Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg

I've been to Busch Gardens five times in my life, from the early 90's to the present and I'm planning on going again in a few months. The place is clean and well-themed, using a Old-Country European flavor, very reminiscent of Epcot's World Showcase. In this case different areas of the park are represented by various nations and all the rides/attractions/ and shops are themed accordingly. In some cases the various themed areas of the park are broken down even further to specifc regions such as England with Scotland, and Ireland both represented within the England area. Busch gardens also does a very good job of 'doin' up' the holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. I've attended the Halloween themed period (Called Howl O' Scream) and it was very well done, more so for the adults and older children as it was a bit on the intense side. The park was kept open after dark and it was flooded with thick mists and talking skeletons as well as numerous 'scare houses' ranging in subject matter and intensity. Some of me and my wife's favorite attractions at Busch Gardens Europe include all of the major coasters with my wife's personal favorite being Alpengeist from the Germany section, and The Griffon from the French section, if you like long steep drops try out Apollo's Chariot from the Italy section it's just a straight course of gigantic drops. The only coaster that was a bit dissapointing was The Big Bad Wolf, one of the oldest of the coasters it was really jerky and loud, and a bit low on the intensisty level. As for non coaster rides there are a bunch of good ones like Corkscrew Hill, Escape from Pompei, the Roman Rapids and I personally always enjoy stopping at the Fest Haus in Germany, authentic food and entertainment all themed from Germany. It reminds me of being back in the German countryside from the days of my youth. One attraction I was a bit dissapointed in was Curse of Darkastle, it is an obvious attempt to recapture the theme and air of Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. Though it incorporates cutting edge technology it falls short and seems a bit pedestrian and unispiring. The atmosphere of Curse of Darkastle is not on par with the Disney ride, also the storytelling used within the ride seems forced and at times kills the mood. All in all I would say Busch Gardens Europe is one of the best amusement parks I have ever been to. Because of it's very well laid out themes and use of atmosphere it ranks up there within the top 5 in the world behind the Disney chain of parks. If it expanded into resort hotels various other types of theme parks and doubled the amount of quality attractions it may even rival them.