Busch vs. Busch

[Snoopy]

BGW...the ride ops at BGA are terrible. Waiting in line there is as bad as some of the worst SF parks. Also AC is way better than anything at BGA.

[robbalvey]

BGW...the ride ops at BGA are terrible. Waiting in line there is as bad as some of the worst SF parks. Also AC is way better than anything at BGA.

The BGA ops have gotten much better. They were pretty bad in '03 and '04, but the park has really straightened up. I haven't seen "bad operations" there in the past few years.

 

--Robb

[jamesdillaman]

In overall park experience, if you could only visit one park, which would it be? Taking into account setting, travel costs, coasters, other rides, food, lodging, and nearby attractions.

 

I'm only wondering because I haven't been to either, but might be able to swing one. It's a toss up for which one I'd like to go to, though.

 

-James Dillaman

[pianojohn]

Well, this is all a matter of opinion.

 

If you are looking for a park near other attractions, you would go with BGA. About an hour away are the world's greatest theme parks: Disney and Universal as well as Sea World.

 

BUT if you are only going to one park, I would say BGE. Overall, the park is much prettier with lots and lots of trees and shade.

 

And the Williamsburg area is nice if you like historic places.

 

Coaster by coaster, it is a toss up for me. I prefer Apollo's Chariot and Alpengeist, but I also love Sheikra and Scorpion. Have not been on Griffon yet, but I am sure it will be great.

[hemmy]

I haven't been to BGE, but most of BGA's coasters are some of the best in Florida if not the world in my opinion.

 

From the pictures BGE looks amazing as well though.

[robbalvey]

I think your answer as to which park to go to lies here:

 

[Disney Dood]

It's a toss up. From what I hear, BGE is a much more nicely themed park, but I like BGA better. BGE doesn't have Rhino Rally. BGA is open all year round. Not to mention, BGA is not far from DISNEY!

[cfc]

Griffon has upped the ante for BGE's coasters--it's a great, smooth ride, but Sheikra does have that cool drop through the ruins (call it a wash there). And DarKastle is fun (and, let's say it, even if it isn't as good as IOA's Spider-man).

 

I guess what you need other than the coin toss is to figure out what sort of vacation you want. If you want to go theme-park crazy (and who on this site doesn't), head for Florida. If you want a good mix of stuff--theme parks (Kings Dominion is only a little over an hour north of Williamsburg), historical sites (Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown), and the beach (Va. Beach is only about an hour away)--then you should consider Virginia.

 

Hope this helps.

[Pufferfish]

I say BGE because the theming and scenery are beautiful and diverse. Also the lines are always shorter than BGA and the staff are friendly. The only thing I like better about BGA is that it has a slightly wider selection of rides. Also, another thing about BGE is that it is just outside Colonial Williamsburg, so there is always something there for you to do w/o making your wallet scream for mercy. BGA on the other hand is tucked away in Tampa Bay where the biggest attractions anywhere near there are other theme parks that eat your money. I recommend BGE, everyone needs some history every now and then.

[bulldogmom]

I've been to both and would pick BGE any day. The theming, the coasters, the general atmosphere- love the "Rhine"- the food, the whole package. I think you actually feel more that you're in Europe here than you feel like you're in Africa at BGT. Also, you have VA Beach, one of my fav beaches, nearby, and as somebody mentioned, Colonial Williamsburg.

[DerekRx]

I like both parks. BGE has nice theming, beautiful flowers, great food, and some good coasters. I do like BGAs coaster collection better though, with Kumba and Montu ranking higher with me than Apollo and Alpengeist. Plus BGA doesn't have the hills, the animals are cool to see, and it's easier to get free beer there.

 

Of course, the option never poses itself at to which I'd rather do, they aren't close to each other, and I always choose the Busch parks over the nearby competition (KD or Cypress Gardens)

[coaster05]

I prefer BGE but it is close since both are excellent park experiences.

