Who Knew We Were Virginians?

[howlongtildisney]

I am loving your report! I grew up near Wiliamsburg and my grandparents lived in Ford's Colony for about 20 years. (Although not in one of those huge houses!) It's fun to see my hometown through a visitor's eyes.

 

[jenseib]

This looks like such a beautiful resort. I particularly love the photos of the outdoor pool in the mist. Graham can attest to how difficult taking a photo of cardinals is. They seem to sit all pretty until you have focused the camera on them and then they disappear deeper into the tree or fly off.

Corinna

I swear they would watch me come and as soon as I need one more stop to capture the picture they would fly off. They probably laughed at me all week.

I am loving your report! I grew up near Wiliamsburg and my grandparents lived in Ford's Colony for about 20 years. (Although not in one of those huge houses!) It's fun to see my hometown through a visitor's eyes.

Interesting. And what a small world. it was such a neat area. Living in the flat part of Ohio I did love how pretty Virginia is.

 

[mom2rtk]

I really love the grounds. Just gorgeous.

And I love this shot. The backlighting is great.

 

[jenseib]

I really love the grounds. Just gorgeous.

And I love this shot. The backlighting is great.

I thought it was pretty cool too. I wish I could've gotten the bird in a better focus/range.

 

[francis6306]

I've been reading this on and off all week. I'm caught up now!

I can't believe your dad! He was in some deep denial! Oh well, he got there!!

Your pictures are great, as always!

 

[jenseib]

I've been reading this on and off all week. I'm caught up now!

I can't believe your dad! He was in some deep denial! Oh well, he got there!!

Your pictures are great, as always!

Yep!

Thanks

 

[jenseib]

Another Cardinal spotted!



I walked around the back side of the main building and this was on the other side. I am not sure why they had this fence up. It only went for a short distance and didn’t keep anything in or out. You could easily walk around it. My only guess was they were doing some sort of work here and this would keep people from walking right through here.



Another grilling spot.



They had bikes to rent too.



Back around to the front. On the left where it has a gatehouse looking thing was where the pool was.



I went inside to take a bathroom break and these were in there. Amanda loves butterflies.



I don’t think I ever took pictures of the lobby or the little store that also had fast food service as well. It was always just too quiet and I felt like I was being watched. Usually that doesn’t bother me, but I guess this place just seemed different than where I normally stay.

Back outside.









And here is Dad’s gated community. This was the side we were on. He was on the other side of the building trying to get out.





Look. Another Disney Lover is here too!





I worked my way over across the road and found the other part of the Marriott.



These buildings didn’t look as nice. But they did have more activities over on that side. A very easy walk from anywhere at the resort though.



Smoking and Tennis go hand in hand, right?



I found another pool, but this one was not filled yet. It did have a neat pool house attached to it and it looked like in summer months they may host events here for the resort guests.



I then put the camera down and wandered a little more and then headed back to the room to get ready for the day.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That resort is huge. Strange thing about the fence.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

That resort is huge. Strange thing about the fence.

Corinna

It was pretty big, but very walkable around the place too. Very peaceful there.

 

[jenseib]

Once I got back to our room I showered and got ready for the day. The family was NOT moving and I had to get persistent. This was our only chance to go to the park, as they were only open on weekends during our trip. I told them I wanted to arrive early and stay late. That had a lot of grumbles. It got to the point that I was going to leave without them.
As they got ready, Claire and I headed back to the main building and got a local map of the area just in case we needed it. I then gave it to my parents. I should’ve grabbed 2. I guess I wasn’t thinking.

We took both the rental car and Dads truck. My parents are famous for not staying in a park long and my sister is the same way. I never get that and even as a kid we always arrived to parks late and left early. That’s probably why I am one who wants to get there early and stay late now. I always felt we missed so much back in those days, but being a kid I had no control over it.

We finally headed towards Busch Gardens and my parents followed in the truck. We parked and had to ride a tram over to the park.
I believe we arrived around 11 or so and by 11:20 we saw this.



Now we had to buy Dad a ticket since he was a last minute add on. I had a voucher for 2 free tickets as well. My voucher said to pick them up at any ticket window.



