What does it feel like to fly?
Humans have spent much of their modern history trying to take to the skies, and for nearly as long, theme parks have sought to create the seemingly impossible sensation of soaring. From the gentle charm of sailing over London on Peter Pan’s Flight to the breathless, tear-jerking wonder of AVATAR Flight of Passage, engineers have come a long way in granting humanity the power of flight. But once in a while, they get it wrong.
So today, we have another in-depth case file to add to Theme Park Tourist’s Declassified Disasters series… Already we’ve taken you behind-the-blunders at some of the world’s most disappointing attractions, like Disneyland’s sputtering Rocket Rods, SeaWorld’s sunken Journey to Atlantis, Cedar Point’s aptly named Disaster Transport, Busch Gardens’ nightmarish Franken-coaster Drachen Fire, and many more by way of our Legends Library.
Image: daikain, Flickr (license)
And sadly, our next highlighted horror is another could-be classic at Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Europe in the Air, a sightseeing simulator that just couldn’t stay airborne. Taking a page from Disney’s own soaring masterpiece, the Virginian park set out to turn their empty simulator into a headlining look at the wonders of Europe… But to get there, we’ll explore the origin of the Ireland-set simulator and see what a ride on Europe in the Air was really like. Ready for takeoff?
Fly me to the Moon
Though the sensation of free flight has been a part of theme parks since their earliest years, the search for the skies has had a few noteworthy milestones. Of exceptional importance today: the introduction of the “motion simulator.”
But it may not be fair to call the introduction of simulator rides a discovery as much as a repurposing. Simulators had been used to train military pilots for years, but the expensive and elite technology was becoming increasingly complex and technological through the 1980s, culminating with a new and unexpected application.
Image: Disney
In 1986, Walt Disney Productions purchased four enormous motion simulator pods. Each was attached to a base supported by hydraulic actuators capable of tilting forward and backward (pitch), tilting side to side (roll), and turning left and right (yaw). In combination and with synchronized visuals projected inside the enclosed cabin, these simple “six degrees-of-freedom” could perfectly simulate extreme acceleration, diving, banking, shuffling, and weightlessness.
Deemed Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator (or ATLAS), these pods represented a massive technological leap forward, utilizing sincerely military-grade training hardware for… well… fun.
Image: Disney / Lucasfilm
Of course, it’s no surprise what this new technology was for. It’s the technology at the heart of a Disneyland classic and beloved Lost Legend: STAR TOURS – the ride that changed everything at Disney Parks. As never before, STAR TOURS captured the feeling of true flight, with riders speeding through the Star Wars universe aboard the StarSpeeder 3000s blissfully unaware of the cutting edge innovation (and unexpected application of that simulator) that made it possible.
While the ride was being duplicated for installation at the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, the capabilities of the ATLAS were already being explored just a few miles away at EPCOT Center’s Lost Legend: Body Wars.
Image: Disney
Replacing the vastness of space with the inner workings of the human body, that E-Ticket tucked away inside of the now-vacant Wonders of Life pavilion likewise gave life to flight, albeit in rivers of blood and pulsing organs rather than the skies.
By 1990, two simulators exploring worlds interstellar and intravenous were whisking guests away into adventures that would’ve been impossible just a few years earlier. And though Universal was inching closer and closer to the opening of its first simulators (The Funtastic World of Hannah Barbera and the Lost Legend: Back to the Future – The Ride), an unlikely contender would be the next to apply the young technology for fun…
Legends of the Old Country
Image: SeaWorld Parks
Since it opened in 1975, Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia has been an unusual and spectacular player in the theme park industry. Given its location outside of the industry Meccas of California and Florida and its seasonal operating schedule, the park would read on paper as a closer companion to Cedar Fair or Six Flags parks. And yet, Busch Gardens is something altogether unique.
Since its opening, the park has been recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful. Located in the forested slopes and valleys of the colonial Historic Triangle, the park is a rare reprieve from the non-stop Americana of Williamsburg and instead is meant to transport guests to “The Old Country” by recreating storybook-style villages representing England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, and France.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
Even as the park has added a handful of spectacular roller coasters (seemingly with a “quality over quantity” mantra), it’s noted for the fact that food, entertainment, and shopping remain attractions in their own right. Busch Gardens is perhaps an example of that most respectable kind of theme park: one where you could spend a full day, ride nothing, and still leave feeling satisfied.
If you are a rides person, though, the park’s attractions are altogether thoughtful, connecting to lore, myths, stories, and styles of the European countries they’re placed in, always smartly placed among the landscape, like Escape from Pompeii in Italy, Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, or the celebrated Lost Legend: Big Bad Wolf in Germany. And for at least a while, one of the park’s England-themed hamlets featured an attraction so cutting-edge, it put Busch Gardens on the map…
QUESTOR
Image: NewsPlusNotes
In the wake of Disney’s simulators setting a new standard for the industry, who would’ve expected that a small, seasonal park in Virginia would be the next to feature the technology? And yet, in 1990, Busch Gardens opened the third major simulator attraction on the planet.
At that time, the park featured two distinct villages representing various eras of British history. Banbury Cross – the park’s entry and “Main Street” equivalent – was designed to resemble a foggy British town in the era of Shakespeare, lorded over by a recreation of the Globe Theatre and a twisting, cobblestone street of Tudor-style shops and restaurants. But passing beyond the hamlet and around the corner, a wooden bridge high above a green valley would lead into another “land” in the park: Hastings.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
A sort of medieval village of castle towers and tournament tents, this village was home to Questor – a ride unlike any other.
Questor, it turns out, is the name of a steampunk-style “velocity vehicle” that would be right at home in a Jules Verne novel; a mix of airship and submarine, powered by Jurbillium – a pulsing, glowing energy produced by our thought waves!
Image: SeaWorld Parks
The runaway ride was a cast as a search for the ancient and powerful Crystal of Zed. En route, guests slammed through the crystalline Amethyst Mountains, were magically “drained” into an underwater world, cruised down a river and nearly toppled over a waterfall, and finally ricocheted through a rocky chasm in a freefall dive to capture the Crystal for good.
You can take a virtual ride on the legendary Questor here:
Admittedly, the ride itself is a hodge-podge of settings and scenes filmed on-location and on scaled miniatures that wouldn’t exactly mesmerize modern audiences… But as a breathless adventure creatively adapting the simulator technology previously only attempted by Disney, it’s a marvel; a treasured remnant of the era, and a brilliant example of a new way to utilize an ATLAS system.
But change was coming, both to Busch Gardens and to simulators… Read on…
From England to the Emerald Isle
Image: SeaWorld Parks
Opened in 1990 and 1991, respectively, copies of Questor quickly became fan favorites (and unexpectedly cutting-edge headliners) at both Busch Gardens parks in Virginia and Florida. Interestingly, the ride and its steampunk-inspired, fantastical adventure story felt somehow equally at home in both parks – a compliment to its adaptability given the two parks’ seemingly opposed European and African settings.
After surprisingly short runs for the way they’ve become cult classics, the two Questor attractions closed in Virginia and Florida in 1995 and 1998, respectively, with each park earmarked to receive a new, modern, cutting-edge simulator more tailor-made for its specific setting.
In Tampa Bay, the ride (placed in the park’s Egypt section) became Akbar’s Adventure Tours, a screwball simulator through the sights of Egypt alongside Akbar, played by SNL alumnus Martin Short.
Image: Dave Bowman, Daily Press
In Williamsburg, it was rebuilt as a new simulator through the fables of King Arthur’s Challenge – admittedly, a better fit for the park’s medieval-stylized Hastings hamlet. An early (and we mean early) adopter of CGI animation, King Arthur’s Challenge didn’t quite live up to the hype, nor to the standard set by the fan-favorite Questor.
In fact, King Arthur’s Challenge is one of the more obscure moments in the park’s history, with practically no photographic evidence of the experience within and relatively few first-person accounts aside from rumblings of how terribly bad the ride was.
Luckily, just a few years after King Arthur’s disappointing debut, a more radical change occurred around it.
Images: SeaWorld Parks
When the park opened for the season in spring 2001, the medieval-stylized village of Hastings was no longer among its offerings. Over the winter, designers had crumbled the land’s castles, planted abundant greenery, re-styled exteriors, and re-cast the land’s theaters, shops, and restaurants to add the first new country to the park in over two decades: Ireland.
