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Sep 23, 2009
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It's rare to see, but some parks have been able to pull it off with good results, read Mythos in IOA. I love the concept, the obvious drawbacks would be that it's a legit restaurant and you'd have prices to reflect the service, plus you'd probably have a wait to get in.

Do you guys think a legit restaurant inside BGW would be successful? I know if it had a nice bar it would have at least one regular. And if you think it might be successful, where do you think it would fit best in the park (keeping in mind that half of the allure would be that it would need to offer a nice view of some of the park)?
 
Location: Current location of the BBW station.

Why?
Seeing that they have been/will be forced to take down many trees to completely remove BBW, there will be a clearing behind the station to look down over the Rhine. Build an indoor eating area covering the current line area and station with a large *covered* wood deck off the back for outdoor eating. The deck would go out far enough to give you a good view of the river while not being to big to see clearly from the bridge. That would also give a buffer to separate Germany from a future country.

Why Germany, they have Das Festhaus?
What is the most popular restaurant in the park? Das Festhaus. What is wrong with Das Festhaus? Crowds. Think of what I am thinking of as Das Festhaus for the rich. :D

What do you all think?
 
Swiftman said:
Location: Current location of the BBW station.

Why?
Seeing that they have been/will be forced to take down many trees to completely remove BBW, there will be a clearing behind the station to look down over the Rhine. Build an indoor eating area covering the current line area and station with a large *covered* wood deck off the back for outdoor eating. The deck would go out far enough to give you a good view of the river while not being to big to see clearly from the bridge. That would also give a buffer to separate Germany from a future country.

Why Germany, they have Das Festhaus?
What is the most popular restaurant in the park? Das Festhaus. What is wrong with Das Festhaus? Crowds. Think of what I am thinking of as Das Festhaus for the rich. :D

What do you all think?

That sounds like a pretty good idea. I'm actually a little upset that it won't happen cause I'm imagining the views it could have.

Nora, you know how you like to write letters to the park...
 
I just was about to say...

Hey Nora, you mind becoming the site's official letter-writer? :p
 
I just now read this post. I think this was right at the time I was in the hospital for a few days.

I would be more than happy to put in letters in behalf of BGWFans for the group as a whole! Chris, any letter I would write would of course be sent to you to review before hand.

About the restaurant, I agree; it would be nice to have a place that was a bit fancier and more upscale at the park. I had thought that France (french cuisine being naturally upscale) would be the choice. I think in another post I had mentioned that if they closed the RPT and converted it into a fine dining theater it would be awesome. Personally, I would enjoy having a waiter bring me a glass of wine in a glass and not a plastic cup. Obviously I would spend the money to eat in there all the time; but if it was good enough I would go the park to eat dinner alone since it does not cost to park. Reservations could be made online or by phone before leaving home.

I had written to the park before that if they decided to do something along these lines, they could remain open year round and offer Valentine's Day Event; and I even suggested a Mascarade Ball Event. (France - the setting of the story Phantom of the Opera gave me the idea) The revenue of drinks alone would be substantial.

I believe the park may be more open to these concepts as after the success of Christmas Town they now see that BGW patrons are not only interested in rides; but in the experience. Something that has been forgotten in the past years.

Speaking of, when I was scanning in those photo books, I really started to miss all the Mascots and Street Performers. I have written in the past a few times asking them to bring mascots and street performers back - that they could have a Loch Ness, Alpengeist Monster, Apollo, Griffon, and sadly no more (Big Bad Wolf) roam around in the countries. I loved Gordon the Dragon and the Knight when I was little. As an adult, we still love to hug a complete stranger in a plushy cartoony costume - lets face it. (Besides, it may bump up their photo opp sales if they have park photographers there with the standard - "come back at the end of the day to purchase the photo riff")

The street performers were so much fun; but I think the problem is that Busch Gardens used performers in the past to fill in for big attractions. Now that they are in the big league with other parks, I feel that the Park does not see this as an important investment. However, how much do a few actors' cost in the big picture? A few minimum-wage employees to dress in costume and wave at kids?

I've sent many letters to the park over the years; but if there is a "Group" issue that everyone would like to see the park consider; I'd be willing to give my all and write on the site's behalf.
 
I can't see why they haven't done something like this earlier. They have them in every other one of their parks (well, BGT and the Sea Worlds. I don't know much about SS.) . It would do very well at BGW and give somewhere for the adults (sans children) to eat and not be around kids. And having a place indoors to eat that doesn't involve climbing over a bench to sit sounds really good to me.
 
