Busch Gardens Williamsburg brings back the Big Bad Wolf with a new coaster
Busch Gardens has announced Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge will debut in May without setting a specific date, but the new coaster is expected to open in time for the park's 50th anniversary on May 16.
Big Bad Wolf will pay tribute to the Arrow Dynamics suspended coaster of the same name that operated at the Virginia theme park from 1984 to 2009.
The new Bolliger & Mabillard family inverted coaster will reach a top speed of 40 mph over 2,583 feet of track while bolting through an abandoned Bavarian village.
Busch Gardens' 11th coaster will take over the station house of the former Drachen Fire coaster in the Oktoberfest area of the park.
The 2012 Verbolten coaster reused the original Big Bad Wolf station house and some of the track layout.
The backstory of the new Big Bad Wolf takes riders into a bustling Bavarian village during the eerily quiet Festival of the Silent Bells, the annual event that honors the haunting history of a terrifying wolf attack 41 years ago when the original coaster opened.
As fate would have it, the past repeats itself when the wolf returns. The coaster riders are transformed into werewolves as the steel beast sweeps through the town amid screams and chaos. The townsfolk run for cover as the glowing red eyes and bone-chilling howls signal the return of the terrifying creature.
Busch Gardens initially planned to pay tribute to the Big Bad Wolf without reusing the ride's original name. The park asked fans to pick from three names for the new ride: WolfsReign, GeisterWolf or WolfSturm.
More than 30,000 voters responded with an overwhelming choice: none of the above.
Fans told the park "loud and clear" that only one name would work: Big Bad Wolf. The park relented and chose a twist on the original - Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge.
The Wolf's Revenge is not meant to be a copy of the original ride, but rather a reminiscent tribute and a new chapter in the story.
The original Big Bad Wolf was a little longer (2,800 feet), a little faster (48 mph) and had swinging seats.
The Wolf's Revenge will be similar to Phoenix Rising at Busch Garden Tampa - a much shorter and slightly faster B&M family inverted coaster that opened last summer.
The original 1984 Big Bad Wolf was created by Arrow Development, a legendary ridemaker that helped build Disneyland and shaped the modern theme park landscape of roller coasters, dark rides and water rides.
Arrow ushered in a period of gimmicky coaster configurations that came to define the ride wars of the 1980s and '90s with the world's first suspended coaster in 1981 at Ohio's Kings Island.
The prototype Bat flipped the traditional coaster concept on its head - with the trains swinging from side to side while hanging below the track.
The Bat prototype never really worked very well and was retired after only a few years, but a reworked version of Arrow's suspended coaster eventually evolved into the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
The success of the original Big Bad Wolf led to the installation of Arrow suspended coasters around the world, including the 1988 Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
_________
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Yahoo
Ozzy Osbourne Dead at 76, Just Weeks After Black Sabbath's Final Concert
Ozzy Osbourne, whose distinctly dark vocals and appetite for extreme behavior made him the ideal frontman for the transformational heavy metal band Black Sabbath — qualities which also propelled him through an even more successful solo career — has died at age 76. 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,' reads a statement released by the family on Tuesday (July 22) from Birmingham. 'He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.' No cause of death was provided, though Osbourne revealed his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2019 and struggled with health issues in the last decade of his life. His death comes just weeks after Black Sabbath's final concert, which took place on July 5 and netted $190 million, making it the highest grossing charity concert of all time.f More from Billboard Ozzy Osbourne Performing Final Gig From Throne 'Last Thing He Would Have Wanted,' Says Black Sabbath Bandmate Marvin Winans' 'Forgiveness,' From Justin Bieber's 'SWAG,' Debuts at No. 1 on Hot Gospel Songs Chart Texas' Alamo Posts Loving Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Who Once Urinated on Sacred Memorial: 'We Honor History in All Its Complexities' Osbourne's abilities as a vocalist – his uniquely sharp timbre and bellowing lung power – gave him the fortitude to cut through even the densest metal songs like a foghorn. Starting with Sabbath in 1970, his voice helped defined what heavy metal became. The image he inaugurated at that time became just as indelible. By voicing Sabbath's reliably morbid lyrics, clad in the band's trademark funereal attire, he earned the nickname The Prince of Darkness. The credibility of that image, at times, struck Mr. Osbourne as hilarious. 'They all thought I lived in some Bavarian castle and at midnight my bat wings came out and I flew around the battlements,' he told British GQ in 2004. Osbourne's solo career, which began in 1980, saw his notoriety soar through a series of increasingly outrageous, and alarming, antics, two of which involved decapitation. During a 1981 meeting with executives at his record company, he bit the head off a live dove to get their attention, while the next year, he performed the same act on a dead bat while on-stage, spitting the creature's blood on the audience for good measure. One month later, while wearing a dress owned by his later wife Sharon Arden, he urinated on a monument erected to honor those who died at the battle of the Alamo in Texas. As a consequence, he was banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade. Osbourne later blamed all those actions on profound intoxication, a state he frequently admitted to maintaining for much of his career. One such binge escalated to the point where he tried to strangle Sharon, by then his wife, an act he didn't remember committing. 'It's one of the most regretful things,' he told British GQ. 'I woke up in jail the next morning. Thank God, she dropped the charges. And still I didn't stop drinking.' At the same time, Osbourne appreciated the PR power of his out-of-control behavior. 'Part of me is happy,' he told Rock Hard Magazine in 1991. 'Because rock 'n roll is a sensationalist business. If you haven't got controversy, you haven't got rock 'n roll. You've got fucking Phil Collins.' Osbourne's image received an improbable overhaul when he arose as an oddly lovable TV star in the early aughts. Along with his wife and two of his children, he starred in the MTV series The Osbournes, one of the first family-centered reality shows, and one of network's biggest hits. The show, which served as a precursor to such powerful reality programs as Keeping Up with The Kardashians, presented Osbourne as doddering, gibberish-spewing dad but one who adores his family unendingly. While some saw the portrayal as a contradiction of his devilish image, he viewed them as part of a piece. 'I'm just a zany ham,' he told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2018. 'It's all entertainment.' With Sabbath, Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. All nine of the albums he recorded with that band went gold, while five achieved platinum status. Among his solo efforts are 1991's No More Tears, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 3 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. Seven of his solo releases went top 10 on the Billboard 200, while 17 of his singles made the top 10 of the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, two hitting that list's peak. His creation of Ozzfest in 1996, dedicated to his beloved heavy metal, became one of the most successful, and enduring, festival tours of all time, spawning affiliated roadshows from the U.K. and Europe to Israel. John Michael Osbourne was born on Dec. 3, 1948, in the Aston area of Birmingham, England. He was the fourth of six children to mother Lilian, who was a factory worker, and father, John, also known as Jack, who toiled as a toolmaker. He earned the nickname Ozzy in elementary school, by which time he was struggling with undiagnosed dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and low self-esteem. 'I've never been comfortable in my own skin,' he told The Guardian in 2007. 'For some reason, I'm a frightened soul.' Embarrassed about the lack of money in his home, Osbourne lost himself in the fantasy of music. Listening to the Beatles' 'She Loves You' made him want to be a musician. He quit school at age 15 and worked in construction, plumbing and in an abattoir. He tried burglary but, 'it was less than three weeks before I got caught,' he told The Big Issue in 2014. 'I did feel very stupid.' When his father decided to teach him a lesson by refusing to pay his bail, he spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison. His father did, however, buy him a microphone, inspiring him to pursue music seriously. Osbourne's first gig came in 1967, when future Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler hired him for his band Rare Breed. After two gigs, they broke up, freeing the singer and Butler to join with the other future Sabbath members, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. The foursome were billed for a while as Earth before adopting their haunted moniker in 1969, based on a like-named horror movie. Recognizing the attraction people have to scary films, the band hit on the novel idea to translate the morbid thrill of Grand Guignol to rock 'n roll. They did so by stressing menacing guitar riffs, shadowy bass lines, and thundering drums, topped by the Osbourne's devilish voice. He credited their embrace of darkness to their hard life in Birmingham, and to their rebuke of San Francisco's summer of love. 'Drizzly rain, no shoes on my feet,' he told The Guardian in 2007. 