DarKoaster: Escape The Storm
DarKoaster is an indoor launched roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It replaced the former Curse of DarKastle attraction, with the ride experience building on its predecessor's storyline and reusing its building. DarKoaster opened on May 19, 2023.
History
Background
Curse of DarKastle was a dark ride that opened as a part of the park's Oktoberfest area in 2005. The attraction closed on September 4, 2017, ostensibly to house a new Howl-O-Scream haunted house named "FrostBite". DarKastle's closure was assumed to be temporary by many; however, the ride failed to reopen after the event and was instead re-utilized for a Christmas Market. When interviewed in November, the park's Vice President of Marketing, Dan Dipiazzo, admitted that the attraction was still operable, but the park still needed to decide on its return. On January 24, 2018, Busch Gardens officially announced that Curse of DarKastle had been retired after 13 years of operation and subsequently reused its building for a new event space.Three years later, Busch Gardens Williamsburg handled various ongoing projects as part of SeaWorld Entertainment's heightened capital investment strategy. Pantheon – a major new launched coaster supplied by Intamin – had been completed but wouldn't open until after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided. For similar reasons, development on a proposed tall coaster dubbed "Drachen Spire" had also been put on hold. In May 2021, the park filed plans to build a major storage and event facility near Festhaus Park, somewhat rendering DarKastle's building obsolete as a warehouse.
Development
In December 2021, local fansite BGWFans published an exposé on the under-development coaster project, using city permits to reveal the attraction's layout and nature. Dubbed "Darkoaster", the coaster would utilize DarKastle's show building and use a switch track function to allow trains to navigate the compact layout twice; instead of proceeding back to the station upon completion, the coaster would instead access a bypass route after the first lap and cycle through the course a second time.Track and supports for the coaster first arrived in late May/early June 2022. Due to the project's size and installation inside the existing building, construction remained discreet throughout the summer as crews assembled the ride indoors.
Announcement & preparation
Busch Gardens officially announced DarKoaster: Escape The Storm on September 6, 2022, a "straddle-seated" coaster that was at the time billed as the world's first "all-indoor straddle coaster" – this was later revised to a "North American first". In addition, the park revealed the completed roller coaster to the media, with thematic work yet to take place.Busch Gardens continued to engage the public throughout the following months with DarKoaster's progress. During select weekends in February and March, the park hosted a "Preview Center", allowing guests to view the attraction's storyboards, blueprints, and artwork. In March, fans were polled through social media on the names of DarKoaster's two trains, with all four options being callbacks to the former Curse of DarKastle.