It’s almost time. As of the time this post goes live, there are only 14 hours till Busch Gardens Williamsburg opens its gates for the 2013 season. As you could expect from BGWFans, we’ll be dashing around the park all day tomorrow documenting every last change we can find. Anyway, though a massive wave of new information and content will be coming in with the sunrise tomorrow, we have a fair bit of information to share as the sun sets this evening as well. Enjoy!
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Spring Calendar With New Food & Wine Festival Details
The park sent out their pass member calendars for the first part of the 2013 season and, for anyone who hasn’t received theirs yet or isn’t a pass member, I’ve included a summery of the important dates and details it contains below. Additionally, I’ve included pictures of all the pages for your viewing pleasure.
Important Details
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[li]Food & Wine Festival: The Food & Wine Festival will run on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 31st to June 23rd. Also, it looks like we may have an official logo (see the page below).[/li]
[li]Loch Ness Monster’s Birthday: Though the banner announcing Nessie’s anniversary appears above April’s calendar, Loch Ness Monster actually opened on June 6th 1978. Regardless, Loch Ness Monster’s 35th birthday is fast approaching.[/li]
[li]Verbolten’s First Birthday: The park plans to celebrate Verbolten’s birthday on May 18th with some special activities in the Oktoberfest hamlet. I’ve heard that there will be a very large giveaway involved.[/li]
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Calendar
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This is Oktoberfest Returning for 2013
As we leaked over a month ago, the park has confirmed that they will be bringing This is Oktoberfest, the traditional German song and dance show in Das Festhaus, back for the 2013 season. Though we’re not entirely show how much different this new version of the believed classic will be, it turns out that we don’t have to wait too long to find out. This is Oktoberfest is set to debut on Thursday the 21st.
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2013 Concert Lineup Unveiled
The park has announced the majority of this year’s concerts as well. The list includes Styx (as leaked), Third Day, Hot Chelle Rae, Billy Currington, and Casting Crowns. The full list can be found below.
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[li]May 12th: Styx[/li]
[li]May 19th: Mary Mary[/li]
[li]May 25th: Not yet announced[/li]
[li]May 26th: Coco Jones[/li]
[li]June 29th: Not yet announced[/li]
[li]June 30th: Not yet announced[/li]
[li]August 17th: KC and the Sunshine Band[/li]
[li]August 18th: Third Day[/li]
[li]August 25th: Hot Chelle Rae[/li]
[li]August 31st: Billy Currington[/li]
[li]September 1st: Casting Crowns[/li]
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New Ticketing Area Pictures
The pictures below came from two different sources, one who wishes to stay anonymous and one who wished to be credited as Bryant. Major props to both of them. Enjoy!
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Pass Member Preview Day Presentations Announced
Ah, the park likes to spring things on us last minute, don’t they? Today the park announced that there will be four presentations done by leading members of the park’s various departments to talk about what said departments have done over the off-season and what they will do over the upcoming season. A list of the presentations can be found below:
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[li]10:30am at the Globe Theater: Carl Lum talks about an upcoming promotion[/li]
[li]11:30am at Das Festhaus: Scott Gasparich speaks on what the Entertainment department has been working on. I’d bet on Entwined v. 3 and This is Oktoberfest 2013 talk[/li]
[li]1:00pm at the Globe Theater: Franz Kitenko presents information on the upcoming Food & Wine Festival[/li]
[li]2:00pm at Das Festhaus: Jay Tacey will be speaking about what’s new in the Zoological department[/li]
[li]Sometime: For whatever reason the park has yet to announce a time and location for Brad Elsass’s presentation. Anyway, he plans to speak on what’s going on in the merchandise department. I assume it will follow the pattern set above and be located in the Globe Theater at 3 pm.[/li]
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