Busch Gardens Williamsburg Mardi Gras 2024

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Trust me, I have never complained about wanting more live entertainment. Regardless, I don't see the objection to our wanting a theme park to make an effort to stick to a theme. "Any live entertainment is good enough" is the kind of thinking that has gotten BGW to the degraded state that is is in currently.

Further, as I have said before in reference to this event in particular, I would much rather see country-appropriate Carnival overlays, than generic Party City Mardi Gras everywhere. NOLA is a great place, but really doesn't make much sense at BGW.
 
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willrobs3 said:
I love how this forum complains about live entertainment at the park and then when we get new live entertainment at the park we complain because it's not right. Don't worry the same six "Mardi Gras" songs will be blasting on the speakers throughout the entire park.
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I agree. I don’t care what they have in the theaters as long as it is good. American Jukebox didn’t match the theming but it was a good full production show, which has been missing from that theater for years. It was a show where the audience could experience the performers vocal and choreographic talents.

I think each attraction should be thematically cohesive with the area. That’s not hard to do. But I personally think thematically matching the live entertainment limits the live entertainment. They aren’t going to find vocalists that sing in Italian, French or German. So we get something corny like Oktoberzest instead of something of a better level that showcases the performers talents.
 
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willrobs3 said:
I love how this forum complains about live entertainment at the park and then when we get new live entertainment at the park we complain because it's not right. Don't worry the same six "Mardi Gras" songs will be blasting on the speakers throughout the entire park.
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But its not new entertainment. They are moving the Killarney Village Band from Ireland to Italy. They are giving them a new name and having them perform the same old tired classic rock songs that have been performed at the past several Mardi Gras events.
 
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I visited BGT yesterday (full review may or may not be incoming) and I thought they handled Mardi Gras very tastefully. Instead of a lazily executed full-park takeover, Mardi Gras was isolated to the plaza and walkway around Iron Gwazi. There were big entrance arches on both ends of the pathway, welcoming you to Mardi Gras. The area was nicely decorated with string lights, colored flood lights, photo ops, and other decor. The food and drink booths and entertainment stages were all concentrated in this area. One of the restaurant/bars in the area was basically transformed into Mardi Gras HQ. I really liked this approach, because it A) made Mardi Gras feel intentional and full-blown in this area, and B) it didn’t diminish the rest of the park’s theming or atmosphere at all.

On top of that, I really appreciated the music taste. Rather than just throwing on a playlist of party songs, they were playing a very tasteful, understated, instrumental New Orleans jazz playlist. Rather than make the area feel gaudy and clash with the natural beauty of the area, it felt nice, relaxing, and fitting. The event didn’t feel like a bad attempt at a “party” vibe, but rather had the refined tone that one would have expected from Busch Gardens’ take on Mardi Gras from a pre-Hillpath, maybe even pre-SEAS Busch Gardens.

I have a lot of thoughts on other things I did not enjoy about BGT, but when it comes to how BGT handles Mardi Gras, BGW should be taking notes.
 
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I really wish I got to see BGT in the AB days. We really should get a thread where people highlight little things that used to make the parks really great for the folks who didn't get to enjoy those as much. I will say my initial visits to BGW were 1999, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2018, then there's a significant concentration from 2021 onwards so my experience with BGW has been more in the "PE bro stage" versus the "AB marketing cost center stage." I will say I remember a lot more "wow" at BGW in those years and not just because I was 7, 14 and 17.

I recall once walking through Banbury Cross walking in and getting caught off guard by a "character" that was some sort of tree mistress or something. I only remember seeing it once in 2007. Haven't had anything crazy like that in awhile except my first watching of Celtic Fyre, and honestly my first viewing of Ripper Row because I didn't know how elaborate the knife percussion sequence would be.

ADHD rant over.....

Yeah I should really get to Mardi Gras at BGW for the first time ever maybe this season....
 
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Nicole said:
I don't understand what classic rock has to do with Mardi Gras or what Dolly Parton has to do with classic rock.
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I love me some BGW but it seems like they removed any cultural thing that makes New Orleans, New Orleans. Its safe but not New Orleans.
 
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Does anyone know if this is accurate or not? This guy isn't very credible, and a lot of what he's said in the past is false, but the BGW app only has Darkoaster listed on the rides page, so I think he may be right. Anyone know?
 
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The way the post is worded is pretty misleading in my opinion.

The first line is almost certainly false. It's a hard statement of fact that I'm pretty certain will not prove correct.

The second sentence goes on to contradict the first line by clarifying that it's actually a rumor and not a statement of fact. Then the third line contradicts the first again by saying that it's only rumored to be true for the first weekend of the event.

The fourth sentence, another statement of fact, is also, per current forecasts, likely to prove solidly false. The cutoff temp for coasters at BGW, as a general rule, is 40 degrees. The forecast I'm currently seeing for Mardi Gras' opening weekend puts highs in the mid-50s to even the lows 60s—plenty warm enough to operate any dry attraction in the park.

The rest of the post ranges from possible to likely in my opinion and isn't worthy of further note.

He could end up being correct and DarKoaster may turn out to be the only coaster that operates on opening weekend. Maybe the forecast changes and DarKoaster is the only coaster able to run due to lower than expected temps. Maybe what he has heard about maintenance delays on other coasters is true and they won't be able to run yet. That said, I would be absolutely flabbergasted if "Darkoaster will be the only Rollercoaster open for mardi gras!" I'm pretty confident that Busch Gardens Williamsburg plans/planned to open more than just DarKoaster. Whether or not that actually happens by opening weekend is a more complicated question though.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd just wait for an official announcement from the park. They're incentived to share the attraction list as soon as it's finalized on their end.
 
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AIR said:
I'd be surprised if even DarKoaster is running. As far as I know, it's undergoing annual maintenance along with many others in the park. I wouldn't expect much ride or roller coaster capacity for Mardi Gras.
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Let me start by saying that Air is usually spot on in what he shares and I have no information thar would make me doubt that anything he is saying. That said if it's true that is a huge what the hell item and a potential major PR disaster.
 
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cricket said:
Complaining like this is how you don't get new shows.. or anything new at all. I love riding roller coasters as much as everyone here, but I go to Mardi Gras for the food and atmosphere, defiantly not riding a roller coaster in 40 degree weather.
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It was a joke. It was meant to be sarcastic and I really, really hope the park has better means of planning it's offerings than looking at the internet. My absolute favorite part is Mardi Gras is Carnival Imaginique. I wish we had a show like that year round. Also I don't think coasters should be the focus exclusively. All SEAS parks have lost their way in that regard in my opinion.
 
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Looks like the attractions list has finally been updated! At least for this weekend, it looks like we get DarKoaster and Apollo's Chariot. Guess that means Festa will be, at least partially, open!

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Celticdog said:
WOW... not even the railway! Disappointing.
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We should, unfortunately, get used to train downtime in 2024. There will likely be a fair bit of it with 2025 construction.

Also, we have a map. Looks like Verbolten and the Skyride were/are intended to be included.

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