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InvadR opened in 2017 as the park's first wooden coaster, its Viking-raiders-versus-New France-villagers premise chosen by public vote from a field of three finalist names. Great Coasters International's 60-foot lift leads into a steep 74-foot first drop and nine airtime hills across 2,118 feet of track at up to 48 mph, with a 46-inch height minimum that welcomes most of the family. Its trains were repurposed from Gwazi, the dueling wood coaster that had closed at Busch Gardens Tampa two years earlier.
Specifications
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Ride profile
Scaled against Busch Gardens Williamsburg's operating coasters
Park intensity
Height
60 ft
#8 of 9 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Ride experience
- Family
- First drop74.00 ft
- Gci
- Viking
- Wood
Ride details
Min height
3'10"
Drop
74 ft
Specs from buschgardens.com
Learn more
Mine train coasters
Smaller trains, winding layouts, and family-friendly pacing — often themed as mining adventures.
Rocky Mountain hybrid coasters
Steel track on reinvented wooden structures — steep, twisted, and often relentless.
Track compliance — why wood feels alive
Wood flexes; steel is stiffer — the same forces feel different on each structure.
Wooden vs steel coasters
Structure and maintenance differ, but the question for riders is feel — vibration, sound, and how the train moves.
History
Sourced timeline and background for InvadR.
Timeline
2016
New wooden coaster announced
Busch Gardens Williamsburg reveals plans for its first wooden coaster and launches a public naming vote.
2016
Name InvadR selected by public vote
Guests choose InvadR over Viking Raider and Battle Klash in a 12,000-participant online poll.
2017
InvadR opens
Great Coasters International's Viking-themed family wood coaster debuts in New France, reusing trains originally built for Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa.
Background
Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced its first wooden roller coaster in March 2016 under the working codename "Project 2017," then handed naming duties to the public: guests chose between Viking Raider, InvadR, and Battle Klash in an online poll that drew roughly 12,000 votes, with InvadR winning on April 1, 2016. Great Coasters International built the ride with centerline design help from Skyline Attractions, and it opened April 7, 2017 in the park's New France section, becoming just the second GCI coaster to use a steel support structure rather than an all-wood one.
The Viking-raiders theme gave the ride a clearer narrative hook than a typical family wood coaster: InvadR frames its trains as Viking longships raiding the New France settlement, with queue signage and train graphics built around that conflict rather than generic nautical or lumber-camp branding. The layout climbs a 60-foot lift before a steep 74-foot first drop, then threads nine airtime hills across 2,118 feet of track at up to 48 mph, with a 46-inch height minimum that makes it accessible to most of the family. Its trains were repurposed from Gwazi, the dueling wood coaster that had closed at Busch Gardens Tampa two years earlier — a rare piece of cross-park lineage between the two Busch Gardens properties.
Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards voted InvadR the fourth-best new ride of 2017, and the layout's hillside terrain, worked around an existing log flume and railroad on site, became one of the more challenging design puzzles Skyline Attractions had tackled up to that point.
InvadR remains Busch Gardens Williamsburg's only wooden coaster and one of the more family-friendly credits at a park otherwise known for taller B&M and Intamin steel rides.
History primarily sourced from buschgardens.com. See also our data policy.
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Sources & official links
We link out to parks, manufacturers, and the pages where facts and media come from.
- Busch Gardens Williamsburg — official sitebuschgardens.com(opens in a new tab)
- Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Coaster AtlasPark page
- Ride specifications sourcebuschgardens.com(opens in a new tab)
- Great Coasters International — manufacturergreatcoasters.com(opens in a new tab)
- Hero photo (See Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0)Image license & attribution(opens in a new tab)
- Official POV — Licensed POVWatch on YouTube(opens in a new tab)
- History & background sourcebuschgardens.com(opens in a new tab)