As the village of Killarney, this beautiful representation of Ireland gained an aura of mystic and magic – bubbling waterfalls with pots of gold behind the shimmering waves, leprechaun hideaways in gnarled trees, vine-covered arbors, ivy scaling the ancient castles that once appeared to be of Camelot.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
The new village of Killarney added a spot for Irish entertainment, pubs, and food while simultaneously requiring that the simulator inside the land change, too… The simulator’s Arthurian exterior was remodeled as the landmark ruins of Muckinish Castle in County Clare, Ireland – a portal into a journey deep into the ancient moors of Ireland ruled by mythical creatures of old.
And now we’ve arrived at a ride most Virginian millennials will recognize, named for the winding road upon which the Ballyvaughan and Muckinish Castle ruins reside.
Corkscrew Hill
Image: Theme Park Insider
Corkscrew Hill may be remembered as a definitive attraction in the history of Busch Gardens. Guests would enter through the crumbled remains of an old Irish castle and queue in a long, almost-fantastical cavern adorned with ancient runes and symbols, emptying into two pre-show chambers set in the stark, lantern-lit ruins of the castle.
There, guests would meet old man McTavish via a pre-show sequence, offering, “If you’re the ones that’re wantin’ to see some magical beasties, I don’t recommend it highly. Mark me words ya buck-eyed tourists, there’s some nasty creatures round about the moors and glades of old Ireland…” Then, with a puff of magical dust, the audience would be “shrunk” and invited into an old cigar box to join the adventure.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
Corkscrew Hill was a wild, bucking, and altogether memorable journey through the folklore of Ireland, including encounters with goblins, witches, fairies, and flying horses – exactly the kind of “tales of the Old Country” that the park brought to life so expertly, the perfect fit for the park’s new Ireland. It was also a cutting edge display of the flexibility of simulators and how a simple reprogramming a new ride film could literally create a new ride. Even if Corkscrew Hill were nothing more than a motion platform in a box with a fixed screen ahead, the ride successfully “carried guests away” and became one of the park’s starring attractions.
As successful as Corkscrew Hill might’ve been, however, just a few months before its opening, the next leap forward in simulators debuted, and it was destined to change the course of Busch Gardens’ Irish adventure.
Simulating Soarin’
When Disney’s California Adventure opened in February 2001, the relatively few visitors who did pass through the park’s entrance didn’t exactly leave with glowing reviews. In fact, the park meant to expand Disneyland into a multi-day, international resort ended up being a rare (and wild) miss in Disney Parks history. In fact, we encapsulated the surprising story of the park’s fall and rebirth in its own standalone feature, Declassified Disasters: Disney’s California Adventure.
Image: Disney
But while Disneyland’s second gate would eventually require well over $1 billion in fixes, it did feature at least one soaring success. Among the park’s few opening day attractions, the Lost Legend: Soarin’ Over California, was a gem. While Disney’s simulators had carried guests through the world of Star Wars and into the human bloodstream, Soarin’ Over California was different. Content with their ability to thrill, Imagineers instead opted to use the simulator to astound.
Image: Disney
Orchestral, graceful, and magnificent, Soarin’ placed riders in suspended hang-glider seats, ingeniously raising them into a domed screen and creating an epic, cinematic journey over the natural wonders of the Golden State, with jump-cuts perfectly cued to a (pardon the pun) soaring score and gentle effects like smell and wind creating a truly believable illusion.
Image: Disney
At once, ride manufacturers began cranking away to create their own aerial simulators, borrowing the basic tenants of Disney’s brilliant design and kicking off a generation of simulators across the world that follow the same basic premise, at theme parks and at roadside attractions and even shopping malls. But to the thinking of Busch Gardens’ designers and executives, they already had the ingredients they needed: A motion simulator and Europe. Corkscrew Hill closed at the end of the 2009 season.
Europe in the Air
Questor.
King Arthur’s Challenge.
Corkscrew Hill.
