a day at Hershey or Busch Gardens VA.

[elf]

I have 7 & 9 yr.old DD's. We are visiting NC for buying our house and I wanted to do something nice for the kids for all these 20 hour trips (4 times since Jan.) we had to take in the last two months. It's been all business and no fun and they were so good no arguments, sitting through lots of meetings, etc, So on the way home I want to stop somewhere for the day should I go route 95 to Busch Gardens, VA or the Blue Ridge mountain pkway to Hershey. We've been to Hershey and liked it alot. None of us have been to Busch Gardens. I'd like to go but am unsure if it has lots of stuff for younger kids.
How is Busch Gardens for that age?
If you had kids this age would you choose a day at Busch Gardens or Hershey?
Thanks

 

[stepdisney]

Finally, a question I'm an expert on.

We have done both Hershey and Bushe Gardens. As a matter of fact, on the off year's we do not go to Disney, we go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Busch Gardens is a very, very nice trip. The place is beautiful and it is VERY family friendly. We also go to Water Country U.S.A. which is my 12-year-old DS's favorite water park (he likes it better than typhoon or blizzard). We love Busch so much that we brought season passes last August when they had a special (buy the passes in August and get the rest of the year plus the next year.) Because we live in NJ, it is not that far of a drive, last year we took our car on the ferry from Cape May, NJ which was fun for the kids and then drove up the coast, a very nice drive.

Hershey is nice but seems a bit crowded whenever we go. Busch is a lot less congested and a lot more along the Disney line. While Hershey is more like an amusement park, Busch Gardens/Water Country U.S.A is more like an adventure or theme park experience, like going to magic kingdom and typhoon lagoon.

Busch Gardens, Williamsburg has a European adventure theme. The park is broken into countries. France, Scotland, Italy, Germany, etc. They have some of the best rollercoasters. Don't forget to try my favorate, appollo's chariot. If you really want to make an extended stay of your trip, you can visit historical williamsburg. The nighttime ghost tours are great. Families go on a tour of homes and other buildings in town at night and the tour guide tells legends about each place. We stayed in Williamsburg for 8 nights and there was plenty to do the entire trip. I think your children will love Busch Gardens, mine did.

Because we have the passes from last year, even though Disney is our extended trip this year, we will be going to Busch Gardens in May and again in July when we return from visiting family in North Carolina. Maybe we will see you there!

 

[elf]

Thanks an expert is just what I needed!! Is it all roller coasters? My Dh, 9 yr. old and myself love them but my 7 year old doesn't are there things for her to do as well?

 

[stepdisney]

Not all rollercoasters at all! They have 6 coasters though, if you love them, you'll be glad of that. They are opening a new ride this year. It's a coaster but it has a new concept. My six year old loves the big bad wolf because he could ride it even at 5. It was his first coaster and it is relatively mild.

There are a lot of great shows to see, an area with rides similar to those at other parks like that swinging ship, and penty of kid-friendly and and themed rides. There is "The Dark Castle" which is a fun haunted house, a few water rides including escape from pompei which spashes you and everyone watching on the bridge (we love to stand on the bridge and get wet when it is hot out). We love the shows, they are done extremely well. There is one in Ireland about a leprechan that is one of our favorites, they have a pirate show too!! Lots of rides, lots of shows, good food and it's not that expensive. Usually now you can get a great deal because it is early in the season. Check out their site, it will give you the option of Tampa or Williamsburg. It's busch garden.com.

We love it and it's tough to please Disney fans like us!! My kids don't feel cheated when we go to Busch instead of Disney.

 

[stepdisney]

Oh, I almost forgot. One thing we really like about this park as opposed to Hersey or some of the six flags is that you see mostly families. They are very strict as to what they allow to go on so you don't see huge groups of unsupervised teens cursing and such. The gardens and landscaping are some of the most beautiful ever. Make sure if you go to water country U.S.A, you stop at Hubba, Hubba Highway and Big Daddy Falls, the kids will love these two. My 6 year old walks around talking about hubba hubba highway all of the time. (I think he likes the way it sounds.)

 

[photo_chick]

I have not been to Busch Gardens since I was 12, but I loved it there as a kid. Water County USA is fun too. And we went to Kings Dominion a lot when we lived in Norfolk as well. But then that was... OMG! 20 years ago.

When did I get old?

 

[StephMK]

My DD's Scout troop went to Busch Gardens last summer & she's not a coaster person at all. While most of the troop went on a large coaster, she & a friend went to the pottery place & painted a figurine. Not too pricey considering it's a theme park & they mail it to you home when it's finished. If you do an overnight, Great Wolf Lodge would be fun. That's where we stayed & the girls LOVED it.

 

[PaMom001]

I live very near to Hershey. I went there every single summer growing up.

About 12 years ago I went to Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens wins hands down. It seemed a lot less crowded then Hershey.

If you've been to the MK, you'll not be impressed with HersheyPark.

 

[elf]

Thanks all
I've actaully been to Hershey 2 x and the kids liked it but it was really crowded. I'm definetly going to do Busch Gardens.

