Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

Great shots, Chuck. And as for...

A closer look at the spoke. I wonder if they'll mount a trident in top.

Ha! That was my exact thought when I first saw that track! Would be cool if they did.

gotta wonder if that big concrete block is going to be a base for a giant statue (of a God/Gods)..that would fit in with the theming for the entrance to the ride, right?

^Yep--that could be. The ride's elements are named for four different gods.

Looks stunning!

Does a SeaWorld FLORIDA Platinum Annual Pass get me into Christmas Town at BGW? I know the Williamsburg platinum memberships do, but I couldn't find anything significant about other states Platinum Passes.

Thanks for the photos!! This coaster sure is looking awesome! Can’t wait to give it a go!

There's still quite a bit of track to be installed, but it's coming along nicely.

It’ll still open before West Coast Racers.

Does a SeaWorld FLORIDA Platinum Annual Pass get me into Christmas Town at BGW? I know the Williamsburg platinum memberships do, but I couldn't find anything significant about other states Platinum Passes.

Last year, my Sesame Place platinum passes did, but this may have changed this year. It's kind of hard to keep track of the exclusions and restrictions from park to park. It would be great if there was one single platinum pass/membership that granted the same benefits no matter what your home park was.

^Thank you! Gives me confidence to know that it at least worked for you. I think since they started allowing memberships to have access it probably does. If I understand correctly BGT Halloscream is the only true hard ticket event left in the chain.

Thanks for the photos!! This coaster sure is looking awesome! Can’t wait to give it a go!

 

There's still quite a bit of track to be installed, but it's coming along nicely.

 

It’ll still open before West Coast Racers.

There should a betting pool in Vegas, Reno...or somewhere....

Pantheon's looking great! Man I need to get back to Virginia.

Thanks for the quality update, Chuck. Love this park and can't wait to ride this.

Christmas Town Opens at Busch Gardens

Howl-o-Scream is over, and with all the ghouls safely tucked back into their respective tombs, graves, and isolated cabins and castles, it's time for Christmas Town!

The park kicked off its annual yuletide extravaganza on Saturday, November 16, and other than "Merry Christmas" and "ho, ho ho," the word of the day was wind. A coastal storm was lashing the East Coast, and while BGW didn't see any rain, the park definitely felt the cold winds that were gusting between 20 and 30 miles per hour. This played a little havoc with some of the decorations (and closed the skyride), but the opening came off pretty well.

Not much has changed this year for Christmas Town. You can still visit Santa's Workshop in Germany and chow down at his Fireside Feast in Ireland; catch a performance of Deck the Halls (Festhaus), Gloria (Abbeystone Theatre), Scrooge No More (Globe Theatre), Elmo's Christmas Wish (Sesame Street Forest of Fun), and Twas the Night (ice show in France); score a turkey dinner or sirloin sandwich at the Festhaus; ride the Christmas Town Express; and, of course, take in the 10 million or so lights shining throughout the park. Flat rides were running, as were Verbolten and InvadR.

One new attraction was the Traditions Tree Maze. It's a maze of fir trees leading to various kiosks where you can learn about holiday traditions in other cultures.

Better bundle up, as it's pretty chilly tonight. I threw in some photos of Pantheon, too. We can always warm with a cocktail at Grogan's Pub later.

Christmas Town runs on select days through January 5.

No, I did not count them.

Welcome to Christmas Town--until January 6.

It wouldn't be Christmas Town without some big balls.

I like England's traditional decor.

These fire pits were very welcome on that cold night.

Do you know "Christmas at Ground Zero"?

What? They're builiding a new ride? The heck you say!

Yep--the gusty winds were causing a few issues that night.

This is the first time I've seen this golden tree in Italy with red fall leaves. It looks pretty cool.

Let's see what can see of Pantheon from Holiday Hills (AKA, Festa Italia).

Santa points the way toward Pantheon.

We all know about the spike, . . .

. . . and they've added some more track to this section, but . . ..

. . . I didn't know that they were building a noninverting loop. (I think the reindeer makes it look rather festive.)

Who's ready for some spikin' and loopin'?

One last look at Pantheon. I was hoping to get some photos from the train, but it opened an hour late, and it was too dark out.

