Christmas Town

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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

I really love that Busch Gardens has incorporated the religious aspect of Christmas. Even if it's a little it's still a lot to what other parks would incorporate into a Christmas event. And without Christianity there would be no Christmas anyway, and this is a celebration of Christmas so it really should be incorporated anyway. You shouldn't exclude the whole story of Christmas just because a small group of people disagree with it. If you don't believe in it than don't come, there would be so many others who would be willing to come because of it.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Just agree to disagree people. This conversation has the potential to get toxic.

tursiops said:
Here's something i don't understand, if there is all this talk of BGW building more dark rides so that they can stay open year round, why are their two dark rides closed for the winter season? Makes no sense to me.
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That long term plan was always passed along with the condition that Verbolten was a success. It wasn't. From what I understand, that 5 year plan has been shelved.
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

If EITA isn't running for CT, in its most popular season, what makes us think that it will be open in 2014? Just saying..
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Just wanted to put my two cents in. I grew up Catholic, but find myself somewhere between agnostic and atheist. However, I love Christmas! The lights, the Santa songs, the food, hot chocolate and spending time with friends and family describe my Christmas.

I really enjoy Christmas Town too. My favorite things that are all non religious: Hot Chocolate, Wassail, Gluhwein, Turkey, Roller coasters in the cold, train ride, sky ride, penguins, lights, Deck the Halls, O' Tannenbaum, Santa's Fireside Feast, and I'm sure I'm missing many other things.

That all being said, if you don't like Christmas you probably won't like the event that much.

As far as religious stuff goes, disregarding the religious aspects, last year's Gloria show had some awesome performances. Miracles is cool too and slightly less religious, although not as exciting or fun as the other two shows.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

As far as dark rides go, its just the simple fact that Europe in the Air is closed indefinitely. The website said specifically closed for the rest of 2013. You all should have expected it to be closed for Christmas Town. No big surprise there. There is no indication that it will reopen and we have been down that road before.

As for DarKastle, when it was open for Christmas Town, it had a rough year following. It was decided that to reduce downtime DarKastle had to close for Christmas Town so they can do annual maintenance. If they had multiple dark rides, you would see one or two closed for a few months each year, just to they can keep up with annual maintenance.

As far as Christmas Town goes, I understand the question as, "I'm not into religion or Christianity, is Christmas Town still fun to go to?" My answer is yes. While the whole event is about Christmas, the amount of actual religion in the park is minimal. The most religious features are the following: Gloria! and Italy decor. Otherwise it is just lights, wreaths, special winter time foods, the generic non-religious Christmas themes like Santa, Frosty, etc. If you bundle up warm, you can have fun eating, drinking, riding flats, shopping, etc.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

I've only been to Christmastown once. I was staying with my folks on their timeshare in Williamsburg and we got $5 tickets. Even though I mainly go for the rides, I did enjoy the decorations and shows. However, I just can't bring myself to pay $30 to do it again. That's just me.
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Will there be Quick Queue for CT this year?

It doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere on the website.

I'm wondering if they decided not to have it this year, as it probably wouldn't include much. EITA is not running. Sky ride doesn't use it anymore, as it's no longer round trip. Dar Kastle is not running. So, the only ride on it would be Verbolten.

You would also get reserved seating for the shows, as well as Santa and Penguins. Am I missing anything?

One thing that would make QQ more worth while is if when you purchased QQ you were able to pick the show times yourself. Having the show times listed prior to purchase (with various options) was an improvement to the initial idea of early/late shows, but not knowing until after purchase what times the shows would be. However, being able to pick your own schedule doesn't seem like it would be too difficult for them to figure out. And, this would encourage people to buy QQ more in advance, so their ideal show times don't sell out, which would be a benefit to BG.

I've gotten CT QQ in the past, but not last year, as the times listed for the shows on QQ were either at a time we didn't like, or a time where QQ wouldn't be necessary (like before 4 pm).

Thoughts/comments?
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

I haven't seen any QQs, but there is an Exclusive Tour:

Christmas Town Insider

Celebrate the joy of Christmas!

Your Itinerary includes:
•Up-close encounter with penguins
•Priority access to Santa's Workshop
•Reserved seating at "Gloria!", "Miracles" and "Deck the Halls" shows
•Meet & Greet at "Deck the Halls"


Cancellations: Reservations must be cancelled or rebooked a minimum of one day prior to the scheduled tour or total payment will be forfeited.
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

No gingerbread men this year? My three year old will be disappointed. Santas freak her out, so our chance at Christmas photo ops would have been Frosty or Gingerbread men. :(

Also, as someone who is still deciding if she is agnostic or atheist, I love Christmastown. I love Christmas as a whole; the lights, the sounds, the food. I just don't do the religious aspect of it (all the traditions most follow are pagan in origin anyway, so that's how I justify my hypocrisy). I haven't seen Gloria just because we seem to miss the time frame to see it, but I would like to. I just don't do Saturdays because that is a hot mess.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

The reason they have short hours and many activities is for money, so you can spend more money to come back more to do everything. It wouldn't make much buisness sense to have enough activities to get done in one day. It's like Disney getting rid of most of their attractions so you only have to go once a year to do everything.
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Preston said:
The thing i don't get with Christmas Town there's so much to do with such little time it would be better if they opened at like 12PM or 2PM.
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There actually isn't THAT much to do and you can easily clear the event in a couple hours. I've managed to do it on a peak Saturday with minimal waits for everything (no Quick Queue either).

Special attractions-wise, you have penguins and Santa. Then there's the three shows. Ride-wise you just have Verbolten, skyride, and train.

With proper planning, anyone can get all the special attractions, plus Verbolten, and the three shows in, even with 22,000 people+ crowds.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

There is plenty around the park to do; depends on you and your tastes and are you with a family,etc. Don't sell the kiddie rides short. So many flats open for younguns and big kids alike. I personally can't wait to ride Peppermint Twist again, as well as the Battering Ram and le catapult and...well...everything in Oktoberfest, Italy and Festa. Plus there is a lot to see and shoot for you picture-takers out there. And FOOD!!! Hopefully we will see some carolers and at least one or two musicians on the streets.

Shopping, drinking, hanging out with friends!! Can't wait to see some of my buddies there; new and old! Train ride. Good place for a date...or two...or three... ;)
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Actually I believe the park opened at 2PM a few times last year, on days when they expected high crowds. I heard a few rumors we may see that come back this year.

With that said, the earlier they are open the more your wasting your money. Keep in mind that the biggest part of this event is the lights and you need it to be dark to really see the lights properly. So the only other option would to stay open later but I am fairly certain they can't justify staying open later, at least not yet with Christmas Town.
 
RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

Party Rocker said:
With that said, the earlier they are open the more your wasting your money.
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No one is wasting money when they get one whole extra hour of time at Christmastown. The lights will come on when it gets dark, but before enjoy the small lines, no one is wasting money when they are coming earlier.
 
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RE: BGW Christmas Town 2013

The lights are the main attraction at Christmas Town, as you see they advertise an additional 1 million lights almost every year. I say your wasting your money because if you are there for lights, your really paying for an extra hour not to see lights.

If I could choose an hour earlier or hour later, I'd choose later. More time with the lights and the complete Christmas atmosphere. There is just something about the day time in a park full of dead trees that just doesn't see jolly, until it gets dark and then the lights look beautiful.
 
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