Busch Gardens, Williamsburg

[ArwenMarie]

I'm also headed to BGW this summer. Anyone have a good touring plan? Which rides have the longest? Are there places to cool off in the afternoon or should we plan to take a break at the hotel and come back in the evening?

I would take a look at the map. It's a big park and hilly, so you don't want to be criss-crossing. If you have multiple days, I would split it up by area. Start one day by going up towards Ireland and France. And then the next day come in and go towards Italy. Germany is sort of in the middle.

If you have little kids, the character meal with Elmo is really good. So much character interaction. Super fun.

The best place to cool off is Das Festhaus. They have shows, tons of tables, food, everything you need. It's huge and it's nice and dark and cool. The Irish show is another good place to cool off.

I'm not sure I would take a break and go back, but I am not a fan of that in general. We either go early in the morning til we need to leave, or start out later and stay later.

We rented a cabana one day on a whim. That was fun, they give you bottles of soda and water and there is a huge fan and they took our picture as well. It's not in a central location though unfortunately, so it only works well as a rest area for half of the park.

 

[momof2n2]

Now I'm totally kicking myself that we did Not get super Grover passes for everyone! I found some great rentals online last night. I would have loved to go to Williamsburg and Busch Gardens this fall!

 

[kandb]

They have a special on BG/Williamsburg and water country for unlimited use for the whole summer for $72/person, til March 31st. It goes up to $97 as of April 1st, it's on their website.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

I still have my Platinum passes that I upgraded to Platinum in 2003 to go to this park.It is one of my favorite parks anywhere,living in Florida I've been to Sea World,Busch Gardens Tampa and it's water park Adventure Island like hundreds of times but sadly I've only made it out to BGW 3 times.I love the Tampa park but the Williamsburg park is just amazing,I love the hills and trees along with it's European theme.The coasters are great,I think I liked Apollos Chariot the best but I need to go back to ride Verbolten.The park also has great shows,do they still have the Irish Thunder show,I know they stopped coming to Tampa several years ago.

They have Celtic Fire (Fyre?) It's a nice show.

I would take a look at the map. It's a big park and hilly, so you don't want to be criss-crossing. If you have multiple days, I would split it up by area. Start one day by going up towards Ireland and France. And then the next day come in and go towards Italy. Germany is sort of in the middle.

The best place to cool off is Das Festhaus. They have shows, tons of tables, food, everything you need. It's huge and it's nice and dark and cool. The Irish show is another good place to cool off.

I'm not sure I would take a break and go back, but I am not a fan of that in general. We either go early in the morning til we need to leave, or start out later and stay later.

You can also take the train to another part if you are dividing it by days.

We enjoyed Das Festhaus. It's a nice place to take a break and entertainingtoo.

We take our grew (10 to <1 last season) and we didn't leave and come back. Unlike DisneyWorld there is PLENTY of shade.

 

[DOOM1001]

They have Celtic Fire (Fyre?) It's a nice show.

Cool,Irish Thunder was an older version.

 

[wdwfan757]

In terms of airports, PHF (newport news/williamsburg) is closer than RIC (richmond) and ORF (norfolk) isn't too much farther from richmond as long as traffic isnt bad. You'll definitely want to rent a car regardless.

If you want to see some historical sites, Jamestown is about 20 minutes from the park, colonial williamsburg is an exit away next to all your hotel choices and your best food options.

If you want to go to a beach, but not get in the water, Yorktown beach is about 20 minutes away. If you want to go to a real beach, Virginia beach is about 55 minutes away if theres absolutely no traffic.

If anyone has any questions about the area, let me know! I've only spent 20 years living in the area

 

[momto2js]

Under normal conditions, BWI is at least a 5 hour drive and during the day that would be making GREAT time. There are lots of places to get caught in traffic between the two places.

We lived in the DC area for several years and my husband joind a flighing club and renewed his pilots licence because the Williamsburg trip was so unpredictable. We knew we could fly in 45 minutes and in the car it could take between 3 and 6 hours.

 

[greenclan67]

We are booked to go. July 12th to 19th. Road tripping, not flying. Going to drive to Buffalo NY area (not unusual for us we fly from there every March)Friday afternoon, 7 hour drive. The next day, get up early and drive to Williamsburg, it says via google map, 8 hrs 51 mins. We will take breaks along the way as we are not tight on schedule. Get in on Sat evening. Stay, sat night, sun, mon, tues, weds. and decide after doing the drive there, if we will leave Thurs, or Friday to drive home. Probably Thurs. we will drive back to Hershey PA, spend a night there and maybe do Hershey Park on Friday. Then leave Friday evening drive to Toronto area, then drive home Sat. We are used to doing summer road trips. We have driven from Northern Ontario to Wisconsin Dells, 12 hours, and Chicago one other summer, 11 hours.

 

[jennib5426]

We are booked to go. July 12th to 19th. Road tripping, not flying. Going to drive to Buffalo NY area (not unusual for us we fly from there every March)Friday afternoon, 7 hour drive. The next day, get up early and drive to Williamsburg, it says via google map, 8 hrs 51 mins. We will take breaks along the way as we are not tight on schedule. Get in on Sat evening. Stay, sat night, sun, mon, tues, weds. and decide after doing the drive there, if we will leave Thurs, or Friday to drive home. Probably Thurs. we will drive back to Hershey PA, spend a night there and maybe do Hershey Park on Friday. Then leave Friday evening drive to Toronto area, then drive home Sat. We are used to doing summer road trips. We have driven from Northern Ontario to Wisconsin Dells, 12 hours, and Chicago one other summer, 11 hours.

i drive from Richmond to Baltimore all the time, you should map out taking RT301 just south of baltimore to virginia. it drops you out just 10 miles north of Kings Dominion (north of Richmond exit 104) on 95. Yes there are some lights but there is construction on 95 south from Springfield VA to Fredricksburg VA. it is traffic hell all day, any day of the week.

