Griffon

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Griffon

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Location Williamsburg, Virginia, USA Coordinates 37.234754°N 76.647839°W / 37.234754; -76.647839 Status Operating since May 18, 2007 Cost $15,600,000 USD Rider height 54 inch minimum Replaced Le Mans Raceway
Statistics
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Product	Dive Coaster
Type	Steel - Floorless - Hyper - Diving
Riders per train	30
Hourly capacity	1400
Propulsion	Chain lift hill
Height	205 feet
Drop	200 feet
Top speed	71 mph
Length	3108 feet
Inversions	2
Drop angle	90°
Duration	3:00
G-Force	4

Griffon is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. It is themed after a half-lion/half-eagle mythological creature called a Griffon, known for diving on unsuspecting prey.

Opened in 2007, the ride was built by Bolliger & Mabillard and was the tallest and fastest Dive Coaster until it was surpassed by Valravn at Cedar Point in 2016. It is also the first to have multiple inversions and floorless trains.

History

On June 30, 2006, Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced that Le Mans Raceway would be closing down to make room for a new attraction set to open in 2007. The attraction officially closed on July 5.

On August 23, 2006, it was announced that Griffon would be coming to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The highest point of the ride was topped off in December 2006.

Griffon opened on May 18, 2007.

In 2017, Griffon was repainted with a darker shade of blue in some areas.

Design

Elements
205 foot tall chain lift hill 145 foot tall immelmann Hill with a 130 foot drop at 90° Immelmann Splash effect Helix

Griffon has two vertical drops, two immelmanns and a splash effect. The first big drop dives under a pedestrian bridge. The second immelmann loops over the Rhine River near Loch Ness Monster.

Color scheme

Griffon has a blue track and white supports.

Trains

3 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 10 across in a single row, for a total of 30 riders per train. A car from Griffon was on display at B&M's booth at the 2007 IAAPA Expo.

In video games

In Frontier Development's theme park simulation game Planet Coaster, the B&M Dive Coaster model (Aethon) has a color scheme matching Griffon's. The trains in the game are also ten across.

Images

• 
  View of the station
• 
  The first immelmann
• 
  The second immelmann
• 
  The splashdown
• 
  The entrance sign
• 
  Griffon's extended queue area

External links

• 

  Griffon on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

Articles on Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Coasters	Present Alpengeist Apollo's Chariot Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge DarKoaster Griffon Grover's Alpine Express InvadR Loch Ness Monster Pantheon Tempesto Verbolten Former Big Bad Wolf Das Kätzchen Die Wildkatze Drachen Fire Glissade Wild Maus
Other attractions	Present Aeronaut Sky Ride Battering Ram Battle for Eire Busch Gardens Railway Der Wirbelwind Escape from Pompeii Finnegan's Flyer Flying Machine Le Catapult Le Scoot Oscar's Whirly Worms Prince Elmo's Spire Rhine River Cruise Roman Rapids Trade Wind Turkish Delight Former Curse of DarKastle Da Vinci's Cradle Gladiator's Gauntlet Le Mans Raceway Mäch Tower