Who Knew We Were Virginians?

[jenseib]

We kept moving in what appeared to be the right direction for food.











Don’t you just love all the flowers?







Here we go…..this is where we should’ve headed to from the start.







I started towards the Festhaus and Amanda told me that wasn’t it. It was a show…oh really? So we kept walking and I looked at the map and said, no it has food and I am going there. There was a bit of a debate and we argued about it even till the moment we walked in, but the map said food and it had a menu outside, so that is where I was going.

It became clear when we walked in that it was in fact a show….with tables around so you could eat and watch at the same time if you chose to.



The show was not on right now and we headed in to get some lunch. There were lots of different stations with different choices. Claire wanted pizza. I did not, but they didn’t have a kiddie pizza nor did they have kiddie prices. The food was VERY expensive.
We chose pizza, mozzarella sticks and a strawberry shortcake to share and we each got a drink. I would’ve gotten something different, but I knew Claire would not eat all of this and I didn’t want to waste money.



I think this meal was around $25 - $30 if my memory serves me right …and not worth it at all.

Claire and I found a table and sat down. We texted Amanda, but cell coverage was very spotty all over Williamsburg, so sometimes it took a while for the texts to go through.
I sent Claire to get them then and let them know where we were sitting.



Our seats looked like they would be a prime spot to see the show, but the downer to it was there was a mega fan blowing air from the ceiling. The napkins would blow away and it was darn right chilly. Of course by then it started filling up and it wouldn’t be easy to move all 5 of us.
On top of chilly seats, the pizza was cold, the mozzarella sticks were cold and the food just wasn’t very good. Mom got a delicious looking sandwich and she gave me some of it. It was wonderful! So much better than the crap I was trying to eat. I think I also ate some of Amanda’s sandwich, which was different than Moms and much better than the pizza as well. We did share the pizza and I think Dad had a bit of that.
On the plus side, the strawberry shortcake was fabulous. We all shared it and at times we had some fight forks going on.

We checked the show times and one was going to start in about 30 minutes, so Claire and I went off to the bathroom and then on a hunt for sunglasses for her. Ironically the ones we found kind of look like Minnie Mouse themed.



We walked around a bit and got warmed up and then headed back inside for the show.
We found the family and sat down and only had a few minutes to wait.
I took a ton of pictures of the show. It was sort of a snow white theme, but the names and story was a little different …….and extremely cheesy! The singing was also not anywhere near Disney talent. That kind of surprised me. This was a major theme park chain, and I would think they could get better talent.

They come out at first and sang about their town and then tell us it is famous for one story and then go into telling/acting the story.

 

[Caretames1]

Once you go Disney, you weigh it against any place you ever travel in the future!

The price for that lunch is crazy!


I'm very much enjoying the scenery, it must have been so mice to see all the flowers and greenery while it was cold back at home!

 

[jenseib]

Once you go Disney, you weigh it against any place you ever travel in the future!

The price for that lunch is crazy!


I'm very much enjoying the scenery, it must have been so mice to see all the flowers and greenery while it was cold back at home!

That is so true!

Of course while I was gone, we had a heat wave at home and some days were warmer there than in Williamsburg....but we didn't have flowers at home.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Wow, those food prices are quite something and there was me thinking Disney was expensive. The strawberry shortcake does look amazing. I am surprised that the quality of the show was not too impressive. I have seen a few shows at Busch Gardens Tampa over the years and they were always amazing.

Corinna

 

[Poolrat]

I finally grabbed the map and found Amanda was leading us in the wrong direction, so we turned around.

I am sure you felt like doing this to Amanda by this point.

 

[jenseib]

Wow, those food prices are quite something and there was me thinking Disney was expensive. The strawberry shortcake does look amazing. I am surprised that the quality of the show was not too impressive. I have seen a few shows at Busch Gardens Tampa over the years and they were always amazing.

Corinna

I have found many other theme and amusement parks are really expensive when it comes to food and almost make Disney look like a bargain. LOL

I am sure you felt like doing this to Amanda by this point.

Ummmm....yes!

 

[mickeystoontown]

The way you are describing the hilly pathways of Busch Gardens reminds me of the theme parks in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. You get a workout just from walking up all those hills.

Once you've gone Disney, it's hard not to compare every other theme park to Disney. They simply can't compare. My Mama fusses at us all the time that we need to stop comparing and enjoy. We do enjoy, it's just not the same.

 

[jenseib]

The way you are describing the hilly pathways of Busch Gardens reminds me of the theme parks in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. You get a workout just from walking up all those hills.

Once you've gone Disney, it's hard not to compare every other theme park to Disney. They simply can't compare. My Mama fusses at us all the time that we need to stop comparing and enjoy. We do enjoy, it's just not the same.

You are so right. They are just not up to our Disney standards!

 

[scottny]

The grounds look gorgeous.
Long lines are the worst. Nice she gave you a little extra.
The coasters look crazy there. I watch the youtube videos and wonder why people go on. LOL
I hate when I get cold food.
All caught up

 

[jenseib]

The grounds look gorgeous.
Long lines are the worst. Nice she gave you a little extra.
The coasters look crazy there. I watch the youtube videos and wonder why people go on. LOL
I hate when I get cold food.
All caught up

It was very pretty there.
Claire was all excited about getting a snack voucher.
I can't do coasters either....just not in the cards anymore for me.

