Gonna be there Friday. I live 20 mins away so I generally know exactly what to do, but I'll be there with a bunch of cousins and family members who will have one day passes. When should we get there so we have plenty of time?
Christmas Town 2019
- Thread starter Gavin
- Start date
I have gone through every page of this thread this year and am more than disappointed in some individuals reactions to CT. This is an event put on by an organization who is not Anheuser Busch. Yet you expect Anheuser Busch standards. It's not going to happen. It's a different organization. It has been for 10 years. Plain and simple. It's not going to be as good as the "good 'ole days"..... Adapt or die. Frankly, appreciate what they do and how they do it or don't go because it's not worth it. Don't complain behind their backs on the interwebs. That being said, and out of the way...
I for one am appreciative of the opportunity I have to experience a festival such as CT and will enjoy every aspect of it whether good or bad. I will enjoy the experience and have a great time. And when it's all over, I will look forward to the next, not dwell on what used to be. "Merry Christmas Holy **it. Where's the Tylenol?"
I for one am appreciative of the opportunity I have to experience a festival such as CT and will enjoy every aspect of it whether good or bad. I will enjoy the experience and have a great time. And when it's all over, I will look forward to the next, not dwell on what used to be. "Merry Christmas Holy **it. Where's the Tylenol?"
A bunch of small kids so Elmo and Shows will be a big one. I'll be there with my sister and cousins of my age doing rides. But what I'm mainly curious about is what time we should get there, I'd imagine getting in will be a pain. (It'll be 15 people in total?)
I dont just complain as you say "behind their backs". I point blank have told Carl and Kevin exactly how I feel about certain things. They are charging a premium in the local theme park world yet providing a product no better than it was 10 years ago. Prices have gone through the roof the last few years.
And their reaction is?
My guess:
**Shrug** attendance numbers don't seem to reflect any issue with pricing.
My banter:
People vote with their $. CT is always a busy at the park. Therefore, their pricing seems acceptable to the general public.
My guess:
**Shrug** attendance numbers don't seem to reflect any issue with pricing.
My banter:
People vote with their $. CT is always a busy at the park. Therefore, their pricing seems acceptable to the general public.
Yes. What you want to do drives when you should get there.
Black Friday is likely to be very busy. Is it feasible to go first thing for rope drop to do rides, shows, etc, and then go home for a few hours? Then you could return at night for lights and the train and skyride.
I'm going to just ignore most of what @H2Owatcher said, but I do want to say something about this bit...
Christmas Town debuted after InBev sold the SEAS chain to Blackstone. There was no Anheuser-era Christmas Town. It didn't exist. People use this argument to attempt to refute critiques of Howl-O-Scream, but it's not an argument that can even be fielded for Christmas Town.
Williamsburg's Christmas Town has always existed during times of entertainment department turbulence and budget cuts. It never benifited from the Busch family dumping irresponsible sums of cash into the event to "do it right." Despite that, Christmas Town, in its heyday, was easily one of the best holiday events in the history of the industry.
Since then, cheaper, less prestigious parks have caught up and, arguably, surpassed BGW. WinterFest at Carowinds and Kings Dominion are both fantastic—integrating newer tech, more varied experiences, etc. Meanwhile Busch Gardens Williamsburg has rested on their laurels, often opting to do the bare minimum required to advertise a single new thing each season.
I don't think anyone is arguing that Christmas Town is an objectively bad theme park holiday event. It's more about the event's trajectory—its ongoing fall from grace—the fact that our event is lagging behind events like WinterFest, Smoky Mountain Christmas, An Old Time Christmas, and even at times, Holiday in the Park.
Our standards don't need to "adapt or die," Christmas Town does.
Christmas Town debuted after InBev sold the SEAS chain to Blackstone. There was no Anheuser-era Christmas Town. It didn't exist. People use this argument to attempt to refute critiques of Howl-O-Scream, but it's not an argument that can even be fielded for Christmas Town.
Williamsburg's Christmas Town has always existed during times of entertainment department turbulence and budget cuts. It never benifited from the Busch family dumping irresponsible sums of cash into the event to "do it right." Despite that, Christmas Town, in its heyday, was easily one of the best holiday events in the history of the industry.
