Busch Gardens
Williamsburg (BGW) has the distinction of being Americas Most Beautiful
Park for some 27 consecutive years and it has deserved that title each and
every year. Once Thanksgiving is over,
Christmas Town comes to town with the largest light display in North American
with more than 8.3 million lights.
BGW is busting with holiday cheer between the decorations,
festive music and peace and love for an additional 6 weeks. Holiday food will
also fill your belly as there are desserts, cookies, and cocoa and turkey
dinner options available. It’s not just what you see with your eyes at
Christmas Town that makes it a Christmas town, it’s this beautifully
orchestrated symphony of sounds, smells and good feeling. When it’s all
combined you can’t be there and not feel like you just walked into Christmas.
It's very much like a living Christmas card.
The halls here have been decked since 2009 and each year is
a little brighter and more exciting than the last. Christmas Town isn’t about the rides, it’s
about spending time, enjoying the lights and the magical feeling of the
season. If you have never been to
Christmas Town and need some holiday cheer this should be on your to-do list,
especially if you live in the area. If you do not, it may be well worth booking
a weekend trip. Besides Busch Gardens
there are plenty of other holiday sights to see in the milder temps of
Williamsburg and surrounding areas. We have never found the park to be overstimulating, with the exception of too many people. So I don't recommend visiting on the day after Thanksgiving. I haven't been on Christmas Eve, we have been on New Years Day and it was average attendance. Typically Saturdays are busiest days.
The park does not operate all of the rides, mostly due to
weather. However The Mach Tower, Verbolten, InvadR and about 20 more -most flat
and kid rides are open. The Train and
Skyride also run during Christmas Town. The park is open from 2-10pm November
24 through January 1, 2018 daily, with the exception of the first two weeks
(just after thanksgiving and the first week of December) when its just Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays. After that you have plenty of options to visit. The only exception is Christmas Day when they are closed.
If you have been before don’t forget your cocoa mug for $1.99
refills on Hot cocoa and cider. (less for passmembers). If you don’t have one, then you may want to buy
one for $6.
New Magic at Christmas Town This Year.
Speaking of Cocoa, this year to add to the delicious lineup
which includes the Park Signature brew and Peppermint they have added Peanut
Butter. Which both Noah and I sampled. It’s delicious, like drinking a less
sweet Recess cup.
Santa’s Workshop moved to Dark Castle in Oktoberfest to make
for a more spacious environment. The queue begins outside the same as if you
are riding Dark Castle. However for those with a mobility pass you use the same
quick queue area. If the park isn’t crowded you shouldn’t have to worry about
the outdoor queue.
The indoor queue is beautiful and makes the wait more fun
and exciting. According to Park President Dave Cromwell “As a father of young
children, I understand what a big deal it is to visit Santa,” Cromwell
said. “We truly believe our Santa experience is the best anywhere around, and
we have made changes this year to make sure families don’t have to wait as
long.”
Be sure to use your mobility access pass for this (parents of disabled kids/disabled people). We did feel it was a long wait, but it was an enjoyable
wait. Because you were looking and walking through a lot of magic, so the
“wait” was truly part of the experience. Much like they say, it’s not the
destination, but the journey.
Which has
its truth, but let’s face it, meeting the big guy is important. And Santa did
not disappoint, he was awesome! You can also take your own pictures or purchase
pictures either with your photokey membership, or as an individual picture
(same as ride photos) which have their borders. More on Photokey below for those who are
unfamiliar.
Rudolph Movie Experience
2016 brought in Rudolph experience with Clarisse, Bumble and
the loveable Yeti. (Yukon Cornelius, Bumble and Sam the
Snowman.) Holiday Hills is an indoor opportunity to meet Rudolph and
friends. The queue is mostly indoors, but on very busy days you will still have
a line outside. As you walk through the queue you can enjoy scenes from the
Rudolph movie and eventually get to meet Rudolph, Clarice, Bumble and
Yukon. Even the floor is sparkly. Out
across from this is a shortened 12 minute version of the Rudolph the Red Nosed
Reindeer classic TV show. But will also include some special effects, delicious
scents and of course lights.
Forest of Fun
The
Forest of Fun is open again this year so the little ones will have more
rides, and opportunities to meet their favorite Sesame Street characters.
Characters will be in and out of the area and offer meet and greets as well as
photo opportunities.
Cookies and Cocoa
Germany
received a new cookie shop! Includes a heated seating area for cookies and
beverages. Cookies and Coca is over in
the Wilkomenia building, where you previously met Santa. Here you can buy
cookies freshly made by the pound with a variety of flavors like Double
Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Lemon, Red Velvet, Snickerdoodle and more. You will also be able to decorate a Gingerbread
man. Cocoa is of course sold here, have I mentioned how delicious the Peanut Butter Cocoa is, because its ridiculous.
Highlights of Christmas Town: Info for those who have never been.
Dining Options.
Dining at Busch Gardens is part of the fun for many park
goers because the food here isn’t your typical theme park food. For the holiday
season there are few options of buffets, and just special options at beloved
locations like Fest Haus, and as new kiosks throughout the park. I wish I had more photos of the food, but its so good I usually wind up eating it before I take a picture.
In Fiesta Italy, There is a play and dine in the back of
Holiday Hills (what is usually La Cucina) called Dasher’s Diner and here you
can enjoy a buffet and meet all the characters. The buffet will have holiday
themed foods, such as carved turkey and/or ham, a salad bar and plenty of kid
favorites (pizza, chicken nuggets, and fries). Pass members can book this
online and receive a discount.