 

[jenseib]

This is the character that was “like” Snow White. Now this will sound awful, but she annoyed the heck out of me. First off I noticed her jeans/pants ….whatever they were. They were so tight they were riding up her rear. Couldn’t they afford to get her a bigger size? I am not one to talk, as I am large on the lower half, but so was this girl. I am not saying because you have a larger rear and thighs you can’t be the main character….but what I am saying is dress her appropriately! She looked awful. And sadly her singing was not that great. Sure she is 100 times better than me, but still not a fabulous singer to be the main character.







This was Goldie Locks and Rapunzel. (I think Red Riding Hood is in there somewhere too.) They were singing some modern songs. I think one was Material Girl. They were encouraging her to find the Prince so she would be basically rich. Yeah the message wasn’t on the lines of Disney either.













Pinocchio.







This segment did have some neat gymnastics.













And now I believe the villains came out…..I can’t remember exactly what they were doing.








Claire was loving this show. Amanda and I exchanged a few eye rolls at times but we also laughed at how mesmerized Claire was.

 

[jenseib]

Finally the girl (I wish I could remember the character’s name) found the Prince and we were set up for a flashy fun celebration.



The Prince ended up being the narrator of the whole story.





They then played Dancing Queen and we were treated to several different acts.





The stage was set up in the middle of the room. There were tables on both halves and they really did a good job at going back and forth so those sitting on both sides could see and enjoy everything.





















And it was over. Again, this was extremely cheesy!!!! But Claire loved it. And we shared in her excitement as she talked about her favorite scenes.
One more stop to the bathrooms before we headed back outside. Which of course a lot of people were doing, but they were pretty big and we got in and out of there fairly fast.
I think we lost Dad and had to go on a hunt for him for a few minutes though.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Thanks for the copious pictures of the show in the Festhaus. They were just finishing up a performance as we walked in for a bit of dinner, so we never caught that one. Sounds like the way to watch that one is to pretty much ignore the plot and focus on the acrobatics that pop up throughout. I’d probably find the choice of pop tunes awkwardly forced into the story line a might annoying as well, but I’d get over it pretty quickly so long as I had a good beer in hand (and they do have those Festhaus).

Sorry you didn’t enjoy the meal though. I’ll agree that it’s pricy, but comparable to most theme parks. We however avoided the “pizza” offerings (which seems to have been a good decision) and went for the ribs, sausages and deli sandwiches (along with the beer of course). Those were pretty all good.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I have to say the costuming in general looks a little suspect.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

Thanks for the copious pictures of the show in the Festhaus. They were just finishing up a performance as we walked in for a bit of dinner, so we never caught that one. Sounds like the way to watch that one is to pretty much ignore the plot and focus on the acrobatics that pop up throughout. I’d probably find the choice of pop tunes awkwardly forced into the story line a might annoying as well, but I’d get over it pretty quickly so long as I had a good beer in hand (and they do have those Festhaus).

Sorry you didn’t enjoy the meal though. I’ll agree that it’s pricy, but comparable to most theme parks. We however avoided the “pizza” offerings (which seems to have been a good decision) and went for the ribs, sausages and deli sandwiches (along with the beer of course). Those were pretty all good.

I missed the beer. That might've made the pizza taste better.
And yes the acrobatics were good, the story...not so much.
the deli sandwiches is what my sister and mom got and I wish i would've too. But mom gave me enough to make me happy. We pawned off the crappy pizza on Dad then.

I have to say the costuming in general looks a little suspect.

Corinna

Yes it does.

 

[Caretames1]

I believe we are all Disney spoiled.

Weird pants, I agree. I as the performer would have felt people looking at my backside.

 

[jenseib]

I believe we are all Disney spoiled.

Weird pants, I agree. I as the performer would have felt people looking at my backside.

Yes...Disney really does ruin other places for you.

Those pants were horrid. If I wore those around in a performance my mother would've came on stage and scolded me!

 

[mtpelepele]

I see that you saw Entwined. I am so, so sorry. BGW's VP of Entertainment is, well, anything but entertaining. That show is a train wreck. It was bad last year, so they completely reworked it, and somehow made it worse. Hopefully you saw some of the park's better entertainment, such as Celtic Fire in Ireland.

 

[jenseib]

I see that you saw Entwined. I am so, so sorry. BGW's VP of Entertainment is, well, anything but entertaining. That show is a train wreck. It was bad last year, so they completely reworked it, and somehow made it worse. Hopefully you saw some of the park's better entertainment, such as Celtic Fire in Ireland.

LOL...Glad it wasn't just me.
no we did not see Celtic Fire....Darn it!

 

[MEK]

So, yeah, I remember eating at Octoberfest when Denny and I were there. I don't think we had pizza, but I could be wrong.

The show was totally different when we were there. Too bad the singing was so crappy. I know there was a lot of dancing in our show and somehow I ended up dancing on stage. Thanks GOD there are no pictures of THAT!

Too funny about the overly tight yellow pants. Definitely not the same level of talent as Disneyworld, but I have seen some good acts there in the summer. It's probably a real transient place for singers/dancers/actors.

Love all the gorgeous tulip pictures. Just lovely.