PART TW0 The Busch Gardens – Kings Dominion Battle…..If The Other Had Only Known!

As I indicated at the end of Part One of the Kings Dominion / Busch Gardens Battle, the next tour of the two parks would be a great surprise to me! This time the shock and awe were seen all over my face. The first three years of operation and competition of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion Richmond saw Kings Dominion outdraw Busch by over 250 thousand people each year. Kings Dominion had more and better rides than the Williamsburg park. Busch Gardens was set in a beautiful aesthetic surrounding of huge mature trees in valleys and peaks that were truly breathtaking. But their design catered to an older demographic that was similar to what Busch Gardens Tampa catered. ?Quite honestly, the young people attending the park were bored. There was not enough for them to do. No high energy rides to cater to and entertain the teenagers. Kings Dominion had the lock on that segment. Busch Gardens was an older person’s park.

It did not take them long to figure out the different design issues in the two parks. They began going to the media where Kings Dominion was advertising, walking in and saying, “we want to buy exactly what Kings Dominion is buying on TV, Radio, and in the Newspapers”.? Remember there was no social media at that time! They knew they needed to reach the same demographic audience that Kings Dominion was attracting.? But honestly, it was a different time, and, at that time, Busch did not understand group sales, true promotional marketing, or the proper media mix to reach and attract the attendance segments they were missing. Busch Gardens knew they were being overrun by Kings Dominion at almost every turn of the Virginia theme park business.

After suffering defeat at the front gate for the first three years of operation with Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens made a bold move to begin adding rides. They figured out that they needed strong, marketable, media-worthy rides to build their attendance. Under wraps from the industry and the Kings Dominion competition, Busch Gardens went to Arrow Development (one of the leading roller coaster designers of the time) and began working on the double intertwined looping coaster, THE LOCH NESS MONSTER!?

Now, I had heard rumors of a new super coaster being considered for Busch Gardens, but I did not have any indication of the super force that we at Kings Dominion were soon to be introduced to when the Loch Ness Monster would finally be unveiled at a theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia, 60 miles from Kings Dominion. And the impact was monumental!

Here’s how the tables were turned, and the shock would be on me.? John Roberts, the VP and General Manager of Busch Gardens, returned the favor of an in-depth tour of their beautiful park. I drove over to Williamsburg, which I must say I loved dearly.? What a wonderful and historical place, full of history with great places to visit and learn.

I arrived at Busch Gardens and was ushered into the administration building where John was waiting. I was offered a beer, which I declined (I’m not a beer drinker).? Guests were always offered a beer!? Hey, the company was owned by Anheuser Busch!? John and I were competitors but also longtime friends, so after exchanging pleasantries, we commenced our tour.

Now I’m going to tell you something I could not offer up for about 25 years; Busch Gardens Williamsburg was the most beautiful regional theme park built in the industry. Truly a magnificent park.? The tour in John’s vehicle took us all around the grounds (the park was closed as it was off season). All of a sudden, we drove down a path into an area that was covered by trees, with lots of shade cover that created an eerie yet placid feeling. It was a special location within the park. Suddenly it appeared…….the most amazing coaster I had ever seen. The colors of green and yellow were so intense and imposing.? The track layout with its interlocking loops was one of the best, if not the best, I had ever seen! It was daunting in every sense. I was so taken aback by the Loch Ness Monster’s impressive layout and stature that I could not talk. John asked me what I thought. I was truly speechless. This was the most amazing roller coaster I had ever seen built at that time. It had every aspect a coaster needed to WOW guests! It offered stature, great placement, personality, color, superb name, and an anticipation to ride that was going to excite every guest who heard about it and saw it.

I knew from the moment I saw the Loch Ness Monster that Kings Dominion had big trouble brewing (no beer pun intended). This coaster was about to upset the balance of power in the competitive Virginia theme park market. I said goodbye to John, heart in my throat. I drove back to Richmond, not being able to get the Loch Ness Monster out of my mind for a second. Upon my return to Kings Dominion, I immediately called Gary Wachs, my boss in Cincinnati, and told him what I had seen. I told him this roller coaster was going to take 250 thousand in attendance away from our 1978 gate at Kings Dominion.

At the next Taft board meeting, I presented the Loch Ness Monster and the impact it would have on our attendance at Kings Dominion. They asked what I thought needed to be done. I recommended we place an Intamin Parachute Drop ride up close to Interstate 95 so that people traveling I-95 would know there was a major theme park behind the huge berm. It would be a magnificent billboard. They approved it, then for some strange reason cancelled the Parachute Drop 3 months later, causing us to lose a $250,000 down payment and eliminating our defense mechanism ride to prevent losing attendance to Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the Loch Ness Monster.? Kings Dominion now had nothing to fight the Loch Ness Monster.

Well, the 1978 season began and Busch Gardens employed one of the best marketing campaigns for the Loch Ness Monster ride we had ever seen in the industry. Our loss of attendance estimate at Kings Dominion was spot on, as we lost 250 thousand in attendance at the close of the 1978 season. The Loch Ness Monster set Busch Gardens on a new attendance path, beating Kings Dominion on attendance for the next 5 years.

The decision for Busch Gardens to launch the Loch Ness Monster was monumental.? The Taft/Kroger board of directors’ decision to cancel the Parachute Drop was one of the biggest strategic mistakes made at Kings Dominion, costing the park attendance, revenue, significant Cap-X investment, and years of catch-up.

Since those early years, it has been a slugfest between the two parks, continuing to fight it out annually. It appears whoever puts the newest ride or attraction in receives an uptick in attendance.

The Rebel Yell and Loch Ness Monster slugfest proves one thing I have always believed, and that is, “no matter how big your boat is, there’s always a bigger one!”? The Rebel Yell ruled for three years until the Loch Ness Monster was introduced, and then it was moved aside.? We see this effect still happening throughout the industry annually.

In final, had there only been one park developed in Virginia in the 1970s, that regional theme park would have drawn over 4 million people annually.? C’est La Vie!

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