Christmas Town 2017 Admission Information
With Howl-O-Scream 2017 behind us it is time to start thinking about the next big seasonal event at Busch Gardens Williamsburg: Christmas Town. I had the opportunity on Monday to speak with VP of Marketing Dan Dipiazzo and Senior Communications Manager Ron Vample about the upcoming ticket sale. Dated Tickets The bottom line is that […]
2017 Food & Wine Festival: More Thoughts & Highlights
Welcome to Part Two of our 2017 Food & Wine Festival review. Previously, we shared our scores and comments for every dish at the event. This week we want to talk about the festival more broadly. Below you will find our ranking of all of the booths from best to last, as well as our recommendations […]
2017 Food & Wine Festival: The Comprehensive Review
Once again over Memorial Day weekend, BGWFans braved the crowds and the weather to taste and review everything at Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s annual culinary extravaganza. This year Zachary and I (Nicole) were joined by Renee, Thomas, and Tony. Despite the forces of nature and a Code Purple at the park, we successfully tried, scored, and discussed […]
State of Zoological Operations
When Zachary and I spoke with Tim Smith, Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Manager of Zoological Operations, he was very excited about the upcoming season. To be completely candid, we have been concerned about the recent, dramatic cuts to the zoology programs across the SeaWorld Parks chain, but he sees the reductions as an opportunity to focus […]
Last Saturday at Pass Member Preview Day, Zachary, Joe, Thomas, Pretzel Kaiser, Tony, and I decided to take one for the team and try everything on the menu at Les Frites. As is our custom, we rated each dish, so we could share our questionable, if enthusiastic, wisdom with all y’all. Perhaps the most important […]
On Tuesday Zachary and I had the opportunity to speak with representatives from the Culinary and Entertainment Departments at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Although there has been a lot of attention focused recently on InvadR, the park’s new wooden roller coaster, BGW has also been working on new restaurants and shows in the off-season. Our first […]
Additional Christmas Town Ticketing Info & Thoughts
As we reported Thursday, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is implementing an innovative, dynamic discount ticket structure for Christmas Town. We have real hopes that this new approach will mitigate the overcrowding we experienced last year. During our interview with Dan Dipiazzo, we asked if BGWFans could get a copy of the cost calendar with us before […]
Christmas Town 2016 Discount Tickets
On Wednesday I spoke with Dan Dipiazzo, Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Vice President of Marketing, about the new dynamic ticket pricing structure for Christmas Town. It was clear that the park is making real changes in an attempt to address the extremely high crowd levels we have all experienced in recent years. Since its inception in […]
On the first day of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s 2016 Howl-O-Scream event, Zachary and I attended a media preview, where we were invited to explore the park’s two new “No Escape” escape rooms: The Case of Jack the Ripper and The Case of Mr. Karver. The former seemed to tie in well with the Terror-tory in Banbury […]
When Zachary and I planned this article on the 2016 Busch Gardens Williamsburg Food & Wine Festival, we expected it to be no more than the second half of our normal food review. The first installment was intended to highlight each of the individual dishes, while this one was meant to look more broadly at […]
2016 Food & Wine Festival: The Comprehensive Review
Over Memorial Day weekend my friend Renee and ParkFans Forum members Tony, Username, Zachary, and I (Nicole) went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the 2016 Food & Wine Festival. As has become our custom, we tried all of the food items and a limited sampling of the drinks. This year we have decided to split […]
Sunday, Zachary, Luke, Thomas, Tony, and I braved the cold and rain to try the food at Marco Polo’s Marketplace, which replaced Ristorante della Piazza this year. As we have reported previously, San Marco’s new eatery has a variety of stations, including Mediterranean Market, Italian Kitchen, Stone Hearth Oven, Asian Grill, Garden Favorites, and Desserts. […]
Going Behind-the-Scenes at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
As you all know, last Thursday Zachary, Luke, and I spent a few hours touring around the Most Beautiful Theme Park. While we were there, we tried to get answers to everyone’s questions, and to aim Luke’s camera at the most interesting things we could find. So, here is the second of three reports on […]
The Resurgence of the Zoology Department
Busch Gardens Williamsburg opens in just eight days, and we are getting very excited. There are a number of changes and upgrades coming that everyone wants to see. Well guess what? Yesterday, the fabulous Emily Phillips gave Zachary, Luke, and me a sneak peek at what is happening inside the park. We want to thank everyone […]
The selection of Busch Gardens Williamsburg tickets, memberships, and vacation packages continues to change in both benefits and structure for the 2016 season. To help our readers decide which option is best for them, we have summarized all of them below. Please be sure to note that some offers expire this month and some are only […]
Today both the 2016 Busch Gardens Williamsburg map and this year’s new pass member Fun Tracker have been posted. We are going to tackle the Fun Tracker first, but if you’d like to skip down to the new map instead, feel free to click here. Fun Tracker We at BGWFans thought we’d help out our […]
As many of you know the Colonial Pipeline runs through Busch Gardens Williamsburg. For those who are unfamiliar with its purpose, according to the Colonial Pipeline Company’s website: We safely and reliably transport refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, home heating oil and fuels for the U.S. military. Our pipeline system […]
As we reported yesterday, we have been seeing some big changes in how Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s marketing department does business. Today we learned of a new partnership between BGW and Colonial Williamsburg that has us very excited! We have obtained a copy of an internal CW email, which describes how the two parks plan to […]
So, anyone who hasn’t read Dan Dipiazzo’s blog post, “Taking a Risk — Project 2017,” should do so immediately. It seems that the park has been as smart and daring in their marketing as we have always hoped they could be. As all y’all probably know, I am relatively new to BGWFans. What you may […]
2017! That’s the year, guys! It has been rumored for a while now that 2017 would be Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s next “coaster year.” There were many questions, when we leaked Tempesto’s plans in 2014, about why BGW would pick a clone for their next e-ticket attraction. In fact, during construction, it was rumored that the […]