Griffon

Busch Gardens Williamsburg closed its LeMans Raceway go-kart attraction on July 5, 2006, and demolition crews began clearing the site for a new coaster the very next day. Bolliger & Mabillard supplied a Dive Coaster — the same dive format the manufacturer had introduced at Busch Gardens Tampa's SheiKra two years earlier — but engineered here with floorless trains for the first time anywhere, themed to a mythical griffon rising over the park's France village.

Griffon topped out at 205 feet in December 2006, and after the vertical drop and Immelmann loop were completed that January, the ride began testing that spring. It opened to the public on May 18, 2007, a full week ahead of its originally announced grand-opening date, following an unadvertised Mother's Day soft opening that had already surprised guests on May 13. The layout holds riders at the crest of its 205-foot lift for several seconds — silhouetted against the Rhine River below — before releasing a 90-degree drop into 71 mph, followed by two Immelmann loops and a splashdown finale across 3,108 feet of track.

Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards placed Griffon third in its Best New Ride category for 2007, and the ride went on to rank among the world's top 50 steel coasters for over a decade, peaking at 19th in the 2010 poll.

Griffon remains one of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's two marquee dive coasters and continues to be one of the park's most photographed moments, largely thanks to that suspended pause at the top of the drop.