Our family spent nearly $5,000 on a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, only to find out the park completely misrepresented its operations and then refused to take accountability. We specifically booked a visit for February 21st and 22nd because their website said the park would be open and we have a child on the Autism Spectrum, so going āoff seasonā is ideal for this childās needs. Nowhere (on the website or when purchasing tickets) did it state that āopenā meant no rides would be available. In fact, the Mardi Gras event promotion suggested the opposite. For example, here is the description of these days on thew website. You can see the advertisements in the photos - rides are clearly a part of the park tickets. On February 21st: The park was closed due to unseasonably cold weather and snow (an Arctic Freeze)āunderstandableāand we were given a replacement one-day ticket, but given the wasted $5000 already, our family would be unlikely to financially be able to do this again within the time frame for use.
Then, February 22nd: We arrived expecting to enjoy the park since it was open and temperatures hit 40, only to find out from staff and signs that all rides were closed for maintenanceānot due to weather, but a planned closure. This information was never communicated in advance. If it had been, we never would have planned this trip. Instead, we wasted thousands on flights, lodging, car rentals, and park tickets for EIGHT PEOPLE and a park that failed to deliver what it advertised. We have extensive photos of the signs proving that the rides and other activities like kid treehouse things were closed for maintenance. We will be sharing them widely so other families donāt get scammed like we did. This park is not āopenā. Once you arrive, other than some performances (which were lovely, but that isnāt why we went to Busch Gardens) everything is additional cost - your park tickets paid for nothing.
To make matters worse, guest services was completely unapologetic and refused to take responsibility stating that we hadnāt done our due diligence. They didnāt care that they misled customers, nor did they offer any fair resolution. They simply reiterated the things that I had already stated were not communicated in advance. I requested they give me the exact link to where on their website I was to have gotten that information - no response. Then, I called customer service to try to talk to a manager and was on hold for an hour. The manager similarly only offered a return to park ticket. Why would we want to relive this? We wasted almost $5000 just to disappoint our children and there is no reason it won't recur!
If youāre thinking about visiting Busch Gardens particularly in the off-season, DONāT. They are not transparent, not honest, and not customer-focused.
Busch Gardens, do better.