Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Busch Gardens has been around since I could remember we just live a short way in Virginia Beach me and my kids went this Sunday and it was nice weather was good. They have two new roller coasters this year ! They have a regenerated big bad wolf and a dark coaster I think is one I didn't get that one Busch Gardens is very interesting place the landscaping is so nice there's lots of little nooks and crannies if you're looking around you can find some cool features.

Busch Gardens is a beautiful theme park, however you will walk. If you have directional challenges, be ready to ask the park workers which I had to do numerous times 😂. The great thing is that every attendant knew the park like the back of their hands. Our party ate at Trappers (which is my go to when I visit BG@W). The Rhine River cruise in my opinion is always delightful. I would give 4 stars, except for the fact, 1. the wait time for rides is long (which we knew would be the case), but the ride times are extremely short compared to the wait. There was a point, when one of the rides was over, the look on people's faces seemed to say, "This is it?" BG@W only takes certain payment, so if you use a digital wallet, you'll need to know your pin number. Kiosks are available to convert cash to a Visa prepaid credit card. Like any other theme park, souvenirs, food, etc. are pricey, so make sure to plan accordingly. Overall, BG@W is a beautiful, clean, scenic fun family spot, with helpful, courteous attendants.

Absolutely incredible and beautiful park!! I really really enjoyed this park a lot. The theming is great and there's so much natural shade from all the trees in the area. The food here is incredible and really decently priced for what you get as well. All the employees we encountered on our trip were very helpful and polite. The park is probably one of the cleanest and well maintained we've seen.

We had a blast today! Almost all the rides were open and wait times were minimal. We waited until the late evening to do Darkoaster, which had long wait times all day. We did two All Day Dining deals for five people (including four teenagers ages 14-20), which was sufficient. I purchased sampler plates with each meal, which was a lot of food. Bathrooms were clean, the staff were courteous and a few were fantastic (check out the Roman Rapids for some.extra fun). We all had a great day and got to ride the rollercoasters multiple times, especially after 7:30PM. Also, the grounds are absolutely beautiful!

It is amazing and fun for all ages, the food was delicious and Their was plenty to do even if you don't like roller coasters, the only thing that was a bit disappointing was that the app said their would be a 3:50pm Bird talk and their never was. Other wise a very nice park!!

Love that they had free tickets for active duty and spouses. Just paid $30 for parking. Great rides and the lines go fast. It's just a pricey place if you want food or drink.

Great experience! Got the food plan for 3 of 5 family members which was enough to everyone all day. Desserts are amazing!! Trappers smokehouse was very tasty. Italian At Marco Polo was not as good as expected. Free water was appreciated for the 107 degree heat index day we visited. Watched fireworks as we were walking to our car and was grateful as there were no cars leaving at that time. Stayed 12 hours at the park.

Always a fun place to go. The rides are great, we went on a weekday and ended up waiting max 25 minutes per ride. Although they don't have shows on the weekdays. But it's a great park.

The lines for the rides weren't as long as I expected. Unsurprisingly, prices are high inside. Food is certainly edible but nothing to write home about. The reusable cups for fountain drinks don't make sense for people who don't drink soda, so I bought an over-priced disposable bottle of water and refilled it at water fountains throughout the park and just told myself the microplastics add to the mouthfeel of the water. Docked a star for some rides being not functional and the insanely long lines at the smokehouse restaurant.

I was visit a friend in Norfolk and I have a Platinum pass for Seaworld so we grab a free military ticket for him a couple of discounted all-day dining passes. The location is awesome. There are so many trees that it kept the park comfortable all day for us. ** Dining ** ** Coasters ** ** Staff ** ** Fireworks ** It was so easy to get in and out of the parking area. We will be coming back in the future to spend a couple of leisurely days.

Busch Gardens is super clean, with great theming (except for Pantheon), and a great lineup of top class (exciting and original coasters). Food is expensive, but every park is, however portions were decent and in most cases we could split a meal. It was $35 to park, which is a lot, but again you are in a theme park. I really enjoyed Pantheon, Apollo's Chariot, Griffin, and Verbolton. Hoping to get on Alpengeist next time around.

Service has definitely gone down. Pre purchased my parking but the bar code did not work so I had to pay again when I came in. Then there was no way to get to the disabled parking area. I brought my dad with me and we had a parking placard but the parking lot attendant directed us to general parking. Then when we got to the entrance and only 2 of the then self check out kiosks were operating. No real life people so I had to go to guest services. Line there was long so it took forever just to get in. Very frustrating. Once in the park it was ok but they really need to improve the entry procedures.