It was pretty busy and we got in line. I asked if this is where I picked up the tickets and was told yes. I was then directed towards a side area that had more windows open with a lessor wait. Ok, that sounds good. UM…. not true! The wait was really long. Somewhere along the line we lost the rest of the family as well. We waited and waited and the sun was beaming down on us. Finally they had a few people come out with portable computers to sell tickets. I got one of those people. I told her I had a voucher and I wasn’t sure if I would need to go to a window or not. Nope, I needed to go to Guest Service. UGH! But she was sympathetic and said since I waited so long already she would walk me over and just go in herself and get my tickets.

We walked over and I waited outside. I am glad she was doing this because the line there was long also.





After a bit, she came out with a guy. They said they found 3 tickets connected to my name. She read the names and one was for Amanda and one was for Claire and the 3rd was no one we knew, but had the same last name as me. I told her the first 2 were ours, but I bought and paid for those tickets. I just needed the other 2 that went with the voucher, which never required a name.
OK then. They went back in and again were in there for quite a while.





Mom called and wondered where we were and what was taking so long. I told her and they told me where they were sitting so we could find them.

I continued to take pictures as we waited.





The Team Member finally came out again. She said that my voucher just wouldn’t scan so they were just going to give me 2 courtesy tickets for the day and also 2 snack vouchers since I had to wait so long. That was so nice of her.
She also noticed us admiring the flowers. She said they had all bloomed over the past week because last weekend they weren’t there. I was happy to see we chose the right weekend to come. All the colors were so cheerful.

We then headed off and found Mom and Dad and Amanda. We set forth into the park then.



Of course a little Miss someone had to use the restroom so we looked for one immediately.





We were also getting hungry already. I am one who needs to eat more in the morning or I start getting headaches …and some might say not very pleasant as well. My Mom swears I am hypoglycemic, and she might be right.
We saw many snack places, but we thought we would find a real meal instead.
After our bathroom break we headed further into the park to see what we may find.





I immediately spotted the Clydesdales.



I have always loved the Clydesdales. Back when we used to have a Sea World in Ohio, that was a highlight to see there and though they really don’t do anything special, it’s neat to see them.

Claire was only interested in the stuffed Clydesdales, and I told her she could get one with her money, but not till we were ready to leave.

We headed further into the park.







Busch is known for its rollercoasters.



Sadly about 10-15 years ago, my brain and body had a secret meeting. They discussed it and decided it was in my best interest to no longer ride big rollercoasters. They now work together to remind me of that fact. Or perhaps it’s old age? Or common sense? Anyways, I now seem to have major issues with heights, something that didn’t bother me for years. And after riding a coaster, but my body lets me know about it for days, sometimes weeks after. Sometimes a Dr. visit is even involved.
So you will see lots of pictures of coasters, but you will not get any reviews of them from this family. I was the bravest of them all, so if I’m not riding, no one else is riding.

 

[Caretames1]

Beautiful pictures of the ground! I love sun rays, fog and steam coming off pools, it gives pictures some life.

I'm an early riser! We'd travel well together!

My body and mind had that same conversation just after I had Sammy, so I avoid rollercoaster at all costs, unless I'm pumped full of dramimine and my child gives me the puppy eyes!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Jen, thanks for the walking tour of the hotel grounds. They are so beautiful. We have so many cardinals in our yard right now. As a matter of fact, we have lots of birds in general. I think that they are all waiting until my sunflowers drop their seeds.

Oh wow! There's no way that you'd get me up on those coasters. Scary!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Whoa…
That was an arduous journey just to get into the park. It’s unfortunate that the electronic transactions that are supposed to make things easier will at times translate into headaches once you arrive at the destination. BG did at least work to fix he problem and that a plus in their column.

But it looks like things improved considerable once y’all got through the gates. When we were here last summer the boys hit every coaster possible about five or six times. There are some really good ones in Williamsburg. The kid’s favorite was The Griffon (that’s that one that dives straight down on the first hill).

