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Save on Christmas Town at Busch Gardens

Experience Busch Gardens in a whole new light during Christmas Town: A Busch Gardens Celebration.

Holiday traditions, dazzling shows and six million twinkling lights will make everyone say "Now this is Christmas." Christmas Town opens Nov. 23 and will continue, select days through Dec. 31.

New for 2012 include Reindeer Run, Snowman Summit and Jingle Junction.

Shows include 'Deck the Halls' - Warm up inside Das Festhaus with a live musical tribute to Christmas traditions, and create new ones with your family this holiday season, and gather the family in the Globe Theatre for a production of 'A Sesame Street Christmas'.

Verbolten - The Wait Is Over

Busch Gardens has reached another milestone with engineers and operators began Verbolten's extensive ride-testing procedures.

"We will inspect every inch of Verbolten before it opens May 18," said Larry Giles, Busch Gardens' vice president of design and engineering. "We are confident that we will complete our work in time for our scheduled opening."

Ride testing is a multi-step process designed to check and recheck every component of the roller coaster. The track, the coaster cars, the ride's electronic safety interlocks and the physics of the ride itself are among the many checks performed to prepare the ride for the public.

Park operators have spent the past several weeks practicing shutdown and recovery procedures to ensure the ride and the team operating it is prepared for the millions of guests who will enjoy riding Verbolten over its lifetime.

Verbolten Reaches Milestone at Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens reached a major milestone in January when a team of engineers and contractors bolted the final piece of Verbolten's 2,835 feet of steel track into place.

When it's complete, Verbolten will take riders on an adrenaline-filled adventure through two high-speed electromagnetic launches, stunning sensory effects and a dizzying array of twists and turns for an out-of-this-world coaster experience.

"Work on Verbolten is progressing on schedule," said Larry Giles, Busch Gardens' vice president of engineering. "Completing the track is a major achievement. We still have a lot of work to do on the ride's theme elements and special effects, but we anticipate the ride will be ready for a late spring opening."

The ride will be inspired by the Autobahn, the German highway system. As shown in the teaser video, a car takes a leisurely trip down the Autobahn, but suddenly lightning strikes the car and causes it to drive into the Black Forest, a "forbidden" forest in which the ride takes place. The dark forest encounters weather changes, such as lightning, as shown in the video. In addition, one launch will take place inside an indoor "event building", which will house multiple special effects.