Busch Gardens Williamsburg

We have had a great visit. Apparently, the end of August is the best time to come. Be arm and sunny, everything's open and hardly any waiting in lines.

My son declared that Apollo's Chariot was the best coaster in the park. Me, I prefer the classics and Loch Ness has been tough to beat for 30 years.

Wear clothes that dry quickly if you intend to ride any of the water attractions. Great trip that we'll do again.

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

This review is about operations and customer service, not the facility or the fun...

I called two hours before the park opened to ensure that the park would be open on a day where there were dribbling light rain. They told me everything would be open and normal. I drive from out of town, get there and the park is closed. I have a date specific ticket, and wasn't sent an email about the closing. Then they lie about the weather saying it's too bad, when in reality, it probably was just going to be a very light crowd. then they say no refunds...

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.

This was the worst amusement park experience I've ever had.

- We spent two hours in our car waiting to get into the parking lot, starting with an endless caravan running 2 miles from the park entrance.
- We paid $50 for preferred parking but ended up in a satellite lot because, in the word of a staffer, "we aren't doing preferred parking today."
- There were no trams running from the satellite lot to the park so we had to walk a mile.
- We stood another 30 minutes in line to get into the park.
- We waited 30-45 minutes in line for each ride even though we spent hundreds of dollars for quick queue passes. Three rides had maintenance issues that required extensive shutdowns. We got turned away from one ride after getting in line due to a breakdown. For the newest rides, people without quick queue passes were waiting two hours.
- Every food line was endless, every one. We waited 30 minutes to get soft pretzels and drinks.
- The crowds everywhere were suffocating.

Overall, we paid $661.91 for a family of four. After subtracting all the wait times, that bought us roughly 2 hours of actual activity time in the park.

The holiday lights were nice though.

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.

My review is based off a first-timer's experience at Howl-O-Scream and Busch Gardens in general. We visited mainly for Howl-O-Scream.

There is no additional ticket for Howl-O-Scream. You can spend all day in the park until in transforms.

We parked in the England lot (VIP & preferred) which is right in front of the main entrance.

I was visiting from California where I do all the local spooky activities like Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights and Knotts Scary Farm every single year. I didn't know what to expect, but I was impressed with Howl-O-Scream! The scare actors, decor inside and out of the haunted houses are up to par with my local haunted houses! My personal favorite was Nevermore with the Edgar Alan Poe theme. I was an easy scare for them as I was walking around admiring the interior. The Witch of the Woods seemed to be lacking but it may have been an off night. Scare actors were roaming around all the "terror-tories" to keep you on your toes.

There were so many fun Halloween photo ops all around the park - tons of real and fake pumpkins scattered throughout, bales of hay, scarecrows, skeletons, and a live pumpkin character!

We visited on a Sunday in September so the lines were short for all the haunted houses and the 2 roller coasters we went on (Pantheon & Apollo's Chariot).

Don't forget that the rules say not to have your phone in your pocket for the rides! Although not entirely secure, there's a basket to keep your stuff. A couple held up the ride as they argued with staff. Everyone cheered as they were kicked off.

Customer service outside the gate was extremely rude but friendly once inside the park. The guest relations booth just before entering is staffed by some of the grumpiest and most poorly trained personnel in the park.

Nonetheless, the park itself is a decent value particularly if you can find discounted tickets online - combining rides appropriate for both the youngest children and thrill seeking adults alike. Many, if not all of the children's rides are able to be ridden by adults as well do you can enjoy the moment with your child instead of watching from afar. The park is clean and the decorum of the patrons and employees is acceptable for people of all ages. There is no distinctly enforced dress code, however.

The food inside the park is inspired by various European countries with some Asian flair in the Italian section under the guise of it being Marco Polo's travels. None of it is a good value for the price and the park charges and obnoxious 5% surcharge on all transactions inside the park.

Parking is $30, a 17% increase from a two years ago.

Will likely continue to go back as long as there are discount tickets.

This was a pretty fun amusement park! We came during vacation. We arrived on a Sunday around 1 pm and stayed until 9 pm. Their website can be somewhat confusing about buying tickets and all of their add-ons. We bought them ahead of time and then drove over. Parking was easy, you purchase parking (general was $30) and then find your lot. The signage is clear and helps find where to go. From the parking lot, they have shuttles that are fun to ride to the park entrance. They run all day.

At the entrance, they have some pretty questionable security measures. It didn't appear that anyone was paying attention as we entered. One man got stopped because his child was wearing a costume, and that wasn't allowed. It was clearly stated everywhere that no costumes were allowed, regardless of age. But while he was being stopped, other children ran ahead all dressed up in their costumes. Seemed unfair.

Walking around was beautiful! The park is all decorated for the season and well taken care of. They had people always available to sweep up trash as needed. The park has about 7 rollercoasters, and before lunch, all the lines were a 10-minute wait or less, but after lunch, it was as long as 90 minutes. My husband's favorites are the Griffin, the Alpengeist, and the Pantheon. I wasn't a coaster lover, so I people-watched as I held our backpack. Should I have changed my mind and wanted to ride the coaster with him, I would have had to pay $10 to rent a locker for the day to hold our stuff, as it is highly advised against riding with your phone in your pocket.

My favorite ride was the Trade Winds, we rode that together numerous times, and with the backpack. In the backpack, we brought our own water and Smucker's sandwiches to help save money, as well as trail mix and jackets. The only food item we purchased was the funnel cake sundae, cinnamon bun flavored. It was really yummy and $13.

Since we were visiting in October, we had the pleasure of enjoying their Howl-o-Scream fest. They give plenty of warning. At 4 pm, no one is allowed to enter the park with a bag. At 5 pm they give a 1 hour warning that the monsters come out at 6 pm. At 6 pm, the monster actors are released and go to their designated scare-itories (5 territories for scaring people). The territories were unavoidable as far as I could tell, but they just made loud noises and tried to get you to jump. They might run or creep up on you, and they are very well dressed, very scary looking. It's not my cup of tea, but if you stay out of their territories, you won't get spooked.

We saw two shows, and they were both less than 30 minutes. We enjoyed both, the Phantoms of the Festhaus & Skeletones. Festhaus's show was my favorite; they have four monsters sing a pop song themed for their specific monster, and then the crowd decides on a winner. Skeletones had five skeletons sing popular songs and do fun dances. Both were enjoyable.

If I could improve anything, it would be more regular rides. I only enjoyed two or three rides, because the rest were coasters and rollercoasters scare me. But I also understand theme parks are for thrill-seekers.

It was really nice to see the park during the day first and enjoy it before the monsters came out. It made me appreciate all the hard work they put into dressing up and decorating the park for the night. It was impressive and enjoyable. We really enjoyed our day!

Christmas Town is beautiful. Millions of lights. A few rides open. I do wish more food places were open....I think it would cut down on time spent in the lines for the places that are operating. Even the hot chocolate lines were crazy long.

A nice place to take your family during the holidays. If you don't want to ride the rides go at night to view the lights which are gorgeous. Very tasty funnel cakes. Lines weren't very long and the ones that were the wait wasn't crazy.