Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens

[dthogue]

We (me, DH and DD's 20 and 14) will be going to Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens for 4 days in June - any money savings tips for us - where to stay, places to eat, things to do and see. Any tips on Busch Gardens/Water Country. Anyone use the meal plan at Bucsh Gardens? Is it worth the $27.99 pp???

 

[Sally]

Look at the Colonial Williamsburg website, they will sometimes run nice deals for hotel, and tickets. I love the meal passes, we split the meals. You can end up with a lot of food depending on food choices, it is usually too much food for us, and hubby is a big boy. We have season passes, and generally try to go up during the week to avoid the weekend crowd at BG. The refillable cup is great, refills are less than a dollar and water is free. Have a great time!

 

[cheerky]

We've stayed at the Historic Powhatan in two bedroom condo and Williamsburg Plantation, also a two bedroom condo. Both places were reasonably priced (same as a hotel room) and spacious, however, we encountered some little field mice in the unit at Williamsburg Plantation last fall. Apparently, field mice are a huge problem in Williamsburg during the fall months!!!

Our family likes to have the kitchen, living area, separate bedrooms and bathrooms when we travel. We eat breakfast in the condo, eat once in the park and have a late night snack/ cocktails when we get back to the condo. It helps cut down on the expensive park food.

There is a McDonalds and KFC right outside the entrance to BG. We did the meal plan at SeaWorld at Christmastime and were able to share... turned out to be a pretty good deal.

Local grocery stores and fast food restaurants may have coupons for discounts on tickets.

We've only been to Busch Garden during Howl-O-Scream in the fall but have found Saturdays to be the only really crowded day. Fridays and Sundays were even extremely enjoyable. The park is beautiful! Have a wonderful time!

 

[bdink921]

We're going to Williamsburg in June too!! Getting pretty excited about it -- one month to go! We're staying at Wyndham Kingsgate in a 3BR condo with my nephew's family. We booked through Ken Price at vacationupgrades.com. We thought the price was pretty good, the resort looks nice. We like the idea of a condo to save on food as this is a budget vacation. We did price out a few hotels (Comfort Inn, Quality Inn) with breakfast included that got good reviews on trip advisor and were pretty reasonable. We're getting our bounce passes online -- good for 1 week admission to Colonial Williamsburg, BG, and Water Country with parking included for about $100pp. On the Busch Gardens site there is an option for a combo ticket for BG and WC but I don't recall the price. Trip advisor has a Williamsburg forum that I got alot of info from to help with the planning, it just wasn't as fun as planning our WDW trips though .

 

[got2sammies]

Howdy!
If you are going to visit Colonial Williamsburg and BG then you can get a 7 day pass for unlimited access to BG, Colonial williamsburg and Water Country for $103.60 if you purchase it online (this includes parking I BELIEVE). A regular one day ticket alone to Busch Gardens is $67....parking alone is $15
The 27.99 meal ticket is for lunch(must be redeemed before 4) and dinner (after 4pm)that includes a refillable cup (refills are .99) that is usually $8-10 purchase seperate. Its a great deal but if you are not doing two meals at the park there are some for $13-17 for one meal that includes entree two sides (a side could be a dessert) and a drink (not a refillable mug)... I normally get this and me and ds split that one but we are annual pass holders and dont spend all day at the park. It is cheaper to buy any meal plan online before you go....

 

[trinchick]

We're visiting Williamsburg in August. We'll be getting the bounce pass as described by the previous poster that combines BG, CW, and WC. It does include parking, which makes this a great deal. With our kids' ages (7 and 1), I think it will be good to do a bunch of half days instead of slogging through the heat.

We're staying at the Wyndham Patriots Place in a 1BR condo. We got it for $369 for the whole week through www.getravelop.com since DH is a state employee. You can use the site if you know any public employees (including teachers, police, etc.) and they have some great deals. I wish we could have got a 2BR condo but there weren't any available and for the price we're paying, we can suffer in the 1BR. It's still roomier than a hotel!

Have a great trip.

