I would DIE if I had to spend three days in the Williamsburg area. UGH.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. Honestly, if we go to Williamsburg, it is one day at Jamestown Festival Park, one day at Colonial Williamsburg, and one day at Busch Gardens. We skip most of the extras (no express pass needed at BG this time of year, no Governor’s palace add-on for CW). We could do 4 people for 3 days in Williamsburg for wildly less than the costs OP lists.

What is Jamestown Festival Park?

Not an amusement park. It complements Colonial Williamsburg.

Recreation of the Jamestown Fort and settlement along with an indoor museum about the colonial era of VA. It is about 2 miles from the actual Jamestown site. Modest entry fee. Our kids particularly liked the glass blower and pottery person. Also has replicas of the Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed ships. It is run by the Commonwealth.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. Honestly, if we go to Williamsburg, it is one day at Jamestown Festival Park, one day at Colonial Williamsburg, and one day at Busch Gardens. We skip most of the extras (no express pass needed at BG this time of year, no Governor’s palace add-on for CW). We could do 4 people for 3 days in Williamsburg for wildly less than the costs OP lists.

What is Jamestown Festival Park?

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.

This.

4K for 3 days at Busch gardens! Are you flying from overseas?!!!

OP, at these prices I am guessing money isn’t an issue. I think either trip can be done for significantly cheaper. I have only been to Universal once. The trip was probably ten years ago, so I don’t have a good grasp on prices. For Busch Gardens, I think you could have a great three or four day trip for half the cost you mention. You only need one or two days at Busch Gardens and you can do another day or two at Colonial Williamsburg and/or Jamestown/Yorktown.

Final thought…both parks are a lot of fun. Universal will be very crowded, so maybe premium tickets are worth it? Busch Gardens won’t be that crowded, so no need for premium tix. Universal will have better weather, but it’s spring so either place could be rainy.

That is a very high ‘burn’ rate of money per day per person.

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.

This. Honestly, if we go to Williamsburg, it is one day at Jamestown Festival Park, one day at Colonial Williamsburg, and one day at Busch Gardens. We skip most of the extras (no express pass needed at BG this time of year, no Governor’s palace add-on for CW). We could do 4 people for 3 days in Williamsburg for wildly less than the costs OP lists.

Three days at Busch Gardens is totally unnecessary, WTF? You could spend the week in Williamsburg with one day at Busch Gardens and that would be fine.

Skip the wolf animal encounter. We did it 2 years ago and found it just okay. Loved everything else about Busch Gardens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Busch Gardens is a one day type deal like Six Flags or Kings Dominion

OP here we want to do a 2 day trip somewhere but the bush garden hotel package adds in 3 days and it's cheaper than buying a 2 day ticket. For bush garden the expensive part is the express pass the hotel , food and add-ons which are the roller coaster behind the scenes your and wolf encounter are not that much. I was surprised about the cost and priced out other options and it seems that everything is around that much. I could try six flags but that seems like it would be a bad time .

We have done this and you don’t need express passes especially with the roller coaster behind the scenes tour. That tour is expensive and we really loved it but I have kids who are obsessed with roller coasters. If you aren’t super into coasters it probably isn’t worth it. The behind the scenes roller coaster tour puts you on each of the four coasters you tour twice completely skipping the line. So after that just wait in the lines. Busch Gardens doesn’t get that crowded at spring break. We got a three day package but it was not nearly that expensive and the food was not every 90 minutes but three meals per day which is a lot because their portions are enormous. We have skipped the third day or just went at opening to do the favorites and give our meal passes away.

A bounce pass is $135 and includes BG and Colonial Williamsburg, along with parking, for 7 full days.

I personally can do multiple days at a theme park. I like to ride everything, enjoy the scenery, do the favorites again, and take long breaks for shows and meals. If you have younger kids, you could spend an entire afternoon at the Land of Dragons. You can also take hotel breaks as others have suggested. But you definitely don’t need to drop that kind of cash.

Not all financial decisions should be maximized. Adhering to a budget is different from seeking the most value.

One day at Busch Gardens is enough. It’s really great there.

If multiple days of theme park-ing is a priority, then select Orlando.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. Is that the going price to go ride a few rides at an amusement park these days? Honey, go somewhere in Europe with that money. I promise you, you’ll have a better time and get a better value.

We did Europe last year it was ok but we're trying to keep it local plus we only fly business class so it adds up

If you are the “only fly business class to Europe” kind of family, I think you’ll hate BG. Especially since it’s pretending to be europe.

This made me laugh!

After reading all of this I went off to look at the Busch Gardens website. I can see how the 3 day ticket looks like a great deal compared to a one day ticket. But, I agree with everyone else. It’s really not a 3 day trip kind of place. Unless, maybe, you’re just going for 2-3 hours each day.