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Many months ago I visited BGW, and was astounded by the intricate detail and wide variety of activities to be found in the park. I was convinced I had found the perfect theme park. Eager to put my thoughts down on paper, I began to outline a review of the park. It had soon exploded to a gigantic, comprehensive analysis of my experience of the park. Ever since then, I have been working on shrinking it down, and making a more focused review of Busch Gardens.
Over the last few months, though, school has forced me to stop working on the review. For a long time, it sat idle on my computer waiting to be edited. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the chance to edit it, and probably won't for a while. So, I am releasing the review now, in its current rough state. There will most likely be spelling, grammar, and other major errors in the review. Please look past this and try to enjoy reading the work as much as I did writing it...
Thanks,
--Jacob
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Review
"Enjoyment of the landscape is a thrill."
-David Hockney
Enjoying natural landscapes and environments is one of the most pleasurable things on the face of this planet. Every year, millions of people subject themselves to harsh and dangerous condition just to get a glimpse of the terrifying beauty of an untouched natural environment. I am one of those people. Between hiking, climbing, sailing, trekking, and traveling, I try to see as much of the environment as I can. To me, one of the most disgusting sins a human can commit is harming, destroying, or otherwise changing natural environments for little to no purpose, or when they don't need to. Unfortunately, theme parks and other amusement parks have a terrible record of doing just that: destroying the natural environment in an area and replacing it with a fake, synthetic environment. I often notice changed environments in theme parks that I visit regularly. Six Flags Magic Mountain, for example, took an incredible mountain vista, filled with trees, and replaced it with a land of concrete and steel giants. While this seems to be common practice among theme parks, I think there are several more sustainable alternatives that would benefit not only the environment, but also the park. First is the approach that parks such as Disneyland and California's Great Adventure. Purchase an already altered piece of land, and then modify it to make the land more natural. This benefits the parks greatly, as it allows them to design their own environment without having to worry about the previous natural habitat. This also benefits the environment because it doesn't take up more land that hasn't been changed yet. The second option is one not widely used, but when done correctly, can easily create a world class theme park. This option involves taking an unused piece of land, and instead of destroying and replacing it, use the natural environment to the parks advantage. This allows them to save money creating a new environment, and allows the old environment, while changed, to remain partially intact. This also opens up a whole new set of options for theme parks, such as building terrain coasters, and educating people about the environment. Examples of parks that used the natural environment to their full advantage are few and far between.
Busch Gardens Europe is a wonderful example of a park that has used that method. Through simple conservation of the environment, Busch Gardens has earned itself the title "Most Beautiful Park in the World". Unlike other parks that spend millions of dollars to try and "beautify" their land, BGW has been able to create a perfect environment by simply leaving the previous environment intact. Busch Gardens also uses its land to educate people in conservationism, making even more people appreciate natural habitats. Through these efforts, the park has earned mine and many other peoples respect, bolstered its profits and boosted park attendance.
Another area where Busch Gardens exceeds in is its theming department. While BGW doesn't spend the gigantic amounts of money to buy large, fantastical facades like parks such as Disneyworld have, Busch Gardens uses other methods to create a wonderful park. By using the natural environment as a backdrop, the park creates a believable setting for their rides, and then uses more detailed theming to set the stage for their rides and attractions. By creating themed areas as the park does, it creates fun, positive, and educational experiences for park goers. The problem with this, though, is that it creates inauthentic and possibly meaningless experiences.
It has been said by many existentialist philosophers that one of the keys to happiness is living authentically, or experiencing life and yourself as it truly is. Any other experience wouldn't be fully satisfying your potential as a human being and wouldn??????t make you truly happy. This is why people are so drawn to nature, as it is the ultimate authentic experience. It represents the un-deniable truth that is life and death, and thus the study of it provides humans with an incredible amount of happiness.
So where do theme parks come into all of this? Themed parks and other absurd or hyperrealistic environments seem to be the epitome of inauthentic experiences. At Busch Gardens, while you may be traveling to France, Germany, or other places in the park, you not actually experiencing the places as they are in reality. Not only are they completely synthetic environments, but they cause the viewer to have to answer serious questions about where and when he is. In reality, you are in a hyperrealistic park in the 21st century. But you must believe you are in the setting the park is themed to experience the park as intended. Thus, not only are you denying yourself the right to an authentic experience, but you??????re also trying to separate yourself from reality. This question of reality has plagued me for a quite a long time now, and I currently see no answers.
