Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Hi all. I am thinking that this year I will take an extended weekend and possibly go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Not only do I want to do the park, but I also would like to actually check out the "real" colonial section where they act and dress in the time period. I haven't been to BGE (or are they back to BGW?) since DrachenFire was still around, so I have no idea about the park anymore. I know I really wanna ride every coaster there, but I don't know what else I should hit up. I've also heard the food is pretty decent, but are there any specialties (sp?)? Anywhere in Williamsburg that is unique or exceptional to eat? Any advice you have is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Bunky, make sure you check out their meal deal packages. When I was there in 2009 (my only time at the park) we were happy with the value and quality of the food included in the deal we got. It was like 2 meals with drinks, plus another couple drinks for $20 or something like that.

I just saw some reviews of the park saying not to get the meal deals - but my experience was great. The real stand out was the HUGE piece of black forest cake we got in the Festhaus... it was outta control decadent!

Per their website, the park is named Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Ride everything you can that seems unique to the park! My favorite food in the park is now the soft pretzels in Germany near Mäch Tower and Verbolten.

Near the colonial area there is a nice college pub called "Green Leafe" that has some good bar food including vegetarian options and a good beer selection. My wife and I always go when we are in town.

My favorite places to dine there are Ristorante della Piazza in Italy, Trapper's Smokehouse in New France, and Das Festhaus in Germany.

Thank you for all the suggestions. 8.3, I hadn't been on the website, as I figured someone here probably knew. What is with them changing the names back and forth? (Laugh)

I probably will ride everything, but I just wanted to see if there was anything that I definitely shouldn't blow off, or if there are any strategies there for avoiding lines. I have no idea about park layout or anything (again, haven't looked at website, and I remember the Tampa map being horrendous), and I don't wanna miss stuff like I did at Kings Dominion. I'm guessing that Apollo's Chariot and Alpengeist are enough of people eaters that one could ride them at any time during the day and that coasters like Verbolten and LochNess have some times to ride that are better than others.

Verbolten's line last year was spilling out of the queue and on to the bridge but the wait was still < 1 hour.

Small queue or good ride ops? *laugh*

Quick Queue. ;)

Verbolten is actually a really high-capacity ride. I don't remember the ride ops being overly outstanding on any of the rides. They're just all people-eaters.

Speaking of eating, toss me into the Trappers' Smokehouse group. The BBQ sauce is outstanding.

As for overall ride recommendations, Alpengeist, Alpengeist, Alpengeist.

The ride has a double station similar to TTD so two trains are loaded and dispatched at one time.

bunky666 said:
What is with them changing the names back and forth? (Laugh)

Busch Gardens The Old Country, Busch gardens Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Europe - Virginia park.

Busch Gardens The Dark Continent, Busch Gardens Africa, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay - Florida park.

If you're wondering where Asia is/was...that was the short-lived Houston park.

I was shocked when I figured out that there's 2 trains in the show building at the same time. (there's a block and the surprise element in there to keep things safe.) But Verbolten is a great ride, perfectly timed and the line moves. I loved that ride, and having it there helped eliminate some of the sting of BBW's removal.

Bunky, don't miss Colonial Williamsburg. Get the pass, plan the whole day, go in all the buildings, and do it right. It's one of my favorite places in the country. It used to be that the ticket is an automatic annual pass, i havent looked to see if that's still the case. But if so its nice because you can go back again as the seasons change. Christmas is really nice there, and you don't live that far.

As much as I like BGW, I find their coasters, for the most part, second class. I haven't been on Verbolten, and Nessie remains a favorite of mine. I just feel that their coaster types are better represented at other parks:

Apollo<Nitro, Diamondback, Intimidator (Carowinds)

Griffon<Sheikra

Alpengeist<Afterburn, Batman, Talon

You can get a decent corned beef sandwich in the FestHaus, and it's one of the few parks at which I've found fresh-brewed iced tea.

Tastes are pretty subjective, LOL. I have Grif-fun > SheiKra, and Apollo > Nitro, D-Back, or Timmy 232. But I agree on Alpie - too big to be really forceful (although I love the theming and the "slalom skiing" at the ride's end).

Trapper's Smokehouse has really good BBQ and you get a good amount.

Lorikeet Glen is something you will not want to miss. It's a small enclosed area with free-roaming birds. It's pretty amazing. Keep in mind that it closes many hours before the park does.

