Busch Gardens Williamsburg July 2025

Using our summer pass that we bought back on a previous trip, we went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg again at the end of July. The previous trip was early enough in the year that none of the water rides were open because the weather was too cold. At the end of July, it was plenty hot. Also, The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge was not completed back in April. Since it was a brand-new coaster, we went there first.

The park entrance

The Big Bad Wolf ride redux

The line was not too long and the hanging coaster was a fun trip through a Bavarian town plagued by a wolf. At one point on the route, a trap is laid in the ground. After that is an Oktoberfest picnic, so a lot of thematic decorations before getting back to the station. My daughter and I enjoyed it a lot. My wife had to hold bags and my youngest was not comfortable enough to ride.

The front of the coaster

Side view

Another ride that wasn't open last time was Verbolten. The coaster's theme is a car ride through a forest. This is a more traditional sit-down coaster with one or two surprises along the way. It was a lot of fun but more than my wife was happy with.

Verbolten decor

To calm things down we rode the Wirblewind, a swing ride.

Ready to ride

Is there one of these in every theme park?

Fancy sign

Last time, we were unable to ride Apollo's Chariot because of high winds. This time, the weather was calm enough to let us fly up to the sun. The ride is pretty intense but not the most intense in the park.

Apollo's Chariot

Nearby is the Battering Ram, another ride we didn't try last time. It's the classic back-and-forth boat swing. One dad had a gleefully cackling seven-year old on one side and a huddling, frightened three-year old on the other. I was much more like the seven-year old.

Battering ram

We tried to ride our first water ride, Escape from Pompeii, but it shut down just as we got to the front. To get a little wet (and cool off), we went to Roman Rapids instead, which was just opening (some rides had signs saying "Opening at 1100"). Roman Rapids is a large, circular-boat ride with a lot of bumpiness and a leaky aqueduct. 

We saw the big splash but didn't experience it

Least exciting part of the Roman Rapids ride

To dry off, we rode Pantheon twice since the line was so short--well, my daughter and I. Mom and our youngest rode something else. The Pantheon describes itself as challenging five gods and is a very intense and delightful rollercoaster.

Why does the track just end in the middle of the sky?

Dramatic entrance

Another ride closed back in April is Alpengeist, which I assumed had some ghosts on it. No, it's just a ski-themed race through an Alps-like terrain.

Going for Alpengeist

A favorite from last time, Darkoaster, was closed for repairs.

A fun, indoor roller coaster

It was close to lunchtime, so we met up at the Festhaus in the German neighborhood, though we ate the bread and cheese we had brought into the park. The cold water was the best thing ever! We had a bottle that we kept refilling. In here, we refilled it four times! We did not time our visit right because there was no show on the stage.

Festhaus

In order not to lose our lunches, we took a mild ride on the Aeronaut Skyride, a way to travel across the park. 

We were too many for one carrier

As we walked around, we saw the wolves were out in their pen. 

Brothers in captivity

Toward the end of the day, I finally rode a ride that I rode last time, the Griffon. I only rode it because my daughter wanted to. That first drop from the top, where riders hang over the concrete below, made some extra grey hairs on my head (again).

"Experience the power and speed of the legendary Griffon!"

We decided to go out of the park for dinner and to check into the hotel. We took the Skyride though it didn't really get us closer to the exit (also, it was my second repeat ride).

One last ride across the park

We checked in at the hotel, swam in the pool, and went to dinner. The plan was to go back to the park for more rides and fireworks but storm clouds were brewing. My wife and youngest were tired too, so they opted to stay at the hotel. That left my daughter and I to return to the park for more fun. We wanted to ride the Loch Ness Monster first. On the way, we saw a Clydesdale on display. It was a photo op but we opted out.

Take my picture!

The Loch Ness Monster

Equipment from a previous attempt to find Nessie

It was a fun ride, then we headed back to the Italian section where we finally rode the Pompeii ride. It has a lot of cool thematics at the top with a trip through Pompeii as the volcano is raining down fire. We didn't get too wet on the big drop.

