Photo TR: Busch Gardens Christmas Town

[Homeboy23]

As a last minute decision I decided to go check out Christmas Town on its very first operating day. I must say for they did a pretty good job running it. It was a chilly night, in the 40's and some wind but they had a few places of outdoor heating available which was a big plus.

 

The lights, tree and all the Christmas decorations were amazing. The shows were, well Christmas shows, they were good. The restaurants were turned into holiday food for the most, but a lot of the same food from the summer was served.

 

If last night was a sign of things to come, then this would be a great time for anybody who loves Griffon, Curse of the Darkastle or Corkscrew Hill to get as many rides as they want. I never had over a 5 minute wait for Griffon even with a two train operation for any row all night. Darkastle and Corkscrew I walked right on. I was surprised to see Griffon's splashdown in full effect in cold weather.

 

But the rides weren't what people were coming for, they were there for the shows. If you wanted to see a show you were in for a crowd. I am not sure how much the Abbey Stone and Globe Theatre's can hold but 20 minutes before show times they had very long lines to get in. Das Festhaus was almost impossible to get in. All of the seats were taken and the line to get in reached back I would say about around 70-90 people from the door. That is not including people waiting inside.

 

I didn't check out Santa's Workshop as I didn't care for taking a picture with Santa, but the one other attraction they had was A Penguin Paradise. An hour after opening they were already putting up more queue line because I guess they didn't expect it to be that crowded. I waited about 25 minutes which is probably too much for the attraction. I overheard people saying they waited an hour later on. 3/4 of the attraction is just penguin decorations and information on all types of penguins. At the very end though I was shocked to see they had two live penguins.

 

My one major disappointment was the train. They only had one train going and both stations were filled with people waiting, the train was full all night. But that wasn't the disappointment, they had the same decorated trees throughout the ride, I would've wished to see more.

 

Overall I would rate the experience at 8/10. On to the pictures.

And Christmas cake.

I loved the cupcakes.

This was all you saw from the train.

Kids love to make themselves part of the decoration.

Santa's helpers have light sabers now.

Festhaus all decorated up.

Miniature trees.

45 foot tree.

It is cold 200 feet in the air.

Sorry, you can not walk through the wall.

Why hello there penguin, I waited 25 minutes to see you.

In line for Penguin Paradise, this should be great, right?

I also hated that people would see me taking pictures and wouldn't move two feet to get out the way.

Dude, there is no smoking allowed in this section of the park. Security!

Tree.

Where are we at again?

[esvadj]

I waited WELL over an hour for the penguins. Then I headed to the Fest Haus for dinner to find the line all the way over to Dark kastle. I decided to leave and try it again another night.

 

A BGE employee said "if you are only going to open half the park you should only let half the people in."

 

So my trip report comes from the local news:

WTKR news story and video

[themeparkman25]

Even Griffons colors seem cold and matted. This is a cool event though, looks like you had fun.

[Maverickrocks]

Great report and pictures! I think that the splashdown was filled because it essentially acts as part of the braking system of the ride.

 

I spent the holiday in Virginia and went last night, and I thought the whole event was put together very well. Nice lighting and decorations, the show I saw (Rejoice!) was pretty good and the walk-ons on Griffon were great- I got around 20 rides in. I actually thought that the train experience was a pleasant suprise, since it was decked with lights that synced to christmas music. Although it was packed, everyone was singing to the songs and it sure brought some early holiday cheer!

[kingsdominionlvr]

Is Griffon the only coaster open during Christmas Town?

[kidcoaster 2]

^ Yes