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Busch Gardens Williamsburg teases update for Pantheon rollercoaster

The theme park originally had a spring 2020 planned opening for its newest rollercoaster, but the pandemic had other plans.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Editor's Note: The above video originally aired on January 23, 2020.

If you've recently paid a visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, you've no doubt seen it.  

Sitting near the shore of the Rhine River and next to Festa Italia, a massive bronze metal track with a massive 95-degree drop, and also an intimidating "spike" that rises high into the air.

It's Pantheon, Busch Gardens' newest world-class rollercoaster themed on the ancient Roman gods.  The ride boasts a 178-foot drop, multiple launches, and five airtime hills.

Below: Busch Gardens Williamsburg's teaser announcement for Pantheon in 2019.

Construction was going well on the attraction with park officials planning a spring 2020 grand opening.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

As the park shut down -- eventually reopening for limited capacity events -- work on Pantheon slowed. As 2020 turned into 2021, visitors could see its progress, including reports of cars being tested on the track, but Busch Gardens has remained mum on its status.

On Monday, the park acknowledged the lack of updates, saying on social media to expect news soon.

"Stay tuned for an update within the next few weeks regarding our highly anticipated attraction, Pantheon," Busch Gardens said in both a Tweet and Facebook post. "We recognize your patience and have some fun new ways to celebrate your support coming."

With autumn on the horizon and plans for Howl-O-Scream taking shape, speculation is growing in places like fan site Busch Gardens Williamsburg Fans that Pantheon's grand opening will be pushed back to 2022.  

For now, we can only admire the sleek metal twists and turns from a distance... and await a new message from the gods.

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