Report: Trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg Aug 2 About This Page:

[HiddenMickey]

At the beginning of the summer I told my 10 yr old DS that I would take him and some friends to a theme park for the day to make up for missing the class trip to BGW back in May (we were on vacation already).



So, last week I picked out Monday Aug 2 as the day to go. We invited 4 different friends, two could make it, the others were out of town. So, my DS, his two 11 yr old friends and my 9 yr DD, were good to go.



I bought tickets on Saturday at our local AAA outlet for $41. The cost at the gate is $46.95 plus tax.



We had videos for the ride and the kids each brought other activities to keep themselves occupied.



We left our house about 7:20am and picked up the other two kids before 7:45 and were on our way to Virginia from Durham NC. The weather was 73 degrees and foggy in many places as we drove. The roads were in pretty good shape and we made good time (not too fast though as there were troopers out along the way). By the time we were on the outskirts of Richmond the sun was peeking out and the temps were up to 85 degrees.



We reached the parking gates about 11am and had quite the wait to pay. I was surprised there were so many people coming in an hour after opening on a Monday. Got a place to park, slathered on sun lotion and grabbed hats and we were off for the trams. It's been ages since we've ridden a tram, so we pretended it was a ride too .



There was a very big crowd at the ticket booths, so the kids and I were glad we prepaid and could walk right past them. It's been almost five years since I've been and I didn't remember the ticket gates and entry gates being so far apart. We kept walking and walking and the kids asked why we didn't have to show our tickets as it looked like we were already in the parks at this point (restrooms and other buildings along the path).



I was the only one with a bag (fanny pack) and so I stood in a short line to get it checked and the kids looked over a nearby railing at the water below. For anyone who has not been to BGW before, this park is extremely vegitated and has lots of water features. A very lovely place to visit!



Once in the park, we had our obligatory picture taken at the entrance, we stopped into the pipe shop and then hit the restroom. The Pipe shop was the boy's favorite store in the park: lots of swords, knives and other weapons! They all ended up buying something there at the end of our day.



First attraction was in the Globe Theater...4-D Haunted House. Cute 4-D adventure about some ghost kids and some real kids who get involved with them unexpectedly with a happy ending for all.



Then on to Loch Ness Monster rollercoaster. There wasn't much of a line yet, and we were almost immediately on the ride. Since there were five of us, we often had to split up. Both my kids wanted to ride with me, as this was the biggest roller coaster they'd ever been on. I had them sit together in front of me and I sat alone behind them. BGW is not good about sitting singles with other singles and often had empty seats on rides. They did great and came off with big smiles and high fives for all. The other two boys had ridden in the very back.



We then made our way to Germany for the Big Bad Wolf. We were determined to get the big stuff done early so we could redo later if we wanted. We all ended up doing this one as well. DD and I rode in the middle, DS and one friend in the very back, and the other friend in front of them. We got on our 'cars' before they got on their and had to wait. This ride is one that really makes your head whip side to side and gave me a headache the last time I rode. So, in preparatiion, I bought a refillable drink bottle (was hot and thirsty too) and took some motrin while in line. Seemed to do the trick as my head didn't hurt afterwards.



We then made our way through Germany over to the Alpengeist. Only my son's two friends had the guts to ride this one, so the kids and I took a seat on a nearby bench and sent them to ride. We called DH at his office and the kids each talked to him while we waited. After about 10 minutes and darkening skys, people came pouring out of the ride que. The two boys had been about to get the next set of cars they said The park had just closed down all the rides due to impending bad weather! Ugh. Since it was nearly 1pm anyway, we decided to get a bite to eat. Of course, we chose to walk nearly the whole length of the park to get pizza in Italy. And it started POURING rain as we reached the restaurant. We were somewhat wet but found that one of the lines was still short and got in line for the food. Unfortunately, no pizza here! Ugh. Ended up with various other italian foods and stood up in an empty line area to eat, so we didn't have to go back in the pouring rain and try to find a table in the area across the way (I'm pretty sure they were all filled with people anyway). Not really satisfied after our meal (prices ranged around $7-11 for entrees), we decided to head out into the rain and see if there was anything we could do.



More later.....



-HiddenMickey

[Colexis Mom]

Great start HiddenMickey Keep it coming, and I hope the rain lets up soon!

[ncgal]

Sounds like a fun time. I love BGW!!!! I haven't been in 7 years so your report is bringing back great memories . If I had known you were going I would have gone and chaperoned with you . Waiting to hear if the rain let up as I know what the weather was like here yesterday....