Shall we explore Christmas Town a bit?

Only 38 days as I write this--better get shopping!

Green is the main color of Ireland, naturally.

The path to France is always pleasant.

France prefers purple and silver.

The train ride uses the log-flume queue. The train runs a complete circuit with no stops. You board in New France.

Even InvadR is looking pretty festive.

You will believe a penguin can jump over an igloo!

Christmas town is rather fond of glowing balls . . .

. . . of various sizes.

InvadR wishes you a "Merry Christmas." More to come.

Ready for a bit more merriment?

Welcome to Canada, . . .

. . . where even the grizzly bears celebrate Christmas by not eating you.

I like the how they light the way into Germany.

Simple, but very pretty.

Whoa! Germany is jumping tonight.

The Festhaus at its most festive. (This is where you can catch the O'Tannenbaum light-and-music show.)

Local choirs often perform here during Christmas Town.

I caught some of Deck the Halls as I was eating my turkey dinner.

Watch out! It's raining Christmas trees!

There's little danger of getting lost in this maze.

I admit to being a bit confused by this attraction. It seems a bit plain compared to other Christmas Town offerings.

It was kind of a "crafts" thing.

Well, nearly time to head home . . .

. . . under the watchful eyes of the Klaus Organization.

The Polar Pathway is one of my favorite spots at Christmas Town . . .

. . . even if the wind is messing with it a bit.

Elmo and his friends celebrate the joys of hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas from Busch Gardens Williamsburg! Thanks for reading.

Awesome Holiday Report, Chuck! I need to attend more holiday periods, in some future parks, lol.

Great stuff. Thanks.

Those trees lit up in the woods were really very lovely! Everything looks great (as I would expect from them.) Thanks for braving the cold and sharing these Chuck.

Great report!

In other news, the park has announced that Pantheon's speed will be boosted by 1 mph to claim the title of "World's Fastest Multi-Launch Coaster" from Taron from because they forgot that China exists.

I guess the distinction that they're making is that Soaring with Dragon passes over the same launch track multiple times so it's not a "Multi-Launch Coaster" but they don't even believe their own bullsh*t since this was their press release head for Tigris.

Of course none of this actually matters and all that does matter is that the ride will be amazing but they're just making stuff up as they go.

At least that record makes more sense than Six Flags New England still advertising their SkyScreamer as the world's tallest swing ride.

All I care about is that this ride looks amazing.

It's all marketing bullsh*t and someone doesn't have their facts right, whatever. I think it's hilarious Intamin made both, and I'm sure BGW looked at Soaring with Dragon when getting the planning for Pantheon together.

Pantheon train

Man is it me or does it look even better as a screenshot within your phone?

Man is it me or does it look even better as a screenshot within your phone?

Lol too lazy to crop today. Also didnt notice the convention thread before I posted it.

Edit: cropped it now

Cant wait to go here. Been 20 years!!

Pantheon looks insane.

I am looking at a Sunday in mid Sept, any idea what crowds are usually like? How much time is needed? If I focus on coasters is it possible to be done by like 5 or 6 PM?

We usually visit on Sundays in the fall and its typically dead. Get there @ opening and head to the back to knock out Invadr first. The B&Ms rarely have waits at all on Sundays in the fall from my experience. The only other wait you might have is Tempesto and probably Pantheon. Have fun!

We usually visit on Sundays in the fall and its typically dead. Get there @ opening and head to the back to knock out Invadr first. The B&Ms rarely have waits at all on Sundays in the fall from my experience. The only other wait you might have is Tempesto and probably Pantheon. Have fun!

Awesome! Thanks!

Yeah I'll be in NJ for Labor Day weekish, and since DC is a city you can fly direct to Tallahassee I was thinking of taking taking 2 days (Sat and Sun) in VA to do KD and here, before heading back to FL.

I'm stoked, I was 11 when I last went there and there were just 4 real rides. Beautiful park but we spent alot of time just kind of chilling. I can't wait to see it again, do the rides Ive missed (all look good) and ofc Pantheon

If rumours are true, next year's project is another Intamin, this time a giga shuttle. I don't wanna post any links as I think it isn't allowed, but it looks like a crowd pleaser. Enthusiasts will almost certainly prefer Pantheon.