'And I put the radio on and there's some guy singing 'if you go to San Francisco, wear a flower in your hair!' I thought, 'this is bollocks. The only flower I'm likely to wear is on my f–king grave.'' When Warner Bros. Records signed the group to a modest deal, the company had no idea their sound would tap into such a deep and enduring market – though, initially, their audience consisted mainly of young men. Sabbath's self-titled debut made the British top 10 and the top 25 on the Billboard 200, remaining on the charts in the U.S. for a full year. By the fall, the band issued a powerful follow-up, Paranoid, which sold even better, leaping to No. 12 on the Billboard 200 while generating Sabbath's two Billboard Hot 100 hits, 'Iron Man' and 'Paranoid.' As the band readied their third album, Master of Reality, in 1971, Osbourne married his first wife, Thelma Riley. He adopted her son from a previous marriage and the couple soon had two other children of their own. Osbourne later referred to his young marriage as a terrible mistake, given his absence on the road and growing substance abuse. While his inebriation didn't affect the artistry of the band's first five albums, by the late '70s, Sabbath were floundering, both creatively and personally, due to in-fighting, lack of inspiration and heavy drug use. As a result, Osbourne was fired by the band in the spring of 1979, and replaced by ex-Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio. For the next few months, a despondent, dejected Osbourne went on a self-destructive binge. He was rallied by Sharon Arden, whose father, Don Arden, then managed both the singer and his ex-band. Osbourne credits Arden with turning him around, and with encouraging him to form his own band, who backed him for his solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz. It became one of the best-selling works of his career, bolstered by songs like 'Crazy Train' and 'Mr. Crowley,' the latter penned for the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley. His follow-up, Diary of a Madman, in 1981, sold over 3 million copies. But tragedy came the next year when the gifted guitarist in his band, Randy Rhoads, was killed in the crash of a light aircraft, which also took the lives of two others. Though deeply depressed, Osbourne married Sharon four months after the incident. His solo albums continued to sell in huge numbers, never dipping below gold status, or missing the top 25 of the Billboard 200, right through his last studio work, 2019's Patient Number 9, which became his first No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart; the only exception was a 2005 collection of interpretive recordings titled Under Covers. In late 2011, the original lineup of Sabbath announced a reunion tour and an album to be produced by Rick Rubin. When contractual issues caused drummer Bill Ward to bow out, Rage Against the Machine's stick-man Brad Wilk stepped in. Two years later, the band issued their first album with Osbourne in over thirty years. Titled 13, it hit No. 1 both in the U.K and on the U.S. Billboard 200. The band began a farewell tour in January of 2016, playing their final show the next February. One year later, Osbourne announced his farewell tour as a solo artist, though he insisted he would still do isolated gigs. Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2024, following Sabbath's 2006 induction. The five-time Grammy winner's last-ever show as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath took place in Birmingham on July 5, 2025, surrounded by legions of friends, family, admirers, followers and peers. A 100-minute concert documentary based on that show, titled Back to the Beginning: Ozzy's Final Bow, is slated for 2026. Metallica, Mastodon, Anthrax, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Slayer and a supergroup featuring members of Guns N' Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, Limp Bizkit, Judas Priest and Rage Against the Machine all performed at that gig. Osbourne had completed work on his second memoir, Last Rites, prior to his passing. A follow-up to 2009's I Am Ozzy, the book delves into Osbourne's health crises during the final years of his life. 'Look, if it ends tomorrow, I can't complain,' Osbourne said in a statement announcing the book. 'I've been all around the world. Seen a lot of things. I've done good… and I've done bad. But right now, I'm not ready to go anywhere.' Osbourne is survived by his first wife, Thelma Riley, their two children, Jessica and Lewis, and their adopted son Eliot, as well as his second wife Sharon and their children, Aimee, Kelly and Jack. Later in his life, Osbourne took pains to point out that he spent far more time as an established solo artist than in Sabbath and that he preferred the freedom allowed by the latter role. He also became sober, after years of drying out only to fall off the wagon. In interviews, he expressed an increasing sense of appreciation. 'When we did our first Black Sabbath album fifty years ago I thought, 'this will be good for a couple of albums and I'll get a few chicks along the way,'' he told Rolling Stone in 2018. 'My life has just been unbelievable. You couldn't write my story; you couldn't invent me.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
Business Upturn
12-07-2025
- Business Upturn