We headed over to The Trade Wind to dry off a bit.

Not so enthusiastic about the winds

We rode Verbolten again in the Germany neighborhood. I was surprised to see a sign for an authentic beer company. Maybe they've been bought by Anheuser-Busch?

German monk beer!

We rode The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge again at night, which was less impressive since they did not have enough lights on the ground decorations. It was still fun.

Worst time to run into a wolf

The promised rain storm started as we walked over to Invadr, a wooden rollercoaster that is an intense, fun experience. On the way, we saw a light shining on the Darkoaster castle.

Hard to see the castle in the dark without more lights

Invadr entrance

Invadr is a fun ride but it was more perilous because of the rain. Since it moved so fast, the rain drops felt like needles jabbing at out faces (and we had to take off our glasses for the ride, so no protection there). 

We went to the bridge between Germany and Italy to watch the fireworks, a popular spot that already had a bunch of people. As time approached and the rain didn't stop (though a lot of rides had been stopped), they announced a delay in the fireworks. We decided to head for the car, figuring the fireworks would not happen. Halfway to the lot, we heard the fireworks going off. We could sort of see them through the trees. By the time we got to the car we had a better view, though it was still raining.

Only decent pic of the eight I took

The park was fun to visit again though I don't think we will go back for the rest of the season.

Disneyland 2025

The final stop on our California trip in 2025 was Disneyland, which was celebrating 70 years of wowing guests. We had a one-day pass which was plenty for doing just the one park (Disney has an adjacent California Adventure Park). Like its Florida counterpart, visitors enter through a Main Street with shops and eateries.

Happiest visitors on earth!

Our first ride was Space Mountain, the famous indoor, in-the-dark rollercoaster. Our youngest has just started riding the more daring rides and was happy to start off with this. Since we arrived at 8 a.m. the line was not long.

Space Mountain entrance

People ready to ride

Our next priority was the new Star Wars rides. Since Smugglers Run, the Millenium Falcon ride, had a short line, we tried that first. Back in Orlando, I had ridden it twice as a single and wound up being the engineer both times, which is not the most fun role (the other roles are pilots and gunners). With our group of four, my wife and I were a gunner while the kids piloted the Falcon. It was a lot of fun for all.

Walking into the Galaxy's Edge area

Ready for some games

Relaxing before the run

Millennium Falcon!!

More of the Star Wars world

The line for Rise of the Resistance (the other Star Wars ride) had a long wait so we rode the nearby Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a classic coaster that was fun for everybody.

The mine near the coaster

Another short line was Tiana's Bayou Adventure, a re-theming of Splash Mountain with characters from The Princess and the Frog. The ride was typical Disney, with lots of animatronic entertainment along the way. The part we did not like was the soaking we got at the end of the ride. We were still wet for quite a while afterwards. 

Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Happy at the start

Right next door is The Haunted Mansion, another classic Disney ride with narration by Orson Welles and lots of fun, spooky special effects. The Mansion itself looks more like a Southern Plantation house. In Florida it is a creepy castle. The ride was just the same.

Putting the "Mansion" in Haunted Mansion

Adventureland is home to a newer Indiana Jones ride. Called "Temple of the Forbidden Eye," riders go around in a large jeep that tosses back and forth as it travels through the menacing and dark temple. We enjoyed the ride and it gets the Indiana Jones vibe quite well.

Temple of the Forbidden Eye!

We went back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. We went around in a space cruiser shooting up bad guys with laser pistols connected to our car. It was more fun for everyone else--my pistol was not working and I ended with a score of zero!

Astro Blaster sign

Buzz Lightyear giving advice

Also in Tomorrowland is a gigantic round stone on a fountain of water. The water pressure is high enough to lift the stone slightly, allowing visitors to spin the stone in different directions. Moving it did take a lot of effort.

Rolling the stone

Teamwork!

