Busch Gardens Williamsburg - worth a day of our vacation time???

[Wishing on a star]

Just booked a week at Historic Williamsburg, starting Memorial Weekend.... We have so been looking forward to taking our son (12) to Williamsburg, Washington DC, Water Country, etc...

Okay, I know this is the Disney board, and we are not 'theme-park', 'roller coaster' people... not even DS.... (gasp!!!! ohhh the blasphemy!!!!!! )

But, with their Bounce Pass, you get tickets to everything, making it virtually for free....

Is it worth a day, or a half-day or two, of our precious time???
What is worthwhile, other than coasters????
What should we look forward to???
What should we avoid???

We are already cramming in the Historic sites, Washington DC, Water Country, A day driving up the East Coast (the bridge-tunnel) etc...

I hate to be sorry if we over-do-it.

Thanks!!!

 

[just4today]

I think it is, especially if you get in for next to nothing. Seems like a no-brainer.

 

[Tina]

If you are not roller coaster people, I would skip it, especially if you have limited time. I went down a few years ago with my then DH (we live in Northern VA) because we were really missing Disney and wanted to have some fun. We didn't ride a single thing. The park is mainly coasters. We entered just after opening and had walked half the park within an hour. We made it to the back and discovered that the rest of the park was not open yet. I guess they open the second half at 11am or something like that. So we had to stand around for quite awhile, waiting for the rest of the park to open so we could continue on. We made a full loop around the park and found nothing that interested us, since we don't care for roller coasters. On our way out, we asked for a refund, which we were promptly given.

 

[ChrisFL]

There are a lot of coasters, but it's a BEAUTIFUL park with a lot of great scenery, good food and is frankly just a nice place to be in.

I do think it's worth a day there, most definitely.

 

[JerseyJanice]

It's so worth it! It's a beautiful park, very well-themed. The food is fabulous--go to the food hall in Germany, Das Festhaus?--and the shows are great too.

I'm not one for rollercoasters, but there is plenty to do without them.

 

[Goofycampers]

I agree , BG is a beautiful park and well worth a day.

 

[quentina]

Yes it is....even if you don't like coasters...the shops and buildings are beautiful.

Do not miss water country.....hubba, hubba highway is amazing.

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

Yes it is....even if you don't like coasters...the shops and buildings are beautiful.

Do not miss water country.....hubba, hubba highway is amazing.

I think it is worth it. We go all of the time to both Busch Gardens and Water Country. Sometimes, we go to Water Country just for Hubba Hubba Highway!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Are you going to President's park? If you are looking for some peaceful down time, it's a neat place to visit. I learned some things about the presidents. It wasn't crowded when we went and it had a lot of interesting sights. We really enjoyed it.

http://www.presidentspark.org/

 

[BonnieA]

I used to be a roller coaster person but not any longer. That being said, Busch Gardens has some of the best shows around. It's worth the money to go just to see the shows.

 

[Ohiodislover]

Ditto. We went for the first time in the fall. I was extremely impressed. Nice, clean park with lots to do.

 

[eduk8r26]

I definitely think it's worth it. It's so clean and green. I'm thinking of going this summer again.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Just booked a week at Historic Williamsburg, starting Memorial Weekend.... We have so been looking forward to taking our son (12) to Williamsburg, Washington DC, Water Country, etc...

Okay, I know this is the Disney board, and we are not 'theme-park', 'roller coaster' people... not even DS.... (gasp!!!! ohhh the blasphemy!!!!!! )

But, with their Bounce Pass, you get tickets to everything, making it virtually for free....

Is it worth a day, or a half-day or two, of our precious time???
What is worthwhile, other than coasters????
What should we look forward to???
What should we avoid???

We are already cramming in the Historic sites, Washington DC, Water Country, A day driving up the East Coast (the bridge-tunnel) etc...

I hate to be sorry if we over-do-it.

Thanks!!!

We are BGW APs and we just returned from our most recent trip. It was the first year they had "Christmas Town" which was beautiful and the park was open only at night. They even had live penguins from Sea World which my DD loved. Our DD is 11, but she "allowed" us to even go to the Sesame Street Christmas show which was a lot of fun. We would defintely attend it next year.

In your case I would absolutely recommend a day at BG. It is a beautiful park that is spotless with clean restrooms, plenty of parking and the "CMs" are always so friendly.

Our DD is now 11 and we still find many "family friendly" rides to go on. BG isn't just about roller coasters or scary rides. If you go online to their website, you'll find all the info. about each section of the park and the rides. Personally, I would skip Water Country and do BG instead, if I had to make a choice.

They offer many great dining options, too. If you like German food and desserts and beer on tap, I would recommend Das Festhaus in the German section. It has TONS of seating and a German band plays throughout the day. If you love BBQ then you must eat in New France at the Trapper's Smokehouse, it's great.

BGW isn't just about the rides! Our favorite part are all of the animal exhibits and the show "Pet Shenanigans". They have Timber Wolves, eagles, an aviary that you can walk-through and interact with the birds, live shows, a train, cute shops, a gondola lift, Clydesdales...

There is something for everyone!

BTW, if you are active-duty military, tix are free.