Get Your Griff On

Meet Griffon. To some, Griffon (which is also spelled Griffin) is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the griffon was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. To me, it's the ride of a lifetime at Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, Virginia.

What you are looking at is a 45 degree lift, the U-turn that gives you a view of the James River, and the drop that is 90 degrees. For those of you who are geometrically challenged, 90 degrees is STRAIGHT DOWN. Straight down from 205 feet up in the air. The coolest part is when the coaster stops at the top of the hill right before you drop and takes you just over the top, as you can see in the picture, so all three rows can see the ground. I did figure out I could get two deep breaths in and out and on the third inhale they drop you. I only know this because I rode it so many times. What's weird is that U-turn you see in the picture? Yeah, that one. That is the absolute scariest part of the ride for me. I hate heights. Making me ride slowly so that I can see for only Lord knows how many miles over the river and everywhere else is just torture. That is usually the time that I find some dirt in my fingernails to pick out to occupy my time until I get to the top where they let you hang. That is when the fun begins.
Right as you come to the ground, you swoop underneath a bridge, leaving you to feel like you are flying like an eagle (cue Steve Miller Band song, please). The rest of the ride is insane with the maximum force of 4Gs, topping out at 71 mph. There is a second 90 degree drop that isn't as high but just as fun. Really, you should run to Busch Gardens right now and just get on this ride over and over again like I did. The picture below is somewhat blurry but it's understandable considering that they are swooping underneath the bridge I'm standing on. The thunder of them below our feet was even a thrill.
Before I go any further, I should explain that I am extremely blessed to have a husband that is willing to let me go away with my crazy mother for four days and stay home and take care of the kids by himself. And I am even more blessed that my mom and dad split the kids up the following week in order for Ty and I to go away for three days. I had a 7-day pass to three different places and because Ty and I went back down to Busch Gardens within that same week I was able to use the pass again. Fortunately for me, that made it possible for me to go ride at Busch Gardens three days within one week. I was feeling the Gs over and over again. Of course, that probably explains a lot... So anyhow, when I'm explaining these rides, keep in mind I was there with my mom and with Ty and we had a blast!

I'm not sure why they decided on the whole Griffon name, but I do know this much, if you have short hair, you will get off the ride looking like you have wings. Take note at the back of my mom's head and compare it to the sign at the beginning of the ride. I laughed ridiculously everytime I got off this ride with her because she looked like she had wings.

Just a cool shot of Griffon as a silhouette against the sun on one of its twists.

This is Apollo's Chariot, or the purple monster as the tram guy likes to call it on his loudspeaker during the ride in, it's guaranteed to rock your world as well. When asked which is my favorite ride in the park, I cannot decide between Griffon and this one because they are so different and both equally as thrilling in my opinion. This ride doesn't look too bad from the pictures, and from most of the pictures I took, it is hard to see a lot of the coaster. Busch Gardens is very woodsy and most of the coasters wrap around inside the trees.

This ride is called a hyper coaster and it leaves you feeling weightless at the top of the hills. At the top of all NINE hills mind you, totally weightless. Now considering that I am the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life, the feeling of weightlessness just left me in a total state of euphoria that cannot be explained. So I raise my arms and my feet and let the lap bar be the only thing holding me in, no shoulder harness, JUST a lap bar. Add in the fact that you hit 4.1Gs and 78 mph and you have one heck of a wild ride. I would recommend this ride to anyone any time they are feeling fat.

And again, the scariest part is the ride up the first hill. No joke. I hate it. I just sit there and stare straight ahead, poking my head out from time to time to see if we are there yet. Mom is the opposite and our conversations on these rides usually go a little something like this:

Mom: (pointing) Oh, look, Lori, the Clydesdale horses are over there!

Me: Um, no, Mom.

Mom: No, really, look! They are so pretty!

Me: Um, no, Mom.

Mom: They are out in the pasture hanging out, they are right over there! (By this time she is trying to push my face in that direction.)

Me: Uh, Mom?! I have no desire to see a huge Clydesdale horse the size of a piss ant, so NO, I'm not looking. Oh, look, we're at the top of the hill! (wiping the sweat off my brow)

Of course the Big Bad Wolf is an oldy but a goody, and I haven't been on it in nearly 20 years so it was nice to see it again. This one is a hanging coaster that spirals all throughout the woods very fast and then drops you down the big hill toward the water below. This is where Mom freaks you out saying, "Oooh, wouldn't it be awful if we flew off the tracks right into the water because you know we would drown. We have these shoulder harnesses on and we are stuck in this car and and and...." Sigh.... Yep, that's what Mom does when you are like 9 years old and she's making you ride the rides with her because they make Dad sick and she wanted someone to ride with. But that is okay because I love roller coasters now and I probably owe that to her because of it and I do the same thing to my kids when we go to amusement parks now. The torture lives on...
The Loch Ness Monster is an oldy too. It's funny how I can't recall getting my tailbone jammed into the back of my skull from the pressure of being thrown around and doing the interlocking loops 20 years ago. It's amazing how coasters have changed over the years.
Last, but definitely not least, is Alpengeist. It, too, is a hanging roller coaster, four seats wide. This ride looks harmless and starts out harmless, however, please be aware that if there are any contents of food in your stomach, it is going to start doing things you never thought things in your stomach were capable of.

Each time I would see this ride running, I would notice there would be a row or two empty. I just figured there were people not riding, right? Hmmm, no. The one time Ty and I were in line we noticed things were taking a long time to get moving and then we hear over the loudspeaker, "Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. It seems we have some housekeeping to do." Translate that to coaster language and it means "Give us a minute, someone blew their cookies all over the place and we have to clean the crap up." I kid you not. Then they let that particular row ride empty during the next ride in order to air out I guess.

This ride mimics a skiing ride and skiers like to fly back and forth quickly around trees, so Alpengeist does that. Only instead of going from side to side it corkscrews to the left and doesn't give you a minute to situate your brain back in place inside your skull before it slams you back into another corkscrew to the right. Again, and again, and again. Add that to 67 mph and hitting 3.7Gs and you have trouble for some people. Out of the four times I rode this ride, I got sick two of those times, and I never get sick on rides. I didn't blow my cookies, but I can honestly say I was worried that I might. Why did I ride it again if it made me sick? Well, cause I'm a glutton for punishment, that's why.

Thank you, ladies and gentleman, for enjoying your tour through some of Busch Gardens' greatest rides and may you enjoy the rest of your day. :)