Is Busch Gardens (Local) Trip Worth It for Spring Break? ($4,626) or Universal Trip for ($7,874/$6,074 w/ Points)

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Your pricing is insane, OP. But if you wanted to spend 2 days in the area, why would you not do BG one day and Williamsburg/Yorktown the other? There are sights RIGHT THERE besides a park you will be sick of after a full day.


Oh, and sights that are much cheaper than BG!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are these prices for real??

For Universal, yes.

For Busch Gardens, no. They are massively overpaying for add ons most people would never consider.


Op here the tickets for bush gardens for 2 days with unlimited express. Some people claim you won't need it but spring break will be busy.

Busch Gardens & Water Country USA Two-Day Ticket
$671.96 4 × Ticket + All-Day Dining (ages 3+) 167.99

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Quick Queue Unlimited Plus
$1,439.92 8 × Guest 179.99

Total before taxes without addon or hotel : $2,111.88

You don’t need to spend $1500 to skip the line at Busch Gardens in April.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I've done both several times and you are overspending like mad. Busch Gardens should be a very cheap trip, and two days max (one is fine). If local the year pass is a much better deal and worth it for Christmas time.


Sounds like you are splashing out in a big way at Busch Gardens. You could have a much cheaper trip if you didn't pay for all the unlimited experiences.
Anonymous
I would think most people would be able to get the most out of Busch Gardens in one day. It's a local, nice, amusement park. Then go to Williamsburg on day 2.
Anonymous
You don’t need food packages at BG.
Anonymous
For Busch garden we would just book 2 hotel night, go to Busch garden for a day, then tour colonial Williamsburg the other day. One time we didn’t even want to stay 1 entire day at Busch garden and left early, since kids were bored. For universal studio, if your kids have been there before then you don’t need park to park in order to ride the train, and like people said new feature Epic will open after late May, you may want to consider go afterwards. If you consider rental car, you can at least get water and pastry for breakfast to save time and money. This time we as family of 4 will spend 3 days at universal studio, with about $1000 for flight + rental car, $0 for hotel ( credit card free nights with shuttle to universal), and 3 day universal tickets for 4 people for $1800 ( no fast pass since kids don’t want thrill rides like roller coaster ), expect to spend money for 2 meals a day and $40 per day for kids to buy theme park souvenirs. It can be more or less dependent on what you think is more important, travel luxury or save money.
Anonymous
I’m a Williamsburg local. You can easily do Busch Gardens in a day, no unlimited express pass needed.

If you want a three day trip, I’d look into passes for Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. If you live in Virginia, I’d get a Year-long historic triangle pass.

If you eat sandwiches at all, please look into lunch at the the Cheese Shop, which is in Merchants Square. It’s a William & Mary favorite. The W&M campus is gorgeous, and rough next to Colonial Williamsburg (CW). It’s famous for the Wren Building which is the oldest American academic building in continuous use.

Fancy site-down restaurants that you might like for a special meal are the Chef’s Kitchen, Fat Canary, and Le Yaca. Food for Thought, which I personally loathe, but everyone else loves is family friendly for young kids, while the other three are better for older, quieter children. K’Bola is a newer Cuban restaurant that is to die for. It’s also appropriate for young kids, but there are TVs everywhere, so it’s not sensory-friendly.
Anonymous
I have no idea how you are planning to spend this much at BG. We did the cheapest membership and fast passes for our family and it was $479, and we can go back as many times as we want before Labor Day. The Williamsburg bounce pass is a great deal if you want to do CW as well.

A week at a timeshare resort condo is like $1,200 max. There are plenty of places to eat dinner and breakfast offsite so you do not need to do all day dining every day. Plus the lines are terrible this time of year for food- you’ll be waiting forever to get your money’s worth.

If you’re planning to spend 3 days you do not need the fast passes. Just go early to get the big coasters done before the crowds pick up. You’ll get to do everything at least once and if you’re willing to do single rider lines likely much more.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I have no idea how you are planning to spend this much at BG. We did the cheapest membership and fast passes for our family and it was $479, and we can go back as many times as we want before Labor Day. The Williamsburg bounce pass is a great deal if you want to do CW as well.