The simulator located in Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Killarney village would receive its fourth facelift in 2009, re-opening the next year as Europe in the Air.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
While the previous inhabitants of this space might’ve had an air of mystery or mysticism, tied to the legends of England and Ireland, respectively, Europe in the Air is significantly more straightforward. In fact, Busch Gardens’ spokespeople proudly trumpeted details about the ride, like a brand new projection system that would showcase the landmarks of Europe in a format “eight times clearer than HD.”
But what most guests would notice about Europe in the Air isn’t how much had changed from Corkscrew Hill, but rather, how much hadn’t.
The ride was still entered via a crumbling Irish castle tower (albeit, now with a flashing red windsock beacon and a billboard advertising “Flights Departing NOW!”), and the queue continued to be a long hallway built as if of ancient, mystical stones. The only change? That fairytale-inspired queue now had distinctly-airport-style lights drilled into the stone walls… Hm…
That queue, too, continued to empty into a pre-show chamber clearly designed as an Irish stone castle, now simply painted sky blue rather than looking like stone. Those re-used pre-show rooms now featured Miles O’Skye, a red-bearded air traffic controller (our connection to the ride’s Irish setting in the park?) eager to introduce us to the Slipstream 3000 – an “air sled” capable of instantly rocketing us from country to country to tour all the greatest landmarks of Europe.
“In fact, we offer a complete two-week holiday in mere minutes!” He cheers. “You’re taking the Europe in the Air deluxe travel package, which is the best one! See, you’re up in the air” (get it?) “flying over exciting destinations like the Blarney Castle in Ireland, Big Ben in England, the Eiffel Tower of France, up and over the German Alps and down the Italian coast of Sorento!”
We even recieve gee-whiz clearance to fly over the Roman Coliseum, much to O’Skye’s surprise.
Image: Richard Bannister
Then, it’s off to the Slipstream (familiar to those who rode Corkscrew Hill), which departs via Irish ruins and proceeds on a course across the continent to the tune of a triumphant orchestral score. And indeed, we soar over the Thames and past the London Eye, fly around the Arc du Triumph and the Eiffel Tower (albeit, conspicuously from the point-of-view of a car…), sail past Neuschwanstein Castle (famously, Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle), cruise past the Coliseum, and dive into the trees for a landing back in Ireland. Between each scene, a slightly embarassing “screen saver” style animation of zooming through clouds connects the otherwise separate settings.
You can take a virtual tour through Europe in the Air on the Slipstream 3000 in this very… er… telling video of what it was like… (And watch those necks… Yikes! Not exactly smooth sailing.)
Now, sure, we couldn’t expect Busch Gardens’ re-use of Corkscrew Hill’s simple, 1990 motion-base (er, “air sled,” seen in action here) in a big industrial room with fans pointed at riders to match the brilliance and free-flight suspended sensation of Disney’s Soarin’, nor could the HD footage on the movie screen in front of you compete with Soarin’s wrap-around OMNIMAX dome.
But Europe in the Air’s hokey premise, odd theming, laughable transitions, and not-quite-Disney-quality ride experience were made all the worse by some of the most unusual motion programming of any simulator… As you can see in the video above, Europe in the Air shuffled, rattled, and banked, seemingly determined to make the most of the motion simulator base, oblivious that Soarin’s simplicity and ease are its strengths! In Disney’s ride, the motion is subtle enough as to meld into the experience; Europe in the Air’s clumsier motion ellicited audible and synchronized groans from riders, the platform leaning far enough back and forward to literally leave the vehicle’s shadow cast on the projection screen!
Coming off as more heavy-handed than aerial and graceful, the ride simply didn’t approach the Soarin’ standards it had obviously set out to match, and suddenly a ride ostensibly for the whole family became an uncomfortable and poorly-executed ride that could be skipped on return visits.
Image: Attraction Spot
Maybe you’d agree with most guests: Europe in the Air was a dud.
And on the last page, we’ll explore what Busch Gardens did about it as we follow the ride to its fifth re-theming and explore the future (or lack thereof) for dark rides at SeaWorld Parks. Read on…
Grounded
Image: BGWfans.com
Some may make the case that Europe in the Air was a fair stand-in for Disney’s more elaborate Soarin’ Over California, simply reigned in by reasonable seasonal park limitations. While Busch Gardens’ attempt to recreate Soarin’ within its European story wasn’t exactly novel, it was an ambitious concept nonetheless. In some sense, it’s as if they even predicted Disney’s ride transforming into the global Soarin’ Around the World in 2016, which shares many of its landmarks.