My family and I decided to play hooky in May, the week before school got out. That's mainly relevant because apparently a lot of their staff will be high school kids, so while they are still in school, they generally only have 2 people max working in places... Like in the food places, one person rings up while one dishes food. It tragically makes the line go really slow, which sucks when you are waiting for things like Rita's shaved ice on a hot day. Or there will be one person working two carnival games, so you have to stand around waiting for him to come back if your kiddo wants to play a game before you leave. Some of the food is good, and some is super disappointing and not at all worth the price. The kids opted for bacon cheese fries for lunch and it was literally room temperature fries from a warming tray, and cold shredded cheese. No melting was involved, so it was just sort of bland and weird. They also don't have lids for anything, so if you leave your husband and kids outside while you grab food, it is really difficult to carry your $6 fountain soda without spilling if you have more than one, or food too. They really want you to purchase the specialty cups with lids apparently. They also only have about three water bottle filling stations, but the alternative is wait in a huge line to get a drink that they pour. We didn't see any self-serve drink dispensers like they have at SeaWorld. They do have a really great program if you have disabilities, like if your kiddos are on the spectrum like mine. There is no way they can stand for 50 minutes, crushed in by people on all sides waiting in the line, so they sign off on this paper you carry around and you get to come back in 50 minutes. They never would have been able to ride any of the more popular rides without it, so it was really great that they got to go sit down in the shade and eat shaved ice while waiting their turn. The app is somewhat helpful, but it isn't super convenient to walk around with your phone up all day, so I do wish the rides themselves were a little more helpful. Like some of the rides list the MINIMUM height, but not the maximum height if it is a kiddie right. Seems like something that would be posted on the sign before you wait in the line? And maybe list a little bit more of what the ride consists for of before you get on. Does it contain upside downtime, sideways riding, etc. It seems that they just kind of take for granted that people already know what each coaster and stuff consists of, which can be pretty nerve wracking if it is your first time visiting. The parking is a bit on the expensive side, and the handicapped parking was unmarked how to get there. Overall, I'm not sure if this place merits a return trip. It was okay, but rather expensive and underwhelming in my opinion.

Busch Gardens is a family favorite that always makes for a wonderful day. I am thankful that it now stays open mostly year round as it's the perfect place to spend our weekends as a local. The membership passes are the way to go for us. You get your moneys worth and then some!

Our first time visiting Williamsburg and we had to go to Busch gardens. Truly a beautiful park with endless things to eat, see, and do! We enjoyed bites in Ireland, Poland, France, and Germany, we saw wolves, eagles, and other birds in an aviary enclosure, we met Dakota the beautiful Clydesdale, and we rode the most exciting rides. We went in the morning on a Friday and the line to get in was VERY big. When we left later in the afternoon around 2pm there was no line, so definitely consider coming later if you don't want to deal with the initial crowd. However, inside the park it doesn't feel "crowded." The lines for some rides are longer, which is understandable. We're low thrill people so we chose the calmer rides which did not have a long wait - maybe 5-10 minutes max! The staff are super friendly and the park facilities are very clean. 100/10 will definitely come back!

Great coasters and Food & Wine Festival! Summer can be hot, but the park has lots of shade. Best cooling spot is in the Fest Haus!

We went back after 2 years and nothing much has changed much, but had a fun time and went for 2 full days and wanted to do more. We did finally do the boat tour which is a 15 minute boat tour of the lake where they take you 7.5 minutes and then head back. Then, they had a new ride the big bad wolf which is a fun family ride, but hidden in the back of Festhaus. We did not watch much entertainment either. If you want to ride all of the rides, best day to go is a Friday as it was not too busy as the most we waited was for 45 minutes that is for the Darkoaster which I have a blast riding on. Some rides do require you to have no phones in the pocket even there is a zipper so they make you put it in the small cage which is not too bad, like Panthereon. Panthereon is my favorite ride, but this ride does break down quite a bit. I remember I got a VIP ride on this and it then broke down after I rode it. I do like Le Scot too and Roman Rapids, but the water rides do open at 11am to 8pm. I do like Roman Rapids and got to ride this finally, you do get soaked as there are mini water falls at the end. This park has a lot of different variety of rides for the family, thrill and water rides which I enjoy. My wife and I did the all you can eat pass for $52 dollars for 2 days and we were trying to get as much meals as we can, so we were eating every 90 minutes and were stuffed and in pain just so we can get our money's worth. We tried all the food that was available in the pass except for the burgers in London. But the all you can eat dining pass comes with a drink and a snack as well. Definitely worth the price to get especially if each meals costs $30 dollars if bought individually. I would recommend getting the BBQ at the Canada. The only thing I do not like about United Parks is when you meet the mascots the employees won't take a picture on your camera, but only take pictures if you get a photo key.