An interesting facet of Busch Gardens semi fabricated world is that it's themed to an old world, but lies in an old world of its own. For me, Virginia is the old world. It's the land of my ancestors, the land where the history of my people happened. Busch Gardens was faced with the unique challenge of creating an old world in another old world, and the park guests are faces with the challenge of separating the two. Less than ten miles from Busch Gardens lay the settlement of Jamestown, where Virginia??????s old world and the US's old world starts. A day after my BGW trip, I visited Jamestown, and immediately began comparing my experiences. At Jamestown, I got to see the harsh reality of living in that place, and got to see how people did live there. At Busch Gardens, I got to see nothing about the reality of the places I "visited" and instead got to see a sugarcoated, fake, version of these places. Each place provided me with two fundamentally different experiences, one authentic, one inauthentic. Ultimately, I found Busch Gardens to be a more satisfying experience in the short term, while Jamestown served to be a more rewarding experience in the long run. One was not necessarily better than the other, but it seems Jamestown contributed more to my life experience.
Nonetheless, Busch Gardens is an incredible park and is very much worth visiting. I found the rides to be sublime and the shows absolutely incredible. From the second I saw the entrance of the park, I was amazed by its natural beauty, and captivated by its historical viewpoints.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Rides:
Griffon
After a walk through beautifully themed France, I got my first up-close view of the legendary Griffon. As a child, I grew up watching POV videos of Griffon. I always thought the 205 ft tall floorless dive machine would be my favorite ride at Busch Gardens. Unfortunately, this is not true, but I think with a little love, Griffon could easily be one of the best rides in the world.
I arrived at the entrance to Griffon excited. I was practically running across the bridge to get on the ride. Soon I entered the very minimally themed queue building. I instantly started to think about the story behind the ride, but soon realized there was none. I also realized that Griffon is unique among Busch Gardens ride in that it sits on a big open plot of land. Soon we were in the station, and I got my first up close view of Griffons trains. My first thought was: "They're gigantic?????? and my second was: "They're beautiful". The trains, while the biggest I've ever seen, are also very open and generally good looking. As soon as the gates opened, I ran for the best seat, far left in the front row.
After a quick turnaround, we were climbing up the lift hill. The sun was in my eyes for the entire climb, but we made it to the top rather quickly. A painfully slow turn 200 feet above the ground put us facing the drop. We began to crest the lip of the free fall, only to stop just as we hit vertical. Before I knew what happened, I was floating about 2 inches off my seat, and we were accelerating quickly. A few more seconds of free fall before I was slammed into my seat and the positive g??????s took over. After about 3 seconds of bone crushing g??????s, I found myself gently floating out of my seat once again, except this time I was upside down in the giant Immelmann. Two more quick turns at 70 miles per hour put us on the mid course break run. The trains slowed enough for me to see what happened next... A repeat of the first half, but smaller and more forceful. After the second vertical dive and Immelmann, we began dropping towards a giant pool of water. Droplets exploded against my face as we splashed down into the pool. One more turn and a quick drop put us on the breaks and into the station. For the first time since the first drop, I took a deep breath. Griffon is an intense rollercoaster, and shouldn't be underestimated, but at the same time, Griffon could be a lot better with some work put into it.
Griffon is obviously designed for thrill seekers, and it does this job quite well. There is also some excellent bystander interaction at the splash down and at the bridge over the first drop. What griffon lack though, is Busch Gardens signature theming. As one person put it, Griffon looks like it would be more at home in a Cedar Fair park than at BGW. It's just sitting in a giant open field with no plants or scenery. Even some simple trees would help. More scenery would help make the ride more exciting as you dodge and weave through trees and buildings. There's also no attempt at a story, and what facts there are make little sense (a magical half bird half lion sitting in the middle of France?). A good story and some quality theming would easily create a top 10 rollercoaster out of Griffon, and I'm sure make a lot more people enter that queue every day.
