Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Interlocking loopsthe only ones left standing 130 ft up

Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia

Loch Ness Monster

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POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
simultaneously terrified and enraptured
What riders love
  • The location is in an especially beautiful part of the park, weaving through forests and over a river.
  • Loch Ness Monster is one of the most beautiful roller coasters in the world.
  • It's scenic, smooth, and cinematic. Great swooping drops over the water, two excellent loops, and a long tunnel helix with special effects makes for a wholly enjoyable classic ride.
  • The loops are also super cool being the only interlocking ones left standing and are crazy forceful like a B&M invert.
  • I love the setting in the forest, and the loops are fantastic with how they crush you into your seat.
  • The loops over the water are awesome and the tunnel just seems to keep going and going.
  • These additions all give it a storyline of sorts, about how you're going out on the loch to look for the mysterious monster.
  • Loch Ness Monster has the coolest theming in the park! I love the Scottish vibes and the dispatch from the station, and there are some awesome props throughout the ride layout.
  • It's helix in the tunnel is epic with all the sights and sounds going round.
Loch Ness Monster Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Loch Ness Monster front seat on-ride 5K POV @60fps Busch Gardens Williamsburg

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Loch Ness Monster POV 5K 60fps Back Row Classic Arrow Dynamics Looper Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA

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Loch Ness Monster On-Ride 4K POV | Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2025

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Loch Ness Monster off-ride HD Busch Gardens Williamsburg

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Loch Ness Monster Review, Busch Gardens Williamsburg Arrow Looping Coaster | Timeless or Dated?

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Loch Ness Monster - Review (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)

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Fanatic Reviews: Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

youtube.com › Coaster Fanatic

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Dead spot w/ second lift, but first drop has sustained and powerful ejector in the back, and overall, a beautiful coaster.

Landon Speares

The first drop gives a surprising amount of airtime in the back, and the loops are pretty floaty, which is fun.

Caitlin Wilcox

Floater air on the drops and positives on the loops are definitely the highlight.

Ben Lilly

There’s some surprisingly good airtime and the ride is very long and has an excellent setting.

Inverted Thrills

In my most recent ride in the back row, the ejector airtime off the first drop is one of the moments I’ve been caught off guard the most on a coaster.

@athenaclark2567

In the front row, you get slight floater airtime pops climbing up onto the second lift hill and the final brake run.

Coaster Adventures

It’s pretty smooth, probably because it was just refurbished, with the only real rough spot being the helix where there’s an occasional jolt.

Caitlin Wilcox

Overall, it’s quite smooth for an older Arrow (and much more enjoyable than its larger neighbor down the road, Anaconda).

Landon Speares

The helix was laughable; I could feel every track piece transition into the next, as if they couldn’t even track a continuous curve properly.

Jackie ODoyle

Minor headbanging at certain parts of the ride such as the the turn over land of dragons and at the bottom of the second loop.

Coaster Nerds

The interlocking loops, while picturesque, felt like crashing into a truck, and the OTSR did not agree with my shoulders.

Jackie ODoyle

The loops are also super cool being the only interlocking ones left standing and are crazy forceful like a B&M invert.

Cooper Zimmerman

The two loops on this coaster are very forceful, the hill before the mid-course brake run has a great pop of airtime and the majority of the ride is actually pretty smooth...

Vinnie T

It’s pretty fun and the loops are surprisingly forceful.

seth w.

it’s so bizarre that a drop so mild on paper could be so forceful in reality.

@fo-ef8qo

The other problem with this ride is that there are two lift hills, while the second one feels faster, it is still there and it hurts the pacing of the ride.

Pine To The Cone

Overall, a lot of dead spots, a helix with the same volume as kids screaming into your ears and the loops were tight.

Sam M.

Line is too long and is not worth it.

