Three weeks prior to our trip, I receive an email from Busch Gardens announcing the special limited event.  It was an exciting prospect because we had just come from our Williamsburg Summer Vacation and knew that the crowds were small but there were many things were open and available for us to enjoy.   Tatana wanted nothing to do with going to a theme park no matter how convincing the email was in discussing the preparations and changes to their normal operating procedures to make our time there safe.  It was late and I decided not to reserve the tickets.  Much to my concern, that next afternoon, I checked out the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Connoisseurs Facebook Group and saw that many of the days were already sold out.  I immediately logged in and reserved our tickets for the weekend after my birthday.  Several dates that weekend were already gone as well, so I was lucky.  The only one who wanted to go was Jonah, I can count on him for being game for just about anything I want to do that I think seems fun.

Here is where the discussions with the family took a turn.  They were convinced that we were fools to go to a theme park during the pandemic.  I understood their concerns and wanted to make them feel as comfortable as possible.  We agreed that we would quarantine ourselves in my son’s room the home and wear masks the entire time we are inside, except when we are in his bedroom.  We agreed to wipe things down when we walk around the house, use hand sanitizer and wash hands often, and even purchased our own medical kit (bandages, thermometer, antibiotic ointment, cough drops, and immune defense powder).  I left it in my wife’s hands as late as the night before if she felt uncomfortable, we would cancel.  She allowed us to go, so go we did.

We had tickets for the 11am-3pm event time.  Knowing we had a two and a half hour drive, we woke up at 6:30am and left by 7:30am.  We made it there quickly and had enough time to fill the gas tank and get coffee before getting in line at the parking entrance gate.  Please have both your event ticket reservation AND your parking pass reservation ready for scanning at the gate, it really does speed things up.  We made it in, about the fiftieth car into the lot, and decided to park in the shade on the far right of the England lot. 

We walked through the lot to the bus terminal shelter where we were routed through temperature scanning and bag check, again, not big deal here.  The security/heath employee was attempting to process two people at a time with the scanning thermometer, it was fun to watch.  People were laughing, so I assume we were smiling, but we all had our masks on so I really do not know.  Once we got through there, we were directed to the park entrance.  Once they scanned our event ticket, we were inside the park.  Taking a few steps into England, after the gate, and the park was so empty it was a shock.

The spacing of the guests while in lines was very evident with large circles, paper plates, or other colorful tape.  Either way, it felt comfortable and not forced, everyone seemed to be there for the fun and did not want to ruin any one else’s experience, I was happily impressed.  We headed straight to Loch Ness Monster and rode that, it was just about walk on time, I think two trains went before we got on.  I noticed a large bottle of hand sanitizer about every other turn in the lines as well as along the walkways in the park (not next to trash cans, but spread out in logical areas scattered around the trails and paths).  It was so long since I had ridden a roller coaster, I was so excited to do it again.  I was saddened to find that the ride photo is taking pictures but not offering the photo.  I wonder however, if the photos are still being sent to PhotoKey, I should have checked, but I doubt it.

We walked into Ireland and we stopped for water at the snack store.  The line for Finnegan’s Flyer was very long, so we skipped it.  We noticed some people were eating inside at Grogan’s Irish Pub and some sitting outside.  The gift store in Ireland was open, but the tree our kids played in was closed, bordered shut actually.  We checked out the animals along our walk as they were out in the open, but by the time I got to France, I needed to stop in health services to get the sun screen I forgot to bring.  Next to the train tracks in France, after heath services, is a relaxation station.  Here is where you can take off your mask and relax, you can even sit down if you can find an available bench.  You are required to keep a safe distance while in the relaxation area.  We did not stay in there too long since we wanted to ride InvadR.

The gift store in France was open, but I needed water again already since I was hot, so we stopped at the Three Rivers Snacks to get water.  I forgot to mention, you can bring your refillable cups but you have to fill the water or soda into the normally provided paper cup and then you can pour it into your refillable mug if you want.  The smell of Trapper’s Smokehouse was just absolutely wonderful, and if I had not planned on eating lunch at Captain George’s, we would have eaten there. The line for Griffon was long, but we realized that it was only due to the cleaning of the trains.  I could not recognize the patterns, but they are doing an awesome job cleaning.  I was too scared to get on the Griffon, so we kept walking towards InvadR. 

InvadR was amazing, I had not ridden it yet and I love every bit about it.  It is a wooden coaster and all of the lifts and turns are amazingly comfortable.  After InvadR, we decided to wonder over to Le Catapult, which had no line until we got there, but we were in front.  Every bucket seat was used, there were not roped off or reserved to be empty.  Either way, it felt safe and sanitized.