Don't forget standing in a line for 30 min. to get food and then discovering that there aren't any seats left.
 
Swiftman said:
Don't forget standing in a line for 30 min. to get food and then discovering that there aren't any seats left.

Swiftman, That is the worst!!! Ugh!!

But don't forget being the person sitting down and having some little kids and their parents with food trays in their hands staring at you with sad puppy dog eyes silently begging you to choke down your food and leave.
 
I agree with the BBW station idea.
But I also had an idea for a regular theme park restaurant. They could put a restaurant like Congo Grill near Escape from Pompeii, with more theming to fit with Pompeii.
 
I thought of a place the restaurant could go where it would have a central location and unlimited options as far as views of the park.

The downside is that it would require the removal of something, the upside of that downside is that it's something that I'm not sure anyone would miss and it would only require that half of it be removed.

So what would have to be removed? Half of Land of the Dragons. Here's some pictures to show everyone the area:

Some overhead images to show the amount of land there.
 

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I don't think LOD is going to last much longer. BGT replaced LOD with Sesame, why wouldn't BGW? Also, I know most of you aren't brave :p enough to go back there, but at the end of last year, I went down into the extremely scary place we call LOD (just because it scares us to speak its real name). It's actually very large. There is plenty of room for a compact family coaster of some kind (spinning?).
 
I like the idea of a sit down option kind of like the Sharks restaurant in SWO. It would be nice to go somewhere that you could enjoy a nice meal and not have to worry about loud noise, or pest. I like the LOD idea Chris, but I think it could also be great if they had it down right on the water. Figuring out logistics of getting access to everyone would be difficult, but that could also open up for them to open up that part of the park to people that have never seen it due to this very fact. A water front restaurant fits in with the themes of all of the countries, but it also could be a creation all on its own.
To add a little flair it would be cool to have them bring in chef's that represent the countries to prepare dishes from their homelands to allow people to taste what the people of Ireland, Germany, France, UK or Italy eat normally and not the stuff that is offered in the countries that is what people expect like pizza and so forth. It would be so awesome to be able to taste the foods that we don't find offered here.
Now I agree to an extent about having an "adult" place to eat, but I'm one of those people that believe parents should teach their children the proper way to behave in restaurants and allow them to experience things that they normally are not exposed to. Just my 2 cents, but I'll add it anyway.
 
AandA8104, I agree about the age part. I imagine that if you keep the prices high enough and make it where you have to get tickets ahead of time, it will keep most of the trouble-makers out.
 
I like how at SWO you have to make reservations in order to get a table. You walk in go to guest services and make your reservation. No reservation no service, just the way things ought to be.
 
I prefer the way they did it at Mythos, you have the option to make reservations, but you can also walk in and wait about 30 minutes for a table for 2... that kind of weeds out the riff-raff.
 
LOD is still a staple landmark for families with younger children. The ride section could be removed with very little lost however the playground is something that would be sad to see go. As much as FOF has, It doesn't have much room for the kids to run around. In fact the only place in FOF that you can run is the water area, which isn't very fun when your parents dont want you to get wet. Also, LOD has at least double the capacity that FOF has, and the layout is better( FOF only has one entrance which is shared with the sky ride, creating a jam on busy days, whereas LOD has two very large entrances.). As much as the FOF and LOD areas don't appeal to many of us forum members there are several children, and thier paying parents that would be sad to lose the biggest playgroud in the Hampton Roads area.
 
Exactly right Fur Dozy, the LOD playground is an important part of the park which is why I think it could be left with the removal of the left half of the area as that's primarily kiddie rides (of which there is an abundance of in FOF).
 
Yeah, I found out why FOF closed off the other entrance. All I can say is the reasoning is a bit lame. For traffic sake I believe all sections of the park should have two entrances/exits. That has always been my main gripe for Festa Italia.

Chris, this weekend I plan on writing up some reviews and that "restaurant letter". Tis' my weekend duty it tis'. I'll also try to fit in a Celtic Fyre review too. A busy weekend. However, I will not sacrifice quality. If I can't get it done on Sunday, I'll make sure it is done in the subsequent days.
 
Nora said:
Chris, this weekend I plan on writing up some reviews and that "restaurant letter". Tis' my weekend duty it tis'. I'll also try to fit in a Celtic Fyre review too. A busy weekend. However, I will not sacrifice quality. If I can't get it done on Sunday, I'll make sure it is done in the subsequent days.

Sounds good to me, make sure you post your Coaster Tour pictures here too. I'll be interested in seeing those.
 
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