Busch Gardens Williamsburg Unveils New Show for 2014

WILLIAMSBURG (September 7, 2013) – Peace, love and happiness filled Das Festhaus® at Busch Gardens® Saturday morning at the park’s annual Pass Member Appreciation Weekend kickoff. Pass Members who attended the event were the first to hear about a new Christmas Town™ Pass add-on offer, Howl-O-Scream® and Christmas Town details, as well as a new British rock-n-roll show debuting next year in the park’s Globe Theatre.

The exclusive event featured details about a special Christmas Town Pass available as an add-on for active

Annual Pass Members that provides unlimited admission to Christmas Town for the 2013 season. The $30 pass add-on is the same price as a Christmas Town Single-Day Ticket and Pass Members retain their membership benefits, including free parking and in-park discounts.

For a limited time, pass members can purchase the Christmas Town Pass add-on for $25. Pass members can visit www.bgwpass.com and log in to their Pass Member account for complete details. Christmas Town fans without an Annual Pass can visit buschgardens.com/va to become a pass member and then take advantage of this pass-member exclusive offer.

Busch Gardens, known for high-caliber productions like Celtic Fyre® is raising the bar again in 2014 with the debut of London Rocks™. Guests will embark on a musical journey that explores the roots of rock-n-roll and transforms Busch Gardens’ Globe Theatre into a rousing 25-minute live action and multi-media rock spectacular. The musical revue explores the powerful role that music plays in people’s lives.  A team of more than 200 musical directors, designers, technicians and artists is taking on this ambitious Busch Gardens’ production.

“London Rocks has been four years in the making and marks the long-awaited return of live entertainment to the Globe Theatre,” said Busch Gardens’ Vice President of Entertainment Scott Gasparich. “With London Rocks, we’ve assembled an international team who will take guests on a psychedelic journey through British music.”

The entire English village inside Busch Gardens is getting a makeover to go with the new show. The Globe is being redesigned to take advantage of the latest technology in lighting, audio and stage design, including the use of projection mapping, ear-bending sonic soundscapes and a raked stage similar to performance stages used in European opera houses. Outside, the village will be decked out with new life and energy that embraces the roots of rock-n-roll with feelings of love, hope and freedom.  “Guests will feel the thrills and excitement of being rock stars in the heyday of rock-n-roll London as they walk through Busch Gardens’ English village,” Gasparich said.

London Rocks will debut in spring 2014 and is among the many reasons to visit Busch Gardens next year, including the return of the Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival and popular Busch Gardens’ concert series.

Long before 2014’s British invasion, guests this fall will experience London’s more sinister past when Howl-O-Scream opens Sept. 13 and Busch Gardens’ England becomes Ripper Row®, one of four new Terror-tories. France, Italy, Germany and England are being transformed into over-the-top thematic experiences that transport guests to another time and place full of startles and frights.

Chart a course through the haunted waters in Italy, flee the flames of burning France, avoid becoming a vampire’s dinner in Germany or hunt for Jack the Ripper in London’s East End. In these immersive experiences, guests are the main characters whose fates are linked to the creatures roaming through the “Dark Side of the Gardens.”

A Busch Gardens Fall Fun Card provides unlimited admission to Howl-O-Scream for the price of a single-day ticket. Visit howl-o-scream.com/va for complete details.

Parents and guardians of young children should heed this warning. At the stroke of 6 p.m., the ghouls and haunts come out to play and Busch Gardens becomes a seriously scary place. Guests are advised to consider the park’s elevated scare factor when deciding to visit Busch Gardens with young children during Howl-O-Scream.

Leave the frights behind this Christmas season and visit Busch Gardens starting Nov. 22 when it transforms into a winter wonderland during this most wonderful time of the year. Christmas Town is opening one week earlier this year to meet the demand for this popular family tradition. Now in the event’s fifth year, families are growing up with Christmas Town’s blanket of six-million glittering lights, breathtaking shows and traditional Christmas culinary delights.

Visit Santa at his North Pole workshop and begin a Christmas Town tradition that is warm as apple pie, then take a step into the not-so-distant-past at Holiday Hills™ where mid-twentieth century Christmas celebrations come to life. Sip some of Busch Gardens’ signature peppermint fudge hot chocolate and let the warmth of the season take over. Pass Members can enjoy unlimited admission to Christmas Town with a Christmas Town Pass add-on to their active Annual Pass.

For the latest information about Busch Gardens, visit www.buschgardens.com/va. Busch Gardens’ fans can like Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Facebook at facebook.com/buschgardens and follow Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Instagram and Twitter at BuschGardensVA.