Christmas Town At Busch Gardens With Review Of Country Inn & Suites In Williamsburg, VA

If you’ve followed our blog for any length of time, you’ll notice that Stephen does the reviews. I don’t really want to and I’m sure I would get bored trying to meet the high standard he has set for us all.

That being said, sometimes I go and do things without Stephen – shock! So when my mom and I had a girl’s night away in Williamsburg, VA, I took it upon myself to tell you about it, including a mini-review of the hotel we stayed at.

Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

One of my favorite places on Earth – yes, you heard me correctly: on Earth – is Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Firstly, I love Christmas. At Christmas Town they have over 10 million Christmas lights. Then add in all the other amazing things at Christmas Town including games, rides (I don’t do all of them), yummy food, shows (my favorites are Gloria! and Scrooge, No More) and shops.

They’ve added a few things in the last few years, but overall the experience is very similar each year and I AM HERE FOR IT. I know what to expect, how long it will take to do what I love and how to navigate the park.

This year I did some of my favorite things and tried some new things. Here are my general tips.

Timings

Christmas Town is open in late November, December and the beginning of January. Historically, it opened at 3pm. It does open earlier some days but honestly, unless you have a bunch of rides you want to do, wait until 3pm. The shows start soon after that and you want to get there before dark. Get 1-2 shows out of the way before it’s dark, then you have all the darkness to enjoy the lights and other rides. Please note that we traditionally go without any children, but there’s soooo much for everyone to do I think most of these apply to singles, couples and families.

Shows

My can’t-miss shows are Gloria! (the traditional nativity musical) in Ireland and Scrooge, No More in England. There are others and I’ve seen them all one year or another; the ice skating show is cool, but often has a long line (but also a lot of seating).

Drinks

Get a reusable Christmas Town mug (or bring an old one) for discounts on refills of cocoa and coffee. For our 21+ readers – try a hot toddy in Italy (cranberry and rum) or the apple pie toddy in England (apple cider and something… probably rum). For everyone – peppermint hot cocoa… anywhere.

Food

We like to eat at Das Festhaus in Germany because if you time it right, you can see the Deck The Halls show. Deck The Halls is fun as it has Christmas songs like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Baby It’s Cold Outside and more, while you eat dinner. Plus, beer, pizza, sausages and more are on offer there – what’s not to love!?

Other Activities

See some of the famous Busch Clydesdale’s in Scotland and watch O’ Tannenbaum outside of Das Festhaus in Germany. While in Germany also play a game or two and win a prize. This year I even got brave enough to try Nacht Tower (Mach Tower during the year is a high speed ride) which slowly raises you up above the park. Ride the Christmas Town Express train for even more lights and do a few rides like the teacups (called peppermint twist in winter) in Holiday Hills. And obviously see all the lights.

Here’s my Christmas Town Itinerary (Arriving at 3pm):

Start in England and head towards Scotland and follow all the way around back to the entrance.

1. Watch Scrooge, No More.
2. Grab a cocoa or toddy on your way past the bars before you leave England.
3. See the Clydsdales in Scotland.
4. Watch Gloria! and look in a shop in Ireland.
5. Walk through my favorite lane (the green trees that have Greensleeves playing and think about how wonderfully magical it all is and thank me for this wonderful itinerary that you’d be lost without.)
6. Check out France as you walk through.
7. Go to New France (Canada) and check out the candle makers. Also, stop in and try Ice Wine at a wine tasting. If turkey legs are your scene this is a great place to grab one. Otherwise, keep it rolling – you only have til 10pm after all. There’s a train station for the Christmas Town Express here that you can get on and off at.
8. Walk through the North Pole and take your picture with it. If you have kids, this is where Santa is in his workshop. If you don’t, SKIP IT, it’s just a long line with Santa at the end for pictures (rookie mistake in my earlier years).
9. You’re entering Germany/Oktoberfest – There’s fake snow when you enter now (it used to be in France). Make your way past all the shops, through the Christmas market (shop if you must) and play a game or two (I get a little stuffy each year – this year mom and I are sharing custody of the Christmas Narwhal we won). Then head in to catch Deck The Halls and eat dinner at Das Festhaus.
10. When dinner is finished head outside (it’s probably around 8pm by now) and watch O’ Tannenbaum. If you’re a ride person, hop on Nacht Tower for a view of the lights. If not, head on to Italy. You’ll cross the bridge and see all the trees near the water. You’ll pass the food available in Italy (yummy, but the show isn’t my favorite – this year it was a very talented pianist but it was cold out) – this is the time for another hot toddy or wine tasting -and then you’ll see my favorite tree in the place.
11. Hang a right at the tree and head into Holiday Hills. This is where I like to ride a few rides because I don’t like up and down rides, but I love the spinning rides which there are three of in Holiday Hills. You’ll also want to get your picture with the obligatory Christmas countdown calendar.
12. When you come back out of Holiday Hills, head to the right again and you’ll enter the final part of Italy which has the Escape from Pompeii ride (in the summer) decked out in tons of purple, white and blue lights. You’ll return to Scotland at this point. If you have time (which you probably won’t but just in case), hop on a sky ride (gondola) to see more of the lights from above.
13. Stop and listen to the carolers in England. They’re usually there around 10pm when the park is closing.

