A thread for Busch Gardens Williamsburg's entry area. Everything from the front ticket booths to the turnstiles should be discussed here.
Entry Area
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
Some flags were added in between booths on the main ticket booth structure, the Ireland flag seems to be either missing or not put up yet. Although some of the flags are blocked by some trees.
The TV in this sign didn't last so long.
It's been removed and/or covered up with a 40th advertisement. Also, a Coke advertisement has been added at the bottom of the sign, if you couldn't already tell.
Also, a new Tempesto advertisement has been put up on the bill-board.
And here's the really good news: the 2013 soundtrack has returned to the entry area! Yup, the Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin crap that used to make me cringe whenever I entered is no more. It's back to the subtly adventurous instrumental music from the redone 2013 entrance soundtrack, which is absolutely gorgeous and does a far better job of setting the tone for the park in my opinion.
Here were a few of my favorites from yesterday:
"Love and Be Loved" from The Odd Life of Timothy Green by Geoff Zanelli
"We Bought A Zoo" by Jonsi
"The Egg Travels" from Dinosaur by James Newton Howard [starts at 0:43 at BGW]
I haven't heard that last one at BGW before, but it's such a powerful and beautiful piece and it fits perfectly with BGW. For the two minutes that song played, I was in absolute heaven.
Here were a few of my favorites from yesterday:
"Love and Be Loved" from The Odd Life of Timothy Green by Geoff Zanelli
"We Bought A Zoo" by Jonsi
"The Egg Travels" from Dinosaur by James Newton Howard [starts at 0:43 at BGW]
I haven't heard that last one at BGW before, but it's such a powerful and beautiful piece and it fits perfectly with BGW. For the two minutes that song played, I was in absolute heaven.
I heard it a couple of years ago. Even though I like the dinosaur soundtrack, I did not get them playing Disney music at Busch Gardens.
Side note, If you listen closely, you can also hear the dinosaur music on the train speakers after leaving Caribou station. It is played behind the naration.
Side note, If you listen closely, you can also hear the dinosaur music on the train speakers after leaving Caribou station. It is played behind the naration.
To be fair most people don't even know the movie Dinosaur even exists. It was terrible. So the chances of people actually knowing the song is from a movie(Disney or otherwise) are extremely slim.
[split] Pass Member Preview Day 2017
When we where leaving the park on pass member day I saw something that struck as really odd. You know that the park has flags for each of the countries located right in front of the handicap parking section before people get there tickets prior to entering the park. Well while leaving i noticed that instead of the German National Flag (which is black, gold and red) it was the old national flag for the German Empire (which is black, white and red). It struck as odd on how the park could make a mistake like that considering that at this point the German empire has existed for almost a hundred years having been dissolved in 1919. So i was wondering if any one else noticed this mistake.
When we where leaving the park on pass member day I saw something that struck as really odd. You know that the park has flags for each of the countries located right in front of the handicap parking section before people get there tickets prior to entering the park. Well while leaving i noticed that instead of the German National Flag (which is black, gold and red) it was the old national flag for the German Empire (which is black, white and red). It struck as odd on how the park could make a mistake like that considering that at this point the German empire has existed for almost a hundred years having been dissolved in 1919. So i was wondering if any one else noticed this mistake.
RE: Pass Member Preview Day 2017
The village of Rhinefeld is supposed to represent Germany in the mid to late 1800's, so the red, black, and white German Empire flag (which was used from the 1860s to 1918) is technically the correct flag for the time period.
The Hessian said:
The village of Rhinefeld is supposed to represent Germany in the mid to late 1800's, so the red, black, and white German Empire flag (which was used from the 1860s to 1918) is technically the correct flag for the time period.
It's the current administration, I believe.
They have replaced the finger scanners with a photo verification, which has sped things up noticeably, in my opinion.
Ditching the finger scanner for a photo ID system is one of the best things the park has done. It has made one of the most time-consuming and unenjoyable aspects of the park into a breeze. I don't think I've ever waited more than a minute or two with the new photo system.
I found the photo ID system a big improvement too. The lines definitely moved faster last year when they introduced it.
The entry area is the space from the ticket booths to the turnstiles. It has entirely different theming, landscaping, mood, and music from Banbury Cross.
I'll go ahead and take this opportunity to recognize what a wonderful and rare feature BGW's entry area is. Few parks offer such a long, immersive walk that sets the stage and mood for the park experience before even passing through the park gates. I actually think it's one of my favorite characters of the park that (almost) all guests have to stroll past waterfalls, forests, and streams in order to even reach the park itself. It's a charming and surprising feature that starts the day of beauty and adventure before it even begins.