Busch Gardens

[Rhome30]

Hey everyone, I am going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg on June 12th. I was wondering if you guys have any tips on the park (being that it is my first time going)

[SnooSnoo]

I went alone my first time (well, my dad came, but he couldn't ride).. about the same time you did last year.. and everything was a walk-on besides Griffon, but with single rider, it was 10 minutes at most.

All I can really advice is that you enjoy your day. Crowds shouldn't be nasty on a weekday.

[Rhome30]

I went alone my first time (well, my dad came, but he couldn't ride).. about the same time you did last year.. and everything was a walk-on besides Griffon, but with single rider, it was 10 minutes at most.

All I can really advice is that you enjoy your day. Crowds shouldn't be nasty on a weekday.

Well, the thing is that it is going to be mid-day on a Friday..... would that make a difference?

[catgrrl]

well, schools in that area get out that week, so it may be a bit busy. Fridays are much better than Saturdays though as far as crowds go.

Griffon will be the longest line since it is new, don't be surprised if the line is an hour long if you aren't there early in the day. Also if it is hot, Roman Rapids will have a long line. The others should be much shorter as long as the park isn't crowded.
I'm one of those people that likes to ride the rides in each "country" and then move on, so I'm not the best to tell you how to hit the rides most efficiently.

My recommendations for great food is the Festhaus in Germany, or the Smokehouse in New France.

I hope you have fun! That's my home park. :D

[Alpengeist]

Pretty much what catgrrl said. Since you are going midday, the order you hit the coasters isn't as important. If you were able to get there at opening, this is a good order to follow.

Griffon
Log Flume (if you feel the need to ride it)
Alpengeist
DarKastle
Big Bad Wolf
Apollo's Chariot
Roman Rapids
Pompeii
Loch Ness Monster
Corkscrew Hill

When I follow that order, I can have the park done by 1 pm.

[Cedar Point]

Tip: Ride Griffon front row, far right seat. Best ride EVAR.

[Squid2]

Don't forget to just spend some time and walk around the park, enjoying the sights. There are some wonderful sights and things to see... soak up the atmosphere!

When I go, I try and spend as much time as I can in the park... the only time I've left before close is when I had to leave early to make the drive back to Georgia... or when the park was shut down due to heavy, heavy rain. Yes, you can ride all the major rides in the park in a few hours. But that means that you don't see or experience much of what the park has to offer.

I find that for new guests to the park, a great way to orient yourself is to take the train for a full trip around the park. It's a big place, and the train goes by all the major sights and attractions. The train has stops in Scotland, Italy, and France, with Scotland being the closest to the entrance.

I could type out a huge list of what is where, what's best, etc... but I'm exhausted from work and a very long weekend. If you would like, I'd be glad to give you an indepth list for the park.

Squid2

[TheFreshEffect]

My recommendations for great food is the Festhaus in Germany, or the Smokehouse in New France.

Mmm :up:

[codered195]

Hop You have fun!

[stormrunner2592]

oh well while he is at it, im going toward the end of june, dont know the exact dates but i will be in williamsburg for like 5 days i believe 23-28 so if anybody knows how crowded it would be during that time period it would be nice to know, and last time i was there was about 3 years ago, before the era of griffon so im pretty stoked about riding it

[catgrrl]

It will probably be pretty crowded, especially on Saturdays. Middle of the week is usually much better time to go if you can. Try to get to the park early too; I believe the "England" section (where you enter the park) opens at 10, and the rest of the lands open up by 1030 at the latest. And I think the Roman Rapids open at 11. But all of the rest of the park should be open by 1030AM. That way you can hit some of the coasters before the park gets too infested with people.

Hope you have fun! I'll probably not get to go this years as we are saving up for DisneyWorld.

[Rhome30]

I am actually driving down from Maryland (4 hours away) that same day, which is the day after I get out of school so I'm not sure how early I'm going to get there.