Drive (or Uber) away knowing you saw the best of Christmas Town.

Here’s my personal hot tips of what to skip (sorry but this is just my opinion – feel free to ignore it… at your peril!)

1. Rides – Unless you’re a serious rider, there’s plenty to do without waiting in lines for rides.
2. Shopping – A little thing here and there is fun to look at and buy (sometimes we’ve gotten the handmade candles in New France), but overall the things are pretty pricey and say Christmas Town and Busch Gardens all over them (or are shipped in and are really expensive).
3. The Christmas Tree Maze – This was new this year (2019). I was so excited because I love a good maze. If your kids are very small, do it. Otherwise, give it a miss. We lost precious minutes navigating the area that isn’t a very challenging maze and doing the crafts for Holidays Around the World. I’d say 8+ probably won’t enjoy it very much.
4. The Italy Show – It used to be dancers and opera, now it’s a pianist. While very pretty, it’s often cold (even with the outside heaters around) and overall the atmosphere, warmth and food in Das Festhaus (not to mention the service compared to what I received in Italy this year) is infinitely better.
5. The 3D VR Motion Ride in Ireland – I rode this long ago when it was Corkscrew Hill. It’s now time to rescue the Heart of Ire and Fairies. While it’s fun, it has a bit of a wait for what it was in the end. I’m glad I tried it, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re desperate for a ride that most sized children can experience.
6. The Regular Wine Tasting Experience – We went to do an Ice Wine tasting in New France this year for fun which was $20. For only $10 more you get 2 other tastings around the park. If you’re going to do a wine tasting (this was our first year trying it), go for the extra $10 per person. Personally, skip the Germany tasting. Our experience and the wines weren’t our favorites. We LOVED the Ice Wine in New France with Rochelle and the wines in Italy with Jody.

So there you have it. All you need to know about Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

We stayed overnight this year and Ubered over to the park, so that’s why we went for all the toddies and the wine tasting experience. We stayed nearby at the Country Inn and Suites. Here’s what you can expect if you book in (which I would!).

Country Inn and Suites Williamsburg East (Busch Gardens) Mini-Review

We arrived and found out that due to my status we were bumped up to a suite, but we would’ve enjoyed this hotel either way. The staff were wonderful, particularly when we checked-in – shout-out to Melissa and Alexis!

The Lobby & Breakfast Area

Our Two Bedroom Suite

They seem to be doing some renovations, so you may see a few things that are in need of repair.

The reason we chose this hotel was its proximity to Busch Gardens Williamsburg and price/points. (Stephen here! I didn’t make a note of the cash price, but I think it was fairly reasonable. We used points though as it was 28,000 points per night. One thing to note is that there are two Country Inn & Suites properties in Williamsburg. This is ‘Williamsburg East (Busch Gardens)’, whereas the other is ‘Williamsburg Historic Area’.)

We slept great, there were cookies available in the lobby, breakfast had a lot of options, there’s almost everything you could want.

One thing we would have preferred which we had when we stayed at a different hotel near Christmas Town one year, was a hotel shuttle to Busch Gardens. There’s a public bus that runs by, but you need exact change and it was running late (we couldn’t get an update about it), so we booked an Uber and then it drove by. It also would’ve only worked for one-way to Christmas Town. Our Uber was ~$10 each way and we had great drivers. Parking at Busch Gardens is $18, so it wasn’t a big difference and we were able to imbibe safely.

Overall I recommend heading to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and staying at the Country Inn & Suites Williamsburg East (Busch Gardens) to make the most of the experience.