[carolinacaniac]

I have only been to BGE, but I am definatly a fan of the place. I think all of their coasters are great, and I could easily re-ride any of them. There are many parks that have a coaster or two that I would ride once and be fine with it, but the coasters here are all coasters I would get a second ride on if I can. The theming is great and they also have good shows.

 

I really hope that I have a chance to visit BGA soon, because Montu, Sheikra, Kumba and the others look like fun coasters.

[ECZenith]

I have been to both... while I have not ridden Griffon yet, I have ridden SheiKra and will compare both as similar...

 

As far as both parks go... here's my opinion.

 

I prefer BGE over BGA in almost every category except for the fact that BGA (obviously) has GREAT animal habitats and exhibits to check out which I am a huge fan of. BGE has that great, deep in the woods feeling and the theming of the european countries is just beautiful.

 

Both parks have a great trio of B&Ms but I (barely) prefer Apollo to Kumba and I definately like Alpengesit better than Montu. BGA's non B&M coasters don't really do it for me... Gwazi is ridiculously rough and I just don't care for it and Cheetah Chase is just... eww... BGE has a couple of amazing Arrow coasters that are completely unique.

 

When it comes to water rides, I feel BGE's are FAR better themed but I definately like BGA's log flume better.

 

The real kicker is that BGE has a dark ride, which I am a huge fan of, and BGA does not. With Spidey so close to BGA I really don't blame them but a dark ride would balance the park out perfectly. They're both awesome parks, some of the best, but yeah... to answer your question I love BGA, but I adore BGE.

[Gnome]

I think BGE looks best. A good selection and quantity of coasters, as well as a variety of other sorts of attractions. BGA mainly just has coasters and animals. THey have a few flats, and various other things, but overall i think the BGE selection is much better.

 

Although I've only been to BGA between the 2 places.

[shepp]

I think you actually feel more that you're in Europe here than you feel like you're in Africa at BGT.

 

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. I haven't visited sub-Saharan Africa, but I've been to Egypt and Morocco, as well as all over Europe. BGE's landscaping is lovely, but a lot of its architecture seemed kinda cheesy to me - e.g., much of Italy seemed like pizza-parlor-cliche writ large. (EPCOT does a better job with Italy, France, and Britain. Though, come to think of it, DAK does Africa pretty damn well...) Anyhow, I'll take the faux exoticism of BGA over the faux quaintness of BGE.

 

The rest is kind of a toss-up. Haven't ridden Griffon, but the coaster collections both have strong points, though I'd give the edge to Tampa. BBW uses the terrain and village set really well, but I love the ruins at Montu, too. I really like Alpie, but I found AC inferior to Nitro. Montu and Kumba both rock. Rhino Rally is a yawn, while DarKastle (best architecture at BGE, IMO) is a lot of fun. On the other hand, I could happily live out the rest of my days without ever seeing Irish step-dancing again. I really enjoy Pompeii, but SheikRa diving into the ruins is superb...and they're both too short. Etc.

 

Hey, do I really have to choose? Well, if I did, I'd go back to Tampa.

[alpengeist04]

I choose not to answer.

 

To be honest, it's really a toss up for me. Usually whichever park I go to last is rated one spot higher on my list, so I guess it's BGA at the moment.

[Bubba Z]

Three words... Kumba, Montu and SheiKra. It's an easy choice.

 

The best rides at BGE are Da Vinci’s Cradle followed by Escape from Pompeii.

 

Both parks are great, you won't have a bad time at either one. So... what are you waiting for, flip the coin already

[Sue]

I'd take BGA any day because Montu and Kumba are far better than anything BGE has in my opioion. Plus, as Robb said, I also love the tortoises at BGA. BGE used to have a petting zoo with tortoises though. Does anyone know if that's still there? On our last visit, that section was closed off for a Halloween maze.

[Meteornotes]

BGW...the ride ops at BGA are terrible. Waiting in line there is as bad as some of the worst SF parks. Also AC is way better than anything at BGA.