Le Scoot
I've always loved water rides. Log flumes, river rapid rides, and water coasters are some of my favorite attractions, and I think all parks should have one. Le Scoot, while not my favorite Log Flume, is certainly a solid ride, and has a lot of potential. The theme of Le Scoot is Log Flumes, which works perfectly. The ride is set in a logging ground in French Canada. Le Scoots layout isn't anything special, so I won't go into detail about that, but I do have some criticism for the ride. The theming, while believable and good overall, isn't anything special. Something as simple as adding more logging tools around the ride would be amazing. But the theming isn't where this ride suffers. I found the layout to be short and, honestly, boring. The distance between the first and second drop is very short and you can see the main drop the whole time, which isn't good for log flumes. Also, the drop is fairly anticlimactic. Maybe adding some smoke or light effects before the drop would help.
Alpengeist
How does a ride about a frozen ski resort fit in a place where the temperature hovers around 95 degrees? Pretty well, actually. Upon entering the nicely themed queue of Alpengeist, I started noticing little details. Scratches on posts, broken skis, and patches of snow all added to the feel of the area. Entering the station, I noticed more small details to make the station feel more like a ski lift loading area. After a short wait, we boarded that B&M inverted trains, and set off on our journey through frozen Switzerland.
A quick climb puts us 195 ft above the ground. Soon, the trains bank hard to the right, and we dive into a canyon. Alpengeist lets us feel its full force with an intense, grey out causing Immelmann over a frozen building. Next comes a just as forceful loop, causing me to grey out a second time. After a quick tunnel, we begin to feel the g??????s again as we enter a cobra roll. I found that the banking at the top of the cobra roll happened a little too quickly, and slapped my head against each side of the OTSRs. After exiting the roll, we entered one of my favorite parts of the ride, two short, but graceful turns into the MCBR. After a quick respite from the intense g??????s, the trains dive through a frozen building, and into a snappy zero-g roll and puts us into a frozen canyon. A turn and corkscrew launch us from one canyon to another, dodging rocks and ice the entire time. Finally, one last intense helix through a canyon, and then a turn lines us up with the breaks.
Alpengeist is a solid attraction, and while not my favorite, provided a ton of fun for me and the people around me. The theming isn't amazing, but is detailed and fairly convincing. My only criticism is that the ride doesn't do enough of a job making it seem like your skiing down a frozen Mountain. While there are ice canyons and frozen building on some sections of the ride, the area in-between the Immelmann and the MCBR is above a grass field, and looks nothing like a Mountain. Adding some more ice tunnels and ski building would add more realism to the area, and make the ride even more convincing.
Curse of DarKastle
It's fairly hard to find a good dark ride, and when you do, you know you've found something special. A good dark ride can take you on a journey, tell a story, and give you a good time ride after ride. Curse of DarKastle manages to do all of these, but some not as well as others. Your definitely taken on a journey, and it's a really good time. While there is a story, I feel that it is rushed and needs some more work.
The journey starts in the queue line, where you??????re presented with a video that builds background information. The background story is simple, but rich and fairly interesting. After donning 3D glasses, you board the 6 person trains, and prepare to enter the castle wall. Then, after a quick warning from the antagonist's mother, we enter the caste and are immediately attacked by Ludwig, our foe. There's no apparent reason for him to attack us at this point, and his motives to attack us at all are still unclear. In the next few scenes, Ludwig continues to try to kill us, and fails each time. Suddenly, Ludwig's mother swoops in to save us. She lifts us into the air, and when Ludwig tries to pursue, he changes from his ghost form to his solid form, which makes him unable to fly. All of a sudden, the castle begins to crumble and we are dropped back to ground level where Ludwig tried to cut us with his claws, but turns to ice and shatters before he can. Out of danger, and in a destroyed castle, the cars turn around into a black hallway, and back into the station.
A few very important questions about the story are not answered by the ride. Why was Ludwig trying to kill us? Why did the castle fall apart? Why did Ludwig turn to ice? To this day, I'm not sure of the answers to any of these questions. I think that the story presented on the ride should be modified to address these plot holes, and to make more sense. Curse of DarKastle is an amazing ride, a ton of fun, and makes great use of 3D technology, but won't be able to top my list of best dark rides until the story is fixed.
Verbolten
I've always maintained that a great rollercoaster should be fun for the whole family. The most extreme thrill seeker and rollercoaster novices should both be having the times of their lives on the ride. Then, entire family's can have fun together, and the theme park can cater to all audiences. It was Busch Gardens plan to build a ride like that in 1984, and when all the planning and construction was done, they knew they had a masterpiece on their hands.
