Why Busch Gardens VA Is The Perfect Family Trip
Busch Gardens VA is a really fun theme park located near colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. This was my first time to the theme park and I was SO impressed with the rides, the culture and of course the animals! It’s a world class theme park with tons of things to do! Here is a quick guide to Busch Gardens Virginia!
When I was younger I was very well traveled. I spend summers in Jamaica, visited every island, and went to Florida crazy often. I had always heard of my friends going to Busch Gardens but somehow my family never made it there.
A Simple & Quick Guide To Busch Gardens Virginia
Since we have never been here before we immediately grabbed a map to get a lay of the land. We quickly learned that there were different countries to visit. We started in England where there was a height checker which was great to see which rides our boys could ride on.
One thing you couldn’t deny was how gorgeous the park was. Beautiful greenery and water was everywhere, masterfully weaved into a gorgeous (and spotless!) theme park. We knew that there were a few places that we absolutely wanted to visit and that was the Sesame Street Forest of Fun and Land of The Dragons. My 5-year-old was mostly excited about the Sesame Street fun, my 8-year-old ended up liking it more than he wanted to admit!
Both Sesame Street Forest of Fun and Land of the Dragons were perfect for elementary-sized kids. There were several low-key rides in both areas. If your kids are not hardcore thrill seekers, then these are the areas for you.
They both also have really fun water areas, so if you need a place to cool off, bring a swimsuit along for the fun! Family friendly dryers are also available for purchase if your family just likes to get wet regardless of what clothes they are in (like mine). The Kidsiderate program is perfect for those under 9, and it is set up across all areas of the park.
Next, we walked over to Germany and went on Curse of DarKastle. It’s a simulation ride, not a roller coaster so there are no big dips or drops. The ride is in 4D and could possibly be a little scary for the younger ones. I personally loved it, the 4D effect was SO cool—I was dodging all of the things coming my way–it was so realistic! 🙂
Food & Wine Festival
I love a good food and wine festival – who doesn’t? From May 26th to July 2nd on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays the park is celebrating food from all over the globe.
There were tasty treats from India, Canada (Did you know that Canada’s most popular food is Mac and Cheese?! I had no idea), The Caribbean (I HAD to stop for a pineapple upside-down rum cake and a Lime Ginger Drink), Germany, England, Scotland, and SO much more!
The treats were authentic from each country and so fun to try out!
Quick Queue & Refills
A couple of really cool features in Busch Gardens VA that saved me time and stress were the use of the souvenir cups and quick queue. The cups have free refills all day, so they pay for themselves over and over again especially if you have a thirsty family (like mine).
The Quick Queue puts you on a shorter line for the most popular rides and attractions. A life saver when you have kids who don’t really like to stand around for long!
The Food!
I know I talked about the Food and Wine Festival but the food that is there every day is pretty awesome too. We chose to eat at Marco Polo’s Marketplace that had TONS of options from yummy paninis to Chinese food to delicious artisan flatbread pizzas.
To my husband’s delight there was a Make Your Own Cannoli station. He was over the moon to say the least. (I had the strawberry shortcake which was scrumptious!)
The International Culture
Going around to all of the countries teaches the kids all about different countries. From the flags, to the trinkets, to the food—the kids and adults all get an awesome geography lesson.
The Busch Gardens Animals!
If you are visiting Busch Gardens VA, be sure to check out the animals and all of the awesome shows! We got to visit the Wolf Haven performance as well as the More Pet Shenanigans show! Both were super adorable and provided for fun photo opportunities afterwards.
Busch Gardens VA is (Relatively) Close to home
Busch Gardens VA is about a 3-4 hour drive from NYC or an hour via plane. It’s really great to have such a huge, diverse and fun theme park so close to home!
Florida is great, but sometimes you want to stay a little bit closer to home and still have a fun family trip. Busch Gardens VA is definitely the choice to make for an easy NYC getaway!
What are your summer travel plans? Have you ever been to Busch Gardens VA?
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I have no summer plans and I have never been to Busch Gardens VA.
my tweet twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/886888351722201093
jslbrown2009 at aol dot com
I have never been to Busch Gardens but I would love to go someday. This summer I am planning on riding to Colorado to see my brother.
I tweeted – twitter.com/yarbr012/status/886917191140069377
I have never been to Bush Gardens in Va, but I sure would love to travel and visit. We are taking a summer road trip from Washington to California this Summer!
tweet-twitter.com/JewelWood/status/886919624796758016
Believe it or not, I have never been there either. Kevin went as a kid, but not me at all. But after seeing your pics may have to look into this now. Thanks for sharing, Nellie as it looks like a real fun family vacation experience 😉
I’ve never been there but it’s not too far for us so we’d like to go in the near future.
tweet–twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/886942176978104320
All this good food and fun, and not so far away, and I’m thinking more affordable than many kids’ destination places. I never knew about Busch GardensVA before! I’d like to keep it in mind!