I had a blast after visiting since childhood. I enjoyed each ride. I also enjoyed the shaded areas. I was also excited to enjoy Rita's Italian Ice. The wait times were not extensive, and I picked a slow day to visit. I was not happy that a few rides were closed due to maintenance. However, I recommended this park. It was clean, friendly, and fun. There was ample parking available for all vehicles. However, the bathrooms need to be remodeled. I would have also liked a different variety of shows and restaurants. Overall, I will return again. The highlight of my trip was riding the Pantheon, Apollos, Tempesto, and Griffon Rollercoasters. I was lit for sure!

It never fails. I arrive at the front of the line for Verbolten, one of many high speed roller coasters in the park, and i start to get anxious and wonder why the hell do I do this to myself. Then after an approximate one minute ride of hills, turns, and unexpected drops, I find myself wanting to get in line again! BG has 7 major roller coasters as well as several other thrill rides that do not ddisappoint. There are other rides as well to fit everyone's preference from the train to a kid friendly section in Sesame's Forest of Fun. I grew up in Virginia and went to college nearby. I even worked at Busch Gardens my junior year but this review is NOT biased at all!! I took this beautiful, exciting and entertaining park for granted all those years! After visiting the Busch Gardens Tampa several times, it is not nearly as great as this one. It's no wonder why this park has been voted America's most beautiful theme park. It is well decorated with colorful flowers and trees creating good shade for those hot summer visits. It represents 5 countries of Europe and does not diappoint with the food representations of Germany, France, Italy, New France, England, and Germany. My favorite is the beef cannelloni in Italy and the Irish stew in Ireland; not your typical pizza, burgers, and hot dogs found in other theme parks. And of course, the beer! Prost! Other than the rides, the entertainment is fantastic. You can see shows varying from Celtic dancers to a celebratory audience involved song and dance in Germany's festhaust. There is something for everyone. My only complaint is the longggg line and tram ride to the parking lot which seems to be located in Mongolia. I hope to be back for the return of the beloved Big Bad Wolf in 2025!!

Whether or not you enjoy riding coasters (note: I do not), Busch Gardens is a lovely amusement park full of options for fun. I enjoy visiting for their special events, and I've attended both Howl-o-Scream and Christmastown. I'd say Halloween is the best time of year to visit as the temperatures aren't insane one extreme or another generally and the park is lively and exciting. I love their performances and haunted houses, especially. And you can't miss a ride on the teacups! (Yes, that is my thrill limit.)

It was a very good experience. We almost didn't go because we were focusing on museums and history in our trip. I am very glad we changed our minds. We are a 50 something couple on vacation by ourselves, and it was great.

I don't know why people think this place is clean. It's not. It is dated and in serious need of a refresh. The rides are still awesome though and the shows are OK. The staff seems to be indifferent to the guests.

We are here right now and I've been to 4 bathrooms and every one of them is disgusting!!!! First thing this morning - dried poop on one toilet seat and dried period blood on the other!!! Finally the 3rd I could at least line with toilet paper. Cobwebs, dirt and debri everywhere!!! These bathrooms haven't been cleaned in forever!!! Busch Gardens used to be known as the park with standards. Not any more!! The excuses I hear are because of covid blah blah blah ... if you are a good manager you will expect the best from your team. What's the difference separating Busch Gardens from Kings Dominion at this point?? Raise your standards you win! Keep as you are - no one cares anymore!!

The park is absolutely beautiful. I could see why they say it's the most beautiful theme park since everything is so vibrant and beautifully decorated. It is similar to other parks with all its themes and such. There are plenty of rides and they really stress on the roller coasters. For a first time visitor, it can be truly overwhelming without having done some research and planning on how to tackle all the lands in the park. Everything in the park besides the rides and shows are extra $$$ and not cheap. To start, general parking starts at $32 with taking a tram to the park entrance while preferred is a short walk to the entrance and VIP must be much closer. The food also costs more than it's worth. Sad part is, you can't bring your own. You could if you have dietary sensitivities and even before then, the park must be contacted for approval prior to bringing anything in. You can go back to your vehicle to eat your food though. So this goes back to properly planning if you're really deep into the park around meal times. We arrived shortly before noon and stayed till 9p. Had we arrived at park opening, we may not have missed out on England. Though maybe had we planned better, we could have made do with 10 hours. There's some waiting periods though not too long. Unless I had a season pass and without little kids, I may have gone back again. It's a one time visit for me and I think that's enough.