Is ‘The Penguin' returning for season 2? Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on July 12, 2025, 20:11 IST Last updated July 12, 2025, 20:12 IST Fans of HBO's The Penguin have been eagerly awaiting news about a potential second season since the gripping finale of its debut run in November 2024. The crime drama, a spin-off from The Batman (2022), captivated audiences with Colin Farrell's stellar performance as Oswald 'Oz' Cobb and Cristin Milioti's chilling portrayal of Sofia Falcone. But will we see more of Gotham's criminal underworld? Here's everything we know about the possibility of The Penguin Season 2. Was The Penguin Meant to Be a Limited Series? The Penguin was sold as a 'limited series,' meaning it was meant to wrap up nice and tidy after eight episodes. It's basically a bridge to The Batman Part II (coming October 2027, mark your calendar). That finale, with Oz running the show and the Bat-Signal lighting up, felt like a perfect ending, right? Like a killer crime novel you don't mess with. But hold on—shows like The White Lotus got called 'limited' too, then boom, more seasons. So, maybe there's hope? Will There Be a Season 2? Right now, July 2025, The Penguin Season 2 is still just a maybe. HBO's playing it cool, and the team's taking their sweet time. With The Batman Part II dropping in 2027, we might not see more Penguin on TV until 2028—if it even happens. For now, Oz is set to feature in the movie. The Batman Universe The Penguin is part of Matt Reeves' 'Batman Epic Crime Saga,' a standalone universe. Reeves has teased other shows, like maybe a Catwoman series or something about Harvey Dent being a lawyer. So, even if The Penguin doesn't get a Season 2, Gotham's story might keep going elsewhere. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Hamilton Spectator
10-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
I went to Coldplay at Rogers Stadium in Toronto — Here's everything you need to know, from merch to food and tickets for weekend shows
Coldplay has taken over the city of Toronto and its newest concert destination, Rogers Stadium. Located at the former Downsview Airport grounds, and not to be mistaken for the Rogers Centre in the downtown core, the venue experience has been met with a mixed bag of opinions, but here's my take after attending night two of the globally popular tour. Whether you're trekking from out of town or travelling from within the city, there are a number of TTC subway stations that spit you out close to the venue. I would recommend getting off at Downsview Park. From the station, it's only about a 10-minute walk to Rogers Stadium's security checkpoint and ticket scan area, and there's ample amounts of signage and staff to direct you exactly where you need to go. Fans arriving for Coldplay at the main entrance at Rogers Stadium. Before you scan your tickets, you'll notice a sizeable merch stand with an even bigger queue of a lineup, but I would advise getting into the Fan Plaza itself, where there are other opportunities for merchandise. I joined what I thought would be a lengthy wait of a line at the main merchandise hub, but waited only 15 minutes before I got my hands on the shirt that I wanted. To avoid potentially longer wait times as fans continue to pile in, I'd recommend you arrive a couple of hours early to ensure you get the size and merchandise you're hoping for. The entrance to the main merchandise hub at Rogers Stadium. Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres' tour has an extensive selection of merchandise, from tour T-shirts (including a Toronto-specific event shirt), to hoodies, hats, tote bags, water bottles and posters. Any of the wide selection of tour T-shirts will cost you $60, while a tour hoodie is priced at $120, before taxes. If you're looking for a Toronto specific poster, it's priced at $45, while hats are $50, tote bags are $15 and refillable Coldplay bottles are $45. A look into pricing of merchandise for Coldplay's tour at Rogers Stadium. In the Fan Plaza, you'll find a generous amount of vendors scattered throughout the stadium grounds, with anything from burgers, to poutines, tacos, hot dogs and sausages. Prices range anywhere from $8.50 for a hot dog or veggie dog, to $18 for chicken tenders and fries. Full disclosure, there was almost no availability for anything we wanted to eat from the vendors themselves, and we arrived three hours before showtime. Other on-site food options include the Night Market, where you'll find Pan Asian quick bites, pressed paninis or a selection of Bavarian bites, which is relative in pricing and readily available. We ended up going to the food trucks by the DJ stage, where you'll find Halibut House for fish and chips (although it's on the pricier end), EsauParrilla for smash burgers and poutines, and Kongs Hot Tacos for tacos and Asian-style poutines. A selection of food truck options at Rogers Stadium. A sit-down dining lounge sponsored by Birkenstock is also available, serving anything from appetizers like spicy Korean cauliflower bites for $14, coconut shrimp for $16, charcuterie boards for $24.50 and chicken schnitzel for $26. You can also order beer, wine by the glass and bottle and cocktails, if you're