- December 13th, 2009, 7:16 pm
#36420
49 photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 868585837/
A new tradition has begun this year at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. For the first time, the park has opened in the winter with its Christmas Town event.
I have been to similar events held at Dollywood and Carowinds. Dollywood puts on a fantastic one, while Carowinds started decent but then gave up after only one year.
My companions on this cold December day.
For this first event, the San Marco and Festa Italia areas were closed. However, with crowds exceeding expections, the pathways in San Marco were opened to complete the full circle of walkways around the park. Also, the hours of the event were extended by two hours. It's a good sign for the continuation of the event in the future.
Most of the rides in the park were closed for the winter, but in addition to very heavy decorations all over, there were a number of shows and street performers.
Griffon was the only coaster scheduled to be open for Christmas Town. Once temperatures fall below 40 degrees it shuts down, but it ran for a few hours with very short lines.
For $5 you can get a mug of coffee, hot chocolate, or wassail that can be refilled all night for 99 cents. The peppermint fudge hot chocolate was awesome.
Happily binging on sugar.
As you can see by this line for Polar Pathway, the event was a success at drawing in crowds.
Polar Pathway involved importing a bit of Sea World San Antonio to Williamsburg...
Penguins.
The weather was surprisingly pleasant. While cold, there was no wind and the skies were dry. We had a great time.
The sheer number of lights and decorations indicates to me that Busch Gardens is committed fully to this event. They really went all out.
The lack of many rides was not a big deal, because there was just so much to look at. We didn't even see any of the shows and we still made a full evening of it. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they expand the event to include more of the park and more rides next year.
The Christmas music playing in each country was in the language of that country. It's that sort of attention to detail that is why Busch is great at what they do.
Curse of DarKastle was one of the rides operating for Christmas Town, and its theme fits in appropriately with the event.
The signature lighting element of the park was in front of Das Festhaus, where there was a really impressive synchronized light show.
This 45 foot tall tree was the centerpiece.
Das Festhaus was too crowded to even get inside, but Trapper's Smokehouse was open with a tasty Christmas menu. The park was also smart enough to have heated tents in a number of areas near outdoor food establishments.
The sugar rush continues. In addition to the stands and restaurants the park was operating, there was a street market in Germany featuring local and regional vendors who came in to sell food and other items.
Even though Italy was not originally supposed to be open, the park was able to get plenty of lights up in that area for the opening of the pathway.
The clydesdales are still in the park.
I really hope the new owners reconsider their decision to remove these from the parks. The horses, that is.
Ireland looked fantastic with plenty of green lights.
The transformation of the park as night fell and the lights came on was excellent.
Corkscrew Hill was open, but closed due to technical difficulties right as we got in line.
Overall, we really enjoyed Christmas Town. Hopefully Busch Gardens will continue the event next year, and expand it to include even more. Right now there are very few parks that open in the winter outside of Florida and California, and it would be great to have another option.
A new tradition has begun this year at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. For the first time, the park has opened in the winter with its Christmas Town event.
I have been to similar events held at Dollywood and Carowinds. Dollywood puts on a fantastic one, while Carowinds started decent but then gave up after only one year.
My companions on this cold December day.
For this first event, the San Marco and Festa Italia areas were closed. However, with crowds exceeding expections, the pathways in San Marco were opened to complete the full circle of walkways around the park. Also, the hours of the event were extended by two hours. It's a good sign for the continuation of the event in the future.
Most of the rides in the park were closed for the winter, but in addition to very heavy decorations all over, there were a number of shows and street performers.
Griffon was the only coaster scheduled to be open for Christmas Town. Once temperatures fall below 40 degrees it shuts down, but it ran for a few hours with very short lines.
For $5 you can get a mug of coffee, hot chocolate, or wassail that can be refilled all night for 99 cents. The peppermint fudge hot chocolate was awesome.
Happily binging on sugar.
As you can see by this line for Polar Pathway, the event was a success at drawing in crowds.
Polar Pathway involved importing a bit of Sea World San Antonio to Williamsburg...
Penguins.
The weather was surprisingly pleasant. While cold, there was no wind and the skies were dry. We had a great time.
The sheer number of lights and decorations indicates to me that Busch Gardens is committed fully to this event. They really went all out.
The lack of many rides was not a big deal, because there was just so much to look at. We didn't even see any of the shows and we still made a full evening of it. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they expand the event to include more of the park and more rides next year.
The Christmas music playing in each country was in the language of that country. It's that sort of attention to detail that is why Busch is great at what they do.
Curse of DarKastle was one of the rides operating for Christmas Town, and its theme fits in appropriately with the event.
The signature lighting element of the park was in front of Das Festhaus, where there was a really impressive synchronized light show.
This 45 foot tall tree was the centerpiece.
Das Festhaus was too crowded to even get inside, but Trapper's Smokehouse was open with a tasty Christmas menu. The park was also smart enough to have heated tents in a number of areas near outdoor food establishments.
The sugar rush continues. In addition to the stands and restaurants the park was operating, there was a street market in Germany featuring local and regional vendors who came in to sell food and other items.
Even though Italy was not originally supposed to be open, the park was able to get plenty of lights up in that area for the opening of the pathway.
The clydesdales are still in the park.
I really hope the new owners reconsider their decision to remove these from the parks. The horses, that is.
Ireland looked fantastic with plenty of green lights.
The transformation of the park as night fell and the lights came on was excellent.
Corkscrew Hill was open, but closed due to technical difficulties right as we got in line.
Overall, we really enjoyed Christmas Town. Hopefully Busch Gardens will continue the event next year, and expand it to include even more. Right now there are very few parks that open in the winter outside of Florida and California, and it would be great to have another option.
