The State of the Park: Busch Gardens Williamsburg

[mikes]

Is the tram path blacktop?

I was at the park on 6/16. For the most part the day was enjoyable. Since I stopped my passes, I only go with my father since he gets the military tickets and the discounted guest tickets. Food was disgusting. The best "food" was from Rita's. Most bathrooms were disgusting. Some ride ops are ridiculously slow, it's so painful to watch since I once worked in a park. The photo pass option to pick your photo with the QR code is broken. 3 rides down - Tempesto, skyride and darkoaster. Sadly my mom doesn't ride anything but the train and skyride so she was out of luck there.

Park cleanliness is something easily and semi cheaply in their control (this includes bathrooms). FIX THIS.

I also went to KD on the 19th and I won't do a big comparison, but that day was better in a way. A rain storm sent the bulk of the crowd out and after re-opening the rides we got on almost all coasters quickly. The food situation was better than BGW, with the exception of having to wait nearly 30 mins for a burger with bacon back in the water park. I can rant about slow food service for a while especially when your kitchen handles 2 items with a few variations. Overall food was better than BGW IMO. The only disappointment came from not getting an evening ride on Raptera due to a guest getting sick and it seemed the ops just said F it, we aren't dealing with it now.

KD also has some technology glitches that my dad made 100 times worse by not asking me for help. He purchased his military tickets using PayPal. Apparently after the payment from the external site, there was never a prompt to get an email kicked out (guest relations confirmed this). Though my dad had the option to print tickets, he didn't bother asking my wife or I how he could, so all he had was a screenshot of his confirmation number :/ He waited roughly an hour to get into the park with my Mom in the scorching heat out front in both lines. On the ride down we called tech support and tried to get the tickets sent to 3 different email addresses, they never came.

 

[Coasternerd]

It also doesn’t help that, as the trams are complimentary, it’s one of the only things they can’t generate a profit off of, which corporate is not a fan of. So combine that with them having an already minimal amount of staff because of budget constraints, and well, you get them covering the closure of the trams as due to heat when it’s just them not having enough staff or budget for them. If the same people are there from when I worked there, I can guarantee you, they don’t like the cuts/changes either.

 

[warfelg]

This is the issue with low wages - usually you get employees who aren’t invested in the company or work.

I’ll give an alternative to @Zachary ’s free parking idea (mostly because I would very much doubt that would happen):
Offer reduced fee parking (like $10-15) but give vouchers for 2 free waters/poweraids/gator aids per person or $10 Busch Bucks (concept to be used on drinks) to encourage people to hydrate due to the walk.

Frankly when it’s this type of issue France should be the only preferred lot, England should start the general parking, the Germany. Hopefully they can avoid Italy and Ireland.

 

[mikes]

It also doesn’t help that, as the trams are complimentary, it’s one of the only things they can’t generate a profit off of, which corporate is not a fan of. So combine that with them having an already minimal amount of staff because of budget constraints, and well, you get them covering the closure of the trams as due to heat when it’s just them not having enough staff or budget for them. If the same people are there from when I worked there, I can guarantee you, they don’t like the cuts/changes either.

They gouge on parking, saying they are complimentary isn't exactly accurate IMO. I'd love to see the balance sheet to see how many people pay for parking vs members.

 

[Bring Back Questor 87]

Sad fact is, all of what everyone is describing here does not fairly equate to a $500-600+ day for a family of four:

$35 parking
$73 x 4 (Saturday park tix avg.)
$25 x 4 (1 entrée without meal plan)
$XXX ="I want ice cream, souvenirs, etc."

And it's blazing outside? BGW has operated during heat waves before, and they are acting nowadays like they haven't and not disclosing to the public why the park isn't operating at full clip.

BGW has always operated for investors, but damn does it show now more than ever, and the expectation folks won't notice is disrespectful.

 

[wyldbill]

The trams have been sporadic like that my last couple of visits. I was there for Christmas town on Christmas week '23 when it was unseasonably warm like in the 60's and severely packed and over crowed and no trams were running for the 3 days I was there, was also there in July of '24 and they only ran on weekends.

 

[Thriller]

My visit in June heat wave saw advertised closing hours of 8 PM. Now they close at an hour when it actually starts getting pleasant on hot days.

