Coaster101 Takes On Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Coaster 101 Tour

When heading to Virginia for the annual American Coaster Enthusiasts Spring Conference, we discovered a tour at Busch Gardens Williamsburg that, well, felt like it was made for us.

Yes, it’s really called the Coaster 101 Tour. For just about $40, park guests can get behind the scenes look at two of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s most iconic roller coasters, and includes two front-oft-the-line access rides on each of those attractions. Typically offered twice a day – 3:30pm and 5:30pm – on most of the park’s operating days, the guided tour takes about an hour when all is said and done.

Given that we are Coaster101, and this tour may-or-may-not have been named after us (probably not, but we can dream, right?)- we were curious if it would live up to the Coaster101 reputation, so we headed to the park on a Thursday afternoon in May to find out for ourselves.

The tour begins inside the park gates at the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Tour Center – adjacent to the park’s main gift shop. Guests are encouraged to check-in about 15 minutes ahead. It was there where we met our tour guide, Jayne. Jayne has been with Busch Gardens Williamsburg for six years, and focuses on a variety of tours and summer camps in her role at the park. Our tour group was small – just three members of the Coaster101 team, and two additional park guests. Once everyone arrived, we headed to our first coaster of the day, and probably Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s most revered coaster, Loch Ness Monster.

Jayne gave us the option of “learning” or “riding” first. Being the coaster nerds that we all are, we decided to learn. The tour started outside of Loch Ness Monster’s queue, where we learned about the coaster’s American Coaster Enthusiast landmark status and a bit of history, before heading into the ride’s maintenance area for a look around.

For those who aren’t “in the know,” Loch Ness Monster’s maintenance bay is actually located directly under the coaster’s station. The coaster’s trains can easily roll into the space below, and are reversed back onto the track by use of a winch. Underneath Loch Ness Monster, we learned about coaster wheels, and where many of Loch Ness Monster’s parts came from – including the former Python at Busch Gardens Tampa. We got a demonstration of coaster brakes, and had the opportunity to ask Jayne plenty of questions about Loch Ness Monster.

Some of the more interesting pieces of the Loch Ness Monster maintenance bay were the underside of the hydraulic gates that you could see move anytime the train loaded/unloaded, and the original Arrow Dynamics blueprints that are still affixed to the wall, under plexiglass. (You are not allowed to take photos of these blueprints.)

Following the “learning” portion of Loch Ness Monster, Jayne escorted us through the ride exit where we would be able to ride twice in any seat we selected. While the park wasn’t terribly busy, this was a great perk of the tour, especially for those who hadn’t yet ridden the “new-and-improved” Loch Ness Monster, following a recent major refurbishment.

Following the rides on Loch Ness Monster, we took a “backstage” route to the second and final coaster on the tour – Griffon. Walking underneath the Busch Gardens Railroad, Jayne stopped in view of Finnegan’s Flyer to let us know that due to the ride’s positioning on a hill, the park was able to “hide” the compressed air tanks that make Finnegan’s Flyer operate – in comparison to Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens Tampa, where the tanks are visible.

Once we got to Griffon, we learned a little bit about “lock out-tag out” procedures with a quick demonstration, along with how the “splashdown” pool at Griffon is maintained throughout the year. I thought it was interesting that since the water may touch guests, the pool must be maintained with the same chemical care as a traditional swimming pool – meaning that the ride mechanics on Griffon are also familiar with chlorine levels and other pool chemicals.

Inside of Griffon’s maintenance barn, we got a look at the underside of one of Griffon’s trains that was in for maintenance, and learned more about the decision to make Griffon a floorless dive coaster, compared to SheiKra’s original floor (BGW wanted more capacity than SheiKra, so the compromise was made by removing the floor in the trains.)

We also got to get up close and personal with a coaster wheel, and everyone of course had to lift it to see how heavy it was! The tour concluded with two back-to-back, front row rides on Griffon and Jayne left us to our own devices to enjoy the rest of the day in the park!

In summary, the Coaster 101 tour is a quick and affordable tour for anyone with an interest in how roller coasters operate or for a look behind the curtain. True to its name, the “101” is definitely an introduction to Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s amazing coaster line up, and we’d definitely recommend this tour. (If you can get Jayne as a guide, even better, because her energy was amazing.)

That said. There were some definite similarities between the Coaster 101 tour and the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Roller Coaster Insider Tour that we last took in 2017. While the park’s coaster lineup has only scaled up since our 2017 visit (with the opening of InvadR, Pantheon, DarKoaster, and Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge) the Coaster Insider tour promises guests can “Explore the physics of our roller coasters with an exclusive “lights on” tour/ride of an indoor coaster, behind-the-scenes access to control rooms & maintenance of several major coasters, and priority ride time.”

With the Coaster 101 tour running you about $40, and the Coaster Insider Tour costing somewhere between $65-75 depending on the day. If money and time were no object and our schedule allowed it, we’d probably choose the Coaster Insider Tour over the Coaster 101 tour. But, for younger guests or those just getting into the hobby, the Coaster 101 tour is perfect!

For more information about VIP Tours at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, be sure to visit the park’s website!