Christmas Town 2022
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Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Captain George's but I do have some of Christmas Town
At this point a wiki or article on eating outside the park seems necessary. I.e. where to eat, timing meals around park hours, what's salvageable in the park as a backup, etc.
Those are amazing pictures @zachclarke
I particularly like the one of the train heading straight at you on the Loch Ness trestle. Definitely a unique perspective.
I particularly like the one of the train heading straight at you on the Loch Ness trestle. Definitely a unique perspective.
As far as eat outside the park, my family and friends we usually go with have made it a tradition since last year to eat dinner at Park Lane Tavern in Penninsula Town Center on our way home to Virginia Beach. It’s a European pub in natural, mostly English, Scottish, Irish, with a bit of German thrown in there. Big beer, whisky/bourbon menu, nice Western European and German menu items with some pizza and hamburgers thrown in for good measure. It fits as an extension of Busch Gardens. 
. We like it!
. We like it!Do people actually go out to a nice restaurant after getting out of the park after 9 or 10 PM, or do you just skip the best part of the day?
Trip Report Monday before Thanksgiving: PANTHEON MARATHON! Actually may have hurt myself, what with the way they press down on the restraints. There was one time the operator pushed down on it only, and yet the board changed from green to red!? Be careful.
Trip Report Monday before Thanksgiving: PANTHEON MARATHON! Actually may have hurt myself, what with the way they press down on the restraints. There was one time the operator pushed down on it only, and yet the board changed from green to red!? Be careful.
Ugh, what is it going take for BG to get all the lights working along Christmastown Express. Entire light walls non-functional last night. Some walls only had some strings working. Static displays not lighted.
O Tannenbaum is just as bad. Sections not lighting, other sections not responding. It was disappointing.
I've seen BG trying to market this a the 'premier' Christmas event in Virginia. It is not. KD lights are sooo much more spectacular.
O Tannenbaum is just as bad. Sections not lighting, other sections not responding. It was disappointing.
I've seen BG trying to market this a the 'premier' Christmas event in Virginia. It is not. KD lights are sooo much more spectacular.
Went to both myself & Winterfest puts Christmas Town to shame. Never thought I'd see the day.
We went to Christmastown yesterday and had an OK time. To us, this event is getting a little stale. We have been going since 2013 and for the last few years it doesn't seem like much new has been added for the people that visit the park regularly. We saw Celtic Fyre Christmas and Scrooged No More. Both were good like usual and both were full to capacity.
The addition of the BGW Bucks was nice for members. I got some nice new ornaments for the tree this year.
The food operations weren't up to past years standards, as has been stated in many threads on this site. The park was crowded, so every food place was packed. We hadn't planned on eating at the park after the experiences we had at Halloscream. We ate before we left home and grabbed a bite to eat on the way home outside the park. We saw three food trucks inside the park - one just outside Rhinefield, one by the Festhaus, and one by Griffon.
We usually try to visit Christmastown 2 or 3 times a year. Sadly, this will likely be our only visit this year.
The addition of the BGW Bucks was nice for members. I got some nice new ornaments for the tree this year.
The food operations weren't up to past years standards, as has been stated in many threads on this site. The park was crowded, so every food place was packed. We hadn't planned on eating at the park after the experiences we had at Halloscream. We ate before we left home and grabbed a bite to eat on the way home outside the park. We saw three food trucks inside the park - one just outside Rhinefield, one by the Festhaus, and one by Griffon.
We usually try to visit Christmastown 2 or 3 times a year. Sadly, this will likely be our only visit this year.
