traveltodd

Seaworld owns Busch Gardens and may offer discounted tickets. After visiting for the first time last year I highly recommend it. Here's my trip report on the place:

I visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the first time on Monday August 22. It was not very crowded on account of being a weekday at the end of the summer as some kids were already back in school.

Although tickets at the gate are $77 I had a Groupon for $39.50 which was a very fair price for the experience I had. Parking is $15 per car and you should also be prepared to spend $5 for an all day locker pass if you have a backpack unless a member of your group will not be riding the coasters.

The European Theme of the place is absolutely top notch. Even if coasters are not your thing (there are six big ones) just taking in the atmosphere, shows, and smaller rides provides plenty of fun.

I wish I had known The Celtic Fyre Irish dance group is off on Monday as I would have visited a different day to take that in.

Opening time was officially 10AM on the day I visited. I read differing online reviews as to whether the park actually opened earlier than that. I arrived at 9:15AM to find the parking fee booths not yet open. Those opened around 9:40. I was among the first thru and I headed to the regular parking area and boarded the first people mover from the parking lot. I was in the park around 9:50AM.

The various lands opened with the following schedule the day I visited:
England & Scotland 9:45AM
Ireland, France, & New France at 10:00 AM
Italy & Festa Italia at 10:30AM
Germany at 10:45 AM

(There are a few other oddball times such as Railroad at 10:30AM, Skyride at 11AM, and Roman Rapids at 11:30AM)

These times apparently change depending on expected crowd level. Pick up a park map at the stand just a bit after exiting the people mover. Times are on the back.

My morning touring plan was to arrive first thing and then:

#1 Before 10AM Ride Loch Ness (If not before 10AM save until the afternoon when crowds are deeper in the park)
#2 Griffon in France (Coaster)
#3 Le Scoot in New France (Smallish Water Ride)
#4 Alpengeist in between New France and Germany (Coaster)
#5 Dar Kastle in Oktoberfest (3d experience)
#6 Verbolten in Oktoberfest (Coaster)

I completed this all by 11AM. I then took it easy and did smaller rides around Germany before heading to Das Festhaus for lunch and a noon time show.

I did encounter some lines later in the afternoon at Tempesto and Roman Rapids in Festa Italia. Tempesto has a limited capacity so in the future I would knock those out in my touring plan at #7 and #8, then head for lunch, and only then do the remaining smaller rides and shows.

At the Festhaus skip the German Platter (very poor quality) and instead opt for the Sausage Sampler ($11). (I will note the sound level in the Festhaus from the show was so loud I almost left). The German Torte Cake is HUGE, good, and a fair price at around $3.50.

My wife and I split a combination platter ($17) at the Trappers Smokehouse in New France for dinner and loved it. 1 order was plenty for both of us and the food quality was very good.

The Rhine River Cruise boat ride is a nice spot to relax for 15 to 20 minutes and have a picnic and a rest as there are tables between all the seats.

The Pet Shenanigans show is very entertaining (multiple showings a day) but the Predators show was a disappointment (it was hot and the wolves had no interest in coming out - it's up to them!) In cooler weather I bet it's better.

The London Rocks show was pretty good.

The All For One Show (One show at 8pm - which was official park closing time) was just ok. Maybe worth a viewing but I certainly wouldn't watch it again. Swordplay works for part of show but pulling it off for a whole show is difficult.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and highly recommend a visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

LGA

I glanced at a few dates for Kyoto properties, and they were sold out, though I did find the Comfort Inn Omihachiman for the bargain price of 75,000 points for one night in late April.

So at least do some spot checking before buying this unpredictable program's points.

miadukes

Preview for first 2 weeks is up!
https://dailygetaways.ustravel.org/Calendar.aspx?week=0

GUWonder

Or 6000 point +$517 per night there on the nights it's available -- that's the cash+points "award".

gil123

Totally meh

miadukes

totally agree, hoping the other weeks are better.

and not sure why Wyndham thinks it can command $175 for what cost $150 last night. Their hotels are completely blah, at $150 I bought 2 last year but one hotel left the program and then i used the other points to do the 3k plus cash option but other than that, blah.

Im hoping choice is looking good this year and hyatt.

eponymous_coward

Good luck fighting through the 50000 travel hackers all competing for 100 packages...

lowfareair

Anyone here who used the Alamo certs in past years? If so, do you know if it is something that can be applied at the end of a rental? I have a rental coming up but don't want to apply certs beforehand in case it voids my credit card's rental car insurance (as it would have less than 1 day's charges charged to the card).

pguo

I used Alamo rental certificate quite a bit for couple of years. As far as I know you can only apply them before the rental. 3 certificate maximum per rental. Also if you need to cancel the reservation, you need to detach the certificates first, otherwise, your certificate will show used. This can be a pain if you ended cancel a lot.

iahphx

I wouldn't worry too much about the voucher cancelling your credit card insurance. I did once have a National free rental day -- only owing the tax -- and somebody scraped my rental vehicle while parked. Chase honored the insurance, saying that as long as I paid something, I was covered. Of course, you could get a different determination from this, but as long as you paid something for the car rental, I think the odds are very much in your favor that a discount coupon won't void the credit card insurance.

The Alamo deal can be pretty good for some rentals because of the stacking. You probably have to do a lot of car rentals though, to make it worthwhile to purchase this certificate and hold it. You can't use it with another coupon (like a free day or something). I'd also note that you can use $20 of Discover card rewards money for a $40 Alamo gift card, so the benefit of this offer over that one is mostly the stacking benefit. And of course you have to need a rental where the Alamo rental price is lower than the competition.

nsx

Southwest no longer counts hotel transfers toward Companion Pass. This should reduce the competition for Choice and Hyatt and Best Western points this year.

We can also expect posts from purchasers who are outraged to learn belatedly that their points are useless for their intended purpose of earning a Companion Pass.

bj2757

I have used them the last few years and have used them after the fact most of the time for the reason you stated and it's never been a problem. I get a new confirmation and the price goes down by the amount of the certs plus some of the taxes and fees!

eponymous_coward

Ric Garrido gives his opinions on the first week of Daily Getaways...

http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea....travel-offers/

Exiled in Express

Did anyone catch an inventory number for Alamo that was below 2,000? I loaded the site at 12:02 and it was still displaying 2,000 available. I clicked through and purchased my three. Ten minutes later it was sold out. The lack of live inventory could make chasing the big prizes even more frustrating that past years.

miadukes

I would have never thought that alamo would sell out.

Im still waiting on the other previews.