DarKoaster: Escape The Storm Indoor Family Coaster Opening at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2023

© Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has announced an exciting new indoor family roller coaster, named DarKoaster: Escape The Storm, set to open in 2023.  Located within the park's Oktoberfest area, DarKoaster will utilize the building that housed Curse of DarKastle, a 4-D simulator ride, from 2005 until 2017.  

The new attraction continues the story line of the original DarKastle ride:  "King Ludwig’s abandoned fortress resurfaces as strange weather patterns have been recorded near the cursed castle grounds. Only the bravest souls will embark on snowmobiles in this dark expedition to discover the mysterious phenomenon. A supernatural force is imminent as explorers discover that they are evading more than just a raging storm."

 

The park is calling the ride the first of its kind indoor straddle coaster, featuring Intamin's jet-ski (in this case snowmobile) type cars with a lower 48 inch height requirement.  The ride will feature 4 launches, a top speed of 36 miles per hour and over 2,400 feet of track.   The below animation shows the vehicles interacting with set pieces located within the building, which already kept its outdoor theming in tact from the earlier ride it housed.

Busch Gardens Williamburg's description of the ride also notes that the vehicles will "change course" when the weather causes an issue, which is believed to be a switch track that will allow the train to follow the ride's layout a second time as a surprise.

The ride's track is actually already completed inside the building, and the park gave a tour today with some photos from which featured here and here.  The theming elements have yet to be added, but it already looks like a fun and bad and cold weather friendly addition to the park.