 

[NavyDad]

Under normal conditions, BWI is at least a 5 hour drive and during the day that would be making GREAT time. There are lots of places to get caught in traffic between the two places.

We lived in the DC area for several years and my husband joind a flighing club and renewed his pilots licence because the Williamsburg trip was so unpredictable. We knew we could fly in 45 minutes and in the car it could take between 3 and 6 hours.

I agree with this. I wouldn't risk a BWI to Williamsburg trip especially in the summer.

There is no good time of day or good day of the week to try to transit the DC Beltway......

 

[greenclan67]

We have decided to drive the whole trip. We are leaving Northern Ontario Friday at 2, driving to at least Buffalo, ny. Sat morning leaving bright and early, google map says around 9 hours to the resort. We figure 12 hours. Bathroom breaks and eating. My kids like to stop at state line rest stops for pictures. Lol
So if we get in Sat evening. We will stay sat, sun, mon, tues, weds, leave Thurs to start back home. We will drive 10 hours stop, then the rest the next day. Unless Southwest comes out with some cheap flights to norfolk or richmond.

 

[momof2n2]

I'd do the same, green clan. We leave today from Rochester to Orlando. Driving rocks.

 

[greenclan67]

I'd do the same, green clan. We leave today from Rochester to Orlando. Driving rocks.

Thanks, have a safe trip and travels. Enjoy Orlando. I am missing it in this rainy, damp weather.
I am afraid my hubby will decide after this drive we are driving to Florida too.

 

[momof2n2]

Thanks, have a safe trip and travels. Enjoy Orlando. I am missing it in this rainy, damp weather. I am afraid my hubby will decide after this drive we are driving to Florida too.

Northern Ontario location will, of course, be longer than western NY; but it really isn't terrible. 21.5 hours for us and that include a one hour stop for breakfast, four gas breaks (3 of those also included potty breaks) and one quick driver swap.

Kissimmee is coming out of a short cold snap. Starts warming up today.

We are talking about a BG, Wmsbg trip next year. Enjoy it !!!! It's a fabulous area. We did it on our honeymoon 17 years ago & want to take the kids back.

 

[la79al]

Some of you have me worried now. We are headed to Williamsburg at the end of the month. We are looking forward to BG and WC but now I'm wondering about traffic. We are leaving from south central PA. Option 1 is to pick DD up from school on Friday at 3:30 and leave right from there. Option 2 is to wait and leave Saturday morning, but I'm not sure what time. Google maps is saying about 4 hours, a couple minutes less using strictly 95S, a couple minutes more using 15S and 17S. Any suggestions? The girls probably won't make it much more than 4 hours without a stop.

 

[robndani]

We have done both. Busch Gardens in Tampa is WAY nicer than Williamsburg. WCUSA is kind of run down in Williamsburg.

We had a wonderful vacation in Williamsburg, but after being at the ones in Tampa, BG and WCUSA were a disappointment.

Colonial Williamsburg and the neighboring areas were great!

 

[hydrotony]

Some of you have me worried now. We are headed to Williamsburg at the end of the month. We are looking forward to BG and WC but now I'm wondering about traffic. We are leaving from south central PA. Option 1 is to pick DD up from school on Friday at 3:30 and leave right from there. Option 2 is to wait and leave Saturday morning, but I'm not sure what time. Google maps is saying about 4 hours, a couple minutes less using strictly 95S, a couple minutes more using 15S and 17S. Any suggestions? The girls probably won't make it much more than 4 hours without a stop.

If you're starting in PA, it will take you 5-6 hours to get to Williamsburg. Forget about what times the map guides give. If you leave Friday, you will hit Washington at evening rush hour. Getting to the beltway will be OK but then the traffic jams start. I would suggest the outer loop (counterclock-wise) and take it into Northern Virginia and then MAKE SURE YOU GET ON THE HOV EXPRESS LANES SOUTH on I-95. The area of the beltway in Virginia is always packed but traffic does move quickly but bumper-to-bumper. Fredrickburg VA is a good place to stop and eat, about 45 minutes south of D.C.

Saturday you'll miss all that but you never know what highway construction there will be and you will miss being in Williamsburg first thing in the morning. Friday night hours are better spent driving than waiting.

 

[olwyngdh]

Leaving from central PA, you might be better off taking 81 to 17, and then 17 over to 95--you will miss the majority of the DC traffic that way.

Man, I miss living down on the Peninsula! We love the 5 years the army let us live there!

 

[chabs]

My son is taking a school trip to BG on Memorial Day weekend. Should he bring a backpack or try to go without? He is mostly interested in the thrill rides, so I wasn't sure if a backpack (for poncho/refillable mug etc) would be a hindrance on rides or if they have free lockers for the roller coasters? Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[MarciaBrady]

Some of you have me worried now. We are headed to Williamsburg at the end of the month. We are looking forward to BG and WC but now I'm wondering about traffic. We are leaving from south central PA. Option 1 is to pick DD up from school on Friday at 3:30 and leave right from there. Option 2 is to wait and leave Saturday morning, but I'm not sure what time. Google maps is saying about 4 hours, a couple minutes less using strictly 95S, a couple minutes more using 15S and 17S. Any suggestions? The girls probably won't make it much more than 4 hours without a stop.

I'd leave Friday.
Give yourself AT LEAST 2 extra hours off google map "long-road-trip" times. There WILL be loads of traffic around DC...once my family was driving through there at around 11PM, it was still quite busy.
My 2 cents!