Christmas Celebration - Final Event for 2020 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is wrapping up 2020 with their Christmas Celebration limited-capacity event. The event runs from November 13, 2020, through January 2, 2021, and my visit was on Sunday, December 13.
Here's a quick summary:
Parking was free with my Busch Gardens Tampa Platinum Pass. Busch Gardens was selling VIP parking for this event, and at least two parking lots were open: England and Germany.
Entering the Park - The security and health screening was easy; however, I got pulled over because of my bamboo cutlery (they allowed me to bring it in). There was a bit of a line at the ticket scanning booth because guests likely are confused. I saw a couple of different groups that didn’t have both the reservation and their ticket handy.
Rides - There are 15 rides open! Verbolten, Alpengeist, Invadr, and Finnegan’s Flyer are the biggest attractions that are open. Busch Gardens Railway, Der Autobahn, and Der Autobahn Jr. are all open for the first time in 2020. Wait times vary; I recommend starting in Germany or New France.
Health and Safety - The physical distancing markers and hand sanitizer continue to be well-maintained and visible. Most guests are wearing masks, but I recommend keeping your distance from others because I saw many people pulling their masks down to eat or drink while walking. I also saw one father yell “masks down!” multiple times at his children when he was taking a photo of them. I didn’t see many Busch Gardens team members enforcing mask rules.
Festival Food Items - The overall food quality is ok. There is no punch tasting card available for this event. My top recommendation is the holiday frites from Les Frites. I recommend avoiding the Show Grill in New France because my brisket was dry, and I assume the same would be true for the ribs. I also recommend visiting the confectionary in England on the way out to bring some treats home. I got some holiday-themed donuts.
Animals - You can see the Clydesdale horses and bald eagles.
Entertainment & Experiences - There are musicians located around the park. There’s a guitarist in New France, a pianist inside Das Festhaus, carolers in England, and holiday singers in Ireland. There’s also quite a few meet & greets, including one with Santa and another with Frosty the Snowman! However, the best thing at the event is all of the holiday lights, including a holiday projection show in Germany.
Overall, Busch Gardens Williamsburg's “Christmas Celebration” is a good event, but was my least favorite of 2020 because of increased capacity at Busch Gardens, decreased food quality, and seemingly less enforcement of social distancing and mask-wearing.
Check out our event overview on YouTube:
