a day at Hershey or Busch Gardens VA.

[Littlemotherhaywood]

We're considering a summer trip that will take us right through both of those areas. My question is, what can a pregnant person do at either park? I'll be anywhere from 25-29 weeks when we travel depending on when we go. Obviously I know no big coasters or anything like that. I'm just trying to compare to Disney. I know there are a ton of things at Disney I could do and still have a really good time. My ds will be three. Is there a lot geared towards that age group?

 

[bnorm27]

Is a very, very looooooooooong road. The speed limit on most parts is in the 35MPH area. Depending on which part of NC you are coming from, it could get even longer. We have driven it from the NW part of NC (Ashe County area) all the way up to and through Shenandoah National Park. You are looking at at least 9-10 hours of driving. While it is a beautiful, scenic route, it is certainly not the quickest way to get to Hershey or Busch Gardens. There are only a few major escape routes from the Parkway to major highways. Also, once you get up into Virginia and onto Skyline Drive, you still have 105 miles to go before you get to the end! We have stayed in Shenandoah a few times, and it is very nice, but RUSTIC. Some rooms don't even have TV's, and those that do, don't get great reception which is something to consider when traveling with kids. If you go to Hershey, you can zip right over to 81 and up into PA. If you are going to Busch Gardens, at the end of Skyline Drive, I believe you are on Interstate 64, which if you head east will take you right towards Williamsburg. Have fun at either place!

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

I have a 5 year old and an almost 2 year old and we are trying to find something to do this summer for a weekend trip. Is there stuff to do at BG for my kids or are they too small? How long of a drive would it be to BG from Long Island, NY?

Thanks!

 

[keishashadow]

We went a weekend in august, were @ the gates before it opened (they do a staggered start time for different parts of park). It was so crowded other than the haunted lighthouse & the 3-d film, spent most of day waiting in long lines for not-too-many rides...very disappointing. While it's beautifully landscaped all the hills are killers.

Did like the Pompeii ride, but it was so hot & humid (seemed far worse than Orlando in the summer ); never again for us.

 

[stepdisney]

We went last year, around the 20th of August unitl the 28th. It was not that crowded and, although it was hot, there is a lot of shade. Because we had the gold pass, we bounced from Water Country in the day to Busch at night. This worked well for us. Again, if you were going to compare it to Disney, the lines were about the length of fast-pass lines for major rides like soaring or space mountain. In the Evening, the lines were not bad at all. If you go on a week day and it is not spring break week, you should be pleased with the wait times.

Yes, there are a lot of rides for three-year-olds. My six year old was two the first time we went to Busch Gardens , he had a ball and my husband and I did not feel as though we wasted money. They are also very good about doing the kiddie swap.

 

[elf]

I'm getting excited because I know we can't do Disney this year so I'm really looking forward Busch Gardens now.

I'll save the Blue Ridge mountain drive for another trip. I've taken Interstate 81 I just figured we get the Blue Ridge Pkwy and ride for a while then get off back to the interstate. I wanted to see the Natural Bridge area.

We are going from Winston Salem so we'll take 40E to 85 (??? I think that's the number) to I95.

As far as how long from Long Island I'm not sure because I haven't gotten off I95 to go to BG. But to get to that area of I95 it took 7 hours from the far eastern end of Long Island.

And Thank you for checking the schedule, I didn't even think to check just assuming that they would be open during the week.

Unfortunately we only have one day. But the house we are buying is 3 hours away, so I have a feeling that it will be a weekend getaway place for us in the future.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Busch Gardens is one of the nicest parks in this country! I don't know anyone that goes there and dosen't just fall in love. It has rdies for all ages, great shows, interresting food choices, and the ambience is just fantastic. Go you will NOT be dissapointed!!!


We go every fall, and have been for probably the last 20 years. It is a fantastic one day park.

 

[stepdisney]

Enjoy! We lived in Raleigh for 5 years and hope to moving back soon. Enjoy your new home too!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

My kids are 2, 4 & 6 and they love going to Busch Gardens!! When we went on Sunday, we spent the whole day doing kiddie rides. There is even a section called "the land of the dragons" that is totally geared to younger kids with kiddie rides, a tree house and large slide. When they got tired of walking around the park, we rode on their train around the park.

Busch Gardens does seem to have a lot of hills, so you definitely get a work out walking around it. But there are lots of places to stop and rest along the way!

As with most theme parks that I have ever visited, the crowds (and lines) are much worse on the weekends that weekdays. When we were there this past Sunday, I think the longest wait we had was for DarkKastle, which was about 20 minutes. The wait for the Loch Nest Monster (my favorite roller coaster) was less than 10 minutes.

The kiddie rides usually have much shorter wait times. There are a lot of rides my kids can just walk onto. At most they wait through one ride before getting on a particular attraction.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

My kids are 2, 4 & 6 and they love going to Busch Gardens!! When we went on Sunday, we spent the whole day doing kiddie rides. There is even a section called "the land of the dragons" that is totally geared to younger kids with kiddie rides, a tree house and large slide. When they got tired of walking around the park, we rode on their train around the park.

Busch Gardens does seem to have a lot of hills, so you definitely get a work out walking around it. But there are lots of places to stop and rest along the way!

As with most theme parks that I have ever visited, the crowds (and lines) are much worse on the weekends that weekdays. When we were there this past Sunday, I think the longest wait we had was for DarkKastle, which was about 20 minutes. The wait for the Loch Nest Monster (my favorite roller coaster) was less than 10 minutes.

The kiddie rides usually have much shorter wait times. There are a lot of rides my kids can just walk onto. At most they wait through one ride before getting on a particular attraction.

I didn't know it was open already! Is the new Griffin rollercoaster up and running yet? We rode its sister dive coaster at the Busch in TAmpa, and it was awesome!!!

 

[virginiamama]

Our family has 2-year platinum passes that allow entry to Busch Wmsbg and Tampa, Water Country, Sea World and Sesame Place. We live about 15 minutes from BG Wmsbg and we LOVE it! I have DS7 and DS3. There are plenty of rides that they can go on (other than coasters). DH and I love to ride the coasters. There is a kids area called The Land of The Dragons that is all kids rides for smaller kids, along with lots of climbing and slides. But there are tons of things for the kids to ride and see other than in the kids area. They have done such a good job of mixing the rides in the different countries so that each country has something for each age group. I'd advise folks to skip the Castle O'Sullivan thing in Ireland, OMG we can't stand that show. Everything else is great! There is a cool 4D movie I think it is the Haunted Lighthouse (okay for kids). Think ITTBAB at AK. My boys love to ride the train, and like someone else said, it is a beautiful place. It is very lush and shady similar to AK, but with tall trees like we have in Virginia. DS7 is with me now and he says he loves the bumper cars, catapult ride, and my favorite the "big" swings!!! DH and I have been going there since when we were too small to ride the big coasters, and we still are not tired of it. We go almost weekly now. It is a bit of exercise because of the hills but not too bad, I usually end up carrying DS7 piggy back to the car! We have been wanting to head up to PA for a Hershey/Sesame/Train trip. So I'm interested in opinions on Hershey also!

 

[katielady]

Hershey!