I know what you’re thinking: “A D.I.N.K. travel blog writing about an amusement park? Seriously?” But hear me out: Busch Gardens Williamsburg is as adult-centric as theme parks come. Simply put, it is awesome. The top 5 reasons you should consider visiting this beautiful park, sans-children:
1. It’s beautiful.
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
No, really it is. Growing up in the theme park capital of the world, Central Florida, I’ve been to my fair share of theme parks & even had season passes to Busch Gardens’ sister park in Tampa when I was in high school. Theme parks are usually a made up concrete jungle, with transplanted floral & fauna. Which is why I was totally blow away when we walked through the gates of Busch Gardens Williamsburg: instead of knocking trees down to build the park, they built the park in & around the trees. The result is plentiful shade & lots of opportunities to interact with nature. Oh, & if you don’t believe me, I have the stats to back it up: Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been named the World’s Most Beautiful Theme Park 21 years in a row.
Home to eight coasters (& plenty of rides for those of us who are a little more wussy), this park isn’t for the faint of heart. What’s even better is that the lines, even on a Sunday in the middle of the summer, really weren’t that long.
3. Giant Beer. Giant Pretzels. An Oktoberfest theme.
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
Really, how much more D.I.N.K. does it get?
5. The animals are really cool.
In addition to being a thrill ride filled amusement park, Busch Gardens does a lot of work in animal conservation. Busch Gardens Williamsburg features bald eagles who have been rescued, injured, from the wild; colorful lorikeets; a macaw named Hook; &, of course, the famous Anheiser Busch Clydesdale’s.
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
5. The whole park is basically travel-themed:
There’s a simulator ride which is a virtual helicopter tour through Europe:
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
There’s a store that sells only French-themes items:
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
& an entire part of the park designed to look like a San Marco street festival:
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
If you go…
– Get there early: the longest line we waited in all day was to enter the parking lot.
– Stop by a DC or Virginia CVS store on your way & pick up a coupon for up to $20 off per person. We bought our tickets online ahead of time to save money & breeze through the admission gates.
– If you’re there on an especially hot day, don’t waste money on bottled water: any vendor that serves drinks will give you a cup of ice water for free. We drank probably a dozen cups each.
– While there isn’t a water park attached to Busch Gardens, there are several water rides which will get you wet. If you really want to get wet, there’s a Water Country USA close-by.
[…] summer, I told you why Busch Gardens Williamsburg was the perfect DINK summer destination. During our Memorial Day visit to the Tampa Bay area, we […]
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