Holy Christmas lights. If you haven't been to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens yet this year, here's what to expect. The park has over 10 million lights, and they are amazing. From the second you walk into England and look up, you can tell that you're going to be in for a beautiful experience. But the crowds were
intense. I've never seen it so crowded. Maybe it was because not all the rides were open to take up the time of as many people, but it was hard to walk. Go into it knowing this... and bring a snack because there was a 30 minute wait to get into some of the food places, just to get in line inside. The train was a highlight (obviously.. that's all RT cares about!) but we had to wait about 45 minutes for that also. Also open was Invadr, Verbolton, the buckets, Mach Tower, and many of the smaller and kid rides. Seasame Forest and Land of the Dragons were both mostly open too.
Another highlight was the peanut butter hot chocolate, which was well worth the $5.00. We grabbed that while Neil and RT warmed up in the arcade. Nothing like the taste of a melted Reese's cup to warm you up.
The park had tons of shows going on, both indoors and outdoors. Outside in Germany we passed through Wilkommenhaus, a techno light show projected on the building and O'Tannenbaum a timed musical light show outside of the Fest Haus. Also outside is Elmo's Christmas Wish, Believe, and 'Twas The Night plus carolers spread throughout the park. Inside there is Deck The Halls, Gloria, and Scrooge No More. Also inside of Ireland's Castle O'Sullivan is Santa's Fireside Feast. For photos check out Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, which is located in the line of Appolo's Chariot. In addition to Rudolph kids can meet Clarice, Yukon Cornelius, Bumble, and a Snowman. Santa's Workshop is located in the Dark Castle and has cookie decorating too. New this year is a Christmas Tree Maze with over 500 live trees. This is where you'll see a mention of Hanukah!
A couple ways to save some money:
- The Souvenir Hot Beverage Mug is $8.39 but lets you get $2.59 refills. You can refill with coffee, hot chocolate, and soda. (No Starbucks or Ghirardelli)
- Bring your regular Busch Gardens refillable cup. You can still use it.
- A cup of water is free.
- Look into the online prepaid Meal Deal options.
Christmas Town is open until January 5th. Be sure to check social medias before you go. The park has been known to sell out for the night! Be mentally ready when you go to take slow strolls, have some wait time, and enjoy the beautiful lights! Final tip we discovered: When you enter the park, in the stroller and wheelchair rental kiosk, they have air pressure (in case your stroller tire is flat, like ours was) and even bottles for sale (in case you forget one, which we didn't this time!). A reminder, there are nursing stations throughout the park.
All in all, a beautiful night.