Too many of the rides have laid openings of 11 or 12. Every single attraction should operate open to close. This is a pure cost cutting measure.

The cable skyway did not even open on Monday. It was open on Sunday. Is this a weekend only attraction now?

Plus, there’s the exorbitant pricing on parking with no trams on certain days. $35 is a rip off, even if the trams are running.

These are yhe main issues IMO with BGW right now plus the general price gouging that goes on there.

I think Kings Dominion has better operating hours with 9 and 10 PM closings (although there I miss the 10 o’clock daily closings) and all their rides are open. Open to close.

 

[warfelg]

BGW and KD have basically the exact same operating hours. The only difference is Sundays, BGW closes at 9 while KD closes at 10. On the flip side WCUSA opens 1.5 hours before SC and on the weekends closes an hour later.

There's plenty of reasons other than "cost cutting" as to why rides all don't open at the same time. Sometimes there's scheduled maintenance that happens, sometimes something is found in daily inspection, sometimes the daily inspection takes longer. Those things plus the unexpected delays that impact ride openings (like something breaking during morning testing). It's not always just not wanting to hire enough people.

Any and all skyrides can be temperamental to begin with. Something could have not worked right. Sure it could have been staffing. IIRC I feel like someone said that the Skyride (outside of the train) takes the most staff to operate. As long as at least one of the two are running it's fine. Monday's are generally lower attendance days, so if there was a day to run a leaner staff, that's the day and that's the attraction to do it with.

 

[Thriller]

I guess I was incorrect about July. In June they closed at 8 PM on weekdays but now they’re open till nine on weekdays so they actually have an hour more operating time than Kings Dominion.

However, IMO the late ride openings are 100% cost cutting and have nothing to do with scheduled maintenance. The park is closed at 12 hours every night. Rides can be maintained during those 12 hours. Opening a ride an hour or two later than the park is just cost cutting.



Anytime staffing is an excuse that just says they aren’t paying their employees enough to hire enough employees

 

[warfelg]

However, IMO the late ride openings are 100% cost cutting and have nothing to do with scheduled maintenance. The park is closed at 12 hours every night. Rides can be maintained during those 12 hours. Opening a ride an hour or two later than the park is just cost cutting.

So you have undeniable proof that it’s nothing but cost cutting?

 

[Mushroom]

BGW and KD have basically the exact same operating hours. The only difference is Sundays, BGW closes at 9 while KD closes at 10. On the flip side WCUSA opens 1.5 hours before SC and on the weekends closes an hour later.

I don’t often find myself agreeing with @Thriller, but one point I do agree on is that BGW’s staggered opening times are frustrating. Comparing the advertised opening hours is sort of meaningless when half of BGW doesn’t actually open at the posted opening time, and it’s a total crapshoot which countries will open when. I wish they were more consistent and transparent (I feel like this word has been sullied on here, lol) about their opening times so it would be easier to plan your visit.

 

[warfelg]

I don’t often find myself agreeing with @Thriller, but one point I do agree on is that BGW’s staggered opening times are frustrating. Comparing the advertised opening hours is sort of meaningless when half of BGW doesn’t actually open at the posted opening time, and it’s a total crapshoot which countries will open when. I wish they were more consistent and transparent (I feel like this word has been sullied on here, lol) about their opening times so it would be easier to plan your visit.

I don’t disagree, but what I’m pushing back on is there can be many more reasons for it than just cost cutting.

 

[RKRCC]

I don’t often find myself agreeing with @Thriller, but one point I do agree on is that BGW’s staggered opening times are frustrating. Comparing the advertised opening hours is sort of meaningless when half of BGW doesn’t actually open at the posted opening time, and it’s a total crapshoot which countries will open when. I wish they were more consistent and transparent (I feel like this word has been sullied on here, lol) about their opening times so it would be easier to plan your visit.