The park's water rides are fun and well-themed, but much too short. Just keep that in mind so you are not disappointed.

Griffon is awesomely insane. My favorite seat is furthest on the outside in the very front. It's a difficult seat to get. but very much worth the effort. Being held over 200 feet in the air before the first drop, I once pointed and scream, "Oh God! The track is all the way over there?"

No matter what you eat at the park, it will be good. I missed Trapper's Smokehouse, unfortunately, but everything else I had was delicious. It seemed that they had the art of serving many people quickly and efficiently to a science.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg seems so big. I think part of that is because of the layout design. If you want to get to another part of the park, stand in line for the sky lift instead of walking. It might take the same amount of time than walking would but it is so relaxing. The park is so pretty from up there.

I did Williamsburg a long time ago, and I am planning to do it again soon. It is inexpensive and really interesting.

Hi Bunky,
BGW is my absolute favorite park. The rides, shows, theming, and landscape are top notch. I just wish I didn't live 8 hours away.

Do all of the coasters, there are only 5 of them. I have not been there since Verbolten was put in, so i can't comment on that. Of the others, Griffon was my favorite, then Apollo's Chariot, Alpengiest, and Loch Ness Monster. Curse of DarKastle is a great dark ride, Europe in the Air is a fair motion simulator ride, if you can do it with a minimal wait it is OK. Also, there are some pretty good flats in the Italy area.

Don't forget the shows. As Lost Kause mentioned, Lorikeet Glen is a fun diversion. Pet Shenanigans is a pretty entertaining show, get your picture taken with a Clysdale, see the show at the Festhaus, visit eagle ridge.

Absolutely do not miss Colonial Williamsburg. It is an all day (really two day) visit. Get a schedule of events for the day, see as many of the buildings as you can. Most have tours with characters in full dress. Try to get a ticket for one of the trials at the capitol building at night. Cry Witch is the best of the shows.

Now I wish I was going. Have a great time !

As to Mike Gallagher's saying that the rides at BGW are second class, I could not disagree more. Apollo's Chariot is right up there with the best of them. Love that ride! Got lucky because it went down for a while and no-one seemed to know that it was back up and running, which made it easy to get in 7 rides. As to LostKause's comment about Griffon, I couldn't agree more. Riding in the front at the end of the row is a blast. One thing I found disconcerting, however, is that I had the impression that my feet were going to hit something off the track. Guy sitting next to me obviously had the same impression, as the two of us raised our legs in unison more than once. Alas, Verbolten was not there when I visited so that will have to wait.

As to the food choices, they're far from ideal for a vegetarian. When I go to SFGA, my dinner is usually a milkshake and fries but I couldn't even find a place at BGW which offered that so ended up eating pretzels and ice cream. Had I known that there was a McDonald's down the road, I would have left the park and eaten there. Still a great park by any standard.

There is a sandwich place in "Colonial" Williamsburg called The Cheese Shop, that is my favorite... :) There is also a huge Yankee Candle store nearby if anyone in your group is into that sort of thing. Colonial Williamsburg isn't really legit... I'm pretty sure everything there is a reproduction... another cool place to go is the Jamestown settlement, though this is farther away. I discovered a few months ago that they have a glass blowing place where you can learn about how they made glass back then, and actually see the guys doing it and ask them questions. It's really neat if you're interested in that. Colonial Parkway is a really beautiful road that's fun to speed on... shh...

Trappers is my favorite food in the park, really good bbq. Down the road a ways, towards the Great Wolf Lodge, is a place called Pierce's Pit, FANTASTIC barbecue and not very expensive. Hush puppies... drool... anyway...

eightdotthree said:
Verbolten's line last year was spilling out of the queue and on to the bridge but the wait was still < 1 hour.

You do know that the way you put your greater/less than sign meant less than an hour. I think Verbolten's line was long.

I am a hard core carnivore, so I don't have to worry about the veggie options, but thank you for the info.

I think Apollo's Chariot is my most anticipated ride there. It looks to me to have better airtime hills than Nitro (sorry Mike), the slightly different drop layout excites me, and it will only be the second B&M hypercoaster I've ever ridden! I used to look at Alpengeist as most anticipated, but I cannot imagine (other than that first huge drop) that it could ever beat out Montu for me. The terrain DOES look ridiculous, but Montu just slaughtered every other B&M invert I've done. I'm very curious about Verbolten though...looks like moderate thrills but 100% fun.