We’ve assumed this day was coming for a while now, but that doesn’t make it any less newsworthy. After less than two seasons of operation, Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s first of its kind, Falcons Creative Group-produced, virtual reality, simulator attraction, Battle for Eire, appears to be no more.
Guests attending Busch Gardens Williamsburg this weekend arrived to find all of Battle for Eire’s signage removed from the exterior of Killarney’s simulator building. Battle for Eire had already long since been removed from park maps and in-park directional signage, but the removal of the attraction’s main marquee looks a lot like the final nail in the coffin to us.
If that wasn’t enough Battle for Eire doom and gloom for you, another change occurred this weekend as well.
The inciting incident behind our original article doomsaying about the future of Eire was that Busch Gardens Williamsburg pulled all mention of the attraction from their website. Soon after the publication of that article—likely in an attempt to save face—BGW actually added a listing for the ride back to its official website. That said, they only added the listing back, not the actual webpage for the attraction.
Well now, many months after that placeholder was added back to the website, any mention of Battle for Eire has, once again, vanished. You can see the edit that was made in the image below.
Meanwhile, as initially reported back in January, Battle for Eire’s remaining merchandise stock continues to be clearanced off at ludicrously low prices. You can pick a lot of this stuff up for less than $5 and I don’t think any of it is selling for more than $10 at this point.
Signage removal, web presence purging, and merch clearancing—any of these ominous signs by themselves could be cause for major concern. Taken together though, we think it’s pretty safe to say that it would take quite a miracle to save Battle for Eire at this point. That’s not to say it’s impossible—especially if Busch Gardens Williamsburg doesn’t have any immediate, permanent plans for this space—but if Battle for Eire were hooked up to an electrocardiogram, these recent changes would be the equivalent of it flatlining by our estimation.
Regardless, before we call Battle for Eire truly dead, Busch Gardens Williamsburg needs to show the attraction the respect it deserves and actually announce publicly that it is no more. Allowing attractions to just vanish into the void like this is disrespectful—not just to the attractions themselves, but also the creators, staff, and fans of them. It has been years—it’s long since time for Busch Gardens Williamsburg to announce defeat—and not by just erasing the ride from existance under the cover of Pantheon’s debut, but by growing a backbone and expressly telling people that Battle for Eire is dead.
A Parting Gift
Since it has now been years since anyone has ridden Battle for Eire, we wanted to leave you with a little treat. Eire may not have been the most popular attraction ever, but it was one of the best themed and most unique rides Busch Gardens Williamsburg has ever created. As such, it deserves to be remembered and preserved for BGW fans to experience years from now. In pursuit of that goal, below you’ll find the actual Battle for Eire ride video as it was projected onto the theater’s screen.
That’s pretty cool, right? Well, we can do one better.
We have the actual 360 degree, 3D, virtual reality video that was played through the attraction’s headsets. If you have a VR headset at home, break it out for this! If you don’t have a headset, consider pulling the video up on your phone or another device with a gyroscope. YouTube should allow you to “look around” the spherical video that way! If a computer is your only option, make sure you drag the video around a little to take a look at all the things you may have missed on the actual ride!
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Man, I’m disappointed that we never really got to see the full extent and potential of this attraction. While it’s not entirely the fault of Busch or anyone running it, I do think it’s being done pretty dirty by keeping any updates or information about its status under wraps. All in all, I’m glad we have the actual ride footage on youtube now thanks to you all and it helps the medicine go down a little easier, haha.
THANK YOU great to see the video I have not been to BG since 2019, I hope it won’t be completely de forested and look like Kings Dominion. New rides are good but beautiul plantings and tree cover make it appealing to patrons who will spend money and not stsrt fights.
It was a lame ride and the VR headsets were very uncomfy. There were a lot of similar attractions that came before it that suffered the same fate. Good riddance.