Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[bgeguy 0]

"M" Stands for Major New Busch Gardens Attraction

 

New Sesame Street Area Debuts in 2009, Expands Park's Boundaries and Kid Offerings

 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Aug. 8, 2008) - "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?" Just follow the signs to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., as the park expands its children's offerings with a new home for Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and Big Bird.

 

The new Sesame Street attraction opens spring 2009, adding an all-new village adjacent to the England section of the park. Four new anchor rides offer kid-size versions of popular attractions, including a junior roller coaster and log flume themed after Sesame's beloved characters and designed for parents and children to share together. This new European-themed Sesame Street village will feature wet and dry play areas with net-and-rope climbs, retail and food outlets, including character dining, a 4-D movie, several stage performances by some of Sesame Street's most beloved characters, and a "1, 2, 3 Smile With Me" photo studio so families can capture memorable moments of their children interacting with Sesame Street's characters.

 

England's 900-seat Globe Theatre will be taken over by Sesame Street's biggest stars in a new 4-D movie that is as fun as it is imaginative. "Sesame Street presents Lights, Camera, Imagination!" features Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and others trying to save the Sesame Street Film Festival. Guests will not only see and hear the action - they will be immersed in it through state-of-the art visual effects and sensory surprises.

 

Families that want even more Sesame Street interaction can dine with Elmo and mingle with the cast of characters over breakfast or lunch at a Sesame Street-themed, indoor dining facility. Parents and children can pose for pictures with the furry red monster and his Sesame Street friends, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

 

"Sesame Street and Busch Gardens are both brands known for their unwavering commitment to quality. Combining the familiarity of Sesame Street's characters and Busch Gardens' family-friendly atmosphere makes for a natural partnership between these two iconic brands," said John Reilly, general manager and executive vice president of Busch Gardens. "The new Sesame Street attraction provides our youngest guests with kid-size versions of our grown-up rides, offering them an introduction to the park that only Busch Gardens and Sesame Workshop can offer."

 

The Sesame Street-themed area expands Busch Gardens' kid-focused attractions. The park's current lineup of kid friendly rides and attractions will remain, including the popular Land of the Dragons play area and junior rides throughout the park.

 

For nearly 40 years, Sesame Street has been engaging audiences around the world. The creation of Sesame Street-themed attractions is part of a long-term relationship announced in 2006 between the non-profit educational organization Sesame Workshop, and the Worlds of Discovery® parks.

 

Busch Gardens is a Worlds of Discovery park. Other Worlds of Discovery parks include Water Country USA in Williamsburg; Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fl.; the SeaWorld parks in San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando, Fl.; Sesame Place near Philadelphia; Discovery Cove in Orlando; Adventure Island in Tampa; and Aquatica, SeaWorld's water park, in Orlando.

 

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. As the single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa, Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives provide families tools for addressing such issues as children's health, military deployment and emergency preparedness. As a nonprofit, product proceeds and philanthropic donations support Sesame Workshop's educational research and creative content for children around the world. Learn more at http://www.sesameworkshop.org.

 

 

http://www.buschgardensnews.com/page/pressannouncement

[zeke11793 0]

Sounds like a nice addition to the park. It's cool that they're getting a new area, with the new rides, like the coaster and the log flume. I like how he says "The new Sesame Street attraction provides our youngest guests with kid-size versions of our grown-up rides". Can't wait to see more on this.

[cfc 51]

The park does need a good kiddie coaster along the lines of Sea World's Shamu, so this sounds like a good move. I actually saw the 4D flick at Universal Osaka last year (in Japanese), and it's actually pretty good. (Pirates 4D is getting pretty old.)

[alpengeist04 0]

I think this is a great addition to the park. Now for the most important question, will this be an adult friendly coaster or will we need a child to ride with.

 

You knew this question would be asked, so I figured why not get it out of the way.

[bdstrom 0]

This is a great direction for BGE! The only thing that bothers me is why New York City theme added to Europe themed park? But ok, whatever works.

[alpengeist04 0]

^Maybe it'll be Sesame Street England style.

[cfc 51]

This is a great direction for BGE! The only thing that bothers me is why New York City theme added to Europe themed park? But ok, whatever works.

 

"This new European-themed Sesame Street village," says the press release. You can find concept art via the link in the first post of this thread.

[kraken613 0]

Sounds good they need something like this!

[Teacups Make Me Sick 0]

By the concept art....this is going to be an awesome part of the park.

 

Thank god they decided against The Wiggles/Teletubbies/Barney.

 

BG is bringing back old school childrens programming...maybe this can start a trend and another park can create a School House Rock section of the park.

[astroworldfan1 1]

Is this InBev adding this or is it Busch adding this? Maybe InBev wants to keep the parks.

 

-Tatum

[Wes 0]

They should have built an Intamin themed kids area instead

[alpengeist04 0]

^^This was planned way before InBev. It's the 2010 projects that have been put on hold.

[BeemerBoy 0]

Where's the animated coaster POV?

[astroworldfan1 1]

Could the kiddie coaster be a clone of Vapor trail?

 

-Tatum

[WillMontu 0]

The English equivalent of Sesame Street would be Rainbow, but they haven't made any episodes since 1992, and the show does lack some political correctness

[Team Thriller 0]

This is a great direction for BGE! The only thing that bothers me is why New York City theme added to Europe themed park?

 

Maybe it's a New York Street of London themed. Even if they don't have that in London. Or they might just use the Sesame Street rip-off caracters from Heide Park and say it's European.

 

--James

[esvadj 0]

I am excited for this new land, especially for my son who has "outgrown" the kiddie rides at Land of the Dragons. I hope these rides are aimed at the elementary school crowd and not the toddlers.

 

Now I need to get my son to start watching Sesame Street over the winter so he might look foward to meeting Elmo or Big Bird.

[Team Thriller 0]

The new coaster is going to be called Grover's Alpine Tours according to RCDB.COM

 

--James

[TheRapidsNerd 1]

This feels odd to me. Not bad, just odd. There's a certain feel/charm/style that BGE has, and though it's Euro themed, Sesame Street just doesn't seem to fit well.

 

Eh, I'll just buy my Elmo souvenir beer stein and enjoy riding Grover.

[carolinacaniac 0]

^I would agree with you if they did it where you walking into this new area, and it was a replica of the Sesame Street set with rides included, but since they are giving it a European Theme, I think it could work out pretty well.

 

-Gary "I want a picture with Oscar the Grouch" T.

[fergusonat 0]

Just as a general update, the area where Sesame Street will be built has been completely cleared. You can see the update here:

 

http://www.bgescape.com/Gallery/index.php?cat=10713

[bgeguy 0]

It's been rumored for a while that BGW would be announcing a Christmas fest or event. Well, it may be coming.

http://www.vagazette.com/news/local/va-news5_120308dec03,0,5080569.story

 

They've also anounced it on the park's Facebook page.

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?eid=36638656483&ref=mf

[cfc 51]

Screamscape mentioned that BGE might be planning some sort of "hard ticket" Christmas event for 2009--we shall see. I've always thought that the park should take a crack at this. Colonial Williamsburg's big Christmas event, the "Grand Illumination," is this Sunday.

[cfc 51]

Well, it's on the BGE Web site, so I guess we can call it "official." BGE will be holding "Christmas Town" in 2009.

 

The press release is a little light on the details, but tickets for this event, which will run on weekends in November and December, will be $19.95.

[Ziggy Stardust 0]

I think it would be neat if Busch displayed the different holiday traditions of each of the countries in the park.