Also may I say that you take very fine photographs. There are some gorgeous shots in that update and throughout the whole TR for that matter. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

 

[jenseib]

Beautiful pictures of the ground! I love sun rays, fog and steam coming off pools, it gives pictures some life.

I'm an early riser! We'd travel well together!

My body and mind had that same conversation just after I had Sammy, so I avoid rollercoaster at all costs, unless I'm pumped full of dramimine and my child gives me the puppy eyes!

It was pretty and what madei t better was getting away from colder weather.
Even puppy eyes won't get on those big things anymore.

Jen, thanks for the walking tour of the hotel grounds. They are so beautiful. We have so many cardinals in our yard right now. As a matter of fact, we have lots of birds in general. I think that they are all waiting until my sunflowers drop their seeds.

Oh wow! There's no way that you'd get me up on those coasters. Scary!

I used to grow sunflowers too and boy did the birds come then.
These are big coasters, but Cedar Point which isn't too far from us has more and bigger ones.

Whoa…
That was an arduous journey just to get into the park. It’s unfortunate that the electronic transactions that are supposed to make things easier will at times translate into headaches once you arrive at the destination. BG did at least work to fix he problem and that a plus in their column.

But it looks like things improved considerable once y’all got through the gates. When we were here last summer the boys hit every coaster possible about five or six times. There are some really good ones in Williamsburg. The kid’s favorite was The Griffon (that’s that one that dives straight down on the first hill).

Also may I say that you take very fine photographs. There are some gorgeous shots in that update and throughout the whole TR for that matter. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

The one that drives straight down? Would that be all of them?
I do love taking pictures and it was fun to be taking something totally new for me.

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a pain about the tickets. I am glad that they managed to sort it in the end. Those coasters look seriously scary. My limit are the likes of Big Thunder Mountain and on a good day Space Mountain. I can't even do Expedition Everest.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

What a pain about the tickets. I am glad that they managed to sort it in the end. Those coasters look seriously scary. My limit are the likes of Big Thunder Mountain and on a good day Space Mountain. I can't even do Expedition Everest.

Corinna

Yeah, those coasters at Busch are not even in the same league as Disneys. LOL

 

[jenseib]

From where we were standing, there were like 2 or 3 maybe even 4 rollercoasters intertwining and I really couldn’t tell you what was what. We just watched for a while in awe…but none of us had the single urge to ride one.





We decided to head over to the boat dock and take the little boat ride. Yes, that’s how we start our wild time at Busch Gardens.





We just missed a boat, so we had to wait for it to come back. This was not my idea of fun, but I was out-voted. Amanda went off to sit in the shade till the boat came back.



The boat names made me think of Disney.



As you can see, this park is not flat at all. Be prepared for a day of hiking here.



We finally got on and I took pictures from the boat.








After we passed the bridge you could get up and walk around. Claire did, but I just sat. She kept trying to get me to walk around, but the boat wasn’t THAT big and I was find just where I was. LOL







We floated out to where this rollercoaster was and then turned around.



That’s it? Not much of a boat ride. Now yes it’s relaxing and a little get away from the park, but there is really nothing interesting to see except the woods and the few coasters we passed.







Someone spotted a family of turtles near the shore. That was the highlight of the ride.









Soon our ride came to an end and we headed off to find lunch once again. I was now getting on the edge.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm an early riser! We'd travel well together!

Don't forget me! I'd fit right in too!



Jen, those are some crazy big coasters. I love coasters, but I haven't ever done any of the really big ones. I love all the ones at Disney, but that's probably my limit.

Are they all really intertwined, or did it just look that way in the photos?

 

[Caretames1]

Don't forget me! I'd fit right in too!
?

I wouldn't forget you! I'm thinking us 3 ( ok, 6 with the girls) would cut quite a path through Disney, leaving those behind us wondering what just happened. LOL

I'll be honest, you couldn't get me on those coasters for all the puppy eyes in the world! I though EE was tough, I'm feeling sick just looking at those twisty things!

 

[mtpelepele]

Joining in! I live 15 minutes from Williamsburg, so it's kind of fun seeing the area from someone else's point of view!

You should have gone in Yankee Candle. It's a pretty cool place!