Budget tips, for Colonial Willaimsburg/Bush gardens

[stahshee]

I made my reservation at the governors inn. I got it for 66 per night. Free breakfast

I also get 25% off the evening tickets.. I plan to do at least 3 events.. so that will help my budget

 

[snoopybabe]

i'm currently booked at the Best Western wondering if i should switch to governors inn - it looks like a really nice outdoor pool!

anyone stay at both? which did u like better? both have continental bkfast - i think the BW has an indoor pool - i do like outdoors better myself...

You may want to call 1-800- History. I know in the past Colonial Williamsburg used to let guests have free admission to the historic area while staying at one of their hotels. Governor's Inn is one of their hotels. It may be worth a toll free call. Good luck!

 

[DVCmom1960]

We really enjoy BG No its not WDW but the older kids will enjoy Griffen! We got the season passes and got free parking and a percentage off purchases. FYI the BG "fastpass" was an extra 20.00 per person In answer to your hotel question we enjoyed Country Inns & Suites I think a suite was about 100.00 a nite but had a fridge microwave bath & a half and a decent free breakfast. Williamsburg is WONDERFULL (and has some fun "ghost" tours for those interested.) For a more expensive but Fantastic experience you can rent one of the older homes on Wmsburg property. We did that for a couple of nights it was unforgettable. That gave us access to all tours etc.(& the Tavern food is great if a bit pricey, think Epcot) IMO it makes up for missing 'The World' btw Charlottesville is not too many hours away & home to Monticello. And some pretty fair vineyards. Overall not a bad family trip. BTW we saved up gift cards for local restraunts by purchasing at home one or two a week in advance, that took some of the sting out of the food budget.

 

[stahshee]

ohhh great tips

 

[RangerPooh]

How far is all this from Washington DC????

We live south of DC and it took us about 2.5 hours to get to Williamsburg last weekend. We drove south through Waldorf and La Plata, and crossed the bridge into VA.

We visited Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown Fort last weekend and stayed at Country Inn and Suites (Williamsburg Historic Area) and had a rate of $65/night, off season but MLK holiday weekend. The rooms were nice, the breakfast buffet disapointing. The hotel was about 2 miles away from CW and about 10 miles from Jamestown Fort.

Since it was the off season not all of the historic "museums" were open, but you do need to purchase the pass to visit the building interiors. People who entered withut passes were asked to leave as it is a ticketed event. While it was a neat experience for us (being originally west coasters and having wanted to visit for quite some time) but our girls are young and were restless. Oh, DH and I also did the Ghosts Among Us tour $12 and thought that it was just ok. We were expecting more "ghost stories" of the town, so if we return we'll try a different tour.

Jamestown was neat to tour, and we wish thatw e had more time and that it was not downpouring. Difinately worth the trip!

 

[disney4us2002]

RangerPooh, you must be very close to me (Calvert Co). Did you like Country Inn, other than the bkft buffet? I'm still trying to decide if I want to stay in a suite or just pay more and go for the 2 bedroom condos that aren't all that much higher and give a full kitchen.

BTW, I'm impressed that you felt up to a trip at 36 wks pg!! LOL

 

[lisaross]

i changed my rservation to the Govenors inn - like having an outdoor pool.. We'll be going in July!

I also get 25% off the evening tickets.. I plan to do at least 3 events.. so that will help my budget

 

[Jajone]

OK, I've been bummed the last few days because budget wise and other reasons, it didn't look like I could pull together a trip the family would like. We were planning on cruising in October for our 15th anniv with the family, but the ship we wanted is having problems and I am afraid to book it. We don't want to do Disney because we just returned and will be going soon after October. I pulled up this thread and am amazed. We have wanted to take this kind of trip for a while, but wanted the kids old enough to appreciate at least some of it. So, I am now considering this option, but have a few questions first.
1. My kids are 4, 9, and 11, will they enjoy it? (as in are there kid focused activities and what are they)?

2. Are the attractions only open seasonally or will I be able to see everything end of October?

3. Is the weather then warm enough to go to Water Country?

4. Someone mentioned a governor's ball. I have looked all over the CW website and can not find that info, can someone give me a link to that info?

Thanks for any info you can give a newbie. If you have more detialed info, I'd be glad to receive a pm too

 

[stahshee]

OK, I've been bummed the last few days because budget wise and other reasons, it didn't look like I could pull together a trip the family would like. We were planning on cruising in October for our 15th anniv with the family, but the ship we wanted is having problems and I am afraid to book it. We don't want to do Disney because we just returned and will be going soon after October. I pulled up this thread and am amazed. We have wanted to take this kind of trip for a while, but wanted the kids old enough to appreciate at least some of it. So, I am now considering this option, but have a few questions first.
1. My kids are 4, 9, and 11, will they enjoy it? (as in are there kid focused activities and what are they)?

2. Are the attractions only open seasonally or will I be able to see everything end of October?

3. Is the weather then warm enough to go to Water Country?

4. Someone mentioned a governor's ball. I have looked all over the CW website and can not find that info, can someone give me a link to that info?

Thanks for any info you can give a newbie. If you have more detialed info, I'd be glad to receive a pm too

I also would love to hear about tha BALL

 

[TheLittleRoo]

We got annual passes to BG/WC for a couple of years. Last year, we did King's Dominion - never again! I love roller coasters, but didn't like that much about KD, other than it's an hour shorter drive for me from my home.