I agree 100% about the staggered opening times!!! Village opening times are not published anywhere anymore. Not on-line or in the park. The website lists the park opening at 10am. Sometimes they open England at 9:30, other times it’s 10am. Then when you get in the park, village opening times used to be on the hard copy maps. When these were stopped, there used to be a board by the stables that had them displayed. Now, nothing. They hold everyone in England now until 10am when Loch Ness used to be open at 9:30 or so. France doesn’t open until 10:15 or 10:30 now (good luck guessing which one it is) and Rhinefield and Germany opens anywhere between 10:30 or 11 depending on the day. I’m not against staggered openings and know a lot of parks do it. It is frustrating trying to figure out when everything opens because it isn’t posted anywhere I know of anymore

 

[ControlsEE]

Any and all skyrides can be temperamental to begin with. Something could have not worked right. Sure it could have been staffing. IIRC I feel like someone said that the Skyride (outside of the train) takes the most staff to operate.

Skyride and Railroad Alum here. Skyride takes a lot, 9 to 12 plus breakers (3-4 at each station). Railroad requires no fewer than 6 (Engineer, Fireman, Conductor, stationmasters) and goes up by 3 with each train added. Skyride would go down all the time when I was there and often would close due to staffing shortages, even in my time, Pre-Covid.

 

[GASM]

I was always impressed by how many people and moving parts Great Adventure’s Skyride needed to operate as consistently as it did. It was my favorite queue in the park because it was pretty fun to watch.

 

[Thriller]

The best operations have all rides that are open (of course some rides will be down long-term for maintenance from time to time) and all areas of the park open from the advertised open to close.

Kings Dominion achieves that. Busch Gardens does not it’s really not even worth going to Busch Gardens the first hour or so because so much is closed.

It’s very disappointing when BJW decides not to run their Sky ride on a given day because it is one of their unique attractions that is hard to find anywhere now. I appreciate that they have maintained it and kept it running all this year along with the train and the boats. Those rides are one reason that BGW is a better all-around Park than Kings Dominion.

 

[warfelg]

Skyride and Railroad Alum here. Skyride takes a lot, 9 to 12 plus breakers (3-4 at each station). Railroad requires no fewer than 6 (Engineer, Fireman, Conductor, stationmasters) and goes up by 3 with each train added. Skyride would go down all the time when I was there and often would close due to staffing shortages, even in my time, Pre-Covid.

Appreciated on the numbers there.

Sounds like 12 is the minimum Skyride can operate with, so if even 1 person is sick or late it could cause major problems, and a max of 16 people. But at the same time this is where I can see the business side - are you really going to staff it all the time with 18-22 people just to make sure it's always running if that kind of stuff happens? Unlikely. Then you are paying a lot of people to just stand around or be on break.

And from what I know of friends who have worked in parks, you aren't really cross trained on multiple ride systems, so it's not like you would overstaff Skyride and if everyone shows up put the extras at EFP, DK, and Griff (just picking the nearest major attraction to each station) to staff those rides.

Sorry @ControlsEE using this as a jumping point:

I don't know, and it may be just me, but it's really getting exhausting continually seeing corporate greed being pushed as the reason every single thing a BGW is bad. There's plenty of reasons other than just bottom line dollar as to why somethings don't open all at the same exact time. Could greed/money be some of it? Sure, I'm not denying that.

But there are plenty of other things that can happen that aren't greed related that can cause problems opening attractions/eateries/areas. And to always see them dismissed with "well just pay people more" is getting very old. Things break on startup that you can't account for. People don't always follow full closing procedures from the night before (huge issues with food prep areas if that happens). Employees call off sick randomly, and some even no show, and that can happen to places that do pay well enough too so that's not a purely 'don't pay enough issue' (let me tell you about the number of HS/College kids I had to fire for this even though they were paid $22/hr+tips). Heck the number of times at a two course operation one of the courses got started 30 minutes late because the staff meeting was still going on and we made up excuses (usually busted sprinkler head) to hold back tee times.

Basically I can think of a litany of things that can cause opening issues other than greed, so taking the stance that greed is the cause of all of the issues like things not always open ASAP is going to rub me as wrong because there's no proof that that's the only reason. And tying to my random discussions post (the one I was discussing with @Zachary ) it's conversations like this that become very frustrating to me. Because I don't necessarily disagree that staggered opening of areas can be frustrating, but given that there can be a multitude of reasons why it happens it's just not a hill I would die on that it makes BGW a bad park.

Like I'm just going to use this as my example:
What if Festa Italia isn't open right away because Panteon and and Turkish Delight had issues with their inspections, and they need to sit and work on them. So that staff is slowed getting to AC, Tradewinds, Elephant Run, Roman Rapids, and Tempesto. Would you still want them to open that area with the park even though not a single ride may have gotten the sign off to open yet? I mean that's basically the same as not opening the area. And it's could be an issue that has nothing to do with greed.

