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Jul 10, 2015
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Hi. I'm a Disney veteran, but going to BG for the first time August 1-5.

I was wondering about wait times. I had a specific strategy at WDW where we managed our wait times and never really waited more than 20 minutes for anything. Is there a need for such a touring plan at BG?
How are the wait times for the biggies during the afternoon and evening? Disney is all I have to compare it to. I already have been told to avoid Saturdays.
 
Welcome to the Forum, Finnster77!

I too use touring plans when I visit WDW and Universal. Unfortunately, I don't know of any sort of legitimate touring plan available like the ones you're thinking of.

That said, we can still help you out! During the weekdays, you shouldn't experience any massive Disney-like waits; in fact, weekdays are generally pretty bearable. Typically queues for even the main attractions won't go too far past half an hour, and are often much less than that. Right now, the biggest wait you'll experience is Tempesto, because of its newness and its low capacity. You may find waits stretching well over an hour there. However, especially if you avoid weekends, for the most part you won't experience too many Disney-like waits. Also, crowds tend to thin out in the evening at BGW more so than they do in Florida. The last half hour or so is prime time to ride attractions with minimal waits.

Just like with Disney touring plans, the golden rule remains the same: get up early! Get up early! Get up early! Plan to arrive at the toll booths by 9:15, allowing you to get through the turnstiles and line up at the rope to the rest of the park with time to spare. BGW opens their villages in a staggered pattern, with England opening at 9:15, Scotland usually 15 minutes later, and Ireland, France, and New France opening 15 minutes later than that. This allows you to work your way through the park as it opens, so your first ride on most any attraction should be without any wait. The first fifteen minutes or so a village is open, there shouldn't be any lines for any attraction.

I, personally, like to walk, so the plan I am about to offer you will involve lots of backtracking and zigzagging back and forth throughout the park. BUT it is the most efficient way to experience all the major attractions. Here is my touring plan:

1. Arrive at toll booths at 9:15
2. Enter turnstiles and work your way to the end of England and line up at the rope to Scotland by 9:30.
3. Once the Scotland rope drops, go straight ahead and ride Loch Ness Monster. After your ride, continue past the stables and line up at the Ireland rope.
4. When the Ireland rope drops at 10, continue through Ireland and walk through Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve and enter France. Follow through France to Griffon's entrance and ride Griffon.
5. Immediately after riding Griffon, go back the way you came. Walk through the Wild Reserve, Ireland, and Scotland. This time, walk past Scotland and continue towards the direction of Italy and Pompeii until you reach the rope.
6. Once the rope drops, continue along the path by Pompeii, and up the wooded bridge into Italy. Continue along the wooded path until you reach a crossroads marked by a red star pattern on the ground.
7. At this point, turn left onto the aggregate bridge into Festa Italia. Follow the left side of the path down past the entrance to Apollo's Chariot. Go to Tempesto's plaza and ride Tempesto.
8. After Tempesto, go back the way you came, and ride Apollo's Chariot.
9. Exit Apollo's Chariot and go back over the bridge to exit Festa Italia.
10. Turn left at the end of the bridge and continue all the way through Italy until you reach the rope to Oktoberfest.
11. Once the rope drops, turn onto the bridge over the Rhine River and cross into Oktoberfest.
12. At the end of the bridge, turn to your left and ride Verbolten.
13. After Verbolten, go across the path and ride Mach Tower if you really want to (and if it's actually operating).
14. Continue through Oktoberfest to Curse of Darkastle. Ride the Kastle.
15. After Curse of Darkastle, continue in the same direction you were going into Germany until you reach the "Naked Lady" fountain. Turn left at the fountain and wind through the streets of Germany. At the end of this cobblestone street, take a left and follow the path to Alpengeist's entrance.
16. Ride Alpengeist.
17. After Alpengeist, continue in the same direction you were going across the wooden bridge over the log flume. On the other side of the bridge, follow the signs and take a left downhill and ride Le Scoot Log Flume.
18. After Le Scoot, you have now hit the majority the park's "biggies". Take the next few hours to enjoy any of the smaller attractions you may have missed, or reride anything.
19. Take a break for lunch once the crowds start thickening.
20. After lunch, when the crowds are at their peak, use this time to see the shows, check out the animal encounters, ride the train, or browse the shops.
21. The rest of the day is up to you!

Hopefully this helps. Like I said, it involves a lot of walking and backtracking, but in the end, it pays off!
 
http://parkfans.net/thread-3781.html

Start here. I made this for a reason lol.

You don't need to arrive that early if you're visiting on a weekday because crowds spread out pretty evenly after everything else opens up. Loch Ness sees long waits early in the day because its the only ride open. Its a good warm up to the bigger, badder rides.

Tempesto also gets long waits early in the day. Lines usually die down until evening rush and after that lines go back down to reasonable waits at the end of the night.

Other rides should have reasonable waits at best unless you're visiting on a Saturday or something. If its hot, expect lots new at the water rides and Darkastle.

So if you start off at Loch Ness you can either head to Griffon first and work your way counterclockwise around the park or if you wanna try to beat morning rush at Pesto, you can run over there and work clockwise. That way you're not back tracking too much.
 
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netdvn said:
http://parkfans.net/thread-3781.html

Start here. I made this for a reason lol.

You don't need to arrive that early if you're visiting on a weekday because crowds spread out pretty evenly after everything else opens up. Loch Ness sees long waits early in the day because its the only ride open. Its a good warm up to the bigger, badder rides.

Tempesto also gets long waits early in the day. Lines usually die down until evening rush and after that lines go back down to reasonable waits at the end of the night.