I went to Busch garden for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I am not a fan of roller coasters and big rides but I felt like it was shameful that I've lived in northern va/Richmond for 14 years and never been to Busch gardens so I had to go. It is a nice theme park with a lot of things to do. I enjoyed looking at the birds and visiting the different countries. I went on a Tuesday in July and it was really hot in the 90s. I was sweating until the sunset. I was there from 11am to 10pm, watched the fireworks for 4th of July before I left. I went on 2 rides. 1 ride, I waited 20 mins and the other one, waited 35 mins. This was a weekday so imagine weekends. The environment is clean, friends and families just hanging out having a good time. A lot of places to eat, snacks and drinks. I did the all day dinning deal, I paid $60. With this deal, you can eat at any of the cafeteria every 90 minutes. It wasn't a bad deal but I don't think it was worth it to me. The lines were long to get food and you only get an entree, 1 side and a drink. The person I went with was a little upset, 2 of the rides he really wanted to go on were down and other things he was hoping for were no longer there so kind of disappointing but still a lot of fun. Overall, it was a good experience. We got the season pass for about $140 to be able to go 6 different times in a year with a guest. I think that's a good deal and you get preferred parking. Also you can go to water country with this pass. I enjoyed the environment, I plan on going back during Halloween and Christmas times.

Whew...spent the day with two teens and the wife at Busch Gardens. If you go, bring your deep pockets. Parking, entrance fee, tiered pricing and food costs will have you feeling some kind of way. Are you familiar with EZ Pass? After you've spent a grip just to get in the park, the rides all have a considerable wait time. Not because the line is long, but because everyone with a speed pass gets to jump the line. If thirty people can ride at a time, and 15 speed pass holders show up, you'll be waiting...a lot. Food prices are anything but normal. A fountain soda (no lid) and you have to ask for a straw, $7.95. We bought a food plan. Eat in any "restaurant" every 90 minutes. Except the restaurants are more like cafeteria's. I got a plate with three 4" sausages, some pickled beets, and sauerkraut, and dessert, and a fountain soda. I was told yellow mustard packets were "extra." The kids enjoyed it. A family of four could easily spend a thousand dollars for this outing. Shameful.

Just spent the entire day here. The rides were great and the lines went quickly. It was hot and my daughter's friend was overheating...the folks working the booths were so helpful and let us sit in the store and brought us ice water until she was feeling better again. The evening ended with Celtic Fyre and all 3 kids said they loved the show so much it was their favorite part. Can't wait to come back again.

Busch Gardens is a great place for family fun. Since the pandemic, the cleanliness of the bathrooms and food quality has been dismal and substandard.

Same with seaworld the rides are good but not much else is to my liking. Once again paid lockers dont like that, and some careless staff. If those flaws are tolerable for you great but for me I need more than just good rides.

It's always fun returning to Busch Gardens year after year to see how the park expands and upgrades. My favorite time of the year to come is during Howl-o-Scream. I feel like the employees really get into character and the park invests a lot of time and detail into the decor. I enjoy all of the rides and mazes and think it's cool how they add new rides pretty often. My favorite part of the trip was seeing a show located in Ireland. It was very funny and had a lot of pop culture jokes. My least favorite part of the trip was not being able to tell where the "safe zones" were after dark. I thought an area lit in green meant there would be no scares and people in costume but that wasn't consistent throughout the park. I'm super grateful for the military tickets I got to use with my family. Overall I had a great time and can't wait to go back next year!

Busch Gardens is huge! They divide their sections by countries so for instance there is Italy, France, England, etc. I love their all day dining pass where you can eat every 90 minutes. Having the different countries you can try different foods to share and it was much better than normal amusement park foods. They have a wonderful Christmas train ride around the holidays.

I was really excited to go to this theme park but I was kind of let down. While it's a pretty big park, I do think there could be room for a little more thrill rides. The ones we went on were great though. Two of the major ones were down which sucked but it is what it is. We had fast passes so we went through lines quick so no complaints there. Food is expensive in the park but where isn't it? Overall the park is ok but not my top.

Super great theme park! I adore the theming, and it has some incredible rides - coasters and non-coasters included (Verbolten is my favorite). They also have plenty else to do, like shows, music, characters, animals, and the meal deal which we did (food was great). You can save a lot if you buy a multi-day pass or buy during one of their specials. Love it here!

This place is awesome. Parking is easy. No need to get the more expensive parking. Even the far parking lots are no more than 10 minute walk. And trams are convenient. Roller Coasters are awesome. They have some nice mega coasters. Apolos Chariot and Verbolten being my favorite ones. Just note that some of the mega.coasters don't run year round. Food is better than most theme parks. Maybe with the exception of Disney resorts. We get the all day dining option and it works out really great for a family of 4. The parking even at its busiest never seems over whelming. It's a pretty compact park so during the day you can easily circle the park a few times without a problem. Great value! In the era where Disney charges $180 bucks just for a one day ticket, we managed to get 2 days of park fees and all day dining for $400 bucks. That's just $50 per person per day. Which is awesome. One of our absolute favorite theme parks!

Went had a great time with my daughter seeing shows and riding a few of the rides. Was disappointed after all the money spent on parking... tickets and meal passes however that multiple rides were down . Pantheon... the sky rides... wirbelwind... pompei ... we still enjoyed the day just would have liked to fully take advantage of park.

