I decided to make a full report to hash out my thoughts on my first summer visit on a very long time, with a lot of details. Apologies if it's a little too much for this thread.
There were highlights and lowlights, as with every park visit. I'm not going to discuss any ride closures or anything due to it being broken since that isn't entirely their fault.
I guess I'll start with the good stuff. As I posted previously, the entire trip was highlighted by the quest adventure (my review and discussion about it can be found here). I was forced to really pay attention to the details of the park and really appreciate it for what it is, further than what I already had. The park truly is spectacular and impressive for a regional park, regardless of its slight misteps. I will always love this park for it's charm and its own version of "magic".
That being said, I felt as though this trip highlighted the fact that I had refused to face over the past few years; the magic is diminishing. The park is very very slowly becoming more normal, making it feel less special, for a number of reasons.
First, the employees (mainly culinary) are usually clueless. EVERY time I went to a register to use my dining plan, the employees were unable to tell me what counted as a side or entree unless this was an employee who noticeably had been there for a while (older, from a different country). The locals with "Virginia" on their nametags were not helpful at all, with the biggest issues I ran into being discussed here when I went to Pretzels and Beer. It is obviously a management issue to me, since the employees clearly do not receive the training they require. This takes away from that magical feel, since it quickly puts you in a sour mood when you can't get a simple answer as to what counts as what on a dining plan.
The main thing that took away from the magic to me was the atmospherical changes. I discussed the music side to this shortly in the pop music thread here. The music was not fitting to the theme, since British rock should not be what England's atmosphere is composed of. Handel's Water Music is what sucks you into the charm of this park. It also extremely bugged me how commercial they have become with putting advertising televisions in queue for the newer rides, blasting random rock music instead of music that pertains to the theme (ex my rant about Battle for Eire here). I don't enjoy being reminded that I am at a theme park here, that is what removed me from the world. They used to do such a good job of making you feel as though this was a place, but now they shove it down your throat that you are at the world's most beautiful theme park, and that there are new rides. Because it makes sense to advertise to people that are already in your park. Let's tell the people in line for InvadR that there is a wooden coaster (yes they actually have a slide that says WOODEN COASTER) with 9 airtime hills to convince them to stay in line.
The slow and depressing closure of shops also took away from this trip. I know the candy shop in Germany is long gone, but it saddens me to see that building closed off when any space is good space. Annie's cafe was closed the entire time, my favorite place to sit and hang out in the park, simply because they don't get enough business in there. Pigs in a Blanket is long gone. And the worst part was how sad Wilkommenhaus looked. I actually got angry when I saw how they had it. It was borderline disrespectful to the history of the park when I walked past and saw this:
Statue gone, house boarded up like it never existed. I know it's for the projection mapping, but honestly I'd rather have the good old facade up instead of some overhyped projection. Seriously, why do they think that is so cool? There are so many parts of the park now that are kinda barren, and it's sad to see. I understand it's costly to run shops that don't producd, but I wish they would just have thing open even if they didn't sell anything, just to add to theming. Rhinefeld's main Street is a sad sight with only one shop, and everything else being cast aside.
All in all, I'm kinda scared as to where this park is headed. They seem far too concerned with new flashy attractions that don't maximize quality and instead focus on quantity, and not concerned enough with emphasizing the unique and special park they have there. I understand the need for new to draw people in, but at least make the new great. Busch used to have a standard. A standard that barely met the expectations of Busch himself. It seems to me that every move is made with the consideration with "will it fit the theming enough, and will it not break that bank?" Instead of "let's make something special that really screams Busch Gardens". The last Busch Gardens ride we got was Verbolten, and perhaps the greatest example of a Busch Gardens ride we had was taken away this year.
After all those negatives, I'd like to end on a good note. The only thing I seek comfort in thinking is the recent attention to attempting to keep what unique experiences they have in good order. Verbolten got a nice clean up for the special effects, and we saw the return of the effect on Loch Ness. I'm glad they care enough to bring this to us. I would love to see Pompeii get a good treatment as well as the interior of Festhaus.
Apologies for the length, I just wanted to get all my thoughts out there for discussion. I know I'm probably being too hard on the park, I just hated feeling like my favorite place on Earth was becoming normal, becoming a run of the mill theme park.