Vivian Williams

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

130 ftHeight
205 Griffon 195 Alpengeist 178 Pantheon 170 Apollo'sChariot 150 Tempesto 130 Loch NessMonster
114 ftFirst drop
210 Apollo'sChariot 200 Griffon 180 Pantheon 170 Alpengeist 135 Tempesto 114 Loch NessMonster
60 mphTop speed
Pantheon73 Apollo'sChariot73 Griffon71 Alpengeist67 Tempesto62 Loch NessMonster60 073 mph
55°Drop angle
95°Pantheon90°Griffon79°Alpengeist65°Apollo'sChariot65°InvadR55°Loch NessMonsterdashed line: straight down, 90°
2Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Great viewsGreat inversionsGreat themingGreat layoutLong ride

Criticised for

Head bangingSlowed by trims

As a result, my review is surely enhanced by the nostalgic lens through which I’ll always see this ride...but in my mind, the ride was perfect.

Sean Reardon, Captain Coaster review

I love those two inversions and the layout itself is really well made to make an amazing final package.

Shmee, Captain Coaster review

The feature of interlocking loops is cool and I love that it’s surrounded by trees even though it’s in the middle of the park.

Josh Ragotskie, Captain Coaster review

The Loch Ness Monster is a very fun ride, utilizing its unique location and solid theming to deliver a thrilling, exciting experience.

roller rider, Captain Coaster review

The vertical loops are fun because the track stays straight.

Kristofer Wempa, Captain Coaster review

Even after the retrack, Nessie is rough as ever 😭 It’s ok the headbanging is mostly avoidable and nowhere else can you find those iconic interlocking loops.

angela, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Loch Ness Monster roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Chris Hagerman, CC BY-SA 3.0
Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Loch Ness Monster's entrance
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
The Loch Ness Monster roller coaster in the inter-locking loops
Ryan Stryker, CC BY-SA 3.0
the Loch Ness Monster and Alpengeist roller coaster Tracks in one shot!
Ryan Stryker, CC BY-SA 3.0
The inter-locking loops on the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Ryan Stryker, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Loch Ness Monster loops
Ryan Stryker, CC BY-SA 3.0
Loch Ness Monster in 1996
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
The loch ness monster roller coaster swooping by your heads
Ryan Stryker, CC BY-SA 3.0
Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

1978Opened

A custom looping coaster, built by Arrow, designed by Ron Toomer.

$5 millionTo build
3.5 gStrongest force on riders

Past incidents

  1. June 1992In June 1992, 2 riders claimed the special misting water effect at the ride's tunnel entrance was caustic and temporarily blinding, causing emotional distress.

Golden Ticket Awards, top steel coaster: ranked in 1 polls, 1998

15th1998, its first poll
0incidents blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. From the park and maker: Busch Gardens Williamsburg guide. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Bmrbarre (CC BY-SA 3.0), Chris Hagerman (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), Ryan Stryker (CC BY-SA 3.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

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What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Clayton Latone, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The Loch Ness Monster is a classic and incredibly…”; MapleFlakes, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The location is in an especially beautiful part of…”; Zachary Strader, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Loch Ness Monster is one of the most beautiful…”; Eric Esty, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It's scenic, smooth, and cinematic. Great swooping drops over…”; Colin Berthold, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The interlocking loops are definitely a standout and are…”; Cooper Zimmerman, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The loops are also super cool being the only…”; Sam Dickson, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I love the setting in the forest, and the…”; Jack Jack J., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The loops over the water are awesome and the…”; Bolton Lawless, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The speakers are talking about the lochness monster and…”; Matt McIrvin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “These additions all give it a storyline of sorts,…”; Zach Payne, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Loch Ness Monster has the coolest theming in the…”; Aric The Kakapo, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It's helix in the tunnel is epic with all…”; Sean Reardon, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I rode it for the first time when I…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: East Coasters's back row POV, Loch Ness Monster POV 5K 60fps Back Row Classic Arrow Dynamics Looper Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.