Many BG Questions!

Hello all! I'm planning our first trip to BGT, and (like many of my fellow DIS'ers) I'm a compulsive Type-A planner when it comes to park visits. Here's the background on our visit - it will be me and my two sons, ages 10 and 13. We are huge roller coaster fans, but not solely roller coaster fans. We HATE waiting in lines! We will be at BG Monday, February 20 (President's Day) and Tuesday, February 21.

Questions . . .

1. What can you tell me about "rope drop" at BGT? We are early park goers and like to be there right at opening. If the park is scheduled to open at 10am, will it open right at 10am, or does it sometimes open earlier than the posted opening time? What time would you recommend getting to the park for a 10am opening (to allow time to get through security, etc.)?

2. Do all rides/areas of the park open right at 10am, or is there a staggered opening (like at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, if you've been there)?

3. We are definitely planning to do Quick Queue Unlimited - would you recommend that we splurge to get the QQU plus Cobra's Curse? I think it's usually $20 more, although the prices aren't out yet for our dates. I assume that if we go right at park opening, we can get on CC fairly quickly. Will we want to ride CC more than once a day?

4. Where are your favorite places to eat in the park?

5. What are your favorite rides other than the big coasters?

6. How wet do you get on the water rides at BGT? Do they usually adjust the water flow based on the weather? Since we are going in February, I'm guessing the weather may be iffy, but we generally love a water ride as long as we don't get soaked when it's cold.

7. What are your favorite shows or other non-ride attractions?

8. Finally, any guesses as to how busy the park will be on President's Day and that Tuesday?


Thanks so much for any input!

We are doing our first trip in February to BG also, probably 2/24, so following this thread!

I'll try to remember to post the answers I discover during our trip! The planner in me is going nuts with the lack of information!

We were there last week. The park is very empty in the morning. It also helps that Cheetah Hunt, Montu and Cobra's Curse are so close to each other. However, Cobra's Curse was down both mornings.

Ok, I'll try to help based on my experiences. I'm a passholder at BG Williamsburg, no Tampa does not have the staggered opening. There is a rope and they will have a countdown. I usually arrive 15-20 minutes beforehand to stop by Guest Services and book an animal encounter (I highly recommend those!).

At rope drop, if you proceed directly to Cobra's Curse, it should still be a walk on, providing it's running. I would not recommend spending extra to get the QQ with Cobra's Curse as a result. Twice was enough for me. CC is cute and fun, but not very intense. After riding that twice, I've been able to walk on to Cheetah Hunt as well.

Places to eat: My favorite is the smokehouse; we can typically split a meal here.

Other things to do: try an animal encounter. I LOVED the giraffe tour. Ride the train around; the animals can get pretty close. The log flume is fun and a great way to cool down.

How wet do you get? VERY.

MUtiger98 said:

Ok, I'll try to help based on my experiences. I'm a passholder at BG Williamsburg, no Tampa does not have the staggered opening. There is a rope and they will have a countdown. I usually arrive 15-20 minutes beforehand to stop by Guest Services and book an animal encounter (I highly recommend those!).

At rope drop, if you proceed directly to Cobra's Curse, it should still be a walk on, providing it's running. I would not recommend spending extra to get the QQ with Cobra's Curse as a result. Twice was enough for me. CC is cute and fun, but not very intense. After riding that twice, I've been able to walk on to Cheetah Hunt as well.

Places to eat: My favorite is the smokehouse; we can typically split a meal here.

Other things to do: try an animal encounter. I LOVED the giraffe tour. Ride the train around; the animals can get pretty close. The log flume is fun and a great way to cool down.

How wet do you get? VERY.

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Thank you thank you so much!! This is incredibly helpful! I've already booked the Serengeti Safari where you feed the giraffes - glad that was a good choice!

When I was there last (April 2016), not all rides opened right at 10am. The ones near the front of the park were open (like Cheetah Hunt) but Sheikra and Congo River Rapids didn't open until later (I think Sheikra was 10:30, Congo River Rapids may have been 11). There was an electronic board near Cheetah Hunt that showed the ride wait times so that's how we found out what rides were opening later.

For food, I really liked the Dragon Fire Grill. Since it's a market style set up, there are enough options for everyone to find something they like. I had flatbread from the Italian station and it was surprisingly good for theme park food.

Other than the coasters, I'd definitely check out the sky ride (good way to see the park from a different angle). Feeding giraffes on the Serengeti Safari is amazing! I also enjoyed feeding the lorikeets, kangaroos and wallabys. Opening Night Critters is a cute little show and the ice show was good as well (nice if you want a mid-day break to sit and cool off in air conditioning). It's probably good that you've got two days. When I was there last year, the park was only open 10 to 6 and it was WAYYYY too short. We ran out of time to do everything we wanted (for the second year in a row). When I was there, I found the lines for rides were slow because of park staff, not volume of riders. There could be almost no one in line but you'd still wait forever because the staff move with absolutely no sense of urgency. I'm not saying they should rush security checks but it's a marked difference from Disney and Universal parks where the staff are pros at moving large volumes of people on and off rides quickly. But it's still one of my favorite parks, hope you have a great time!

#4. If you want sit down, and it's open, Serengeti Overlook (top floor). All you care to eat for about twenty bucks per adult. Fried chicken and fish are great. Braised pork shanks when there are amazingly good. If you want counter service (or have the meal plan), try the smokehouse. In my humble opinion, some of the best theme park food to be had full stop.

#5. Skyride. It's calm, the view is nice, and there's less than a dozen left world wide. The train is also a good time. I also hear Falcon's Fury is a blast if you are a far braver person than me.

#7. The Myombe area is well designed and worth spending some time in if the primates are active.

Can't really vouch for the rest as I gladly gave up the type A planning mentality years ago. We're more the "move to central FL and just go often and during slow season" type these days. If Cheetah Hunt is more then ten minutes we keep walking. I didn't even know they had an actual rope

Good luck and have a great time!

Pax

Pax said:

#4. If you want sit down, and it's open, Serengeti Overlook (top floor)...

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But be aware that Serengeti Overlook is seasonal, so pop onto the website and check dates.

Oh, and BG is pretty bad for vegetarians (their veggie wrap is horrendous!)

hello! OP here! We just finished up our two days at BG and thought I'd answer my own questions in case anyone else was later looking for similar information.


1. The park was scheduled to open at 10 when we were there. They opened up security around 9:30ish and then let us through the ticket tapstiles around 9:45. We were held a short distance inside the park until 10 on the nose. "Everyone" headed toward the Cheetah Hunt/Cobra's Curse area, with CH being FAR more popular (and generally having longer lines all day long - generally the longest of any in the park).

2. The rides at the back of the park seemed to open at 10:30. Not sure if this was true of every one of those rides.

3. NO! CC lines were not bad at all, especially in the afternoon.

4. Zambia Smokehouse was definitely the best! We also ate at the Serengeti Overlook buffet. Atmosphere was very cool (as long as you can get a window table) but food was meh and expensive.

5. Falcons Fury!!! We generally don't like drop towers but this one was unique and super fun!!

6. The rapids ride was very similar to Kali River Rapids at Animal kingdom. The flume was down when we were there.

7. The Serengeti Safari was AMAZING and worth every penny!! I thought my boys would back at it because they are such hard core ride fans, but they absolutely loved it. A trip highlight for sure!

8. Presidents Day was pretty busy. Tuesday not at all. Neither day was anything close to Disney crowds even on a slow day. We were still VERY glad that we invested in Quick Queue Unlimited!


Hope that helps someone!