Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

[cardinalsfan_98]

We decided to go to BGW to see Christmas Town on Fri. Nov. 27. Big mistake! I think everyone in the area decided to check it out that day too! The shows offered where so packed, people were lining up hours in advance. Griffon was the only rollercoaster open. DD said Alpengeist would have made more sense, since it's got a snow theme to it. Crowd control was horrible. I overheard a security guard on the phone complaining about lack of proper staffing and poor traffic flow. You couldn't even exit through Italy. You had to back track through all the crowds after making it all the way to the FestHaus.
I understand Friday was their first day at this, and I'm sure BGW will figure it out. The park was gorgeous, as always. If you plan to go, get there early and plan to battle Disney-like crowds. Luckily we had just gotten back from WDW a couple of weeks before, so we were in the right state of mind.

[NJGIRL]

Other than the disorganization how did you like the event? What did you do while you were there?

[cardinalsfan_98]

We all enjoyed the trip and was well worth doing again-just not this year. By next year, they will have had all the kinks worked out. As far as things to do, it's mainly a show oriented event. Having two children (11 yrs & 15 mo), we bypassed the shows entirely. It was pretty impressive to see the different sections of the park decorated for Christmas though.

[wire0monkey]

I think the Anheuser-Busch parks are suffering from some neglect right now, because AB-Inbev is selling them. I am very hopeful that things improve when Blackstone takes over.

[Touchdown]

I suspect they did not realize how big a hit they had on their hand (contrast this with then PKI and PCW trial of Winterfest in 2005) so they went too small. I suspect that next year they will have all the major coasters operating (weather permitting) and Italy open.

[cardinalsfan_98]

That's what I'm hoping...even if they charge more for the ticket, it would be well worth it...

[Lelandmm]

I live 30 minutes from BGW. I am a Platinum pass holder. But I decided NOT to go to Christmastown, simply because it is not included with the pass. Even pass holders have to pay. We get our tickets at 50% off for pass holders and free parking, but it still wasn't worth it to me.
I figured with it being the first year, it would take a year or 2 to get better.

For those with little kids who like the Sesame Street section at Sea World, the Sesame Street area at BGW is almost the same. Very Cute!