Williamsburg - Busch Gardens and More

[KIfan1980]

To celebrate my parents 45th anniversary this summer, the family scheduled a vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia. While the focus of the trip was the parents and Colonial Williamsburg, we also had the opportunity to enjoy some of the other attractions in the area - so here is my (likely not so short) summary for you all.

I'll spare the history lesson on Colonial Williamsburg - but look it up. It is a very interesting place to visit.

Kyle and I did get to fire a cannon - so that was cool

What I'm sure there is more interest in was our trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg - I'll begin with some of my thoughts on the park and then share some pictures.

• BGW is what you'd expect from a Busch Gardens park - beautifully landscaped, well themed, clean, and inviting
  
• In addition to the rides, there are some great shows - Celtic Fyre was incredible and some wonderful food - Trappers Smokehouse was a great recommendation
  
• They also had an illuminights event and fireworks - which I was able to experience from Apollo's Chariots
  
• I took advantage of the single ride Quick Queue - while likely not necessary on the day we visited, it helped me ride some 54" rides without causing the family to wait and gave me the opportunity for some extra rides later in the evening than I'd have otherwise got
  

Now for my thoughts on the rides - overall I loved the coasters, but I found myself surprised by an element on each of them (maybe I'm just too picky). In addition to the coasters, the park has a good selection of family friendly flats that are well spaced throughout the park along with some fun transport rides (train, skyride, boat ride)

• Alpengeist - I love B&M Inverts and this did not disappoint. The first half of the ride includes a sweeping first drop, Immelmann, Vertical Loop, and Cobra Roll that I could ride all day long - amazing. But you better be ready for the snap into the mid course or you'll be nursing a headache for a few minutes.
  
• Griffon - While not expecting much from the dive machine, I was very happily surprised. The drop, action, and pacing throughout the ride (until the very end) had me wanting to ride again and again. These are definitely outside of front row rides in my opinion.
  
• Apollos Chariot - A good B&M Hyper with some great elements including the turnaround at the edge of the lake and wonderful return portion of the "out and back" layout as it dives across and under the out portion with some good airtime pops. Not as good as Diamondback, in my opinion, mainly due to what felt like a flat spot along the lake at the bottom of the first drop. Left me wondering what was supposed to be there (think SoB drop post loop removal). Kyle (my 7, now 8 year old) was very excited that this B&M Hyper had a 52" height requirement!
  
• Loch Ness Monster - I nice old Arrow Looper with tight loops and an enclosed helix with I think three tight turns for those that like laterals. What made this special for me was the 48" wristband that Neil (my 5 year old) got for the first time ever on this trip - so we got to share his first big boy coaster, his first inversions, and a great memory together.
  
• Curse of Darkastle - although I'm not the biggest dark ride fan, this is an amazing 3D experience, although I'm not going to try and explain it
  
• Europe in the Air - a fun flight through the sights of Europe
  
• Escape from Pompeii - the theming on soak ride is amazing
  

Alpengeist

Griffon

Loch Ness Monster

Alpie and Griffon

Great first drop

This kind of beauty is everywhere at BGW

This turnaround is great

Coming out of the trees as seen from the boat ride

I love this kind of family ride (it's too bad my local park doesn't have one)

Did I mention that 48" wristband!

And the Good Food - but don't ask me how Kyle can get Corn above his eye

If you go to BGW - do not miss this show.

If I get a chance later, I'll add a couple of pics from the rest of our trip, including a visit to an Army Museum of Transportation, Virginia Beach, and Water Country USA.

[jdawg1998]

I really wish I could check out this place. In fact, on my way home from Hilton Head this summer, we went right down the coast of Virginia, so I had to ask my parents if we could go.

They said no.

[Titan]

This is by far one of the most beautiful parks I've been too! Great theming, rides, and shows!

[KIfan1980]

As promised, here are a couple of adds to the PTR. In addition to our day at Busch Gardens and the time at Colonial Williamsburg, we also visited a few other area attractions. While I would have liked a trip to Kings Dominion, I'd like to remain married even more, so one day of riding/coasters was the max for this vacation.

Here are some quick thoughts on our other activities:

• Virginia Beach - a top notch beach with great sand, good surf for playing in, an amazing long boardwalk, and it has the added bonus of being on the flight line for Naval Air Station Oceana - we probably saw 50+ F18's fly past while we were there. My boys could play in the sand and water all day long, so this was a good day for them
  
• US Army Transportation Museum (Fort Eustiss, VA) - a free museum where we had a chance to see some indoor exhibits and some outdoor displays of various Army Transportation. There were a ton of Trucks, Jeeps, Hummers, Motorcycles, Helicopters, Trains, Ducks, Planes. A lightly visited place that was well worth the 90 minutes we spent there - although you need to be prepared to enter through base security which is an interesting experience.
  
• Go Karts Plus - a typical go cart track experience which also includes some other rides (kiddie coaster, Disko, bumper boats). This is a vacation only activity for us which we always enjoy.
  
• Water Country USA - a separately located and admission water park affiliated with BGW which was a lot of fun. They have a ton of different areas to play and enjoy - my only complaint would be the distance you must travel to get to some of them. Highlight was the Hubba Hubba Highway - think a lazy river, but with just lifejackets (no tubes).
  

If you know me, you know I didn't let my nephew past in this race

The boys loved riding in the NASCAR themed go karts.

Note that I don't need the credit that badly but the boys enjoyed

Kyle loves the waves

Neil loves the sand

They thought this hovercraft was cool

I prefer something that can tackle a big load

Cool water play at Water Country

After we returned from vacation, Neil was so excited that he'd crossed 48", he demanded we go to KI so that he could ride the big rides there.

We started at Flight Deck

He got to ride Blue Racer "because it always wins" with his brother

He also conquered AE and BLSC that day and at Dustin's going away party added Red Racer, Vortex, and for his 25th Coaster, The Beast - not bad for a 5 year old

[jdawg1998]

My five year old sister is 39 inches. She is very short, and being a coaster crazy, it makes me mad that she can't ride any of the rides with me yet!

[kingsrattler]

Busch Gardens williamsburg is def. one of the most beautiful parks I have been to. It was such a sight to see. I don't think I will ever see a show as good as Celtic Fyre as they dance on the table right in front of me.

[Dvo]

Can't agree more. I've been to BGW twice in my life, and it's just an incredible park. You really feel like you've left America as soon as you walk through the gates. It's gorgeous in every way, and their ride collection is fantastic. Personally I think Apollo's Chariot beats Diamondback by a landslide. But this might be the wrong site on which to be posting that tidbit...

[google13]

i havent been to the one in williamsburg but i have been to the one in tampa and i thought it was def in my top 3 list

1 kingsisland (because i live next to it)

2 dollywood (because i have been going there every year since i was 5)

3 busch gardens tampa (because of the themeing and when i was there i didnt even notice that the park was surronded by roads because it was so relaxing)

[Avatar]

I really enjoyed reading your report as I have been longing to do a family trip to the area. I may be getting back to you for some suggestions in the near future. The pictures you took were stunning, the report was informative and I truly enjoyed the read.