The first signs of Pantheon’s arrival were already plain in October 2019, when construction views showed the first launch, first inversion and first turn installed, with supports for the spike rising into place. For the visitor passing through Festa Italia, the new steelwork promised a very different sort of journey from the park’s old-world gardens. coasternation.com

Pantheon was first expected for 2020, but the finished ride waited through a two-year pandemic delay before welcoming the public on March 25, 2022. Its site was a previously undeveloped plot in Festa Italia, close to Apollo’s Chariot and Tempesto, giving that corner of the park a new piece of swift, modern engineering. amusementtoday.com· intamin.com

The design was chosen through collaboration between Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the company’s rides team in Orlando. Intamin’s LSM system gave the park a coaster that moves forward and backward, building its procession of launches into a machine of notable pace and precision. amusementtoday.com· intamin.com

Early reception praised the ride’s setting as well as its force. Coaster101 noted its position beside the Rhine River and described a top-hat view across the park, while Amusement Today reported Pantheon as the world’s fastest multi-launch coaster at its 2022 opening. coaster101.com· amusementtoday.com