I rode every single ride there it was AMAZING I don't care what you guys say Pantheon is so much scarier than Griffon. So much fun, 5 stars.

Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens was a a lot of fun. It was my first time at the park and I didn't know what to expect. But I must say that they did a real great job transforming the park in to haunted park. I don't want to give too much away without spoiling it, but the actors/actresses were great, the haunted houses were excellent, and ride roller coasters at night is a must!!!

We absolutely loved bush garden. It was on my bucket list and I'm so glad I got to experience with my husband and children. We got the meal plan as well for all of us which absolutely helped so much every 90 min you get a appreciate or dessert , an entree and a drink for 4 people it could add up so that meal plan was worth it . We loved there was so much for all of us to do and we were never bored . My 5 year old lasted 7 hours I was shocked . I would recommend this part to anyone atleast once in their life it's definitely worth the trip.

Definitely a beautiful park! I would love to see it at Halloween time. The rides were also very fun (though lines were long on a Labor day holiday weekend). The dining packages are also an interesting concept. We also saw some of the musicians at a performance and they were quite good! What I thought could be improved: 1. Also, I thought the place could have used more directional signage -- I got lost! Like, I even had a hard time finding where the line starts for some rides. 2. On a hot summer day, there are not many places to find air conditioning (sans the giant Bavarian Hall). 3. The food (vegetarian options) was not good for entrees. I had lo mein that was like yucky spaghetti at best. 4. I saw one domestic violence incident, a fight almost break out, and a borderline stalking situation. This park needs more visible security.

The worker yelled at me when I got off the ride bc I was telling him my seat belt wasn't pushed on all the way. He started yelling and saying did u apply here and was cussing us out horrible worker they were racing to see who could put the belts on first

Clean this place up guys. Bathrooms awful, tables and trash cans overflowing. Your reputation is so much better than this.

I love Busch Gardens rides more than some parks but it was not like how it used to be. They need a better app to show you the wait times, most parks have updated wait times and it helps a lot. It takes a while to get to one side of the park to the other and most had 90min wait times but it was very hot. Only 3 rides were actively working. The shows made it so much fun! The food in the food court could be better but I know, it's not supposed to be amazing. The parking and shuttles are great and helped a lot! They had lots of shaded places and water refills. We made the day more about trying the food around the world. We got Ice cream, German food, and plushies. The parking for general parking is $32 which is outrageous

I literally downloaded yelp just so I could leave this review. I had a major issue, that cost me a lot of money that is going completely ignored. Me, my wife and son all visited over two weeks ago. My son had measured OVER 52 inches in multiple locations around the park (including the board outside of guest services and in front of multiple coasters) I bought three quick queues totaling over $300. For some reason the measuring system used in the station is over an inch off from the ones in front of the line. Our son measured well under 52 in the station of both Pantheon and Apollos Chariot even though he was both measuring boards in front of the line. Also TWO major coasters that he COULD ride were down for the day (DarKoaster and Big Bad Wolf) I explained my situation to the supervisor, Douglas, and he told me that there was nothing he could do because we used my son's quick queue on ONE ride (Verbolten) to skip a 5 min wait. Since we did that we had to fill out a refund form online to get the discount, which Douglas made it seem like it would be no problem. I filled out the refund form over two weeks ago and have received nothing except for a canned response via IG about (the emails will be responded in the order they were received). Honestly I don't even care about the money. What I care about is my son, crying his eyes out because he couldn't understand why his head hits the board in front of your rollercoasters but he still can't ride. Make that make sense please. We used to be season pass holders, now this will be the last time we visit. It has not been the same since United took over. They clearly do not care about their guests. Eventually this will come back to bite you.

I love amusement parks! Love roller coasters! Hated this park. So hard to navigate. The coasters we went on were awesome! We left due to poor signage, no coffee anywhere except Starbucks at the entrance. This is not the park I remember ! The wolves were awesome! IMO this was a wasted day and cost about $300 for entry, $35 to park!! One meal with one dessert was $50. Maybe locals who know the park have a better time navigating, but, for tourists a better marked walkway would be a great upgrade. Cedar Point in Ohio is a way better park. AND NO PAPER MAPS! A map would have been very helpful! We ride three coasters because we didn't know where the heck we were going! No authenticity in the "countries".

