Olivia and I took a recent road trip to the beautiful tidewater Virginia area to experience the Halloween Harvest event at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. We were able to snag some last minute reservations and decided to make the short 3.5 hour drive up. Check out the video below for the full recap:
We arrived somewhat early to our hotel as I needed to finish up a few loose ends from my workday. For our quick one night stay, I booked the Residence Inn near the airport in Newport News–a short 15 minute drive from Busch Gardens. The hotel was perfect for what we needed and even allowed our little dog Ellie to stay with us! She always loves a good road trip and we were happy to bring her along.
After a quick happy hour meal at Mellow Mushroom, we arrived at the park just before the 5pm event start time. We were pleasantly surprised by the low crowds entering the park, and it would be a precursor of things to come for the rest of the evening. Temp screening was a breeze and we were in the park easily.
Walking into the entry area of England, we were hit with our one (of two) minor disappointments of the evening. There was not a single Halloween decoration in sight! Not even a singular pumpkin to be found! I know they are trying to limit their budget but I thought this was a little odd.
As we were heading towards our first ride of the evening, we were met by a short crowd at the entrance to the Festa Italia area. Just as I suspected, the rope dropped and everyone booked it for Apollo’s Chariot–the largest attraction open at the event. Olivia and I made the clever decision to head a different direction and attempt to get our first rides on Verbolten, a fun Mauer launch coaster with an intense indoor section and an awesome finale drop to the river. After being surprised by two or three energetic (and hilarious) scareactors, we found the ride was operating and we were able to be the first in line.
We were able to ride Verbolten three times in a row without getting off. What an awesome way to start the evening! We decided to slow things down a bit and check out the nearby drink offerings at the Frost bar across from the exit to the ride. The drink we chose was called the Vampire Bite, and it was delicious. It was still warm out with the sun up so the frozen beverage was the perfect thing to keep us cool. I’m always a sucker for a good slushie.
After slowly heading back across the bridge to the front of the park, we were able to snag back to back rides on Tempesto and Apollo’s Chariot, both with no waits whatsoever. Apollo’s was great as usual but I did notice a slight rattle sitting all the way in the back row. Tempesto is always a good time and with it being a bit lower capacity I was happy to see it still be a walk-on.
The Festa Italia area did seem to have a bit more Halloween spirit with a few more decorations and three additional scareactors roaming the midways. I will say, although there were only a few of them, all the scareactors were fantastic! Super high energy, fun to interact with; if only they had better sets and other things of that nature to work with (i.e. fog) the event would be even better. Quality of quantity in this situation I guess.
After walking by a stand selling some nicely themed Jello shots in syringes, Olivia and I had to oblige. The shots were super tasty although Olivia nearly gagged herself by shooting it straight down her throat (lol). This definitely made the video highlights so be sure to check that out above.
Heading back even further towards the main entrance of the park, we managed to get a sunset ride on the classic Arrow looper Loch Ness Monster. The coaster was running fantastic and will always have a special place in my heart, much like the rest of Busch Gardens. The back row allowed for some of the best airtime I’ve ever gotten on the first drop of this beast. A must ride for sure.
After checking off all the available coasters for the evening, we decided to try out one of the snack options and headed over to Grogan’s Pub in Ireland to try out the pretzel nuggets with beer cheese. This was our second and final disappointment of the evening, as the pretzels were downright terrible. Stale; flavorless; and not at all what we pictured. Although the beer cheese was tasty, it wasn’t even warm. Major flop on this one. I did however manage to compensate by taking a dive on a local IPA that was delicious. Don’t recall the name unfortunately.
Our last “big” ride to check-off was Busch Gardens newest addition, Finnegan’s Flyer, an S&S Screamin’ Swing. This large flat ride is always a blast because of its setting alone. If you are seated on the correct side, the attraction swings high above a river–quite the experience. From here, we decided to head to the car to grab our hoodies and warm up for a brief minute.
The rest of the evening was filled with rerides on our favorite coasters, a few more awesome interactions with scareactors, and a big win on the basketball shooting game near Apollo’s. We randomly had a $10 bill on us and happened to notice a particular prize we wanted when walking by the booth. $10 got us 6 shots (3 each), and we had to make 3 to win the prize we were after. Olivia hit one and I was able to hit one on my second try. While missing my third shot, the ball bounced out of the game area and all the way back to me. The attendant was so kind (and super bored I imagine) and let me shoot one more which I was able to sink. Definitely made for an exciting ending to the night. Not to mention the back to back to back night rides on Apollo’s.
With that, the event was over, and we were actually some of the last people to exit the park. It was creepy being the only people in the England area as we were leaving, but we were able to snag some great footy.
The event was a huge win in my book; pretty much exactly what I expected and it was just so awesome to get back on some coasters again and experience (half of) Busch Gardens again. Although we wished they had upped the theming just a bit we still managed to have a great time. The fall temperatures and creepy music alone made it feel like Halloween enough.
Thanks so much for reading my recap on Busch Garden’s Halloween Harvest! Be sure to stay tuned for our next update as we travel south to Orlando, Florida for Halloween weekend!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 