With our special pre-event sale on Christmas Town tickets ready to launch Friday, we’re hearing some questions and concerns about the impact a promotion like this will have on crowds at the park. After all, we all like short lines and no waits, right?
It’s only natural to assume that a great deal will attract so many people that the park will become overwhelmed. In reality, though, this promotion has been carefully planned, and Christmas Town has more than enough capacity to accommodate the number of people we anticipate buying the special $14 Twinkle Ticket. Whether you wish to take advantage of this offer or use another ticket to attend Christmas Town, we can offer some insight on the best days and ways to plan your visit. Here are answers to some of the questions we are hearing:
What is this great deal?
Our brightest sale of the season, running just five days, Friday through Tuesday, is the only time you will be able to buy the specially priced Twinkle Ticket – a single-day ticket to Christmas Town for only $14. This is a huge savings off of the normal price of $35, but is valid for admission only on one of 14 specific days: Nov. 29; Dec. 4, 6, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 24, 30, 31; and Jan. 1 and 3. It is available only on our website, and you can get all of the details at christmastown.com/va.
Why did you pick those days?
Based on our experience with Christmas Town in past years, these are the days that we would forecast lower attendance. As you might imagine, we would like to attract some more business to these slower days, and also give some guests an incentive to shift from one of our peak-attendance days. In a limited-time event such as Christmas Town, we know there are some definite peaks and valleys of visitation, and it’s ideal for the guest experience if we can more evenly spread the attendance. Even so, we worked to select various days of the week and times during the event so a Twinkle Ticket buyer has a variety of options.
So now won’t you just shift all of the people to these days and make them super crowded?
Interestingly, that not the case, at least based on our experience last year with a similar promotion in which we sold deeply discounted tickets valid on select days. In that situation, the average attendance on those promotional days was 20 percent lower than the average of the other days of Christmas Town. In fact, our most-attended day of the event was not one of the promotional days. It would be wrong to assume that Twinkle Ticket days will automatically become over-crowded. The reality is, peak days are peak for a reason, and even a fantastic deal can move only so many people.
But I came on one of your promotional days last year and it was pretty busy.
It’s true that a couple of those days were among the busier days of Christmas Town last year. A good part of that had to do with other factors, primarily the weather, that prompted a lot of people to visit on those days. For instance, on the most-attended of the promotional days last year, less than half of the guests used the special promotional ticket.
What if I can’t visit on one of your 14 special days? What’s my best deal?
It depends. If you are active pass member, you can purchase single-day tickets for Christmas Town at any time, valid for any day of the event, for $22. If you do not have a membership, during our pre-event sale Friday-Tuesday, you may buy a ticket valid for any one day for $24. And, if there’s a chance you will visit more than once, there’s certainly no better deal than our Christmas Town add-on for pass members, or Christmas Town Fun Card for non-members.
OK, given all of that, what are the best days to avoid crowds?
With six years’ of Christmas Town history now, we have a pretty good idea of which days will have higher or lower attendance. If I were planning a visit and wanted to have the best chance of light crowds, I would definitely look at the weekdays before Christmas, especially Dec. 14-17, when the park is open but many schools are still in session. Other best bets would be: Dec. 4, 11, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31 and Jan. 3. As you can probably guess, the busiest days are likely to be Saturdays and the couple of days after Christmas, especially since they fall on a weekend. However, keep in mind there is a big wild card in predicting this: the weather. Rain or extremely cold weather can put a big damper on an otherwise peak day. Likewise, a traditionally slow day can swell if the weather is nice after a day or two of bad weather.
How can I find out if the park is crowded or getting close to capacity?
On a few occasions in past years, we have momentarily had to close the park after reaching our maximum comfortable capacity. Believe me: we hate to turn anyone away, but sometimes have done so for the enjoyment and safety of all guests. However, as we have expanded the scope of Christmas Town, this has been a very rare issue. If we do need to take a pause for capacity, or close the park due to weather or other reasons, we will post this as soon as possible on our Facebook and Twitter sites. That’s the best way to check the current status.
Any other tips to make sure we can squeeze the most into our Christmas Town visit?
With so much to do and see at Christmas Town, a little planning can help you get the most of your time. The No. 1 piece of advice: arrive early. The crowds are always lighter at the start of the day, and there is plenty to do before it turns dark and you can get the full effect of our 8 million lights. Christmas Town opens at 2 p.m. every day, so you can see a couple of shows, shop, dine, hit a couple of rides and even visit Santa before the sun sets. Doing a little advance exploration on our website at christmastown.com/va will give you a good overview of the event and allow to plan the best route to hit all of your must-do experiences. Even better, before leaving home, download the Busch Gardens Discovery Guide app on your smartphone. With the app, you can navigate the park, get show times and even find your car after your day of fun.
If Christmas Town is so popular, why don’t you expand it?
We have. By adding areas of the park and several attractions, we have essentially doubled the capacity of Christmas Town since the first year of the event. This year, we are adding our first holiday ice show, ‘Twas That Night, in our largest venue, the 5,000-seat Royal Palace Theatre. We also have added operating hours and days. For instance, for the first time we are extending Christmas Town into the new year, adding the Jan. 1-3 holiday weekend to give everyone a last shot at some holiday cheer as we start 2016. We have even more planned for next year’s Christmas Town … but that’s one present we aren’t ready to unwrap yet.
We are so thrilled to see Christmas Town 2015 coming to life at Busch Gardens, and we can’t wait to welcome you here, where Christmas shines brightest.
-Dan, Marketing Vice President