nature of the information fueling this article, unfortunately, we are unable to provide direct proof of the validity of our claims.
That said, hopefully our nearly-decade-long history of providing in-depth, reliable BGW leaks will justify believing us when we say the following…
BGWFans has independently and exclusively confirmed all of the information presented below to be an accurate representation of the current plans for Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s and Water Country USA’s 2019 attraction additions.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s
Project 2019
We can now confirm with 100% certainty that Busch Gardens Williamsburg plans to add a S&S – Sansei Technologies 32-person Screamin’ Swing to their Killarney hamlet for 2019.
The specifications we have been given for this addition match what S&S identifies as the Screamin’ Swing’s “Standard Layout” to a tee. More specifically, the attraction is roughly 65 feet tall, 66 feet wide, and at a 90 degree swing, the arms reach roughly 58 feet in either direction.
To put those numbers into perspective, Killarney’s entry gate (located directly north of the attraction) is only about 25 feet tall. The Screamin’ Swing is closing in on three times its height.
The ride platform is located roughly 30 feet above the adjacent ravine. Assuming Busch Gardens Williamsburg runs the attraction utilizing its manufacturer-specified max swing angle, riders should end up roughly 110 feet above the neighboring waterway.
The attraction platform on the Killarney/west-side of the ride is, as expected, fairly large (about 34 feet beyond the attraction’s support structure). Thankfully, the park appears to have done its best to limit the platform area needed on the ravine/east-side of the ride.
The deck on the ravine-side of the attraction features a “stairway to nowhere” which allows the ride platform to extend just over ten feet from the front of the attraction’s structure.
The area to the west of the ride platform is dedicated to the ride’s queue and controls building. This structure is very similar to Mäch Tower’s queue and controls area in that it’s a relatively small, simple structure with a pre-load area for grouping guests.
Toss in a nice ride entry archway, a test seat, a QuickQueue/handicap entrance, and that’s Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s 2019 attraction in a nutshell.
Below I’ve included a composite map showing the final location, size, and shape of the attraction, its platform, the queue (turquoise), the queue building (outlined in purple/black), operator locations (red), and more.
Water Country USA’s
Project 2019
BGWFans can now say with complete confidence that Water Country USA’s 2019 attraction will be a ProSlide RocketBLAST/FlyingSAUCER hybrid featuring three uphill, water-propelled launches and five 30 meter FlyingSAUCER turns.
As theorized in our previous article, this attraction is slated to replace the slide-portion of Meltdown while reusing much of Meltdown’s non-slide elements (tower, ending pool, tube lift, etc). The existing slide tower will remain the new attraction’s highest point.
Following dispatch, the slide will take riders through a small turn and a series of small drops. After this tame introduction, riders will dive down and to the right into the first 30 meter FlyingSAUCER turn. Exiting the first FlyingSAUCER, guests are fed immediately into the slide’s first launch.
This first RocketBLAST launch appears to be the ride’s steepest launch section. The base of this launch is also elevated considerably unlike the two launches later in the slide which sit essentially at ground level.
Launch one sends riders into a traditional water slide turn to the left (reminiscent of one you’d see on Meltdown today) followed immediately by the second FlyingSAUCER turn which will send riders diving down and to the right.
This takes riders to launch number two and then immediately into what is sure to be the highlight of this attraction: three back to back 30 meter FlyingSAUCER turns that largely follow the hillside down towards launch number 3.
The third launch is the shortest of the trio of RocketBLAST launches. It pushes riders up a small hill after which they encounter a 180 degree turn to the right and then a straight shot down into the exit pool.
Because Water Country USA’s 2019 project is reusing so much of the existing Meltdown attraction (queue, tower, pool, pump house, tube lift, exit path, etc) there really isn’t much more to share details-wise about this attraction.
Below I’ve included the “Best Guess” composite site plan created for the last Water Country USA Project 2019 article. Since our analysis turned out to be 100% spot-on, it doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense to create a new one.
We have seen teasing from both Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA regarding an announcement on September 5th. We believe it’s quite likely that both of the attractions referenced above will be officially confirmed at that event.
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Busch Gardens Williamsburg Project 2019 Water Country USA Project 2019