I never got the chance to ride the Big Bad Wolf, but from everything I've heard, it was amazing. The legendary ride was large enough to satisfy even the most veteran coaster enthusiast, but at the same time, was tame enough to make little kids squeal with excitement. Generations of people grew up riding the Big Bad Wolf. Grandfathers could take their grandsons on the ride, and both would have an absolute blast. So naturally, when Busch Gardens announced that they were going to remove the ride, and replace it with a more "family friendly" attraction, people of all ages were saddened and skeptical that Busch Gardens would ever be able to create something better or more "family friendly" than the Big Bad Wolf.
I, too, was skeptical when I arrived at the entrance to Verbolten. Would the ride live up to the Busch Gardens staff's expectations? Would it live up to its predecessors legacy? Would I even see happy faces coming off the ride? These were the questions going through my head as I walked up to the German themed queue. I was instantly greeted by a crashed red Targa with plant roots smashed through all the windows. As I continued through the richly themed queue, a story began to develop in my mind:
Gunter and Gertha opened a car rental car shop, and began renting out cars. Business was good, until clients began driving into the Black Forest, and disappearing. After a few too many clients disappeared in the Forest, Gunter decided to go investigate. Our job is to go into the forest, and locate the previous clients.
I was amazed at every turn of the queue. The detail in the queue buildings was amazing, and it made interpreting the story easy. Soon, I had exited the queue and entered the beautifully designed station. The first thing I noticed was 2 red and orange German cars waiting for us on the track, their headlights illuminating the ground in front of them. It took me a few seconds to realize these were the trains. They were sleek, and looked like they would be more at home on the Autobahn than on a set of rollercoaster tracks.
Soon, we were aboard, and preparing to depart for our journey. After Gertha warned us one last time about the dangers of the Black Forest, we were off. Almost instantly, I found myself shooting through a dark forest, with bright trees whizzing by only inches from my head. After a short break, we were in the forest again. Finally, we pulled into a clearing in the trees. All of a sudden, pairs of eyes started appearing all around us, and the noise of wolfs growling filled our ears. With a loud howl, the track we were on dropped about 15 feet. I didn't even have time to scream before we accelerated again, this time into a real forest, and onto a rickety bridge. As the bridge began to break, our train headed down a steep drop, and into a violent turn. "Hmm," I thought, "that seemed familiar". After a few more turns we were back in the station. Only then did I realize that that was the same finale as the Big Bad Wolfs finale. The drop off the bridge, and everything after, were simply copied from the Big Bad Wolfs layout.
It was like I finally had gotten to experience part of the famous Big Bad Wolf. Then, I realized that the wolf attack in the forest was a memorial to the destroyed ride. The fact that Busch Gardens was able to build a completely new ride while incorporating, and paying respects to the old ride astounded me. The Big Bad Wolf was an amazing attraction, and part of it still lives on today in Verbolten.
Soon I was leaving the station, and all around me I saw happy faces. Grandparents high-fiving their grandchildren, mothers and fathers laughing while their children talked about how much they wanted to go again, single riders trying to catch their breath after such a scary ride. Nowhere did I see an unhappy person. Verbolten was able to entertain entire families at once, and left everyone feeling great. Even my dad, who's not a giant fan of rollercoasters, turned to me and asked if we could get back in line to go again.
Besides being the most fun I've ever had on a rollercoaster, Verbolten was able to improve upon the ideas set out by the Big Bad Wolf. Anybody could ride Verbolten, and have an amazing time. Even the most die hard Big Bad Wolf fans will be able to experience the ride as it lives on through Verbolten.
Verbolten, for the time being, is my favorite rollercoaster. Throughout my 6 rides on Verbolten, I was noticing new details I hadn't noticed on previous rides, and most importantly, the ride never got boring, or predictable. Busch Gardens did an amazing job with Verbolten, and I hope they can do as good a job with their future rides. Verbolten should stand out as everything a rollercoaster should be. Fun, exciting, and intricately detailed.
Apollo's Chariot
I didn't think that Busch Gardens theming would get any worse than at Griffon. I was wrong.
I'm a little lost at what Apollo's Chariot is supposed to be. A flying god that's just sitting in a crappy roman carnival? There is absolutely no attempt at a story or theming around Apollo's Chariot. The station and queue building are just a purple and yellow tarp. No statues, no story, nothing besides the color scheme to even signify that we were supposed to be in Rome. If Griffon felt like a Cedar Fair ride, Apollo's Chariot felt like it would be at home at a Six Flags park. That being said, Apollo's Chariots' on ride experience is amazing.