There were highlights and lowlights, as with every park visit. I'm not going to discuss any ride closures or anything due to it being broken since that isn't entirely their fault.
I guess I'll start with the good stuff. As I posted previously, the entire trip was highlighted by the quest adventure (my review and discussion about it can be found here). I was forced to really pay attention to the details of the park and really appreciate it for what it is, further than what I already had. The park truly is spectacular and impressive for a regional park, regardless of its slight misteps. I will always love this park for it's charm and its own version of "magic".
That being said, I felt as though this trip highlighted the fact that I had refused to face over the past few years; the magic is diminishing. The park is very very slowly becoming more normal, making it feel less special, for a number of reasons.
First, the employees (mainly culinary) are usually clueless. EVERY time I went to a register to use my dining plan, the employees were unable to tell me what counted as a side or entree unless this was an employee who noticeably had been there for a while (older, from a different country). The locals with "Virginia" on their nametags were not helpful at all, with the biggest issues I ran into being discussed here when I went to Pretzels and Beer. It is obviously a management issue to me, since the employees clearly do not receive the training they require. This takes away from that magical feel, since it quickly puts you in a sour mood when you can't get a simple answer as to what counts as what on a dining plan.
The main thing that took away from the magic to me was the atmospherical changes. I discussed the music side to this shortly in the pop music thread here. The music was not fitting to the theme, since British rock should not be what England's atmosphere is composed of. Handel's Water Music is what sucks you into the charm of this park. It also extremely bugged me how commercial they have become with putting advertising televisions in queue for the newer rides, blasting random rock music instead of music that pertains to the theme (ex my rant about Battle for Eire here). I don't enjoy being reminded that I am at a theme park here, that is what removed me from the world. They used to do such a good job of making you feel as though this was a place, but now they shove it down your throat that you are at the world's most beautiful theme park, and that there are new rides. Because it makes sense to advertise to people that are already in your park. Let's tell the people in line for InvadR that there is a wooden coaster (yes they actually have a slide that says WOODEN COASTER) with 9 airtime hills to convince them to stay in line.
The slow and depressing closure of shops also took away from this trip. I know the candy shop in Germany is long gone, but it saddens me to see that building closed off when any space is good space. Annie's cafe was closed the entire time, my favorite place to sit and hang out in the park, simply because they don't get enough business in there. Pigs in a Blanket is long gone. And the worst part was how sad Wilkommenhaus looked. I actually got angry when I saw how they had it. It was borderline disrespectful to the history of the park when I walked past and saw this:
Statue gone, house boarded up like it never existed. I know it's for the projection mapping, but honestly I'd rather have the good old facade up instead of some overhyped projection. Seriously, why do they think that is so cool? There are so many parts of the park now that are kinda barren, and it's sad to see. I understand it's costly to run shops that don't producd, but I wish they would just have thing open even if they didn't sell anything, just to add to theming. Rhinefeld's main Street is a sad sight with only one shop, and everything else being cast aside.
All in all, I'm kinda scared as to where this park is headed. They seem far too concerned with new flashy attractions that don't maximize quality and instead focus on quantity, and not concerned enough with emphasizing the unique and special park they have there. I understand the need for new to draw people in, but at least make the new great. Busch used to have a standard. A standard that barely met the expectations of Busch himself. It seems to me that every move is made with the consideration with "will it fit the theming enough, and will it not break that bank?" Instead of "let's make something special that really screams Busch Gardens". The last Busch Gardens ride we got was Verbolten, and perhaps the greatest example of a Busch Gardens ride we had was taken away this year.
After all those negatives, I'd like to end on a good note. The only thing I seek comfort in thinking is the recent attention to attempting to keep what unique experiences they have in good order. Verbolten got a nice clean up for the special effects, and we saw the return of the effect on Loch Ness. I'm glad they care enough to bring this to us. I would love to see Pompeii get a good treatment as well as the interior of Festhaus.
Apologies for the length, I just wanted to get all my thoughts out there for discussion. I know I'm probably being too hard on the park, I just hated feeling like my favorite place on Earth was becoming normal, becoming a run of the mill theme park.