Like someone else said sometimes a part near the front opens at 9:30 even though listed opening is at 10 - what if they did that because the front gate area was so crowded by 9, they needed to get some people in the park to alleviate the issues happening at the front gate? Is that greed or guest safety? I can't tell you before the front gate renovation for HP how many people I saw get pushed, knocked over, even pass out from HP being super stickler on gate time and nothing really open in the gate area while the line went all the way back to Chocolate world. I would have killed for them to open up Founders Circle 15-30 minutes. Or Disney advertising the rope drop time for Epcot for there to be 2 more times of waiting with no shade, no bathroom, and no drinks/food available while you waited on the rope drop for 90 minutes because of the staggered approach.

Like, I get it and agree that these things are frustrating when you show up at an advertised opening time and not every little thing is available to you right away (even if I never expect it). But there's just so many reasons as to why those things happen that aren't "shit company" or "run terribly" or "corporate greed" that cause these things to happen.

Ok rant over.

 

[ControlsEE]

I agree 100% about the staggered opening times!!! Village opening times are not published anywhere anymore. Not on-line or in the park. The website lists the park opening at 10am. Sometimes they open England at 9:30, other times it’s 10am. Then when you get in the park, village opening times used to be on the hard copy maps. When these were stopped, there used to be a board by the stables that had them displayed. Now, nothing. They hold everyone in England now until 10am when Loch Ness used to be open at 9:30 or so. France doesn’t open until 10:15 or 10:30 now (good luck guessing which one it is) and Rhinefield and Germany opens anywhere between 10:30 or 11 depending on the day. I’m not against staggered openings and know a lot of parks do it. It is frustrating trying to figure out when everything opens because it isn’t posted anywhere I know of anymore

Or at least just be consistent. Granted, I haven't been to the park in over a year, but visiting now as an out-of-towner, it is extremely frustrating showing up to the parking lot at 9 just to sit there for an hour. Used to be very predictable. Parking at 9, England and Scotland at 9:30, Germany and Oktoberfest at 11. Everywhere else at 10. Seems like things started changing around 2012 when Verbolten opened and they wanted Oktoberfest to open earlier to help with wait times and it slowly devolved from there.

 

[ControlsEE]

Appreciated on the numbers there.

Sounds like 12 is the minimum Skyride can operate with, so if even 1 person is sick or late it could cause major problems, and a max of 16 people. But at the same time this is where I can see the business side - are you really going to staff it all the time with 18-22 people just to make sure it's always running if that kind of stuff happens? Unlikely. Then you are paying a lot of people to just stand around or be on break.

And from what I know of friends who have worked in parks, you aren't really cross trained on multiple ride systems, so it's not like you would overstaff Skyride and if everyone shows up put the extras at EFP, DK, and Griff (just picking the nearest major attraction to each station) to staff those rides.

So keep in mind that I haven't worked at the park in almost 10 years and take this with a grain of salt as lots of things have changed since then. Daily staffing for any ride starts with the minimum staffing required for any ride, adding breakers and additional staff mid-day if park attendance demands it. If an opener called out, often a supervisor in the area will fill in unless someone is free who is cross trained. In 2015, I was known as the A2 Bi*ch as I was cross trained at every ride in France/New France and could fill in anywhere as needed, despite Alpie being my home ride. Yes, I would be in England Skyride or Festa Train Station wearing a blue shirt because of this. The supervisors would then call other team members who were scheduled for later in the day and ask them to come in early. If park capacity did not reach expected levels and we had extra staffing that could not be used, we sent people home. This was most prevalent in Area Host (AH), mostly due to having multiple staffing tiers whereas most coasters only had 2 (2 train or 3 train, though I guess now they have a 1 train ). For the most part, this worked as many rides had 20-30 people trained on them and could fill in quickly or be sent to another ride or AH as they often had lots of call outs. Now a lot has changed and staff does not seem as motivated to work there as they did mid-recession when I worked there.

 

[warfelg]

staff does not seem as motivated to work there as they did mid-recession when I worked there

Gets off topic but this seems to be true for entry level across the board now.