[HiddenMickey]

We thought that since we were already in Italy, we'd try to do Escape from Pompeii next. There were no park workers out at the ride, so I left the kids by the lockers and went to ask a shop worker if she could find out how much longer it would be until they reopened rides. She called someone on the phones but they were not forthcoming with any information other than it was up to the managers. As far as I could discern, there was no clear policy for reopening. The rain had basically let up with only a few sprinkles left and it hadn't thundered or lighteninged for quite a while, so we figured it couldn't be too long, so we walked up to the que area. Several dozen people followed us and we stood around. Turns out it took over 40 minutes for them to open up the ride!!! There were a lot of unhappy folks in line. It made no sense why it took so long to get restarted.

We were the first ones on the boat, the four kids in the front row and me and three teenage girls in the row behind. The girl next to me said she was a screamer, so watch out . The ride is very short, but themed nicely and the drop at the end was great (reminiscent of Splash mountain). The kids feet were soaked when water swooshed over the front of the boat. We all agreed that it was a fun ride....though way too short.

We next decided to venture further into Italy and the three boys rode some sort of flying ride (I'm sorry I can't remember the name) that is one of those things that slings you all to one side of the car and squishes you as it goes around and around. They liked it. Meanwhile DD and I had a potty break.

We next did DaVinci's cradle. It is raining steadily again and all but DD get on this ride. It is a large "carpet" that is on two huge pistons and slings you up into the air and back down again in circles. We really liked it. So, much so that the boys went on again. No talking DD into it, so we waited under an awning for them. There was really no line for this ride or the previous one.

Next up was another sling-type ride for the two boy friends. DD, DS and I walked around and waited for them. Then we were all off to Roman River Rapids (a whole lot like Kali River Rapids without the theme). There were two lines, one for groups of 3 up to 6, and a line for 2s and singles. The line for groups our size was quite long, so we opted to split up and rode in smaller groupings. DS and one friend joined a group of 3, the other friend joined a group of 4 and DD and I joined a group of three. We liked this ride....the water that soaked us was much warmer than the rain and almost made you want to go swimming in it, it felt so good.

There was a funny thing in our line. There was a boy of about 8 years old who was in the front, but the ride worker would not let him get on the rafts. From what I could make out, he had cut in line and was caught doing so, and as punishment was made to wait and wait and wait, before they would let him get on again. He kept trying to get on the next raft and they kept telling him to come back, that it wasn't his turn. The worker pretty much validated my assumption when we inquired.

So now were are all throughly soaked to the bone....hard not to get wet on RRR, it seems.

More later.

-HiddenMickey

[Straitlover]

Oh, I hate DaVinci's Cradle!!! I think it's all that back and forth. Last time I rode it I almost hurled.

One day I will get the nerve to ride Apollo's Chariot. That thing looks scar-ry!!!

[immomto2]

I am with you regarding DaVincis cradle! You MUST ride Apollos Chariot. It is my 11 year olds all time favorite ride. I honestly think that my threat never to let her ride it again if she didnt follow her therapy guidelines after her accident is one of the reasons she has healed so well. She could not wait to get back on it! It is one of the coolest rides around. Just a word to the wise--do NOT ride on an outside seat (they are 4 in a row). I did just ONE time. Let me tell you, I was scared to death! You feel like you are going off the side of that first very big hill.
Angie

[MegglesMom]

What a great report! That's so funny about the line-cutter. Good strategy, I say!

[luvnwdwgal]

I've never been to BGW but would like to someday. Looking forward to more!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update

[katspjs]

We've been to Busch Gardens the past 2 years, but since we're going to WDW this fall, we decided to hold off to next year.

We really enjoyed the 3D movie, though DS was a bit scared and thought getting squirted with the water was hilarious! DS decided that he wanted to go on Roman Rapids and we went at night, at first we thought that they were going to shut the ride down because there was some heat lightning going on (they did shut the roller coaster down) but they let us on and he absolutely loved it! We didn't get soaked (figures as we had our bathing suits on), but the family we were sitting with were drenched!

We also have lunch in Italy and quite enjoy it. The food is rather good (IMHO) for an amusement park.

We also did Water Country USA the next day - LOVE Hubba Hubba Highway. My DS who doesn't swim so well thought it was really cool since he could just put on the life jacket and float around.

Can't wait to hear the rest of your TR.