Unfortunately, the ride didn’t make enough fans to become a fan favorite, or even to remain in operation. It opened in 2010, but closed mid-way through the 2013 season in June, allegedly as a cost-saving measure as SeaWorld’s belt tightened amidst its well-known struggles. (Blackfish was released in January of that year.)
Image: BGWfans.com
Though it re-opened in 2014, the ride ultimately closed for good at the end of the 2016 season, all without a word from Busch Gardens. There was no fanfare over the ride’s final flights, just as there’d been relatively little over its first. Locals had more or less gotten used to skipping the simulator, and – depending on their age – most seemed simply to gesture toward the building and describe it as the place where either Questor or Corkscrew Hill used to be.
Though Europe in the Air was one of the shortest-lived of the building’s tenants, Busch Gardens made an ambitious promise: that, in 2018, an all new “Virtual Reality Action Ride” would overtake Killarney… and the prominent four-leafed clover in marketing material seemed to signal that it just may have something to do with the legends of Ireland once more…
Battle for Eire
Image: SeaWorld Parks
The Otherworld needs a warrior.
So we’re told in the lead-up to Battle for Eire, the simulator that opened at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2018. Battle for Eire follows the last fairy guardian, Addie, as she and her faithful dragon Ollie attempt to win back the legendary Heart of Eire from the darkness of the evil Lord Balor and save the magic of Ireland. It’s a compelling enough story, and a cast of original characters as strong as any SeaWorld’s ever featured.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
You might even consider Battle for Eire a sort of “spiritual sequel” to Corkscrew Hill, once more dispensing with the mist that hides the ancient and mythical creatures of Ireland from our normal view and sending guests gliding through a world of dragons, fairies, nymphs, and curses.
And yes, Battle for Eire re-uses the tried-and-true ivy-covered tower entrance dating back to Corkscrew Hill and its mystical cavern queue (obviously sans airport lighting, and more believable than ever in terms of the ride to follow), re-purposing the attraction’s two pre-show scenes and the dual motion bases (all overlaid with a feeling of more permanence and dedication than the simple switch to Europe in the Air).
Images: SeaWorld Parks
But the real stand-out is that Battle for Eire is billed as the first ever virtual reality motion simulator. So while the motion base continues to tilt and lean and rumble as before, riders are now peering into the Otherworld via “Enchanted Lenses” (virtual reality handhelds connected to the ride vehicle) that magnetize to “Emerald Masks” (adjustable headgear picked up in the queue).
Seemingly solving (or at least taking a giant leap for) the inefficiency of virtual reality rides, Battle for Eire is truly a 360-degree experience, with riders able to look in all directions via the VR component while venturing through the Irish adventure. (Those opting to skip the sometimes-dizzying effects of VR can instead watch the film projected traditionally on the ride screen.)
Image: SeaWorld Parks
While some reviews of Battle for Eire have been mixed (with many noting the simulator’s reduced motion, no doubt expecting the VR compensates), the ride has overall been warmly recieved as a new family favorite, thankfully re-inserting some commitment to European folklore and fantasy into the park after a dry spell… and the unfortunate closure of the park’s other dark ride, coinciding with Eire’s opening… Which brings us to the unfortunate truth…
Dark ride woes
When it comes to dark rides and simulators, the parks formerly united by Busch Entertainment (and today called SeaWorld Parks) haven’t always fared well. Looking through the timeline of their portfolio, it seems that most any time SeaWorld Parks attempt to integrate cutting edge technology or significant storytelling, the resulting ride is doomed before it gets off the ground.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
SeaWorld’s own ATLAS-style simulator, Wild Arctic, debuted at SeaWorld Orlando in 1992 and is maybe not looking so hot in its 26th year. Luckily, it’s merely the precursor to the park’s frigid Arctic animal exhibit and not necessarily billed as a standalone ride.