My daughter wanted to ride Autopia, a car driving ride that was very laid-back. Each car runs as its driver steers and uses the gas. The track does not allow for too much steering!

Her goal

My son drove me

Caught in traffic

Picture of a picture taker

Crew of the other car

We decided it was time for Rise of the Resistance and used the Disneyland Railroad (which runs around the perimeter of the park) to get closer to the ride without a lot of walking. At one point, the train goes through a building that recreates the Grand Canyon as it is now and as it was millions of years ago.

Current Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon in the age of dinosaurs

The line was not too long at Rise of the Resistance, letting us bypass a lot of the flavor text and decor. The ride is just as amazing and wonderful as the Florida counterpart (it is in fact exactly the same).

Typical Rebel/Resistance equipment

More of Galaxy's Edge

I want an R2 grill

As we were walking around, we ran into Boba Fett. I managed to get his attention and a picture with him. So cool!

Talking to the man

He did not want my hand on him!

A better pose

We went on Big Thunder Mountain again and stopped at The Golden Horseshoe for a snack.

Train on the mountain

Yay ice cream! (Are those Mickey ears?)

Inside the Golden Horseshoe

My wife chose our next ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. My daughter complained that it was like It's a Small World but for adults. Our family (especially Grandpa) thinks It's a Small World is boring, more for little kids. The ride is a little different from the Florida counterpart, including riding past a dining area. Also, the entrance is much fancier in California.

Pirates line was not long, though not as short as walking the plank

We walked across the park, through the central castle (which is much smaller than the one in Florida) to Mickey's Toon Town. 

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Toontown is more focused on kids but Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is the main attraction. It goes through a cartoon story with the same sort of technology and vehicles as Rise of the Resistance, so it was pretty amazing.

Rise of the Resistance but for kids

The next requested ride was the Mad Tea Party, on which my wife did not ride because it makes her nauseous. 

Happy riders

All but mom

I made the family go on the Jungle Cruise, which is a very silly ride with lots of dad jokes about life in the jungle. I enjoyed it but even I thought our cruise guide was over the top.

Entrance for Jungle Cruise

Shouty McJokerson

We went back to Galaxy's Edge for another go at Rise of the Resistance. I had a hard time not taking pictures. One of the First Order guards told us to move along after we documented our capture.

Rey imparts words of wisdom

Troops ready to torture us for information

Cell block

Afterwards, we spotted a Coke stand--I guess Coke Classic goes further back than we realize!

Coke even rebranded an R2 unit!

We went for a second time on the Indiana Jones ride. The afternoon was getting late. A lady approached us and said she was leaving and still had some unused Lightning Passes that she offered us. After explaining how it worked, my wife took a picture of her QR code and we used it to get ahead on the line.

Inside the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

We used the passes to ride Big Thunder Mountain again and Space Mountain twice in a row!

The town of Big Thunder?

How many mountain rides are in this park?

Picture from earlier in the day--you can get them free!

Dad and son not as bored as lady in front of them

Making up for the lameness of last picture

The sun started setting and we decided to get a few more rides in. My daughter wanted to ride the Astro Orbitor at the entrance of Tomorrowland. We waited in line and got to the front with only two seats left on the ride. The operator offered us to wait till the next ride but my wife and I bailed out so the kids could go on right away. The ride did not have Lightning Passes so we did not get on quickly.

Astro Orbitor

Kids in space!

We went back to Galaxy's Edge for another run or two on Smugglers Run, switching up who was in which role. It was still a lot of fun. Piloting was harder than I thought it would be!

Falcon at night

On board

Waiting for our turn

We headed back to Main Street to catch the end of the evening parade and the fireworks show.

Ladies from Frozen

Minnie having a ball

View of the castle down Main Street

Some fireworks

Some other fireworks

And yet more

The park was open till midnight but we did not stay that late since we had to fly back home the next morning and our Airbnb was a long way from Disneyland. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed it all.