If you prefer to dine with Santa and Mrs. Claus you can also
do so! Santa’s Fireside feast includes a
buffet meal, cookies for dessert from Mrs. Claus and the big guy will read you
a story. Santa’s Fireside Feast is located in Castle O
Sullivan in Ireland and is interactive. You
can meet Santa, tell him what you would like for Christmas and get a picture. Part of the show includes elves but you are part of the show. It was a real delight and a must for kids. You can book this for lunch
or dinner; bring your appetite the buffet includes a carving station of turkey
or ham, Swedish meatballs, homemade mac-n-cheese, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and
Trapper’s Smokehouse Chili. Plus there is plenty of food for kids plus a salad
bar and more.
Other dining options include The Tastes of Christmas Town a
buffet where you will also get reserved seating for Deck the Halls. (which if
you go there on a busy day at the wrong time you certainly need). Both buffets
have holiday themed food including roast turkey and ham, chicken alfredo and
much more. In Oktoberfest there is Tannenbaum Soups where you can get
potato or clam chowder from the kiosk. Most other kiosk locations are cookie
and dessert related.
Fest Haus also has a Sirloin sandwich and clam chowder in a
bread bowl for the holiday season. Plus you can buy a turkey dinner with all
the trimmings. In England Squires Grille is renamed Dickens Tavern, it states
it has “Christmas Faire”, but it does not with the exception of desserts.
However, for burger lovers you can get a Philly burger, which is a burger
topped with cheesesteak and peppers. Very delicious and not too big. But if
Christmas Fair is your thing, check out Fest Haus or one of the buffet dining
options.
Decor decked out from start to finish.
Besides its beautiful lights, there are also more than
20,000 ornaments and other decorations and displays including 900 window
candles, 700 wreathes and 800 lit snowflakes. The smells of pine trees are
everywhere as they also ship in over 1500 trees for the event. Holiday music is
piped in throughout and in many cases is themed to the area so you will enjoy
Irish, French and German holiday music.
The bridge that connects Oktoberfest to Italy plays “Let there be Peace
on Earth” and when you are there looking over the water, seeing the display,
listening to this choir sing it. You feel it, you believe it, and for that
moment, there really is peace.
Each village is beautifully lit and decorated. The area
normally known for the Pompeii ride is now the Polar Pathway and has over
1,500,000 lights.
The largest light
display in the park is Oktoberfest with almost 2 million lights itself. There
are more than 1,700,000 lights in the main area of Oktoberfest and almost
400,000 at the North Pole.
Italy is full of almost a million gold lights.
France is adorned in beautiful blues and purples, holiday hills is very retro
and England is very classic with white lights.
Italy Gold
Scotland Blues
Photo Key
If you want to get some photos done Busch Gardens offers a
Photo Key service which costs $35 for the day or $60 for the season. There are
8 locations throughout out the park.
(Includes Verbolten) as well as characters, Santa and other picturesque
areas in the park. These are all noted on the Map you can get when you enter.
With Photo Key you scan the card with the photographer after you have your
picture taken or have ridden a ride. You get unlimited downloads. You can also
opt to purchase photo and photo gifts off the website. Which if you opt for the
Premium $60 you do get a 50% discount.
Holiday Shopping
Shopping at Christmas Town can be part of the fun there is
plenty of it around. The normal stores will be open selling Busch Gardens
merchandise as well as holiday decorations and gifts. As well as fun novelty items like Christmas Tree hats (with or without "snow") and Christmas Bulb lighted necklaces and hats. In Oktoberfest there is
an outdoor market of items (Mistletoe Marketplace) from local artisans, winery
and ornaments. With all of the holly jolly around it makes a good time to pick
up some special items, or get pictures done for your holiday gift giving,
regardless of what you celebrate. Cashless wristbands are offered and can be
purchased once you enter the park to make your day a bit easier. You can pre
pay a set amount or link to a credit card depending on your preference and
needs. If you pay up front with cash and don’t use it all, it is refunded to
you at the end of your night. You can use these for all purchases including
dining.
Entertainment
There is plenty of entertainment decking the halls of
Christmas Town. There are 6 shows you can enjoy throughout the park besides
character meet and greets. Scrooge
No More in England, an adaptation of the Charles Dickens Classic A Christmas Carol, takes full advantage
of the technological enhancement done on the Globe in 2014. At Fest Haus there
is a musical holiday review show about different traditions called Deck the Halls. In Italy at the San
Marco Theater is an a cappella musical show called “Gift of Harmony” full of
Christmas music both new and old. For Christian traditionalists you can enjoy Gloria, a classic retelling of the
Christian “first Christmas” at the Abby Stone theater in Ireland. But the true crowning gem is T’was the Night, an ice skating show
over in France in the Pallidum based on the story T’was the Night before
Christmas. For additional entertainment you will also find Carolers in England
and outside of the Fest Haus a 50 foot tree that will light up nightly to a
musical score, properly named O’Tannenbaum. Video
here
Final Details
You can
visit Christmas Town in all its glory from now through New Year’s Day2018. The gates typically open before 1pm as do all
the villages. Rides and experiences open
at 2pm, and the skyride at 4pm. You have the option to purchase a ticket at the
park or online. If you think you will attend more than once you should consider
the Fun Card which is
$39 for Pass members, or $49 for others, includes discounts and parking. Which is a decent deal for even just a day of magic. Parking
for pass members is complimentary and $15 for non-season pass holders.