 

[ban26ana]

We're also going for 8 days in June. We have season passes to all Annheuser-Busch parks, so the park tickets and parking are "free" to us. We've done the meal deal before, and it's a LOT of food. Well, dh can eat anything. But I could split my meal with my 2 kids and still be fine.

I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but I figured I'd throw it out there. If you're a first responder and buy your Colonial Williamsburg tickets before June 10, you get an annual pass for the price of one day. That's what we're doing so we can go back on non-consecutive days if we want. Here is the info for that.

 

[kirstenb1]

We have season passes, and have never purchased the meal plan; probably never will. If I were staying in Williamsburg, I'd probably pack some breakfast bars for everyone, and eat them on the way to BG. Then, I'd buy lunch there, but the portions are big, and we get the refillable drink cup, which is huge. Usually lunch is pretty filling, so we'd do a light dinner if we were still at the parks. I can't imagine us buying 27.99 of food each. Our kids are light eaters, and in the heat, my appetite drops off. Of course, if you're feeding teenagers, maybe you'd be money ahead.

 

[itsdisneytime]

being from the area I always just drive the 30 min it takes to get there but i will say that there are outlet malls in williamsburg that are oh so much fun to shop around one day and if you venture towards that area which is only a stones throw away from bg ... and you find yourself hungry ... make sure to stop at the ASTRONOMICAL PANCAKE SHOP. I literally wish the waiter had explained to me why the shop was called ASTRONOMICAL PANCAKE SHOP to begin with .... after we all ordered and the food came, I truly saw why. Pancakes are HUGE and when I say HUGE i mean HUGE . I am a big big big eater and I couldnt even begin to think about finishing even half of my food. I am one of those folks who are like "share a meal? I DONT THINK SO ..." But here, i will say, you are foolish if you dont.
I always eat in Italy or in Germany at the festhaus. I dont get the meal plan because i rarely eat 2 meals there .. but since you plan on staying all day it would definitley be worth getting the meal plan as those places inside bg typically going to run you 10-15 per person depending on how you like to eat. I do not like burgers and fries so my food tends to be more like deli sandwiches and salads which of course cost more lol

 

[hereyago]

I live 30 minutes away as well and we don't use the meal plan, because we don't want to eat any thing heavy and then try to walk around-some areas are quite the work out,lol.

However, I would either share if on the plan, or even bring a cooler=perhaps a collapisble cooler and go to the grocery store and get stuff to make lunches with at least. There is a picnic area in one of the main parking lots, I have also seen people whip out a blanket in the parking lot on the grass in the shade and picnic there as well.

Couldn't tell you about CW as I have never gone actually had no desire to go. I preferred Jamestown or small part of Yorktown.

Where to stay? Find a place that serves complimentary breakfast as another poster said. Or get a timeshare(I used to work at Kingsgate a few years ago, but don't know how well it's cleaning is now)

And lastly: Have a great time !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Irishgrl]

We're visiting Williamsburg in August. We'll be getting the bounce pass as described by the previous poster that combines BG, CW, and WC. It does include parking, which makes this a great deal. With our kids' ages (7 and 1), I think it will be good to do a bunch of half days instead of slogging through the heat.

We're staying at the Wyndham Patriots Place in a 1BR condo. We got it for $369 for the whole week through www.getravelop.com since DH is a state employee. You can use the site if you know any public employees (including teachers, police, etc.) and they have some great deals. I wish we could have got a 2BR condo but there weren't any available and for the price we're paying, we can suffer in the 1BR. It's still roomier than a hotel!

Have a great trip.

Thank you for this site.... This is awesome!!!

 

[disneybirds]

We went to Williamsburg/Busch Gardens for Spring Break. We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo at Kingsgate Resort. We did buy the 7 day pass to Williamsburg/Busch Gardens online and received free parking. There are plenty of restaurants as well as grocery stores.

 

[mom2rose&john]

We've stayed at the Historic Powhatan in two bedroom condo and Williamsburg Plantation, also a two bedroom condo. Both places were reasonably priced (same as a hotel room) and spacious, however, we encountered some little field mice in the unit at Williamsburg Plantation last fall. Apparently, field mice are a huge problem in Williamsburg during the fall months!!!

