Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[coasterfreak101]

Oh wow, that sampler deal sounds like an amazing value. We were so blown away by Food & Wine last year that we actually upgraded to season passes and made the trip from DC a second time just a few weeks later! Can't wait to check it out this year.

[Jcoaster]

Its been awhile in this thread. Has anyone checked out Marco Polo's yet?

[cfc]

^Yep. Overall, the food is pretty good, but lines for some of the stations can be a bit slow. For example, the beef at the Mediterranean station is delicious, but they have to carve it, so the line backs up. The Mongolian Beef is good; the Asian station usually has no wait (I think because the food is easier to serve).

 

Haven't tried the flatbread yet, but the cannolis are very good.

[Jcoaster]

Awesome, I was excited that this was being added. Busch always has great food which is an added bonus. I heard the Mediterranean station had Lamb, so I'm intrigued.

[djcoastermark]

Lamb, at a US park ? now I'm intrigued.

[cfc]

^They do, indeed, have lamb.

 

[djcoastermark]

^ wow that menu looks great. Have you tried the lamb? That's what I like about the Busch parks, when they set their minds to it they come up with some really cool things. (food wise, not to forget theming, rides and asthetics)

[Barge84]

Thanks for the update, Chuck. I'm thinking that next year will be an all domestic park year for me. I miss coming to BGW for food and wine! That pass seems like a fantastic idea, and I'm actually amazed that a park would offer any sort of discount during one of these events. Maybe Epcot could follow suit...

[Physical]

I'm making my first trip down to BGW on the 16th of June. We're figuring it's early season so the crowds won't be too bad. Can anybody comment on average queue length? We're planning on driving down early morning, spending the whole day there open to close, then driving back the same day (10 hours(!!!) of driving total) so if lines are bad we'll probably spring for quick queue.

[deguy123]

Now I'm even more excited about going on June 11th! The Food and Wine Festival is a big plus for me since I love trying different foods. (Most likely going to get that pass for 35 dollars).

 

I haven't been to the park since BBW's last year so excited for the few credits I need!

[njcoasterguy34]

I'm making my first trip down to BGW on the 16th of June. We're figuring it's early season so the crowds won't be too bad. Can anybody comment on average queue length? We're planning on driving down early morning, spending the whole day there open to close, then driving back the same day (10 hours(!!!) of driving total) so if lines are bad we'll probably spring for quick queue.

 

I haven't been to the park in June, so I can't say anything about that. However, if you're going to do QuickQueue, do the QuickQueue Unlimited. The regular QuickQueue only lets you skip to the front of the line once for each ride that has QuickQueue.

[Physical]

I'm making my first trip down to BGW on the 16th of June. We're figuring it's early season so the crowds won't be too bad. Can anybody comment on average queue length? We're planning on driving down early morning, spending the whole day there open to close, then driving back the same day (10 hours(!!!) of driving total) so if lines are bad we'll probably spring for quick queue.

 

I haven't been to the park in June, so I can't say anything about that. However, if you're going to do QuickQueue, do the QuickQueue Unlimited. The regular QuickQueue only lets you skip to the front of the line once for each ride that has QuickQueue.

 

We were only planning on getting it if the park is slammed. Sounds like quickqueue unlimited is the better deal if you're planning on hitting anything more than once.

[HARLEYGUYJB]

Now I want a Spam sandwich!!

[Paladin7485]

Last minute and we plan to visit Busch Gardens early in the morning as its a 3 hour drive. They are closed and Id like to see if anyone here had a similar issue. Back in March I purchased fun passes for several family members. Here it is June and two members expressly do not wish to go. I have the pass printed with the barcode and never used. Will BG transfer the pass to another family member like Kings Dominion? Id hate to drive all the way up there and they wont take the passes. Thanks

[Saldek]

I'm making my first trip down to BGW on the 16th of June. We're figuring it's early season so the crowds won't be too bad. Can anybody comment on average queue length? We're planning on driving down early morning, spending the whole day there open to close, then driving back the same day (10 hours(!!!) of driving total) so if lines are bad we'll probably spring for quick queue.

 

Crowds will be light to moderate since you'll be going on a weekday. And next week is the last week of school for area public schools so the park won't be too crowded with locals. The longest I've waited for rides around this time is ~10-15 minutes for Alpengeist. Griffon, AC and Bolt were all 5-10 minute wait times on average and much less towards the end of the day. If you can arrive by opening, go ride Tempesto first and get that out of the way since that has the worst capacity of all the major coasters.