I have been to Busch Gardens in Virigina and my son and I loved it. We aren’t going this summer but hope to soon.
Our summer plans are to hit the beach. We have never been to Busch Gardens VA but it looks amazing.
We are heading to Virginia Beach in August to visit family. I have been to Busch Gardens a bunch of times – 45 minute drive when we lived in Hampton Roads. Such a beautiful park!
Tweet: twitter.com/smroberson_78/status/887097699316662272
We went to the one in Tampa and didn’t see not one splash pad..not fair *cries*
No, I’ve yet to visit Busch Gardens. It looks fun! My summer plan is to spend a lot of time with my family. Thanks for the chance to win.
We’re planning a fall trip to he Smokey Mountains to see friends.
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WHOA. Those wolves! How cool. And those desserts. I am so in. I’ve always wanted to go to Busch Gardens but I haven’t been yet. My kids would be in love.
I honestly had never heard of Busch Gardens before I read your post! I have to admit, when I saw your pics on social media, my first thought was, is this a beer theme park?? LOL. It looks amazing and it’s great it’s so close to NYC. Glad you guys had such a fun trip!
No gavels plans this summer but we went to the beach a few hours away so I guess that counts lol and I have never been to Busch gardens in VA
We have never been to Busch Gardens but would love to, it looks so fun!
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
tweet – twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/887444537009815552
We are bringing my kids to the beach in CT and some museums. I went to Busch Gardens VA many years ago.
tweet
twitter.com/ Kellydpa/status/887450833595633664
I’ve never been to Busch Gardens, but it’s on my bucket list.
I absolutely love going to Busch Gardens!
Here’s my link! twitter.com/mjamestribe19/status/887550960226185216
I have never been to Busch Gardens, but would love to some day! They’re all pretty far from us. This summer we’ll be going camping in the Rockies 🙂
I plan on visiting the zoo with my family this summer. I’ve never been to Busch Gardens, but it looks like fun.
I’ve visited the one in Florida but this one looks like so much fun too!
We are going to close out our summer last week of August with a trip to VA. We will spend a week in between Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. Girls are very excited.
Never been to Busch Gardens, but we would love to.
I have not been to Busch Gardens, but it looks like a fun summer getaway!
twitter.com/BoutiqueOfLuck/status/888618523802701825
I haven’t been, but it looks like my kids would really enjoy it.
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
we are doing a staycation
We have been discussing going to Busch Gardens for a while, our children are finally old enough to appreciate it I think.
tweeted for a second entry
twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/889261788231028740
No, I’ve never been to Busch Gardens VA. We have plans to go camping next weekend in the blue ridge mountains and then two weeks later we are going to myrtle beach.
we aren’t doing anything this summer but I wish we were going to Busch Gardens, We used to go a couple times a year and its our favorite vacation destination.
link to tweet
twitter.com/avrilsgranny/status/889404646279827457
Busch Gardens looks so fun! I’ve never been. Your boys look a happy too. Maybe next summer my family and I can plan a visit there.
I grew up going to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It holds a special place in my heart! Would love to visit the one in VA!
We have a weekend trip to Dorney Park coming up next month then Panama in November. We have never been to Busch Gardens. It definitely looks like a place that Andre would love! Great post!
It’s been forever since we’ve been to Busch Gardens. It’s a great place. We used to go when my husband was in the military and trained in the area since they have a very awesome military salute.
This Is one place I’ve never been and always been on my bucket list. Now you’ve convinced me to make it happen!
I’ve never been there, but it looks like fun…maybe we’ll make it there on a future trip.
Tweeted
twitter.com/rubylorikeet/status/891144159100157953
Our summer plans are to visit Palm Springs (yay) and no we have never been to the Busch Gardens, not yet 🙂
Tweet
twitter.com/bohofoxbabe/status/891328974277574657
I have never been to Busch Garden in Virginia.
I went to Busch Gardens in VA once as a teenager. Would love to go back and bring my kids!
No, I have never been to any Busch gardens before. Our summer plans include camping in Pisgah national forest and having my niece and nephew come to visit.
twitter.com/astonger/status/891896472601493504
I’ve never been to Busch Gardens but it really looks like fun. I’m planning a road trip to the beach with friends later this summer.
Tweet
twitter.com/clc408/status/892003380670988288
This year we visited South Dakota and Wyoming, we have a few camping trips left.