In July 2022. I purchased several items to attend Bush Gardens Williamsburg. VA with my son and his children. After arriving back home in California. I contacted Bush Gardens to inform them that I did not use all of the services that I had purchased. After verifying my purchases used and the purchases not used. I ended up with over $500.00 in credits. I was told that I could use anytime at any facility. I said great. However, at that time, I was not told that there was a policy with a 2 year expiration date. Had I been made aware of an expiration date, I would requested total cash. On May 6, 2025, I contacted Bush Gardens Williamsburg, specifically Jesus Ayala (supervisor) regarding this credit. I informed Jesus that I would be returning back to the area, as my grandson was graduating, and I would've like to use some of my credits. Jesus advised me that I no longer had any credits available as my refund was over 2 years old. And informed me of this 2 year policy. I responded back stating, at that time, I was notmade aware of a policy stating that there was a 2 year expiration date. Otherwise had I known, I would have requested a cash refund instead of a credit. I also informed Jesus that we are talking about over $500.00. I would not throw away $500.00 had I known about your policy. I also informed Jesus that I have received several emails from Bush Gardens. But not 1 email received ever spoke about a 2 year policy informing me about an up coming expiration date. Jesus just stated that there was nothing that he could do for me and my lost money. I informed Jesus thatvi would be submitting a complaint about this situation. Next I contacted a Luis from Sea World San Diego, I inquired as to how to report this incident. Luis asked question, then verified my purchases, and asked me if anyone had informed me a bout policy that spoke to a 2 year expiration period. I responded no. I was not advisedof a 2 year expiration date. I stated, had I have known about this policy and the expiration date, I would've requested actotal refund. Luis stated that he understood and that he was going to write and submitt a statement of facts regarding this incident. Luis also stated that this was a lot of money to loose. I thanked him for reporting this incident. I also informed Luis that the Supervisor from Bush Gardens Jesus Ayala did not even offer to submitt a statement of facts in my behalf. I also stated that i thought it was really sad that the supervisor didnt offer this same help. Luis apologized for this supervisors actions. He also told me that I should be receiving an email about 2 weeks from submission. Again I thanked Luis for all of his help, and that I really appreciated him. At this point I am seekinga refund of all monies due.

Everything could improve. I am almost 70 years old with bad knees. I was looking to rent an electric scooter for the park as the park covers a lot of ground. I was advised to rent from the app and did so at $131.+ for the day. The gent who rented at the park in front of me rented for $107. My cart broke within 3 hrs of rental. Everything in the park food wise is outrageously expensive. Of the 5 people in my group, 3 indicated never again. The other two were on the fence. LMany rides were broken or just not operating. I was told that military discount was available but we were told otherwise. Its sad as I have been coming an average 1 times a year for the past 40 years. Save your money and steer away from this park or just go once to generate your own opinion.

Busch Gardens is a really nice theme park with a heavy focus on roller coasters. As far as roller coasters go, it holds up to almost any other park. It's missing what you might expect from Disney world with characters and other entertainment, but in terms of rides (mostly roller coasters), you'll get more of them and more per hour than pretty much anywhere else I've been. As long as you avoid the few rides that have very long lines, you don't really wait more than 30 minutes for anything and frequently it's less than 15 minutes per ride. Because of the short lines, the quick queue (their skip-the-line option) wasn't really worth it. Even on a spring break weekend, it was only useful for the DarKoaster that had just opened and you had to buy that separate from the regular quick queue. More recently, we haven't even needed it as long as you were willing to wait 30-40m for that one ride. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the food is expensive and mediocre. If you're eating, the best places is probably the German festival house in the back of the park, which has a nice sausage platter and a craft beer bar in the back.

They don't take Apple Cash and we've had to give up multiple things because Apple Cash don't work

Awww!!! I wish I could give Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA a 5-Star rating but I can't because my family and, especially, my 12-year-old Granddaughter who wears a leg prosthetic was turned away from getting on rides due to her prosthetic! This was the only reason why they lost 2-Stars which is huge for anyone with a prosthetic leg and a 12-year-old who went here for her first amusement park big girl rides! Other than the prosthetic discrimination the park was great for people with no leg prosthetic. The weather was great, there was no wait time, plenty of parking, train trolley from the parking lot to the front of the entrance, lots of restrooms, seating and fountain waters throughout, handicapped accessible, ample smoking spots, lots of concession stands with no wait times and plenty of water spots for kids to romper around. Most staff were friendly and some never gave a welcoming smile when you entered to get on the rides. One staff member acted as if she was calling to get someone to talk to my granddaughter's mother because she was upset that her daughter was denied to enter the ride because of her prosthetic. Then she told my daughter to go back to the front of the park to talk to someone. Although, their website indicate they are committed to creating an environment where all guests feel welcome and accommodated, regardless of their abilities we didn't feel this commitment was honored. We brought 7 tickets and because 1 child was left out due to her leg prosthetic our entire family was left out. I would recommend if you and/or anyone in your family has a leg prosthetic and/or any other disability to research your amusement park of choice thoroughly before venturing hundreds of miles to be turned away at the ride(s) gate!