Since then, cheaper, less prestigious parks have caught up and, arguably, surpassed BGW. WinterFest at Carowinds and Kings Dominion are both fantastic—integrating newer tech, more varied experiences, etc. Meanwhile Busch Gardens Williamsburg has rested on their laurels, often opting to do the bare minimum required to advertise a single new thing each season.
I don't think anyone is arguing that Christmas Town is an objectively bad theme park holiday event. It's more about the event's trajectory—its ongoing fall from grace—the fact that our event is lagging behind events like WinterFest, Smoky Mountain Christmas, An Old Time Christmas, and even at times, Holiday in the Park.
Our standards don't need to "adapt or die," Christmas Town does.
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It would probably be an all day thing. Plus, if I'm being 100% honest, I'm trying to find a way to fit the VT/UVA game into my schedule without infringing on park time lol (Go Hokies). I'll have to suck it up. Thanks!
Zachary beat me to it. I honestly don't know if the park can recover before it gets surpassed by WinterFest like Haunt has did to Hallowscream but I hope it does. Honestly the last thing that CT had that impressed my was T'was and that was 5 years ago. I really hope it's likely final run this year gives the park something mew and existing next year.
I want to go on the record as being very happy that they added the light display on the train. I had been wanting drive through attraction, since CT opened. I know a lot of people are very critical of it, but I think it is a great concept, and I hope they continue to improve it.
The train was much better before its current version. I dont consider unboxing RGB lights and plugging them in on demo mode is anything spectacular. The section between Caribou and RPTis nice, and what they need more of.
I think the Christmas Town Express is excellent in theory but lacking some in execution. With additional investment over the next few years, it is something that could act as a true selling point for the event. Williamsburg's transport rides are a huge bonus for an event like Christmas Town and it's an area in which Carowinds and Kings Dominion can't possibly compete. Executed well, the railroad is a trump card in BGW's back pocket.
A number of years ago the train was a major attraction and nightly pulled in long waits. And I know its off topic but hands down the single best HOS house, maze, show or whatever was the nightmare express. You would stand in line for hours and had a great time doing it. The train has possibilities if they just tried.
I loved the concept but not the execution of it. Heck I would even have given them a pass on year one if there was more added this year but they pretty much left it as it was.
Then don't go if your
But people such as myself, and yourself continue to go. I give them money, get an experience and enjoy. You give them money and critique and expect something different. They haven't changed drastically from year to year (stating the obvious I know). They haven't taken your critiques to head or heart, so they clearly don't care of an opinion. Yet you still give them money. That's all it is, a money game.
I saw your post about your dissatisfaction with the tree maze. From the pictures rightly so. Could it have been attributed to the quick turn around from HOS, absolutely. Did you give them credit? Nope. Then in another post someone said it was better,and posted a pic. AGAIN, you critiqued. Every post you've made has had a negative in it.
Perhaps they are running behind. Give benefit of the doubt. If your that upset about it then go on the BOD, I'll even give you a vote.
Agreed. It's a money game. If they get your money they win. If you don't go they will change something drastically.
I feel like you’re misrepresenting what it means to be an enthusiast and someone who cares about the park. I love BGW and I’ll continue to visit the park through the thick and the thin. That doesn’t mean I have to be thrilled with every decision they make.
I certainly don’t plan on boycotting BGW because the Christmas Tree Trail falls short of expectations. On the contrary, I think taking those criticisms to the enthusiast community is the perfect outlet for those concerns.
It’s the same with Kings Dominion’s rumored 2021 wing coaster. I’m sure the ride would make the park money hand over fist, but I also get that it’s fair for enthusiasts to be disappointed by its smaller size.
IMO, as enthusiasts many of us care about the art of theme parks, not just the business.
This is the problem, they decided to stay open for a extra weekend of HOS. If they couldnt get things turned around then they shouldnt have extended HOS. I dont understand why so many people are so fast to give them a pass on everything. They were also working on this trail while HOS was still going on. This is the problem today across the country, people expect to get away with sub par work and get a pass on everything. People pay to come to this event and travel from oit of town, why shouldnt they get what is advertised and what they paid for. Its one thing if minor details need to be finished up, but thats not what happened. If I wanted to walk through rows of cut trees with no decorations I could have just gone to a local tree lot.