Busch Gardens Christmas Celebration 2020

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DJTLG said:
I was able to make reservations using our legacy pass barcodes and preschool pass by clicking the button labeled " Preschool Pass, Military Pass and previously purchased Busch Gardens Williamsburg 1-Day Tickets make reservations here. " There is nothing on the page indicating where legacy passholders should make reservations. That seems like perhaps preschool passed are accepted but legacy passes are not. However, my reservations went through with no problem the combination of barcodes. This is very confusing. The park need to specifically put in writing on the reservations page which section legacy passholders can reserve in and whether or not we need to purchase tickets.
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It specifically states that annual pass holders do not get free admission. That is why there isn't a section to make a reservation. They would need to buy a ticket to come to the park. From the FAQ:

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I do want to point out that this isn't new. Legacy annual passes have never been given admission to these events.

It will allow you to make a reservation, because the system isn't checking if your barcode is valid for the event. It's really mostly just saving it so that when you scan your reservation it can match to the barcode you provided.
 
@BGWnut I totally understand what you're saying. I am well aware that legacy passes have not been given Christmas admission previously. However since this is not "Christmas Town" but is a separate event. Since they are allowing preschool passes this year and since they have given some free upgrades this year, it's totally possible that annual passes could be valid this year. I don't see why their system would need to match my pass barcode to a reservation. The website should say the pass barcode is invalid or direct me to the ticket purchase page.

I won't be too upset if I have to buy a ticket this year, as I've had to do in years' past. However, if passholders are showing up at the gate with a confirmed reservation in hand and then being told they need to go buy a tickets that cost up to $75 each that will not go over well.
 
Connor said:
This is an outrage. How dare BGDubs banish my pass tier from the park for this event! Are they worried that I will absolutely tear through that scavenger hunt in mere seconds, fanny pack flopping around my waist, lanyard smacking my face, as I dash through the park on a scavenger hunt race? Are they concerned that after I victoriously complete the scavenger hunt in record time, that I will then write a detailed multi-paragaph comprehensive review on ParkFans based upon design and quirkiness with attached photos? What a shame. I can't believe this. My day has been absolutely ruined. This is equally as bad as if not worst then when they removed the Big Bad Wolf. Shame on you BGDubs, shame on you. I think the only way to cope with my deep melancholic state is through a cathartic burning of my pass at the gate. Dear Va. Gazette, ...

p.s Please let me do the scavenger hunt I will do anything, except switch to a membership.
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Would just like to point out that platinum legacy passholders were given 50 BG bucks that expire at the end of the year and the event happens to cost around the same price(a little less).
 
DJTLG said:
@BGWnut I totally understand what you're saying. I am well aware that legacy passes have not been given Christmas admission previously. However since this is not "Christmas Town" but is a separate event. Since they are allowing preschool passes this year and since they have given some free upgrades this year, it's totally possible that annual passes could be valid this year. I don't see why their system would need to match my pass barcode to a reservation. The website should say the pass barcode is invalid or direct me to the ticket purchase page.

I won't be too upset if I have to buy a ticket this year, as I've had to do in years' past. However, if passholders are showing up at the gate with a confirmed reservation in hand and then being told they need to go buy a tickets that cost up to $75 each that will not go over well.
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When you come to the park they scan your reservation and your pass barcode so that they can be matched. When you make a reservation all they are doing is recording the barcode that you said you would use.

However it's very clear on the website that admission is not included for annual passholders and fun cards are not valid for admission to this event.
 
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If annual passholders or fun card holders bought a day ticket.....when they arrive would they then have to scan the annual pass and the reservation to make sure they matrh as well as the one day ticket to get in? Or when they buy the day ticket is that linked to their annual pass?
 
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Does anyone know if memberships paid for annually (not monthly) are being extended automatically. I've got a couple memberships whose 12 month expiration date is in the middle of this event and want to know if they'll be usable for the whole calendar period.
 
rswashdc said:
Does anyone know if memberships paid for annually (not monthly) are being extended automatically. I've got a couple memberships whose 12 month expiration date is in the middle of this event and want to know if they'll be usable for the whole calendar period.
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From my personal experience, my wife's pass and mine were set to both expire back in April (we pay annually in one installment) and we have been coming to each event in the park all year without issue.
 
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The event seems pretty good for their current situation, although with the significant increase in capacity, you would think they would ditch the 2 slots per day. Also, kinda wish they did a little more than copy and paste SeaWorld's event name and branding. 20201102_162830.png download.jpeg
 
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Eric said:
The event seems pretty good for their current situation, although with the significant increase in capacity, you would think they would ditch the 2 slots per day. Also, kinda wish they did a little more than copy and paste SeaWorld's event name and branding.View attachment 21428View attachment 21429
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The capacity increase isn't significant enough for them to justify going to one time slot ever day. This still allows them to have days where they can have an amount of people that is more significant and brings them closer to what a normal day would be.
 
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does anyone know if the train will be open on the earlier time slots when it’s LIGHT OUTSIDE? (asking for a friend totally not me simping for pantheon photos)
 
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Eric said:
The event seems pretty good for their current situation, although with the significant increase in capacity, you would think they would ditch the 2 slots per day. Also, kinda wish they did a little more than copy and paste SeaWorld's event name and branding.View attachment 21428View attachment 21429
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I would like them to go back to one slot as well. We prefer to day trip, but it's a 2.5 hr drive home so I like to leave inthe early evening after seeing the lights. The split sessions constrains options to either day visits or an overnight trip.
 
I ended up being busy immediately after the event was announced, and so other than making some reservations I didn't get a chance to fully investigate.

I don't disagree that Internet Complaining can at times be a tiresome genre, but I have to admit that people have a point that there is some serious sticker shock with this event for Fun Card holders, passholders, and members who rely on a combination of guest tickets and discounts/Groupons in order to make taking larger groups more affordable. Obviously, the park has plenty of reasons to want to recoup some money running this event, but those who are willing to take the risk of pre-booking well in advance before there's a weather forecast are basically out in the cold be default on this event, and I do think that there's a "less for more" feeling that's hard to shake even if you factor in the "We're lucky the park is open at all" of it all. But, like, we're lucky the park is open at all, and I definitely think that the lack of competition (from Kings Dominion and from other community holiday events that likely won't run in the same way) has emboldened the park to feel like there will be enough people who say "We need this ritual this holiday" to offset the people who lost their jobs and are priced out of the event.

Meanwhile, I'll be super curious what the ratios were in terms of member/general admission tickets, and whether there's a possibility of the park offering deeper discounts for certain days or whether they choose to switch those over to Member reservations. (If you're wondering what dates are currently sold out for members, it's 5-10pm on November 27 (Black Friday), November 28, December 5, December 12, December 18 December 19, and December 20.)
 
DJTLG said:
WTKR and WAVY have both posted written articles which state 15 roller coasters are included. There must be an error in the press release. Or else Pantheon and several other new ones will be opening in the next couple weeks!
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The press release says 15 roller coasters and rides. So they are leaving out the last part of the sentence when posting
 
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Has Alpengeist ran at Christmas Town the past few years? I was really surprised to see it on the ride lineup.
 
Dombot said:
Has Alpengeist ran at Christmas Town the past few years? I was really surprised to see it on the ride lineup.
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It has not. Someone with more history with the park can answer if it EVER has, but as I discussed earlier I know it had at least been considered last year per a conversation I had with some folks in engineering.
 
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