We came here on December 30th for our four year old to see the Christmas Village and ride some rides. There were four adults and our son. First, I would imagine during the summer the park is beautiful, there seems to be a lot of landscaping that would really add to the experience. That potential is probably why I am rating the park higher than I should based on our experience. It's an amusement park and therefore I fully expect everything to cost more than you would think. Tickets: $60 each, parking $35 or $70 like we did for VIP parking, then of course there are a ton of add ons for meal plans, skipping the lines, etc. I'm glad we didn't opt for any of those as it really would've been a rough experience. We found our way in after walking from the fairly convenient VIP lot. There is a recording that explains you should go to "this line if you have your tickets (we did)" or "go through these lines if you don't have your tickets". The problem was the lines were numbered and the recording referenced letters. Once someone yelled that we could enter through the exit we got in quickly. We walked into an area (I think it was England) and it was nice. Christmas music playing, decorations everywhere and plenty of shops. We wanted to find some small rides for our son so we made our way to the Sesame Street section. As we're walking I started to notice that everything seemed a bit run down, I thought this was only because this was the kids section. There were a few rides for young kids which our son did, the lines were long yet as they had just opened about 30 minutes before. We did the rides and since it was lunch time decided to grab a quick snack and a few drinks somewhere. We found on the map there wasn't a lot of options for food, so we eventually ventured to their "Irish Pub" and walked to the counter and ordered a beer for each adult and two pretzels.....$96. The beer was higher than I thought, with a 20 oz coming in at $14.99, but the pretzels were $10 each! Aside from the pretzel salt they were flavorless and served with a runny and strange tasting cheese. But, we were able to warm up for a minute and have a beer. On we went. We walked through many different "countries", hoped on a few more kids rides and I realized as we were waiting, the kids rides weren't the only ones that were old. The large roller coasters looked out of date and while they seemed to operate fine they just looked old and dingy. Also, I'm not sure if it was by design but it took a long time in between rides. I would like to say it was people taking too long to get off while the new riders were taking too long to get on, but that wasn't it, the employees were taking long. Some of the rides were not working for whatever reason and while you can see on the app the wait time at certain rides, this information was not publicized. We walked from one side of the park to the other only to find the ride we wanted didn't open until night time. Our walking had made us hungry (and thirsty) again. Nearby there was an option for BBQ or German. I had a feeling the BBQ was going to be a complete disaster so we opted for the German food. I mean how hard is it to cook some sausages. We walked into a massive hall with tables to find shoved on one side a depressing looking cafeteria line. But since we were hungry we ordered several items: Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, a pizza, cheese sticks (yes, this was a German food hall) and then the three different sausages they had that were resting in a bath of grease and who knows what else. About $100 later (and we hadn't gotten beers yet), we bit into what we expected, seriously bad food. Everything was tasteless and barely warm. The sausage was the show stopper but only because everything else was so bad. One employee started raising their voice that "you have to get sides" only to have us explain "we don't want any and certainly are buying any". It was bizarre and something I felt bad subjecting my friends and son to. We stayed a few hours later, it started getting very cold and crowded. We started to leave only to find out there isn't much for lighting as you exit. But being as we left at 6:30pm the traffic wasn't bad getting out. If the tickets were free, I may go again. If it was summer I may go again. But I would certainly never travel here or recommend it.