The BGA ops have gotten much better. They were pretty bad in '03 and '04, but the park has really straightened up. I haven't seen "bad operations" there in the past few years.

 

--Robb

 

I'm going to back this up. I had some really horrible experiences at BGA in '03 or so, enough to dub it my least favorite major park. But over the last couple of years, the visits we've had there have been excellent, and the staff has been really efficient and polite, with multiple trains on all the major coasters. In fact, I'd say the last two times I went to FL the operations at BGA were better than what I witnessed at IOA. Which is sort of sad.

 

Anyway, my preference between the two parks is for BGA, just because of Kumba and Montu. I could ride these two coasters all day and never get tired of them.

 

dt

[cfc]

^^BGE's petting zoo is long gone. The hoof-and-mouth outbreaks in Europe a few years ago compelled Busch to close it. They have a nice wolf habitat now; that is, you can view the wolves without having to wait for the "wolf show." There's a small walkthrough aviary, as well.

 

BGE was having operations issues with Apollo's Chariot and Alpengeist last year--lots of train stacking. Alpie is still having those issues this year--but not Apollo.

[Electerik]

Unless you really like the animal aspect, I say Europe, by a long shot. SheiKra was the best thing Africa had going for it, but that seems a bit mitigated now.

 

BGE is a beautiful, well put-together park with lots of variety. BGA is a weird, disjointed park that isn't quite sure what it wants to be.

[raptorcrew2002]

Which park is better, Busch Gardens in Tampa or Busch Gardens in Williamsburg?

 

What are you looking for more? Coaster/ride quality or park quality?

Is this a family trip with younger kids, or younger friends just traveling?

 

Best answer you need to visit both:

Now which one should you start with?

 

BGE –

Williamsburg Coasters – (1 should kick a$$, 2 great, 2 fun)

One of the most beautiful parks. Good selection of rides, nice coasters.

PKD, or just KD or whatever CF calls it now is only about 1.25-1.75 hrs north of BGE, then if you keep heading N. you could also do a quick hit at SFA and make a park bounce out of it.

 

(Just make sure if you choose BGE you have to go to Oktoberfest in Germany, head to the left outer side of the building and wack your head against any solid object to pay respects to Drachen Fire. Not to hard, you should only have a slight concussion)

 

BGA –

Tampa Coasters – 6 (3 awesome, 1 good, 1 boring, 1 mouse)

Fun little park. Don’t go just for the zoo if that’s an interest. I get bored at BGA very quickly and usually don’t stay a full day. Not a bad park, and always getting better just not enough to offer in rides and shows I guess, and very easy to do everything quickly on slower days due to its small size.

 

My choice;

For me I always loved BGW, the park is beautiful the coasters I think are fun (some are over rated) and they killed Alp the year after opening with the freaking trim “grrr, I know get over it by now”

But if I had to pick 1 park for a location I would head to BGW, unless you wanted to hit the Orlando parks on your trip then go for Tampa.

[Homer]

I've been to Busch Gardens Euroburg before, but I barely remember that visit (I was 9 at the time). So, I can't really debate myself over what is better.

 

However, Busch Gardens Tamprica is my homepark, and there is a lot to do in the park [unless you're a flat ride fanatic, in that case you're screwed]. Some of the theming is decent and we have an awesome selection of coasters. Robb's opinions are right on the money too. And if you go on a weekday, you could easily whore out Tamprica in a matter of 3 hours.

 

I really need to head back up to Euroburg soon. But as for now, I think Busch Gardens Tamprica is better.

[Guest]

I like BGE a lot more. The theming and atmosphere at BGE are very nice and better than BGA, and I liked the coasters there better also. While BGA has Kumba which is the best of any Busch park, I like Alpengiest over Montu (though not a fan of either), Sheikra's good but now that Griffons open they're equal, I love Lochness Monster and Big Bad Wolf (and would take it over Scorpion anyday), and BGE's got a pretty good hyper also. BGE in every category for me