[Squid2]

When are you getting down there? Are you leaving early in the morning, so you can get there by opening?

The list of what I wouldn't miss:

Apollo's Chariot
Alpengeist
Loch Ness Monster
Griffon
Big Bad Wolf
Curse of DarKastle
Escape from Pompeii

These are what I consider the iconic rides of the park. Hit them all, if you can.

Squid2

[Rhome30]

When are you getting down there? Are you leaving early in the morning, so you can get there by opening?

The list of what I wouldn't miss:

Apollo's Chariot
Alpengeist
Loch Ness Monster
Griffon
Big Bad Wolf
Curse of DarKastle
Escape from Pompeii

These are what I consider the iconic rides of the park. Hit them all, if you can.

Squid2

Well, I should get there about 12-1 P.M.

[Rhome30]

alright since I already have a thread started, I am going to give you guys a trip report:

We got there at 2 P.M., and the park was almost empty. Luckily Busch had the military discount, so my whole family got in for free. Here are my overall thoughts on the rides.

Escape from Pompeii: This was a neat water ride with some nice theming.

Loch Ness Monster: This one was actually a surprise for me because I wasn't expecting much. No lines at the time, and we got on 2 times in a row. There were some thrilling parts on this ride such as the first drop and the big overturn after the first hill. The loops were fun, but not all that great. Me and my brother rode this one at night also, and it was a totally different experience. You just didn't know what was in front of you on the ride.

Big Bad Wolf: I admit, I was a little intimidated by the sharp turns at first, but when I rode it I was a little disappointed. We also rode this one at night. It was a totally different experience at night because of the theme of the ride.... it fit so well. I was getting the goosebumps going over the first hill.

Apollo's Chariot: This one I was also pretty intimidated by, but once I got on I really enjoyed it. The overturn by the edge of the water really surprised me. We also rode this one at night, and let me just say WOW. This was also my last coaster for the day, as we rode it 10 minutes before closing.
(Note: Apollo's Chariot was also my first B&M coaster :D)

Curse of DarKastle: This was a nice dark ride with some nice theming. The queue line is really cool looking. I just wish they had more of a story to go with it.

Alpengeist(spelling): I was a little disappointed with this one. I expected so much out of this one because of the great reviews from the other coaster enthusiasts. The first drop was pretty intense, but not what I expected. The loops were fun but kinda dragged you around a little bit. I think the ending corkscrews were the most smooth part of the ride. A little bit of a disappointing start to my B&M invert list.

Griffon: We got to this one at about 8:30, and the sun was still setting. This was by far the best coaster I have ever ridden. On the drop, I nearly pissed my pants. The ride was as smooth as butter, and better yet the wait was only 10 minutes. The overall ride gets a 10/10 from me.

Favorite coasters in order:

Griffon
Apollo's Chariot
Alpengeist
Loch Ness Monster
Big Bad Wolf


Overall: This was a nice day, not too hot, the lines weren't long, and the food was awesome.

[Squid2]

Nice trip report. Considering that the lines weren't long, did you ride anything else, like Le Scoot? Or the train and sky buckets? Those give excellent views of the park.

Squid2

[Rhome30]

Nice trip report. Considering that the lines weren't long, did you ride anything else, like Le Scoot? Or the train and sky buckets? Those give excellent views of the park.

Squid2

I rode the sky buckets to get from place to place because we were running out of time on the trip. I didn't even see Le Scoot a whole lot. The train, again, I ran out of time. I would have loved to ride them though

[catgrrl]

Glad you had fun, Rhome30! Yes, it definitely makes a big difference riding Big Bad Wolf at night. Especially when you get to the drop down to the river.....:)

[TheFreshEffect]

'Apollo's Chariot' at night is ecstasy.

[Squid2]

Two of my top three night rides are Big Bad Wolf and Apollo's Chariot. (Thunderhead at Dollywood is the other one.)

Squid2