Of course, Questor became the disastrous King Arthur’s Challenge in 1996 before quickly bowing to 2001’s Corkscrew Hill, then Europe in the Air, and now Battle for Eire.
At least it survived at all – after the Tampa Bay Park’s Questor became Akbar’s Adventure Tours, it closed forever in 2007 with its mechanics gutted. The space is currently used for haunted houses during the park’s Howl-o-Scream.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
SeaWorld tried its hand at Disney-style storytelling once more with a new dark ride / flume ride adventure at SeaWorld Orlando… unfortunately, it became the subject of its own Declassified Disaster: Journey to Atlantis, which seems to be operating today only because it would be too expensive to demolish the once-ornate attraction.
Back at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a 2004 addition seemed poised to once again redefine the seasonal park’s place in the theme park pantheon. Just as Questor had done more than a decade earlier, a new dark ride in the park’s German-themed Oktoberfest unthinkably brought cutting-edge simulator technology to the unlikely seasonal park.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
That Lost Legend: Curse of DarKastle unforgettably and smartly re-purposed the roving 3-D dark ride simulator ride system behind Universal’s Modern Marvel: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man that no one would’ve expected Busch Gardens to attempt next, wrapping it into a brilliant German legend of the mad King Ludwig. It was a perfect pick for the park and its focus on European myths and stories. However, the advanced technology seemed too much for SeaWorld to manage, and it closed forever in 2017 despite its still-star-potential.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
SeaWorld went all out again with 2013’s Empire of the Penguin, a motion-based dark ride that utilized a trackless, LPS (local positioning satellite) ride system most famously employed by Disney’s Modern Marvel: Mystic Manor. Yet again, it was a shock to the industry that SeaWorld would be the first to bring that industry-leading technology to the United States… Unfortunately, the product is a ride that’s made few fans and become a punchline on enthusiast discussion boards.
Battle for tomorrow
Looking across SeaWorld’s portfolio of parks, Battle for Eire might signal the start of something new… or it may be simply the next example of a SeaWorld Park boasting an industry-leading dark ride that’s simply too ambitious to maintain. Is Battle for Eire a more permanent addition than the swapping simulators that came before it? By all accounts, yes… and yet, what will virtual reality technology look like in five years? Ten? Can SeaWorld Parks afford to ensure that Battle for Eire keeps up?
Put another way, does Battle for Eire finally strike the balance between theming, storytelling, technology, heart, and longevity that no other SeaWorld or Busch Gardens dark ride had managed to perfect?
Image: SeaWorld Parks
At the end of the day, SeaWorld’s dark rides (and particularly the simulators set in Busch Gardens Williamsburg) have always been a step forward and a slide back…
Questor followed in the footsteps of STAR TOURS, but lacked the longevity and production value.
Journey to Atlantis was SeaWorld’s best impression of Splash Mountain, but its nautical tale was too convoluted and confusing to put it on the map.
DarKastle wasn’t just a re-application of Spider-Man’s SCOOP technology – it was a perfectly-placed dark ride telling one of the most compelling original stories outside Orlando and Anaheim… but when the technology Busch Gardens bet big on needed upkeep and investment, the park abandoned the ride altogether.
Europe in the Air, then, was SeaWorld’s spin-off of Soarin’, but lacking its grace, heart, and staying power.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
Battle for Eire, so far, looks to be the first time that Busch Gardens is sincerely ahead of the field, trying something legitimately new…And as a result, the ride may be their first bona fide success…! …Unless, as some expect, the era of virtual reality has already come and gone after just a handful of VR-coaster overlays proved too slow-loading and low-quality to survive.
In any case, the park’s lofty ambitions have created some of the best – and worst – examples of simulators, and Battle for Eire is either certain to reshape the possibilities for seasonal parks, or fade into a remnant of yesteryear relying on outdated technologies and expensive upkeep.
The only way we’ll know is to wait and see…
If you enjoyed our inside look at Europe in the Air, don’t forget to glide over to our In-Depth Collection Library, where you’ll find Theme Park Tourist’s complete features on closed, classic Lost Legends, today’s most incredible Modern Marvels, never-built Possibilitylands, and a whole file of Declassified Disasters to explore some of the biggest flubs in theme park history.