After departing the terrible queue and station, riders begin the trip up the 170ft tall lift hill. A quick pre-drop and amazing views lead to the main 210ft drop into a water filled valley. Then comes the first airtime filled hill, which leads into another 113ft drop, this time into a short tunnel. After traveling up another 100+ ft tall airtime hill, the trains bank hard left, and make a turning drop into another valley. A 4g pullout leads into a punishing upwards helix, which made me start to grey out. Once riders make it to the top of the helix, they're greeted with another airtime filled drop. Another turn puts the train on the mid course break run. The rest isn't long, and a steep drop greets riders on the other side of the MCBR. Then, another airtime hill drops riders back into the water filled valley, and up into an overbanked turn. Two small bunny hops signify that the ride is nearing an end. Then, with the break run in sight, Apollo's Chariot surprises riders one last time, dropping them 56ft in a steep downward change of direction. After a picture at the bottom, the ride lets you experience weightless one last time during the transition into the breaks.
I think that on Apollo's Chariot, seat choice is very important to on ride experience. Throughout my many rides on Apollo??????s Chariot I tested different seats to see where the best experience was to be had. Quite a few people told me that the back seat was the best, and while I agree it's a more forceful experience, I wouldn't necessarily call it better. Each seat provides its own unique experience, and I think it's a matter of what you prefer. The front seat gets good airtime going into any hill, but isn't as exciting on the downhill sections (which is most of the ride). The front seat, though, gives an amazing view, and lets you experience all 73mph of wind in your face. The middle seat provides almost perfect zero g on all of the airtime hills, but misses out on almost all of the views. The back seat is a little weaker going into hills, but provides strong negative g's during all downward drops, especially the first drop, the drop off the MCBR, and the "surprise" drop at the end. The back seat doesn't have great views at all. Whatever seat you choose, Apollo' Chariot is sure to provide an awesome on ride experience.
What baffles me about Apollo's Chariot is why Busch Gardens would spend so much money buying a ride with an amazing on ride experience, and then not pay any attention to the theming of the ride and surrounding area. In fact, I thought that the theming of the entire Festa Italia section of the park was lacking. It seems like Busch Gardens used the Festa Italia section of the park as a cheap excuse to fit as many midway games and carnival rides in the park as they could. They also made an attempt to incorporate "roman" style theming in this section of the park, but failed greatly. The only roman thing I saw was the color scheme of the buildings. It felt more like I was at my local fair than at Busch Gardens. Don't get me wrong though, some of the rides in Festa Italia are amazing, like Roman Rapids and the Carousel, but the rest of the hamlet is terrible, and cheesy as can be. A few things could be done to Festa Italia and Apollo's Chariot to make it compete with the other sections in the park theming wise. First off, remove the damn purple tents everywhere and replace it with something that actually looks slightly roman. Second, create an actual story line behind Apollo's Chariot and Roman Rapids (since they're really close, intertwining stories would be really cool). Finally, I recommend keeping the midway games (they're fun), but removing some of the bright carnival rides, and replacing them with better looking flat rides. If all this was done, and done correctly, I think Festa Italia and Apollo's Chariot would instantly become world class attractions and boost the already high number of Apollo's Chariot fans.
Roman Rapids
Like I said earlier, I love water rides. I think rapids rides are a ton of fun, and you'll often see me marathoning them at parks. What I like so much about river rapids is that it forces people to ride with people they've never met before. I've met great friends on Shipwreck Rapids, Roaring Rapids, and Grizzly River Run. Being paired up with 5 people I've never met before, and then sharing such a great experience with them is always a ton of fun.
So how did Roman Rapids compare to other river rapids rides? Pretty well. The layout is solid, with a good mix of rapids and things spraying water on you. During my ride, I got paired up with 5 great people, and ended up riding some rides with them later, also. But Roman Rapids, while it's the best themed in all of Festa Italia, still could use some more theming. The queue building could be redone, and the walkway to the station could be made to look more ancient (aqueduct themed). Besides that, Roman Rapids is a solid ride and a ton of fun, too.