I'll have to skip Great Wolf Lodge this time around. Looked up a price and it was for $400 for Next week. It's only a few hours from where we are coming from in NC so I"m going there first thing in the am on Tues or wed. next week, spend the day and find a hotel about an hour or two north of there.

Any hotel recomendations just north of there would be greatly appreciated also.

 

[grlpwrd]

I think it would be nice if you could combine trips to Busch Gardens, Water Country, and Colonial Williamsburg-Yorktown-and Jamestown (if you all haven't been there yet).

You can get a pass that includes entrance to Busch Gardens and Water Country.

Also, Jamestown is celebrating its 400th anniversary in May and Queen Elizabeth plans to be here, too.

 

[Jennifer S]

I'm opposite. I liked Hershey better. My kids didn't like BG BUT they LOVED Water Country- you should def. try that. There are tons of things for all ages. WC was rated the #4 waterpark in the country on some special on the Travel Channel

 

[HOGFAN]

Busch Gardens, definitely. second only to WDW.

 

[Alyssa88]

I went to Busch Gardens once, and although I don't remember much (summer after first grade) I remember it being the highlight of my 2 week BIG family vacation, which included alot of fun stuff.

I went to Hershey pretty much every summer and I have wonderful memories from that, so I relly want to say Hershey but honestly I think you would be better off at Busch Gardens. It seems like a wonderful place, alot more "Disney- like".

 

[Cindermommy]

We have been to Busch Gardens and Water Country almost as many times as we have been to WDW. BG is top notch. The rides are great, the food is excellent, and the shows are more varied (and just as good if not better) than Disney's. You can go to Water Country 2 whole days, and not ride the same slide twice. Once you go there, you'll realize how small TL and BB area. The family raft ride is the best! They have so many rides you will definitely need to go back! There are lots of family's at both parks, the grounds are very well landscaped, and the parks are clean!!!

We go to Hershey every year because I am a quilter and I to the the Quilt Odyssey show at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. We find Hershey to be more Six Flags-ish. We do enjoy Chocolate World, and always make time to visit Lancaster County for quilt stuff, and Cabela's for my outdoorsmen. Overall, I would vote for the trip to VA.

 

[stepdisney]

The next time you go to Hershey, you may want to consider Dutch Wonderland. It is a park like Hershey but on a smaller, younger scale. It was not as crowded. Whenever we do Hershey, we do dutch wonderland also, it makes a nice little getaway.

There are a lot of hotels to choose from, homewood suites are nice and they include breakfast and dinner during the week. Not that expensive but very nice quality.

We stayed at Kings Creek Plantation which is located right next to Water Country. I would recommend it very highly. You can find deals on line especially this time of year.

 

[Kitts21]

well I guess I'm going to be the odd ball here. I would vote for H.P. We as a familiy have gone to HP every year for the past 9yrs. We go done the last week of June. This time is perfect because you beat the July foueth crowds, and the weater is beautiful. When ever we have been down there the crowds have never been that bad. Give the exception of are 2004 trip when they had to host the countrys largest christian festivel. It's regular place got flooded, so they moved it to Hershey. Buit we love it because of the large aray of rides that younger kids can go on. We have also never excperinced any large groups of teens using , foul langage. Of course this could be because of the the lower crowds. we also liked how Hp always seems clean and there is alot of shade . They are also putting in a bunch of new water rides for this year. Along with the country's largest water playground. But we have noticed that the prices have skyrocketed the past couple of years so we will not be going back this year. So the tradition stops. We are very sad. So mabye it would be better to go to Bush Gardenes. What a long winded waste I have created. Sorry....

 

[jennyL]

Just asking but is Busch Gardens open during the week already? I know alot of parks around here are on weekend only operation until school is out in May.

ETA: I just pulled up the schedule and if you are going next week the park is open 10-8pm so its not a problem.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

In my opinion, I would rather visit Busch Gardens than Hershey Park. Busch Gardens is very clean and beautifully landscaped!!! There are so many trees/shaded areas that the park seems cooler than most parks that I have been to that are mostly asphalt.

The rides are fun and there is plenty of rides for everyone to enjoy.

We have season passes, and were there on Sunday. I overheard someone commenting how pretty the park is and that they had read that Busch Gardens had ranked higher (in some survey) than Disney for its landscaping and attractiveness.

Hope you have a wonderful trip and have a great move to NC!!

(By the way, the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg is a great place to bring the kids. We were there in December, and it was beautifully decorated for Christmas and so much fun enjoying the waterpark during winter!)

 

[mickeyfan2]

We have done both and I would do Hershey park as my first pick.

 

[WVMomof3]

I was contemplating the same thing. My husband had said no Disney World this year since we had been the last two years in a row. So I was trying to decide between a week in Hershey or Williamsburg. After doing a little research I had decided Williamsburg would be better for us. But then I found cheap airfare to California where my husband has to go for a work conference in June. His plane ticket and 5 nights in San Diego will be paid for through work. And our tickets were just $200, which I thought was a great deal. And of course we can not go to California without a stop to Disneyland!! So we are getting the Southern California city pass for Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Universal and DisneyLand. Knowing that his plane ticket is free and we will get 5 free nights at a beautiful resort we would never pay for ourselves, I felt like we could not pass up this opportunity. One of these years we will try out Williamsburg though.