I *loved* BG! The park is absolutely as beautiful as a WDW park, imo. Springtime is drop dead gorgeous and it's very easy to get into the park's European theming. It's very clean and family friendly. Food is pricey (more so than even Disney's CS food). FYI, the "fast pass" they sell for $20 is only good for one ride per participating attraction, so it's kind of worth it, but not necessary if you plan your itinerary well. Griffen has a single rider line. Use it and save up to 45 minutes off your wait. Any time there's a single rider line, we hop in them to save big chunks of time.

Water Country - now THERE'S a water park! Beautiful, shady, big! So many rides, we didn't even get to ride them all in two days (we should have maximized our time to spend more days here with AP's!) Be sure to ride the sled ride where you go almost straight down on a little boogie board-sled. I'm a grown woman and that ride scared me!!

We stayed all over in Wmsburg.. I think our favorite was one of two Comfort Suites. We needed the sofa bed for our teen son, and two queens for the rest of us (2A,3C). The hotels were nicely remodeled and we never had any issues.

Don't miss the Yankee Candle outlet. Santa is there all year long and it snows inside too! We bought our Elf on the Shelf here - - Santa handed him over to my kids himself! They were bug-eyed! They also have a scavenger hunt in the YC store, and kids get a prize for finding all the answers to their questions on the hunt.

Have a great time - it's the next best thing to a WDW vacation!

 

[disney4us2002]

If your kids enjoy educational stuff then they will enjoy CW. Mine want no part of learning on a vacation, lol. I don't know about the ball either but we did several of the nighttime shows, one was in a theater and had live acts, magicians, comedians - I can't remember the name but it was worth every penny. We also did the ghost walking tour and that was pretty cool.

I didn't specifically look at the Water Country hours but I'm pretty sure they will be closed by at least mid-September so no go on late Oct. It stays nice in Virginia in October but not swimming nice. I think BG may only be open weekends in Oct but again I didn't specifically look at the hours.

 

[RangerPooh]

RangerPooh, you must be very close to me (Calvert Co). Did you like Country Inn, other than the bkft buffet? I'm still trying to decide if I want to stay in a suite or just pay more and go for the 2 bedroom condos that aren't all that much higher and give a full kitchen.

BTW, I'm impressed that you felt up to a trip at 36 wks pg!! LOL

We're in Waldorf, so just down the highway. The hotel was very clean, the beds comfy, no issues at all. The tv wasn't new but that didn't bother us, as some reviewers on Trip Advisor copmplained about it. It was a quiet location that appeared to be safe. There is an indoor pool but we didn't use it. When booking the rooms online I forgot to request connecting rooms, and none were available when we checked in. They did get us rooms next to each other. So for $151 I got 2 standard queen sized rooms for the night. ot a bad deal in my book.

As for food nearby I can't recall what there was or wasn't as we odered pizza delivery, they had a few menus at registration. I can tell you that there was a 7-11 on each side of the hotel, lol.

As for the trip, I told my husband that I had one last 3 day weekend before the baby comes and I wasn't going to waste it

 

[DawnM]

Subbing. We will be doing Williamsburg and D.C. in mid-May for a week. Will BG be open in May?

Also, can you purchase the bounce tickets online? Does anyone have a link?

We are really looking forward to it.

Dawn

 

[marcyinPA]

Subbing. We will be doing Williamsburg and D.C. in mid-May for a week. Will BG be open in May?

Also, can you purchase the bounce tickets online? Does anyone have a link?

We are really looking forward to it.

Dawn

http://commerce.4adventure.com/ESto...Gardens Williamsburg&__utmv=-&__utmk=21255611

The one I'm looking at for our trip in June is the third one down....The BG/CW bounce pass....

 

[disney4us2002]

Subbing. We will be doing Williamsburg and D.C. in mid-May for a week. Will BG be open in May?

Also, can you purchase the bounce tickets online? Does anyone have a link?

We are really looking forward to it.

Dawn

Looks like only weekends until after Memorial Day.

http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw/Plan/Calendar.aspx

 

[dpratt68]

We stayed at an Embassy Suites. It was about a 5-10 minute drive to BG and less to Colonial Williamsburg. I love Embassy because you get a wonderful cook to order breakfast and a Managers reception with free drinks (yes alcohol) and munchies in the evening. Have fun!

 

[DawnM]

Thanks.

I am clicking on "rides" for BG and see only 11 rides pop up and many of them my kids aren't even tall enough to go on.

Is it worth it?

We could only go the 2 days they are open as they are closed most or our visit.

What do you think?

Dawn

Looks like only weekends until after Memorial Day.

http://www.buschgardens.com/bgw/Plan/Calendar.aspx

 

[melk]

Few questions, we are considering this for either the third week in June or the last week in August. Would you recommend one week being better than the other for any reasons? I am guessing the weather would be similar, how about crowds?

Any info you could give would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[quentina]

On the busch gardens website, there was a great deal-a seven day pass to CW,Water Country and BG for a reasonable sum. we got that and used it all the time; it came with free parking. you may wish to book a condo (there are a lot of them in the Williamsburg area, very reasonably-priced) and just self-cater your meals; otherwise, there are a lot of family-friendly restaurants in that area. We had a fabulous time there.

Can you guide me to where you find the condo rentals for rent? WHen I google them, all I find is the timeshare deals. Since I already own DVC, I don't want to waste any sale persons time.

 

[disney4us2002]

We're looking to stay at Kingsgate and there is nothing indicating that we need to sit thru any salespitch. We stayed at Powhatan Resort a few years ago and there was no salespitch there either.