Escape From Pompeii
I've always been a fan of water rides. Log Flumes, Rapid Rides, and Water Coasters are my thing. So when it got to around 105 degrees during lunch at Busch Gardens, my first priority was to get to the nearest water ride. Escape from Pompeii, while a great ride, probably isn't the best choice for cooling down on a hot day.
A quick walk through some of the gardens and waterways surrounding the ride puts you in the open, minimalistic station. Once boarded, riders begin climbing towards the beautiful facade of the "show building". Upon entering the building, I was struck by the detailed scenes of a roman colony. Suddenly, the entire room seemed to explode. Fire shot out of every nook and cranny, and came close to hitting the train. After a few seconds, I realized that the fire was a part of the ride. While not dangerous to riders, the fire is still hot. Very hot. Every room we passed through felt like it was burning every exposed inch of my skin. In one room, all the water we were traveling over exploded into flames. In another, a large beam fell from the roof and stopped a few feet above our heads (this trick scared the poop out of me). We finally entered a room with no fire inside. Suddenly, every object in the room seemed to light on fire at once, and the heat became almost unbearable. A trap door then opened in front of us and our boat accelerated out of the building, down a large drop, and into a cool pool of water below. Instantly refreshed, I burst out laughing at how scared I was inside the "show building".
Escape from Pompeii, while not great for hot days, is an extremely detailed, fun, and exciting ride. The ride has many tricks up its sleeve, but reveals them quickly. Right as you expect the ride to end, it does. It's also really f*cking hot inside.
Loch Ness Monster
There is something special about a ride that has thrilled generations of riders. Fathers are able to take sons on these rides, and when the sons become fathers, they take their sons, and so on. The amount of experiences that have been had on Loch Ness Monster, or "Nessie" as it is affectionately known, is almost unfathomable. The number of rides number in the tens of millions. When I step aboard Nessie, it feels less like I'm getting aboard a rollercoaster and more like I'm traveling back in time, to when the ride was built, and experiencing what people then got to experience. When Loch Ness Monster first opened its doors, it was a record breaking attraction. Still, too this day, is breaks records; it's the only ride in the world with interlocking loops. To this day it thrills riders of all ages, and it hasn't needed to change a bit.
After a few quick prelift turnaround, riders are yanked up the 130 ft lift hill. A slight right turn builds suspense before the first drop. Then, riders plunge down a surprisingly airtime filled drop into the river valley below before rocketing back up onto the opposite ridge. After a lateral g force filled turn, riders plunge back into the valley, but are slowed down by trim breaks during the drop. Riders then shoot through the first interlocking loop and into a hard right turn. After a short MCBR, the trains bank left and enter into the darkness of a rock tunnel. I can definitively say two thing about the tunnel: it's dark, and it's long. Throughout the tunnel, I couldn't see anything, even my hands in front of my face. After about 10 seconds in the tunnel, I started to expect the tunnel to end, but it never came. After an excruciatingly long time in the dark, we finally exited the tunnel. Then, a quick airtime pop put us on the second, shorter chain lift. After disengaging from the lift and a cal right turn, the ride began its slow acceleration towards the second loop. After rocketing through the second forceful, interlocking loop, the trains pitched up one last time for an airtime hill into the breaks.
Loch Ness Monster isn't as exciting or intense as some of the other rides at Busch Gardens, but it's just as fun and is a classic ride. The theming around the ride is built around a team searching for the Loch Ness Monster and their base camp. It's a ton of fun to walk around and look at the search equipment and camp sites surrounding the ride. Overall, I think Nessie is a ton of fun, and is at classic rollercoaster that is a treat to ride.
In conclusion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is jam-packed with great rides and attractions, but the true magic of the park doesn't lie there. It lies in the hours of fun you can have watching shows at the park, enjoying the environment and looking at the animals. For about 3 hours in the middle of my visit, I didn't touch one rollercoaster. Instead, I saw shows, looked at animals and enjoyed the theming. All three shows I saw were incredible, with the Celtic Fyre show easily topping my list as the best themepark show I've ever seen. London Rocks and The Secret Life of Predators were also very professionally done, and a joy to watch.
I can safely say that Busch Gardens is my favorite themepark, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. No other themepark I've seen has such nice employees, believable theming, great rides, or wonderful shows. I congratulate Busch Gardens on creating a wonderful place, and fully intend to visit again.
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