Our family likes to have the kitchen, living area, separate bedrooms and bathrooms when we travel. We eat breakfast in the condo, eat once in the park and have a late night snack/ cocktails when we get back to the condo. It helps cut down on the expensive park food.

There is a McDonalds and KFC right outside the entrance to BG. We did the meal plan at SeaWorld at Christmastime and were able to share... turned out to be a pretty good deal.

Local grocery stores and fast food restaurants may have coupons for discounts on tickets.

We've only been to Busch Garden during Howl-O-Scream in the fall but have found Saturdays to be the only really crowded day. Fridays and Sundays were even extremely enjoyable. The park is beautiful! Have a wonderful time!

Yuck!! We are staying there starting Saturday. Did they compensate you for your unwanted guests? Was the unit otherwise clean??

 

[leahjade]

anyone have link for meal plan? Can't find it on website!

 

[hereyago]

anyone have link for meal plan? Can't find it on website!

Hope this helps:

http://seaworldparks.com/en/buschgardens-williamsburg/Book-Online/Dining-Experience

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We are going next week and staying at Wyndham Patriot's Place. We'll be doing breakfast in the room to save a little money, and we purchased the Bounce Tickets.

Has anyone done any of the Busch Gardens Williamsburg tours or animal encounters?

 

[hiwaygal]

My husband and I are season pass holders at BG and we usually buy the Platinum dining certificate. It's about $15 and it comes with an entree, two sides, and a drink - there is usually enough food for DH and I to share. The one that is $28 isn't worth it in our opinion (too much food).

If you guys like Chinese, I highly recommend this restaurant:

http://www.peking-va.com/Home.asp


If you want something REALLY good at CW (Merchants Square), try the Cheese Shop. Their sandwiches are a little pricey, but SOOOOOO worth it.

There are places within the historic district that DO NOT require a ticket. You may want to review the ticket options so that you aren't paying too much and not making the most of your visit. You can walk the historic area and go into any store (actually selling goods) without a ticket. If you want to see any of the trades or homes, you will need a ticket. You might want to do some research and purchase your tickets online (it appears to be cheaper that way).

If you get a chance, you might want to visit the Pottery too: http://www.williamsburgpottery.com/

 

[hereyago]

We are going next week and staying at Wyndham Patriot's Place. We'll be doing breakfast in the room to save a little money, and we purchased the Bounce Tickets.

Has anyone done any of the Busch Gardens Williamsburg tours or animal encounters?

dd13 and I did the Wolf Training Up Close tour a couple years ago, we enjoyed it. Except people kept coming in wanting to see the wolves to thinking it was wolf "time". There was a photographer there to take pictures of you tossing food from a platform to the wolves,etc. But I also took my own picture of dd doing it.

 

[Irishgrl]

My husband and I are season pass holders at BG and we usually buy the Platinum dining certificate. It's about $15 and it comes with an entree, two sides, and a drink - there is usually enough food for DH and I to share. The one that is $28 isn't worth it in our opinion (too much food).

If you guys like Chinese, I highly recommend this restaurant:

http://www.peking-va.com/Home.asp


If you want something REALLY good at CW (Merchants Square), try the Cheese Shop. Their sandwiches are a little pricey, but SOOOOOO worth it.

There are places within the historic district that DO NOT require a ticket. You may want to review the ticket options so that you aren't paying too much and not making the most of your visit. You can walk the historic area and go into any store (actually selling goods) without a ticket. If you want to see any of the trades or homes, you will need a ticket. You might want to do some research and purchase your tickets online (it appears to be cheaper that way).

If you get a chance, you might want to visit the Pottery too: http://www.williamsburgpottery.com/

Does that mean only 1 of you have to take the meal plan and you can share it? Is it good for all the restaurants in BG.

 

[leahjade]

If I"m reading this right, for the dining plan, can you get anything to eat at any restaurant at Busch Gardens except ribs?