No Truth In Advertising

Thanks to winning free tickets by signing up as a designated driver during a Nationals game earlier this season, I went to Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, Virginia over the weekend. I know that I shouldn’t complain since I received two tickets at $55 each for free, but why do amusement parks, in this case Busch Gardens, charge $10 for parking? It’s not like you can take public transportation to the park; you have to drive there. A family of four is going to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, food and merchandise, so why the need for the parks to take even more money for parking?

Anyway, while I enjoyed the weekend, I have a little problem with the park’s name, Busch Gardens Europe. The park itself has several different sections: England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Italy. Last time I checked, Europe has a lot more countries than those represented at the park. So why not an area for Spain, Portugal, Poland, Denmark, Greece or The Netherlands? At a minimum, Busch Gardens could name different sections of the parking lot after the various countries. For example, I parked in Italy 38 (or Italy Tim Worley, so that I could remember it). Well, there’s already a section inside for Italy. Therefore, why not Slovenia 38? Maybe they could name a Dippin’ Dots stand for smaller countries like Monaco and Liechtenstein. The Budweiser Clydesdales seem like neutral horses, so they could be Switzerland. The possibilities are endless!

I guess I should just be happy that I didn’t need to convert my dollars to euros since I don’t think the exchange rate is very good.