My Weekend: Busch Gardens’ Edition

My Weekend:

As you walk in, excitement fills the air.  Kids, college students, and adults run up to the entrance.  You can just barely hear the whoosh of roller coasters hurtling down steep drops at 60 mph and the terrified screams of riders.  It’s spring W&M Day at Busch Gardens and it is awesome.  In case you haven’t heard of it, Busch Gardens is a theme park about a ten-minute drive from campus. Once a semester, W&M students get half-off tickets sold through the school and free transportation to the park! It’s a great deal, and lots of students take advantage of it.  The park is divided up into different European countries: Britain, France, Italy, Ireland and Germany. Each “country” is a Disney-fied version of itself, ie. France has a café serving croissants and hot chocolate, and Ireland has a store called “Girls Sham-rock!” (Hehhehe).  So it’s definitely not the most authentic European experience, but it is a TON of fun.  For any roller coaster fan, Busch Gardens provides endless options.  My new favorite is Verbolten, a wild ride through Germany’s Black Forrest in faux Mini-Coopers (Hint, there’s a surprise in the middle!).  Note to self for next time: do not eat the slightly suspicious “German hotdog” (really a bratwurst wrapped in a pretzel) AND the cinnamon pretzel bites before this ride.  I have to warn you, because the pretzel smell is very enticing….  You can also take a picture with the Easter Bunny…which I never got to do as a child (aka I made everyone in my group stand in line amidst a crowd of four-year-olds to take a picture.  While normally my weekend is not as exciting as sitting front row on the Griffon (two vertical free falls), the W&M day at Busch Gardens is a great example of all the fun activities available to you as a W&M student!

-Joanna