I have never been but looks like a fun place to visit! We are leaving for NY tomorrow to see our grandson.
I have never been to Bush Garden, would like to go.
I tweeted @mitajdav I am not able to post link?
No, I’ve yet to visit Busch Gardens. It looks like a lot of fun. We went to visit my family in Denver this Summer.
I have no summer travel plans. I have never visited Busch Gardens VA. It looks fun.
cshell090869 at aol dot com
tweeted
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cshell090869 at aol dot com
I don’t have any summer travel plans. I will probably visit some local state parks with family members. I haven’t ever been to Busch Gardens VA. It looks like a fun place. Until I read your post about the Sesame Street Forest of Fun attraction, I didn’t know that they even had a Sesame Street attraction there.
A couple of years ago we visited Busch Gardens and loved it. We have to go again soon. We mostly had a staycation this summer and went to the lake, beach, hiking and fishing. Thanks so much.
Tweeted: @peg42
Having a problem posting the tweet.
I went to Busch Gardens many years ago but would love to go back!
It is not letting me post the URL so my tweet is..
twitter dot com slash PrettyHotPink6/status/897135802349740034
I’ve never been there before, but would love to go one day!
tweet – twitter.com/willgriesmer/status/897209035455422464
What a fun place to visit. I’ve never been there. I can’t wait to take my kids there someday!
amy [at] uTry [dot] it
tweeted:
twitter.com/uTry_it/status/897321295087452160
amy [at] uTry [dot] it
Our summer travel plans consist of mostly day trips with a couple of weekend trips thrown in. It’s much easier to take short trips now that we have a toddler because she doesn’t sleep as well away from home. We have not ever been to Busch Gardens but it’s on my list of places I’d like to visit and we could easily do it in a weekend so hopefully we will make it soon!
Trouble linking my tweet buy my user name is @krisgan07
This summer my family and I traveled to Colorado. I’ve never been to Busch Gardens VA before.
we just did road trips for travel this summer, but would love to go to busch gardens one day
I took a couple of short road trips this summer. I’ve never been to Busch Gardens, Williamsburg but I need to go if only for the cannoli station!
I’ve never been to Busch Gardens in VA, but I’ve been to the Busch Gardens in Tampa FL and we had a great time!
Having a problem posting my tweet. I did tweet @disneyfan40
My daughter got married thi summer and I went to Busch Garden in FL years ago
twitter.com/mkjmc/status/905562339457544192
twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/889218415294119937
I went in 6th grade with my best friend and loved every ride and part of it!
Living in VA, Busch Gardens is definitely one of my favorite parks to visit! Our summer plans included a family reunion in TN.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
TWEET–twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/907268363340193792
I visited the Busch Gardens in Florida many years ago. The flowers were spectacular.
Thanks for the contest.
twitter.com/slehan/status/907518099804454912
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Since the summer is really over for my family, there were not any summer plans due to the heavy smoke from fires where we live. Hoping to take a vacation next January somewhere warm. Our family has never been to Busch Gardens VA but looks like a really fun place.
I went to Busch Gardens as a boy, we live fairly close to Cedar Point and visit there as least once a year. The kids love riding the roller coasters, I’m starting to fall out of love with it! As I get older, it just seems to hurt!!!
I shared on Twitter with the handle @FireRunner2379. I was unable to post the link, it threw me an error!
Busch Gardens looks like a fun place to go with the family. Will have to keep it in mind for future vacation plans.
westiemks5 at yahoo dot com
Tweeted!
twitter.com/pixel_berry_pie/status/911058013728968706
I love vacations in the summer. Busch Gardens would make for a fun vacation spot!
tweeted here twitter.com/prizepuzzle/status/912028025411309568
This looks amazing! I’d love to spend my summer at their water park!
We don’t have any special plans this summer. I just started a new job and can’t take time off yet. We will probably spend a few weekend days at a nearby lake. I’ve never been to Busch Gardens but it looks like a lot of fun.
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My twitter ID is @willitara
I would love to go to Busch Gardens VA!
tweeted
twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/913946052285353984
I have always wanted to go to Busch Gardens in Florida.
On my bucket list so my choice.
thank you
#Sweeps #SweepstakesEntry
I have been to Busch Gardens in VA before, about 10 years ago when we went on a trip to Williamsburg, VA- unfortunately this summer I didn’t do anything special except spend time reading & relaxing at our lake in town
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my tweet
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//twitter.com/thrincor/status/914213384664559617
I have never been to busch gardens before. This summer we went to the beach and to kings dominion
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/914222419887427584
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com