After the overwhelmingly positive reception of the the first edition of the BGWFans Town Crier last week, I thought it may be a good time to try another post series I’ve been tempted to experiment with for a while now: A monthly list of important Busch Gardens Williamsburg dates and events. The goal is to provide a single, constantly up-to-date list of all the important days that BGW fans should know about for that given month. A lot of what will be included in these posts will be official dates that come out of the park but you can expect to see some unofficial events, unannounced dates, etc. show up as well.
Anyway, let me know in the comments below or in the BGWFans Almanac forum thread if you find this post helpful and whether or not you’d like to see future posts similar to it!
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Official Park Calendar
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Important Dates:
Pass Member Preview Day (Saturday, March 15th): Pass Member Preview Day is back once again for 2014. We don’t know whether or not the park will be doing on-stage presentations as they did last season, but according to the calendar there will be some sort of St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Killarney once again this year. It’s also worth noting that the park has an official Facebook event for Pass Member Preview Day which can be found here. Additionally, according to the park’s official page for Preview Day, pass members can get 20% off any purchase of $40 or more at Emerald Isle.
Entwined Debuts for 2014 (Saturday, March 15th): Entwined will be the only show opening with the park this year. If you want to catch the first showing, the 15th is your day.
Opening Day (Sunday, March 16th): Not much to say here- basically the park is opening to the public for its 39th season. As far as I know, nothing special is going on.
Celtic Fyre & This is Oktoberfest Debut for 2014 (Friday, March 21st): Celtic Fyre and This is Oktoberfest will both have their first shows of the 2014 season on Friday, March 21st- a week after the park opens to the public on the 16th.
[iconbox title=”Land of the Dragons’ 20th Anniversary Celebration Rescheduled” icon=”warning”]The park has rescheduled their 20th anniversary celebration for Land of the Dragons to April 26th.[/iconbox]
Land of the Dragons’ 20th Anniversary Celebration (Saturday, March 22nd): Though the calendar doesn’t give any real information about what’s actually going on, the park has made an official Facebook event for the anniversary that states the following: “Come celebrate childhood memories at Land of the Dragons 20th Anniversary. Grab your family and snap a photo in front of the freshly painted eggs, explore the renovated tree house and splash around in the Brook.” Additionally, the official page on the park’s site for the event says the following: “Busch Gardens is throwing a party to celebrate Land of the Dragon’s 20th anniversary. Parents and children are invited to visit Busch Gardens on March 22 to commemorate this milestone with a games, face painting and appearances by some modern-day “dragons.” The area, which opened in 1994 near the park’s Oktoberfest village, is being rejuvenated with fresh paint, new colors and the addition of a new animal show.“ Both these quotes go along nicely with something I had been told a month or so ago: That Land of the Dragons would be getting a notable rehab over this off-season which would include fresh paint, all new netting, etc. It really is great to see this area getting some love- it has needed it for a very long time.
Apollo’s Chariot 15th Anniversary Gathering (March 30th): BGW Memories, BGWFans’ sister-site headed up by one of our forum moderators, Nora, is putting on a meet-up to celebrate Apollo’s Chariot’s 15th birthday on March 30th. Nothing too fancy is planned, but it’s a great time to meet a bunch of other BGW fans in a rather non-hectic setting and ride one of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s greatest coasters. Anyway, you can find the official Facebook event for the gathering, here. Hope to see you there!
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Deals:
Free 6×8″ Forest of Fun Souvenir Photo with $20 Purchase: The park is offering pass members a free 6 by 8 inch souvenir photo from Grover’s Alpine Express Photo or 1-2-3 Smile With Me! with any $20 purchase during the month of March.
$5 Preferred Parking Upgrade: One and two park pass members are eligible for $5 off upgrades to preferred parking (normal price is $10) throughout the month of March. Platinum pass holders will continue to get free preferred parking.
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2/27/2014: BGW Memories’ Apollo’s Chariot 15th Anniversary Gathering added for March 30th.
3/21/2014: Updated to reflect the rescheduling of the park’s Land of the Dragons celebration.[/toggle]
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