THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 29, 1995 TAG: 9504290337
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Mount Vesuvius blew its top again Thursday.
The result was a bunch of yelling, screaming and wet first-night ride fans at what Busch Gardens promoters are calling ``the most ambitious addition in the park's 20-year history.''
I have ridden the new Escape from Pompeii ride six times, which at the moment may be a record. It's a puny record, though, and will surely be broken today when Escape from Pompeii, the rumbling thriller, opens to the public at the theme park near Williamsburg. Although park publicists are keeping mum about the cost of the new attraction, it is clear that it's no cheapie, even if it does take a mere four minutes to get trapped in then escape from the erupting volcano.
The verdict: The outing is actually a glorified flume ride but the trappings give it a novel look and feel. Yes, it's cool - that slap of water in your face at the bottom ups the chill factor. Yes, it's hot - those bursts of flame across the ceiling turn up the heat and do, indeed, suggest that an escape is necessary.
The most frequently heard criticism at the opening night party was that the ride was too short. Once at the top, the boats whisk past the special effects so rapidly that it's merely sensual impression, ending abruptly at the five-story drop. Actually, it took three times for me to take in the falling statue, the broken beams and the flames.
The idea is that we're in the present, not the ancient past of the Vesuvius eruption. As you walk up the pathway entrance, it's suggested that you're to tour the remnants of an archeological dig. Boats carrying up to 20 passengers carry you to top of the building.
Inside, things open with a rumble and a boom.
By golly, Vesuvius has erupted again. The lights flicker and die, leaving only emergency lighting from above. There is crackling, and a timber beam crashes down over the boat. A support column buckles.
A huge statue looms ahead. Caesar? Claudius? Marc Antony? After a tremor, it tumbles down, nearly colliding with the boat. (if you want to give the folks in the front of the boat a crick in the neck, yell and moan that you've been hit in the head. They'll do a quick turnaround).
Then there's a spray of water and, oops, the doors open to reveal grinning folks below, waiting to see you get all wet. Yes, there is a drop, billed as a five-story drop in publicity material.
Escape from Pompeii will be the big drawing card for the hopeful summer-park business this year. T-shirts and even a build-your-own-volcano kit are for sale in the gift shops.
However, a national publicity campaign for the ride has been postponed because the fiery effects and crumbling ruins in the commercial were deemed to be too close to tragic images of the Oklahoma bomb scene.
Here are the past big-risk additions that were milestones in Busch Garden's 20-year history in Williamsburg:
1976 - Oktoberfest
1978 - Loch Ness Monster roller coaster
1980 - San Marco (Italy)
1984 - The Big Bad Wolf roller coaster
1987 - Festa Italia rides area
1988 - Roman Rapids white water raft ride
1990 - Questor simulator ride
1992 - Drachen Fire steel roller coaster
1992 - Water Country USA acquired by the Anheuser-Busch Theme Park Co.
1993 - ``Haunts of the Olde Country,'' a ``4-D'' film
1994 - Land of the Dragons children's area MEMO: ABOUT THE PARK
``Escape from Pompeii'' opens today at Busch Gardens, near
Williamsburg. The theme park is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today, 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. Sunday and on Fridays through Sundays until May 15, when it
will be open daily. Admission is $28.95, $21.95 for children ages 3 to
6, free for children 2 and under.
Call 253-3350 for information.
ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Escape from Pompeii opens today at Busch Gardens near Williamsburg.
The four-minute ride features a climb up ``Mount Vesuvius'' in a
20-passenger boat that rushes past falling statues and flashes of
heat, then ends abruptly with a five-story drop.
by CNB