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So normally by now we have been to CT numerous times for the season....this year just onceand we were bored halfwat through. You know how you have that one house in town that has put the same decoations up for as long as you remember, and you know he is getting old and just dosent have the energy to put up everything as he once did. Some things are out, some worn out and old, and nothing is neat and perfect as it once was but yet you still have to go see it because its tradition.....thats basically BGWs CT now. We made it to Winterfest Saturday night and theevent feels fresh as it ever has and there is not a inch of the park thats not decorated. Then take the entertainment, it seemed you couldnt walk more than 5 minutes without running into another show for preformance. They even have holiday food options, we tried both the ham and turkey dinners and they hit the spot. BGW really needs to think hard about the park operations not just for CT but for all of 2023. This staffing crap excuse is getting old. WF was well staffed throughout....maybe BGW needs to look at howKD staffs the park and offer church groups and such the same deal as KD does.
And yet in the daily crowd thread they said the parking lots were full on Sunday, I believe. As long as they can draw that many people nothing is going to change. In their minds they are doing the right thing. As passholders they don't care about us. They want the gate receipts and apparently, they are getting them. We went to CT once. Will be losing out on the Busch Bucks but just don't see much reason to go back. Not sure anything is worth using the BB on anyway.
Oh yeah, Christmas Town is still a packed, popular event right now. The question is whether or not people will be coming back anywhere near as much as they used to.
Anecdotally, all of the BGW fans I know personally are past the point of just being disgruntled and bitter—we're all legitimately, dramatically changing our visitation and spending patterns. Speaking personally, my BGW trips this year have been reduced to probably only a third of what was common previously.
Naturally, folks like us—the people who visit the most—will end up fed up the soonest. That said, I really believe that this is going to trickle down to less frequent visitors too.
BGW fans have critiqued and criticized plenty over the years, but, by and large, everyone always saw through the missteps and continued to visit and enjoy the park. This time is very different. The BGW fans I talk to aren't just annoyed or disappointed, they're just not visiting anymore. I don't know how long it will take for the more general audience to decide to spend their time and money elsewhere as well, but I do really believe that the recent exodus of fans should be viewed as a canary in the coalmine situation. It's a sure sign in my mind that something is deeply—potentially detestatingly—broken.
Anecdotally, all of the BGW fans I know personally are past the point of just being disgruntled and bitter—we're all legitimately, dramatically changing our visitation and spending patterns. Speaking personally, my BGW trips this year have been reduced to probably only a third of what was common previously.
Naturally, folks like us—the people who visit the most—will end up fed up the soonest. That said, I really believe that this is going to trickle down to less frequent visitors too.
BGW fans have critiqued and criticized plenty over the years, but, by and large, everyone always saw through the missteps and continued to visit and enjoy the park. This time is very different. The BGW fans I talk to aren't just annoyed or disappointed, they're just not visiting anymore. I don't know how long it will take for the more general audience to decide to spend their time and money elsewhere as well, but I do really believe that the recent exodus of fans should be viewed as a canary in the coalmine situation. It's a sure sign in my mind that something is deeply—potentially detestatingly—broken.
I went to CT last Wednesday and it was kinda dead, mainly because it rained a lot for the first half of the day. Anyways, because of the surprising lack of people I managed to get a good amount of rides in. Here’s everything i did:
Celtic Fyre: Incredible show, like nothing I had seen before
Finnegan’s Flyer: best flat ride at the park
Grover: only rode it because it had a short line
2x Pantheon: elite ride
Verbolten: very good ride, the drop track always catches me off guard
Celtic Fyre: Incredible show, like nothing I had seen before
Finnegan’s Flyer: best flat ride at the park
Grover: only rode it because it had a short line
2x Pantheon: elite ride
Verbolten: very good ride, the drop track always catches me off guard
I think I have consistently visited CT since 2015. This year it's not in the cards to get down before Xmas. I may try to get down after, but if I don't I won't be too disappointed other than the fact I'm paying for something I don't use.
Seeing these posts makes me annoyed at the park for not doing much different or fixing things.
Seeing these posts makes me annoyed at the park for not doing much different or fixing things.
