Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA: The Most Beautiful Amusement Park in
America
 Busch
Gardens is an adventure park with something for everyone. It
features a European atmosphere along with a host of thrill rides.
Located just a few miles from historic Williamsburg, Virginia, it has
been voted the world’s most beautiful adventure park. The 100-acre park
has more than 50 rides and other attractions, along with stage shows, a
variety of eating and shopping locations, and a Sesame Street-themed
children’s area.
Busch Gardens has been awarded the accolade of Most Beautiful
Park every year since 1990 by the National Amusement Park Historical
Association. The park’s stunning landscape is one of the main reasons
for the award. Busch Gardens’ staff grow more than 30,000 plants and
flowers in greenhouses to use at the park. Landscapers spend about six
hours each day tending to the plants there.
To create its old-world European feel, the park has replicas of
landmarks and towns from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany,
and Italy. The park’s creators have carefully tried to recreate the
European setting in authentic and accurate detail, including cobblestone
streets, building facades and statuary.
England is the first country you will encounter as you enter the park.
Here you will find English shops, a bakery and replicas of Big Ben and
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. The park has tried to accurately recreate
17th century England with authentic door handles, cast-iron mailboxes
and streetlamps. Even many of the plants are those traditionally found
in Western Europe.
In the Scotland area you will find the Highland stables, with Scottish
Blackface sheep, and border collies. The exhibit displays Scottish
traditions that extend back hundreds of years.
The Ireland section of Busch Gardens features an authentic replica of an
Irish hamlet, complete with tavern, shops, stone castles, flower boxes,
and Celtic music.
Moreover, the park has tried to recreate the real feel and atmosphere of
Ireland with architecture from the country’s Stone Age era up through
the 19th century. Castles imitate the building style during Ireland’s
feudal age.
Also in the Ireland area, visitors can take a simulated journey through
Europe on one of the rides, and enjoy shows with singing, Irish dancers
and musicians.
The French section features street cafes, French architecture and
sidewalk artists. The town center of the German area is home to an
imitation 17th century Glockenspiel, three stories high. And the Italian
area is decorated with authentic statues, fountains and gardens.
The rides at the park provide thrills to even the most seasoned
daredevil. There is the Griffon, a roller coaster named for the mythical
creature that is half lion and half eagle. It is the world’s highest
dive coaster, and the first without a floor. In one part of the ride,
passengers plummet 205 feet at 75 miles an hour.
Another ride, Curse of DasKastle, takes riders on a trip filled with
simulated drops, fog, breaking ice and other three-dimensional special
effects.
The Loch Ness Monster is one a fan favorite. It is an interlocking,
double-looping roller coaster that takes riders into the air, over water
and through a dark cave at 60 miles an hour.
Photos courtesy of
http://livinginwilliamsburgvirginia.blogspot.com/
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