[Physical]

I'm making my first trip down to BGW on the 16th of June. We're figuring it's early season so the crowds won't be too bad. Can anybody comment on average queue length? We're planning on driving down early morning, spending the whole day there open to close, then driving back the same day (10 hours(!!!) of driving total) so if lines are bad we'll probably spring for quick queue.

 

Crowds will be light to moderate since you'll be going on a weekday. And next week is the last week of school for area public schools so the park won't be too crowded with locals. The longest I've waited for rides around this time is ~10-15 minutes for Alpengeist. Griffon, AC and Bolt were all 5-10 minute wait times on average and much less towards the end of the day. If you can arrive by opening, go ride Tempesto first and get that out of the way since that has the worst capacity of all the major coasters.

 

Thanks for the insight! I'm totally unfamiliar with this park, haven't even looked at a map yet. What's the best way to hit everything? You said start with Tempesto and I know it's pretty much right next to AC, so we'd probably hit AC immediately after. From there, what's the best way to go around the park?

[Saldek]

You said start with Tempesto and I know it's pretty much right next to AC, so we'd probably hit AC immediately after. From there, what's the best way to go around the park?

 

If you're trying to knock all of the coasters out right away, you can head to Oktoberfest after riding AC and hit up Bolt, and from Oktoberfest you can hit up Alpengeist in Germany and Griffon in France. After Griffon, you can either walk back to the front of the park to ride Nessie or catch the train in New France, which is a short walk from Griffon. The train will drop you off near Nessie's entrance.

[RollerManic]

You said start with Tempesto and I know it's pretty much right next to AC, so we'd probably hit AC immediately after. From there, what's the best way to go around the park?

 

If you're trying to knock all of the coasters out right away, you can head to Oktoberfest after riding AC and hit up Bolt, and from Oktoberfest you can hit up Alpengeist in Germany and Griffon in France. After Griffon, you can either walk back to the front of the park to ride Nessie or catch the train in New France, which is a short walk from Griffon. The train will drop you off near Nessie's entrance.

I would hit Nessie first so that it doesn't feel outdone by the other rides. Nessie has some very good forces and a batsh!t awesome first drop.

[coasterfreak101]

I would hit Nessie first so that it doesn't feel outdone by the other rides. Nessie has some very good forces and a batsh!t awesome first drop.

Yeah, don't miss Loch Ness in the back car. That first drop still gets me, it's genuinely shocking.

[Jcoaster]

LNM is a great legacy to Arrow, we are all thankful that it is still around delivering great rides....Hopefully for many more years to come.

 

Everyone knows there has been a purge of Arrow coasters the past couple years so I like to savor all we have left

[esvadj]

Was at the park the last two consecutive Saturday's for the Food and Wine Fest, I cannot say enough good things about this event. I wish I could have tried everything, but even over 2 Saturday's it was almost impossible. I will guess and say that I tried over 1/2 of all the offerings. I feel that Epcot's Food and Wine is still better, but BG is catching up fast.

 

My two food favorites by far were : Sonoran Spice Pork in the American Southwest, and Bananas Foster Cheesecake in the French Quarter.

 

Rode most everything, Verbolten is getting rough or I'm getting old.

 

Noticed a TON of land clearing, not on the Invadr site but over by Drachen Fire (Festhaus Park) The concrete pad that sat between the station and the maintenance building is completely gone and has been pushed toward the back side of Verbolten. All the land between the Drachen Fire and Verbolten has been stripped.

[deguy123]

I was at the park this Saturday and the Food and Wine Festival was amazing! My favorite food was the Dumpling from Asia. The day started off great with only a 20 minute wait for Tempesto which was a great ride. We tried a bunch of food and rode a few other rides.

 

We THEN headed over to Verbolten and did a huge mistake by putting both cellphones in my pocket. As a coaster crazy person, this was me being an complete idiot. BOTH phones were gone once the ride stopped but long story shot, they found them and are being shipped back to us. I had no idea that ride was that crazy and the person in lost & found said that ride has the most lost items/phones. The park was very helpful but I know we are facebook post somewhere about two stupid people who both lost their cellphones

 

Anyway the park was amazing as I hadn't been there since 2011 when I rode BBW!

[esvadj]

I was at the park this Saturday and the Food and Wine Festival was amazing! My favorite food was the Dumpling from Asia.

 

 

Two other people told me the dumpling was their favorite also. I think I tried it late in the day on Saturday and the dumpling had been in the steamer for a while, it was very rubber-ey. Still good though. Glad they found your phone.

[Saldek]

Anyway the park was amazing as I hadn't been there since 2011 when I rode BBW!

 

BBW closed in September 2009.

[Physical]

What's the weather policy like? Now that our date is near, we realized they're calling for rain. We both had to request off to make this trip happen, so we can't reschedule easily.