I'm not sure why this comment got an eye roll from someone, but it is spot on. The guy I know with SF corporate office mentioned that it's been mesmerizing to watch that the amusement industry in general is trending to (to use an analogy here) a less user friendly micro transaction style setup and it's working.
I think it's going to take a long time for your non-core fan to give up. The amount that the group that's keeping this going will put up with is a lot. Think about it, the consumer at this point has almost been trained that to unlock better experiences you have to pay more. Consumers been trained that you need to overlook "glitches" or "bad" to get to the good.
I think that point of it trickling down to less frequent visitors is going to take longer than anyone would hope. I think sadly, many parks would rather have 80% of visitors be daily ticket sales than passes, so they will live with the disgruntled pass holders because 1 visit this time of year as opposed to 4-5 means they can sell 3-4 extra daily tickets, and even more sadly - they will sell them.
I think you nailed it Zachary in this assessment. My own personal visitation patterns this year are down at least 75% from the average visits in previous seasons (excluding 2020). The reason being the same as you pointed out but also noting that the visits I have had at the park this year I have intentionally decided to eat meals before/after visiting the park knowing that the 5% surcharge and extremely limited food options exist in the park.
But this discussion opens up a good question for anyone that may know, how has attendance faired this year relative to plan and vs. 2019? I hear from an inside source that the perception of the park being busy on some days may simply be due to less rides, shops, and food offerings being open. That source claims attendance at the marco level for this year is down relative to expectations. As many of you know, SEAS has a practice of not breaking out attendance at an individual park level so curious if anyone else has any perspective here.
I strongly believe the reason BGW is still as popular as it is, is because of its brand. For 40-something years, Busch Gardens built a reputation as being unparalleled in quality, beauty, and service as a top-rate theme park. Most folks still associate the Busch Gardens brand with that image.
Since most people are probably only visiting the park once every year or less, not everyone is going to realize overnight that BGW is no longer operating as the brand that they know. I think SEAS is capitalizing on this. They know that they can still charge people for the Busch Gardens brand, and that people will still come for the Busch Gardens brand, even if they don’t provide the experience that lives up to it. And that strategy might work for some time, but I think slowly the park’s reputation will change. Over time guests will realize that that one bad night they had at the park wasn’t a fluke — it’s what the park is now. And as the brand slowly degrades, people will naturally begin looking for other places to spend their time and money.
SEAS has gotten this far because they’re coasting on the literal decades of brand equity that its parks have built. But they’re not adding anything new to the tank, and eventually, they’ll start running on fumes. As Warren Buffet says, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.”
Since most people are probably only visiting the park once every year or less, not everyone is going to realize overnight that BGW is no longer operating as the brand that they know. I think SEAS is capitalizing on this. They know that they can still charge people for the Busch Gardens brand, and that people will still come for the Busch Gardens brand, even if they don’t provide the experience that lives up to it. And that strategy might work for some time, but I think slowly the park’s reputation will change. Over time guests will realize that that one bad night they had at the park wasn’t a fluke — it’s what the park is now. And as the brand slowly degrades, people will naturally begin looking for other places to spend their time and money.
SEAS has gotten this far because they’re coasting on the literal decades of brand equity that its parks have built. But they’re not adding anything new to the tank, and eventually, they’ll start running on fumes. As Warren Buffet says, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.”
With a 1-2 time per year guest, they’ve already committed a fair amount of money and time into the visit that additional transactions which ensure the guest doesn’t miss out on an experience are a pretty easy sell. Skip the line options, reserved seating, or meal packages basically ensure the occasional guest doesn‘t go home empty handed making the demand somewhat inelastic.
I think in Disney (and maybe Cedar Point) you are seeing this run into a logical end point where huge portions of the guest pool are so heavily committed into having a maximized experience, and will pay almost anything for it, that the add-on system starts cracking. I don’t think BGW is near that point, but it certainly is trying to go that direction and is certainly off-putting to those who want to visit regularly without forking out extra for a basic quality visit.
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