DarKoaster, Busch Gardens’ newest roller coaster, opens Friday

A spooky Bavarian castle has loomed mostly vacant in a corner of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Germany section since 2018. But Friday, with the opening of the DarKoaster — the park’s 10th concurrently operating roller coaster — it’s been reimagined and reengineered.

The ride pays homage to the DarKastle attraction that used to occupy the space, according to Suzy Cheely, the park’s vice president of design and engineering.

“It’s not too extreme. We call it a family thrill ride,” Cheely said of the 2,454-foot, two-minute-long ride. The DarKoaster’s maximum speed of 36 miles per hour is less than half the speed of the park’s fastest rides, Apollo’s Chariot and the Pantheon, but its four “launches” — sudden accelerations — add excitement.

“I think it’s just enough thrill,” Cheely said.

With seven of the park’s 10 coasters rated “extreme” by the online Roller Coaster Database, DarKoaster fills a more accessible niche for the park, she said. (The other two that are on the gentle side are InvadR, the park’s only wooden coaster, and Grover’s Alpine Express, aimed at preschoolers).

The DarKastle structure was always meant to feel a bit abandoned. After all, it was a haunted ride inspired by the architectural misadventures of a real man, the “Mad King Ludwig” who ruled Bavaria from 1864, when he was 18. That was until he was deposed (and likely disposed of, via a suspicious “suicide”) in 1886.

But the building was semi-abandoned for real after DarKastle shut down for good in 2018, in part because of the ride’s expensive upkeep. Since then, it has hosted temporary attractions such as “Howl-O-Scream” and Santa’s Workshop.

Then, the architecture and design staff took on a new challenge: retrofitting the building to hold what Busch Gardens describes as the first-ever entirely indoor “straddle coaster,” a seated coaster that feels a bit like riding on a snowmobile.

While DarKastle took visitors back in time, the new ride brings the adventure up to the present, as if explorers have stumbled on its snowy ruins, Cheely said.

She found designing a roller coaster within an existing indoor space to be a fascinating challenge, she said, recalling the 3D-survey equipment set up to map every inch. The tight confines led to a maximum rider height of 6 feet, 5 inches, along with a minimum of 4 feet — low enough for riders around the age of 6, Cheely said.

The indoor ride will be available all year, since it won’t have to close because of wind or rain, and will provide visitors with a respite from all temperatures, whether it’s August heat or a January chill.

Billy Tyson, a retired Newport News native, was one of a handful of members of the American Coaster Enthusiasts club, who tried out the ride during a special preview Thursday. The club travels the country and the world to rack up thousands of roller coaster rides.

Tyson’s favorite Busch Gardens coaster is the three-minute-long, up-to-75-mph Griffon, but in some ways, the DarKoaster reminds him of the rides at Buckroe Beach and Ocean View that launched his lifelong love of thrill rides.

“It’s fun for the whole family. What a great starter coaster,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful addition to the park.”

Katrina Dix, 757-222-5155, katrina.dix@virginiamedia.com