A week at a timeshare resort condo is like $1,200 max. There are plenty of places to eat dinner and breakfast offsite so you do not need to do all day dining every day. Plus the lines are terrible this time of year for food- you’ll be waiting forever to get your money’s worth.

If you’re planning to spend 3 days you do not need the fast passes. Just go early to get the big coasters done before the crowds pick up. You’ll get to do everything at least once and if you’re willing to do single rider lines likely much more.


Sorry not fast passes - fun cards
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I’m a Williamsburg local. You can easily do Busch Gardens in a day, no unlimited express pass needed.

If you want a three day trip, I’d look into passes for Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. If you live in Virginia, I’d get a Year-long historic triangle pass.

If you eat sandwiches at all, please look into lunch at the the Cheese Shop, which is in Merchants Square. It’s a William & Mary favorite. The W&M campus is gorgeous, and rough next to Colonial Williamsburg (CW). It’s famous for the Wren Building which is the oldest American academic building in continuous use.

Fancy site-down restaurants that you might like for a special meal are the Chef’s Kitchen, Fat Canary, and Le Yaca. Food for Thought, which I personally loathe, but everyone else loves is family friendly for young kids, while the other three are better for older, quieter children. K’Bola is a newer Cuban restaurant that is to die for. It’s also appropriate for young kids, but there are TVs everywhere, so it’s not sensory-friendly.


Just saw you prefer a two-day trip. Definitely prioritize Colonial Williamsburg over Jamestown and Yorktown. There’s just better food options closer to CW, and much more to see. If you stay at one of the Colonial Williamsburg properties, I’d look into The Lodge. It’s right by the powder magazine and the courthouse, which are smack dab in the middle of the historic area. The Inn is right there too, but it’s much more expensive.
Anonymous
We did Busch Gardens and Williamsburg for $700 for 3 people for 3 days including hotel and meals with a timeshare that had a 1 hour talk to attend. I rented my house for $500 for the 3 days so all in all it cost me $200.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are these prices for real??

For Universal, yes.

For Busch Gardens, no. They are massively overpaying for add ons most people would never consider.


Op here the tickets for bush gardens for 2 days with unlimited express. Some people claim you won't need it but spring break will be busy.

Busch Gardens & Water Country USA Two-Day Ticket
$671.96 4 × Ticket + All-Day Dining (ages 3+) 167.99

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Quick Queue Unlimited Plus
$1,439.92 8 × Guest 179.99

Total before taxes without addon or hotel : $2,111.88

You don’t need to spend $1500 to skip the line at Busch Gardens in April.


Are you sure , it's spring break for the entire area?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:We did Busch Gardens and Williamsburg for $700 for 3 people for 3 days including hotel and meals with a timeshare that had a 1 hour talk to attend. I rented my house for $500 for the 3 days so all in all it cost me $200.


How long ago was this, of you go to the Busch gardens site I csnt find anything that low And in fact the prices for spring break week in April are increased by a lot because of demand.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are these prices for real??

For Universal, yes.

For Busch Gardens, no. They are massively overpaying for add ons most people would never consider.


Op here the tickets for bush gardens for 2 days with unlimited express. Some people claim you won't need it but spring break will be busy.

Busch Gardens & Water Country USA Two-Day Ticket
$671.96 4 × Ticket + All-Day Dining (ages 3+) 167.99

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Quick Queue Unlimited Plus
$1,439.92 8 × Guest 179.99

Total before taxes without addon or hotel : $2,111.88

You don’t need to spend $1500 to skip the line at Busch Gardens in April.


Are you sure , it's spring break for the entire area?


If you want to do express passes, fine, but you still only need one day.
Anonymous
We visited the Williamsburg area last Spring Break.

Day 1: drove to Williamsburg, stayed in a hotel there, ate dinner at a tavern, and then went on the after-dark ghost tour

Day 2: toured the whole Williamsburg colonial area

Day 3: day pass at Great Wolf Lodge, a sentimental journey back to the kids’ younger days

Day 4: full day at Busch Gardens. Not at all crowded. Kids rode the coasters multiple times. We all enjoyed the wolf encounter.

Day 5: visited Jamestown and Yorktown, went back to Williamsburg to see the witch trial, and then drove home late.

We had a very good time, with lots of variety. It didn’t cost very much, either.
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