We sat in the relaxation area near the end of New France right past Trader Dave’s gift store, which was open for business.  Kids can even use the water area for the mining for gems bags they purchase at Trader Dave’s.  By this time it is now 2pm and we realize we should probably start to leave.  We stopped at Three Rivers Snacks again for an ICEE; Jonah gave me none, by the way.  So he sat there and finished most of his drink and offered a little of it to me

The line for Griffon was almost gone so we waited in line for about 10 minutes, but we got on before many of the people in front of us, I think they wanted to ride in the front row.  We had a lot of fun on the ride, it scared the mess out of me because I really am afraid of heights and falling, but I try to ignore it while I am riding.  The hesitation at the top and then the turns and dips were excellent.  If you can’t tell, this was also my first time riding Griffon.  I loved it.

With that, we left France and walked the path back to Scotland to see about getting back on Loch Ness Monster.  We got on back to back, the first time in row three and the second time in row one.  At this point it was nearing 3pm and we wanted to get out of the park before we had to fight for the exit or end up waiting for 15 minutes to just get out of the parking lot.  When we got to the parking lot was as if half of the people had already left.

 Sadly, there were no caramel apples which was one of the things I had my heart set on.  In all, I had one of the best times in a long time at a theme park.  We were not rushed at all and were able to get on multiple rides that we wanted to get on.  We felt safe from the virus due to the mandatory mask wearing and the hand sanitizer stations.  I noticed many people using them as they walked past them, including children.  The staff was friendly as always, and I truly look forward to coming back soon.

This event ends on August 30th, so you have to head over to Busch Gardens’ website and reserve your tickets.  Please read the Reservation FAQ if you have any questions about the reservation and event.  Comment below with your experience from the Coasters and Crafts event or any other question you may have.  Thank you.

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram

Two days ago, my husband Matthew says, “they have a slot in Zone 5 at Canterbury Woods from 2-3.” Are you confused? So was I! A slot for what? He reminds me that we wanted to see how swimming works in our community during the pandemic. Our county closed all of the public pools for the season; since our community pools were open we wanted to try it out.

Our Home Owners Association set a limit of 100 people per 1-hour time period. The pool is divided into 10 zones. Each zone is limited to the 10 people from one group/family. You must fill out a waiver that states that you may be exposed with communicable diseases and you fully accept the risks. You hold harmless the Association. You also have to declare you are healthy and, to ensure the safety of yourself and others, you haven’t been to or around any risky people/places in the last 14 days.

I was anxious about the waiver. What if someone lies, is asymptomatic, thinks it’s just allergies…

But we went. And it was glorious! Why? For the following reasons:

1. Reservations – you get to choose what time and what zone you wanted. This needs to be permanent in our Association.  Most people want the places where you would be able to sit against the wall. I was pleased that no one wanted the middle of the pool where our little could still touch the bottom and feel comfortable swimming. 
2. Limited to 100 people in the pool. Most families do not have 10 people in their family. So, 10 families with 4-6 people in the pool. At most it’s 60 people.  No random kid squirting water from their noodles, jumping in while you’re diving in or swimming next to you. Just your own weirdos that you brought with you.
3. Face Coverings Required in the pool house. You have to have a face covering when going through the restrooms to get to the pool. Use your towel if you forget. The goal is to slow the spread and help to keep people healthy as possible.
4. Constant cleaning and sanitizing. Every time there was a lifeguard rotation, there was another person in a mask sanitizing the lifeguard chair and area.
5. Limited to 1 hour. No need to argue with your 8-year-old who is part mermaid that we need to go home. No lingering around the deck. No lounging in the chairs. No break times every 45 mins.
6. Focusing on the family – We got to focus on the family group and not divided into friend groups. Our pool outings are usually connection with our friends that we catch up with at the pool.  Instead we were ‘forced’ to swim together. This was fun. There are no chairs, so I got in. We ALL played and swam with one another.
7. One way – you only go through the pool house to get to the pool – you leave through the gate. It’s less opportunity to be exposed to someone coming in or exposed by you coming out.
8. I enjoyed getting the exercise and playing with my kids. I didn’t realize how much I missed the pool. Our family is at the pool daily during the summer, it is so weird to not be swimming every day. A little bit of summer normalcy in an upside-down crazy time.

So, if you live in a community that has opened the pool with restrictions you should try it! You can get some exercise, go into the out, continue to bond with your family (or friends if you want to coordinate times), and still have time to relax at home where you’re comfy.

Thanks for reading!

<3 Tatana

Tatana Todd

Chief Education Officer of Todd Homeschool Academy, teacher, history lover, recovering news junkie and lover of politics and truth – which does not have to be an oxymoron. I love Jesus,  vacationing with my family, baking, reading cool children’s books, playing violin, and watching crime shows.

You can reach me on Facebook