Guys, I am going to go out on a limb here and make a CRAZY statement:
Busch Gardens may be as good as Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
There. I said it. That’s crazy, right? Or IS it? Here is a review of all the things I love about Christmas town at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.
First things first, lets talk about expense. Because this time of year has plenty of it. Tickets range from $16 to $38 a person, under 3 years old is free. You have to buy your tickets in advance to take advantage of the $16 price tag. We did not do that, since our schedule didn’t allow for it. So we ended up paying full price. Parking is another $15. Gonna be there multiple days? Look into bounce tickets (and explore colonial Williamsburg) or a Fun Card for admission on multiple days here.
So why is it as good as Magic Kingdom? Perhaps just because it is so much more manageable. We did go on a weekday, so of course a weekend might be much busier. We met Elmo, Rudolph and Bumble and spent less than 15 minutes combined. You don’t have the pressure because less than an hour (probably way less) went into planning it.
Busch Gardens is like multiple theme parks rolled into one. You enter on a main street that is smaller, but similar to Magic kingdom. Each area is sectioned off into different countries, much like Epcot. Love thrill rides? Ride roller coasters that rival any at 6 flags. Enjoy walking through a beautifully landscaped park during the day and spectacular lights at night. Several shows to choose from and you can even do a dinner buffet with Santa himself. You will also find fair rides and fair games if that is your cup of tea.
If you go left when you enter the park you will go into England which is the home to Sesame street forest, aka a toddlers dream. It’s SMALL… don’t get me wrong. But so fun. 3 rides were open: Oscars whirly worm, Prince Elmo’s tower and Grover’s roller coaster. The first 2 rides have no height restrictions, so my 2 year old could get in on the fun. Which he loved getting to ride the same rides as big sis. you do have to be a little taller for Grover’s roller coaster, which is a really short but definitely a legit roller coaster. My daughter rode it 3 times during our time there. My little boy rode Prince Elmo’s tower (takes you up and down with little drops) at least 5 times. He made friends with the ride attendant. It was awesome. England is also home to the show “Scrooge No More”, Dicken’s tavern and Christmas shops.
Scotland is a small area, but it houses a railroad station (1 of 3) and the Clydesdale horses. It also has a really cute horse ride that both my kids loved. We rode it at least twice.
Continue on to Holiday hills, an area set up in 1960’s fashion and meet the characters from Rudolph the red nose reindeer. Ride tea cups and a couple other fair style rides.
On to Italy and there are a couple more cute kid rides – I was relieved that the kid rides were not just contained to sesame street forest. Italy has a hot air balloon ride just for kids and a scrambler style ride. Lots of the rides do not have height requirements if riding with a parent.
Cross the bridge to Oktoberfest. It houses mistletoe marketplace of local crafts. I would have loved to shop here but… I have kids that were on the run! This area has little kid bumper cars to ride, a HUGE Christmas tree and the show Deck the Halls. Deck the Halls was the only show we stopped to watch – and the kids loved it. It’s very upbeat Christmas music in a Rockettes style format. You sit at large tables, which allows you to either buy food (lots of options here) or we brought our own. Nice break to eat and watch the show.
Continue your trip into Germany where the north pole and Santa’s workshop is set up. We didn’t actually go into Santa’s workshop, my kids were just not that interested. We had already visited Santa at Pullen Park and instead wanted to ride the nearby carousel. Of course we had done that at Pullen park as well… BUT visiting Santa was one of the few things that had a fairly lengthy line.
We did not spend as much time in France and Ireland on the opposite side of the park. Apparently there are penguins too but we somehow managed to miss those.
When you need to relax a bit, take a train ride around the park. There are 3 train stations in the park, a full round trip is about 20 minutes. You can fold up your stroller and put in the train with you, which is not an option for the sky rides. The sky rides offer the best view of the lights but most of them are just one way. So you end up riding it and walking back to your stroller. Which may be OK…depending on how much walking you want to do.
We plan on visiting during the normal spring/summer season as well. But as for Christmas activities, this one is pretty great, and just about 3 hours from Raleigh.