Other rides should have reasonable waits at best unless you're visiting on a Saturday or something. If its hot, expect lots new at the water rides and Darkastle.

So if you start off at Loch Ness you can either head to Griffon first and work your way counterclockwise around the park or if you wanna try to beat morning rush at Pesto, you can run over there and work clockwise. That way you're not back tracking too much.

Thanks so much, Netdvn. I have already checked that out, and it's great!
I have noticed a discrepancy with some of the advice I have gotten regarding time. Most recommend arriving at 9, but on the BG website, it looks like they're not open until 10? Which is accurate?
 
That's because of the staggered village opening times. The toll booths, turnstiles, and England village open at 9:15, with Scotland usually opening at 9:30, and the first half of the park (Ireland, Wild Reserve, France) opening by 10.

So even though the "official" opening is 10, parts of the park are open before that.
 
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Note: Your mileage may vary with pre-10am hamlet openings as they're entirely based on projected attendance numbers. Maybe an employee can hook you up with the expected staggered village opening times for the days you'll be there? *hint, hint to the employees out there*
 
Hamlet opening times are marked on the back of a park map(as they are printed for each day) and are *typically* accurate. Ocassionally the park will get a really early start at the toll plazas, so if you want to be even extra precautious, I would recommend planning to arrive at the toll plazas around 8:45-9:00, especially if you plan on going on a weekend with good weather.
 
My recommendation is Monday is the best day to visit the park in my opion as the crowds are smallest. If you are planning on doing CW I suggest doing that on the weekend as I find they have renactors and events during the weekend then weekdays where as other than crowds the park is the same any day of the week.
 
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It just occurred to me that as a Disney person, you are probably used to a free reservation-based front of the line system.  Sea World Parks all use Quick Queues (http://seaworldparks.com/en/buschgardens-williamsburg/book-online/extras/quickqueue/), which are very different from FastPass.  You can either buy the one-time use or the unlimited passes, which allow you to go to the front of the line on several of the rides.

If you go on a weekday or a Sunday it usually makes sense to wait and buy them at the park.  I don't attempt the park on Saturdays or during Howl-O-Scream, however, without them.

Out of curiosity, what are you interested in at BGW?  Thrill rides, family rides, shows, etc?  That will also affect how you should plan your day.

One last thought, if you are interested, we can also provide suggestions on when/where to eat.
 
Nicole said:
It just occurred to me that as a Disney person, you are probably used to a free reservation-based front of the line system.  Sea World Parks all use Quick Queues (http://seaworldparks.com/en/buschgardens-williamsburg/book-online/extras/quickqueue/), which are very different from FastPass.  You can either buy the one-time use or the unlimited passes, which allow you to go to the front of the line on several of the rides.

If you go on a weekday or a Sunday it usually makes sense to wait and buy them at the park.  I don't attempt the park on Saturdays or during Howl-O-Scream, however, without them.

Out of curiosity, what are you interested in at BGW?  Thrill rides, family rides, shows, etc?  That will also affect how you should plan your day.

One last thought, if you are interested, we can also provide suggestions on when/where to eat.

Family of three, definitely interested in the coasters/thrills. We are also looking forward to the park's theming,so I'm sure we'll take in a show or two. We've got the Bounce passes, so we can come and go as we please for the five days we're there, so I was hoping to avoid the extra purchase of the QQ.

Would love to hear your suggestions on food, what touristy places we might need to avoid, etc.
We love good pizza. What's the best in the area?
 
I am not local so the other posters are far more knowledgeable than me, but I will list some of the things my family enjoy during our visits. We have been to WDW twice and while I love it, Williamsburg is a far more relaxed vacation.

I use Ebay to rent a timeshare and can get a 2 bedroom unit for a week for around $600-800. I have stayed at others but prefer Governors Green or Kingsgate.

BGW
Every ride is fun so try to hit them all. Afternoon breaks at BGW are much easier to pull off than WDW as the commute takes less time. We always eat lunch at Das Festhaus and catch the show. Try to be there 30 mins early so you have time to get food and seated. For dinner we go to Ristorante della Plazza and watch the show while eating. That way you knock out 2 of the shows during your downtime for meals and by doing Festhaus for lunch you get some welcomed AC during the hottest part of the day. Ristorante is covered outdoor seating but it is comfortable in the late evening.
We usually hit trappers for a late evening meal as well on another day.

I may get blasted by the locals here but this is my opinion on other dining options outside the park.
Pizza - Two Sisters Pizzeria . It is a dive but they make great takeout pizza. Just make sure you have a roll of paper towels on hand:)
BBQ - Pierces Pitt has good BBQ and the burgers aren't too shabby either. If you get a condo then order the docs family special with half chicken and half pork and you have another meal or 2 waiting in the fridge in case you would like to lounge at the resort for an evening. (Think Flame Tree BBQ in bulk)
Sandwiches - The Cheese Shop is kind of a dilemma for me. I consider it an overpriced tourist trap with mediocre sandwiches that locals supposedly rave about according to online ratings, but I always manage to end up there for an afternoon meal for some reason.
I have always wanted to try one of the Colonial Williamsburg taverns, but never end up making the reservation. Christina Campbell's tavern sounds the most appealing to my taste.

Other attractions we enjoy are Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown battlefield, Dewitt Wallace museum and the Colonial Parkway. To me and my wife the Colonial Parkway is the perfect addition to BGW. After a hectic morning in the park, a peaceful drive along the Colonial Parkway calms down the family and refreshes everyone for the next onslaught. If WDW had a Colonial Parkway I think you would see a lot less family meltdowns there :)
 
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