busch gardens meal deal ?

[bsblady01]

Has anyone here ever done the meal deal at busch garden's Williamsburg. We are going to Virginia beach for a softball tournament and we have decided to spend at day at busch garden's. Do you think the meal deal is worth the money or are we better off paying cash for food.

 

[King Schultz]

I've never done the 'meal deal' there, but I can say aside from Epcot, BGW has as good or better variety and quality of food than any other theme parks I've been too.

I did a quick search about this because I was curious myself, but the most recent reviews on the meal deal I could find were 4 and 5 years old. I will say they were all negative about it being a good way to go, but hopefully someone who's tried it more recently can give you better info.

Good luck and have a safe and fun trip.

 

[java]

Not in Williamsburg but I did it in Tampa. For us it was great. Family of 6 and I think it was around $100 for the day for all of us. And we drank and ate our way through the day. We made sure to eat 3 meals at the park. I'm off to google as I think it may have changed. We did it 2 years ago. The drinks alone made it worth it to us

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I can't say about Williamsburg, but the one in Tampa was awesome. We'd stroll in, grab 3 bottles of water and then off to a ride. Stop in, grab some fruit or a cookie and a drink, then go ride. We took 6 bottles of water with us when we left the park. We also purchased the refillable bottles, as we were staying 3 days but only did the meal plan for 1 to start. (We weren't sure if we would like the meal plan, but we did end up purchasing it for the next 2 days as well.) Those came in handy as well, and we could use our PH discount on the refills (making less than $1 each of soda/lemonade, or 1.50 each for the icees). I'd pour the soda/lemonade out of the paper cups into the hard plastic bottles, since they had handles and were easier to carry!

We did the giraffe safari thing (extra cost) and it was worth the money. Petting the giraffes was amazing! DH did the front of the line pass one day, and it worked really well for him.

 

[maelstrom]

My in-laws love the meal plan at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. My husband & I may try it out next month because I feel like we will definitely eat enough at Das Festhaus and Trapper's Smokehouse to make the plan well worth the cost. There are two tiers of meal plan, and both are purchased by the day. So you aren't locked into a meal plan for your entire trip like you are at WDW. And, in my opinion, the cost and what you get for it is way more worth it at Busch Gardens than at WDW. There's so much yummy delicious amazing food at Busch Gardens and you will definitely want to try it all.

 

[bsblady01]

My in-laws love the meal plan at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. My husband & I may try it out next month because I feel like we will definitely eat enough at Das Festhaus and Trapper's Smokehouse to make the plan well worth the cost. There are two tiers of meal plan, and both are purchased by the day. So you aren't locked into a meal plan for your entire trip like you are at WDW. And, in my opinion, the cost and what you get for it is way more worth it at Busch Gardens than at WDW. There's so much yummy delicious amazing food at Busch Gardens and you will definitely want to try it all.

do you know if everyone in our group has to get it or can the two young kids share a plan. I don't think my six and eight year old can eat that much food.

 

[maelstrom]

Everyone in your group does not have to purchase the meal tickets. This is *very* different from WDW's meal plan. Busch Gardens isn't interested in planning out every second of your trip a year advance. Or at all. It is a much more laid-back and chill environment.

 

[YayDisney]

I can't say about Williamsburg, but the one in Tampa was awesome. We'd stroll in, grab 3 bottles of water and then off to a ride. Stop in, grab some fruit or a cookie and a drink, then go ride. We took 6 bottles of water with us when we left the park. We also purchased the refillable bottles, as we were staying 3 days but only did the meal plan for 1 to start. (We weren't sure if we would like the meal plan, but we did end up purchasing it for the next 2 days as well.) Those came in handy as well, and we could use our PH discount on the refills (making less than $1 each of soda/lemonade, or 1.50 each for the icees). I'd pour the soda/lemonade out of the paper cups into the hard plastic bottles, since they had handles and were easier to carry!

We did the giraffe safari thing (extra cost) and it was worth the money. Petting the giraffes was amazing! DH did the front of the line pass one day, and it worked really well for him.

Hi - We are going in a week to BG and the dining deal didn't even occur to me. When I look online it looks like it is only for sit down restaurants, so no? Not the case? The snacks etc. . .included?

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Hi - We are going in a week to BG and the dining deal didn't even occur to me. When I look online it looks like it is only for sit down restaurants, so no? Not the case? The snacks etc. . .included?

It's pretty much cafeteria style quick service. You go through the line and grab what you want, then go through the checkout, show your wristband and you're done. You can go through and get a piece of cake or a bowl of fruit only, or a whole meal, or just a drink. Not snacks like ice cream, popcorn, pretzels. It says once per hour, but we went through and got full meals each, then after we ate, went back through and got more drinks, and it wasn't a problem. The best place we found, foodwise, was the smokehouse.

 

[bsblady01]

We did busch gardens with the kids today and the meal deal is not worth the money. We got three meal deals and we did not get our money's worth out of since it was so hot.

We are going to do the uss battleship tomorrow with the kids in Norfolk. My daughters softball team lost both games this weekend

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

We did busch gardens with the kids today and the meal deal is not worth the money. We got three meal deals and we did not get our money's worth out of since it was so hot.

We are going to do the uss battleship tomorrow with the kids in Norfolk. My daughters softball team lost both games this weekend

I agree, it's just too hot to eat lots of meals.

IMO, it was worth the money for us. We don't go during the summer because, duh, too hot.

It's just like getting the DxDP...if you use it on QS only, or just get bottles of water for snacks, it's a waste of money. If you don't use the BGdp to get lots of free drinks, cold fruit, cookies, etc, between meals, then it's a waste of money.

 

[kidshop]

We did busch gardens with the kids today and the meal deal is not worth the money. We got three meal deals and we did not get our money's worth out of since it was so hot.

We are going to do the uss battleship tomorrow with the kids in Norfolk. My daughters softball team lost both games this weekend

We were at Busch Gardens yesterday as well. It really is too hot to eat much. We like the pretzel stand ( I can't think of the name) and always split a pretzel sandwich, they are huge! Me and two kids can be full off just one, and we get an order of nuggets or a soft pretzel. Seriously the best pretzels in the park. Yesterday we carried this to the festhouse to watch the show, and ds and dh found the secret room in the back! I did not know this exoisted. A pub room with meat a cheese plates. It was perfect since we were so hot and no one wanted a big heavy meal. Anyway, those are my tips of the day. You can't go wrong with pretzels and beer!

We have not gotten a meal plan before, I may look into it for the future, if it works with the way we eat. Food lines can be long.

We found the ride lines were pretty short yesterday and that was nice.