looking for more of a dining experience pre-show. A dine-in lounge offered at Rogers Stadium with alternative food and drink options like appetizers, main courses, and wine by the bottle. If you're feeling snacky, a bag of chips will cost you $4.50 and a bag of candy (Twizzlers) will cost you $6.50. A can of pop ranges from $7.50 to $9, and water bottles are $7. Canned beer is also available at vendors throughout, ranging from $14.75 for a tall can to $19.50 for a king-size can. All of this can be enjoyed among the many seating areas, lounges and high-top tables scattered around the stadium grounds. A number of seating areas are available at Rogers Stadium to enjoy your food and beverages. There are a number of ways to enjoy your time before the show, whether you're looking for a more premium dining experience at the American Express Lounge, jamming to a DJ set at the Sirius XM Stage, or want to take a spin on the ferris wheel, which is available free of charge. The ferris wheel is quite the hot commodity among the fans, with long lineups up until showtime. A Coldplay-themed ferris wheel at Rogers Park on the stadium grounds. Of course, you'll want to keep in mind the timing of it all when you're enjoying any of the pre-show experiences at Rogers Stadium. Starting at 5 p.m., you can get access to your seats, whether you're at the general admission floor area or any of the stands. The first opening act, Elyanna, takes the stage at 6:35 p.m., followed by Ayra Starr, who performs at 7:30 p.m. The main event, Coldplay, is scheduled for an 8:45 p.m. start, and while they showed up a tad late on opening night, they were right on time for the second night. If you aren't seated in the floor and general admission area, I would recommend you wear comfortable shoes as the stairs are plentiful to get to the stands themselves, regardless what row you're seated at. Generally speaking, a lot of the stadium ground level area is gravel and rocky, so sandals and flip flops aren't optimal. I sat in the west stand, which luckily is not facing the sunset, but if you happen to be seated in the east stand, sunglasses and sunblock would come in handy. In the stands themselves, you'll notice quite an alarming sway when the show begins and the crowd gets into it, but it levels out once people settle into the show. A view from the seats at the west stand, with the lenses provided to fans that add hearts and stars to the setting. Who could forget what everyone really came for — Coldplay — and it was one of the most visually appealing, energetic, crowd-engaging concert experiences I have ever been a part of. The set list takes you across all of their different eras, and the production level and sound at the venue is outstanding. Lead singer Chris Martin performs during night two of Coldplay at Roger's Stadium in Toronto. Each fan receives a wristband that lights up different colours throughout the night, along with 3D-style glasses that make the setting appear with stars and hearts. People of all ages were featured on the screen at different points, so be ready to bring the energy, and you may even get a chance to appear on the big screen yourself. A number of lucky fans even got the opportunity to hop onto the stage and dance with lead singer Chris Martin, who also selected a lucky individual from the floor area to take a seat with him at the piano and request a song. Without spoiling too much of the show itself for future concertgoers, be prepared for a truly breathtaking evening, in what was an overall successful concert experience at Toronto's newest entertainment venue. While the first show was met with some backlash in terms of crowd congestion and the amount of time it took people to exit the stadium grounds, I'd say Live Nation and Rogers Stadium took the necessary measures to ensure it's a smoother experience going forward. One trick I noticed among attendees is slowly heading toward aisles and section exits during the encore and watching from there in an attempt to beat the rush before the concert officially ends. I decided to stay until the very last song and fireworks show, and while it was crowded, I am pleased to say I was out of there and on my way to the nearest subway station in about 10 minutes. A good bulk of the crowd walked back toward Downsview Park station and toward Wilson and the rideshare area, so to avoid crowd congestion, you may want to walk to Sheppard West instead. Lighting and signage was provided throughout, so it was fairly easy to navigate. Fortunately, following the announcement by Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow, transit fare is free up to 90 minutes after the show from any of these stations. Coldplay are set to perform two more shows at Rogers Stadium, on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12. If you're looking for tickets on Ticketmaster for Friday, tickets are going anywhere from $658 to $1,785. For the Saturday show, which is the final show of the tour here in Toronto, the cheapest seat will cost you $644, and it goes up to $1,725. You may come across tickets for slightly cheaper on StubHub, with the cheapest ticket currently going for $552 for Friday.