I recently visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg on 4/27/25. This park has quite a lot to offer. I'm going to split this trip report into several categories including theming, food, flat rides, coasters, customer service and overall experience. Theming- This park does many things right and I believe theming is probably what it does best. Each section of the park was clearly planned out and well executed. The amount of detail put into each "country" of the park was quite impressive and really immersed me into each land. One of the subtle aspects of good theming, IMO, is the audio. Each section of the park plays instrumental music indigenous to each country; German music in the German section, Italian music in the Italian section etc. The music sets the tone as you enter each land. Each ride also had themed recordings playing as you entered and exited the station on roller coasters which was fun. Something I also love about this park, which actually reminded me of Disney, are all the nooks and crannies. If you can see it with your eyes, you can go to it with your feet. Likewise I felt like I was getting VIP access to certain areas of the park due to how secluded some locations were. The theming was very consistent throughout each land and continued through to each ride and coaster. This park is also just beautiful. There were so many areas of the park that looked like it could make for a great painting, from the lush gardens, to the park buildings to the shady trees. This park really does feel like you're walking through Europe and there just happens to be roller coasters along the way. Food- During my visit, the park was offering their food and drink festival. I loved this. I was able to sample small portions of food from different parts of the world at a reasonable price. Something that separates BG's food festival from others that I have attended at parks is once again the attention to detail. This food is unique. It is themed and in 95% of the places, the food was prepared right in front of you on grills or skillets. The smells are just wonderful especially coming from t he meats at the Brazil stand. The regular park food I felt could have been a bit better for the price but it was still a step above other parks. Flat Rides- This park could use more of them. But the ones they do have are great and are themed well. Another thing I'll say this park does very well are the transport rides. There's cable cars, a very nice train ride with multiple stations and a ferry boat ride. I love to see this as the transport rides are relaxing and actually help to make traveling more convenient. Coasters- This park has a solid line up. There really are not any gaps especially with the addition of the new BBW. There is a clear progression in intensity from rides like pantheon and Alpengeist to more mild rides like Invadr and Grover. There are many "family thrill coasters" at the park as well, like Darkoaster, Verbolten and BBW. Alpengeist is my favorite roller coaster at the park. It's got it all. The positive G's are un-real, the theming is impeccable (and fits the type of ride perfectly), that cobra roll is so forceful and whippy its insane, that first drop lasts forever (in a good way) and it is glass smooth without a rattle even after around 30 years of service! My next choice would be Pantheon followed by apollo, Griffon and Loch Ness. I was disappointed Verbolten was not operating, but I understand the ride needs maintenance. There were also a couple 1 train ops during my visit which made for slower than normal line times. Customer service- Good, but not great. Honestly I was expecting more in this area. There were a fair amount of foreign workers at the park (not part of the theming or the park's fault) but that did make for a bit of a communication barrier. Also, I was asking questions about where to find rides and food and some workers did not give a straight answer. For instance I really wanted to try the "Loch Ness Lager" and it took asking 4 different people at beer stands where I could find it before I found what I was looking for. Otherwise the ride attendants were nice, efficient and easy to understand, and there were attendants at stalls who were friendly and helpful. Overall Experience- Overall I had a great time at this park. This park's coaster line up is great, theming and food are great, and live entertainment was also good, they even had animal exhibits. What I will say this park could use some improvement in is the flat ride collection, park merch, and customer service. There wasn't a "standout moment" that I had with a park employee that had me saying "wow, thank you for your help" and there were many opportunities for that. The park has the structure and foundation to be really elite, but they just need to work on their execution a bit. All and all a very good experience. I would give Busch Garden a 7/10. Looking forward to coming back.

I love this amusement park It is absolutely gorgeous and has so much to see and do whether you are a thrill seeker or foodie or love live shows and animals It is equipped with two excellent kids areas and has several coasters as well as cliche carnival style rides the park is kept very clean and the Staff are kind and helpful Hot tip keep an eye out for sales around Black Friday they have very affordable passes that include parking

Took the wife and kids there for New Year's Eve, had a blast! Good food, interesting cultural experiences and saw a live stage show. Would recommend.

We have a decent time whenever we go to BG but half the family doesn't ride rides so I wish we had more shows to balance out all the walking to rides. If you're trying to save $ make sure you bring in at least one water bottle per person (as is allowed) or bring your refillable water bottle. It adds up quick. $36 to park for general parking, $68 for preferred parking. Ouch!

Purchased 2 day fun card with 2 free guest passes. We came to use them yesterday and suddenly we were told that our guest passes expired yesterday?! Nothing online or via email or in the LEGAL TERMS states the guest passes expired. BUYER BEWARE!!!!! Customer Service is a total waste of time and they do not even speak English!!!

My family was thrilled to visit Busch Gardens for their Christmas Town Celebration to experience the lights and thrill rides, but the entire event was an utter disappointment. We arrived at 2:30 PM, just 30 minutes after opening, full of excitement. After waiting in line for one ride, we barely got on before being told all rides were shutting down due to cold temperatures--by 5 PM! No one warned us ahead of time that this might happen, and it felt like a bait-and-switch. To make matters worse, several shows were canceled as well, leaving us with almost nothing to do but ride the train. Big mistake. We waited on the train for 20 minutes before it even started, and when it did, it was painfully slow--barely crawling through the park at 2 mph. The so-called "light displays" were pathetic; half the Christmas lights weren't even working or turned on! In the end, we spent over $70 per person to ride one thrill ride and look at lackluster lights. What an absolute rip-off. Save your money--this was a complete waste of time and a massive letdown.

Terrible, terrible, terrible! If I could give 0 stars, I would. I never thought I'd want to rate any restaurant, hotel, or attraction so low, but I have so many reasons for doing so. First, the only good thing about coming here on the first weekend of Christmas Time was the free parking. That is where the good ended. Lines were unreasonably long regardless of ride or food option. And, getting the food was a chore despite having the 90 minute food pass. When I got the spaghetti and meatballs in Italy, I felt like Henry Hill from Goodfellas at the end getting egg noodles and ketchup. Just gross overall. Next, the rides kept breaking down. We'd get to the front - especially on Darkcoaster - only to find out it was delayed for the second time in 2 hours. The time gets eaten up and so does your wallet. We had the Fast Pass which wasn't applicable to almost any rides. Not sure why they were even sold. To add to it all, it was freezing cold and hot coffee and cocoa were limited at the end despite the park still being open. Definitely not coming here again.