I'm going with my kids and nephews (teens and preteens) for just one day to Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Thursday, April 17. Since we only have one day to accomplish as much as possible and I know the kids want to do all the big popular rides, what should be my plan of action? We plan to arrive before the park opens to be as close to the front of the line as possible. Which ride should we go for first? Thanks!
Plan of Action for Rides on a Thursday in late April
- Thread starter shakiramattson
- Start date
Pantheon and Darkoaster(although thats not a big ride) but you shouldnt have a problem making it on everything else throughout the day. Maybe hit Alpengeist early since it is on 1 train still but you should be ok
Realistically you'll probably be just fine without a game plan given it's a Thursday and you're rope dropping. That said, if crowds were looking a little spooky and I wanted to try to run through everything ASAP so I wouldn't need to be concerned about any lines later, I'd start at the back of the park with DarKoaster, InvadR, Alpie, and Bolt, probably in that order. Pantheon, Tempesto, and Apollo after that. Then Nessie and Griffon when you're done in Festa. If you care about Finnagan's, hit it between Nessie and Griffon.
If there is an A-frame sign at the crossroads past Banbury with staggered village opening times, adjust on the fly as needed to accommodate those delays. If anything is down on this initial dash, don't wait for it to open, just come back later.
With the order above and reasonable speed, you shouldn't hit any waits on even fairly busy days until Pantheon. Even if you do end up with a short wait at Pantheon though, Tempesto and Apollo will still probably be safe afterwards. Nessie, on busy days, can rack up quite a line by early afternoon. If it is bad by the time you get there, just skip it and go back in the evening—Nessie rarely keeps that midday line into the late afternoon. I'd say the same for Finnagan's. If the opening rush has been particularly brutal that day, Nessie and Finnagan's will be feeling it first. Both will die down later in the day in that scenario. Griffon is the last priority in my opinion as it maintains reasonably high capacity and, on moderate crowd level days, doesn't typically see the crushing crowds of other particularly high-capacity coasters like, say, Verbolten.
Broad advice: Disregard all posted wait times—they're worthless at BGW. Enjoy the flats, leisure rides, transportation rides, shows, animals, etc midday—they're some of the strongest aspects of BGW and major ride lines will be dramatically shorter in the morning and evening.
If there is an A-frame sign at the crossroads past Banbury with staggered village opening times, adjust on the fly as needed to accommodate those delays. If anything is down on this initial dash, don't wait for it to open, just come back later.
With the order above and reasonable speed, you shouldn't hit any waits on even fairly busy days until Pantheon. Even if you do end up with a short wait at Pantheon though, Tempesto and Apollo will still probably be safe afterwards. Nessie, on busy days, can rack up quite a line by early afternoon. If it is bad by the time you get there, just skip it and go back in the evening—Nessie rarely keeps that midday line into the late afternoon. I'd say the same for Finnagan's. If the opening rush has been particularly brutal that day, Nessie and Finnagan's will be feeling it first. Both will die down later in the day in that scenario. Griffon is the last priority in my opinion as it maintains reasonably high capacity and, on moderate crowd level days, doesn't typically see the crushing crowds of other particularly high-capacity coasters like, say, Verbolten.
Broad advice: Disregard all posted wait times—they're worthless at BGW. Enjoy the flats, leisure rides, transportation rides, shows, animals, etc midday—they're some of the strongest aspects of BGW and major ride lines will be dramatically shorter in the morning and evening.
I was there today and it had 2