Colonial Williamsburg?

[huskies90]

we were all VERY disappointed in Colonial Williamsburg. Don't get me wrong...the area is beautiful and it is very nice to walk around. What we didn't like was that we paid for the tickets to CW expecting to be able to go in all the buildings and see a lot. What we found was that a lot of the buildings were closed on certain days and open on others so they are not all open at the same time. Many of the ones we went in had no one in them to show you things which I found very strange.

The costumed interpreters who were outside the open buildings did nothing to encourage people to enter....they were merely checking to make sure you had your little badge on that showed you bought tickets or were talking to their co-workers and not engaging you at all. The only places you were encouraged to enter were the gift shops where they were selling stuff.

I live right near Old Sturbridge Village here in MA and have to say that they seem to do a much better job. It is also a living history museum and they really do try to "live" the history. They have people getting the fields ready for planting, making baskets, mending shoes, teaching kids in the schoolhouse, baking bread, etc.. CW....from what we saw the day we were there was sorely lacking in this. This was what we were expecting to see and didn't see any of it with the exception of one lady talking about wigs in the wig shop and then in the middle of her presentation she gets up and leaves because it was her break!

We did the CW and DC last 4th of July. I agree with your CW comments. It was disappointing and so hot you could not even walk around. There was one story they kept telling over and over but honestly it was not all that authentic and there was alot of bad acting. Sturbridge is much much more authentic. I mean, the buildings in CW were air conditioned!! Really?? in the "working" farm section, the young costumed girls were getting water from the well when we looked into the well, we saw a pipe with water gushing out. What is that? I asked. Oh, we have city water here. OK...

We got the CW, BG, WC combo pack and I think we lasted a half day at CW before heading back to BG and WC - Both excellent parks. I went to WDW, DLR, Six Flags, Hershey Park and BG last year and I have to say Griffon was my favorite coaster at all the parks. But there are tons of non coaster rides there and the park is beautiful. Water Country is a great water park we had fun there too.

We then headed to DC for the 4th and had a great time there. The fireworks were like going to a rock concert. It was great. I would go back but I would skip CW next time.

 

[estherhead]

Well, I know all people are different. But we went in August last year and it was 106 degrees all week and had a GREAT time!

We did CW or BG in the mornings while it was coolest (a cool 95 degrees, lol) and then Water Country in the afternoons.

We tried one outside event and the girls (2 & 7 & 8) started crying because it was boring & hot (it was.) But all the shops were delightful and yes, air conditioned. We loved the actors. I thought they were very good & authentic. We made the girls homemade dresses in the colonial style before we left so they would understand what it truly felt like to be a colonial. And then bought them bonnets down there. They adored that.

We also did an evening program of dancing. LOVED that.

Water Country was great and I highly recommend it. And Busch Gardens was delightful too, even if you don't do roller coasters. We went to an Irish dancing show which was superb, had a bodhrain player and everything.

It was hot. 106. But I would do it again even in the weather.

Oh, we ended at the Smithsonian & D.C. but I can't talk that up as the 8 year old caught a bug and felt TERRIBLE so a lot of that part was me taking care of her. But I've been there before and love it so I'm sure everything was still great. I did do the Arlington Cemetary for the first time and enjoyed that but we did cut it a bit short because of the heat. Just hit the highlights & didn't linger at all.

 

[Safari Queen]

We just got back from Williamsburg. Busch Gardens was beautiful and we had a great time without any roller coasters. There are many, many kid-friendly and family programs in the historic area. Get the week's schedule and plan out your days so everyone can see what they like. In the evening there are witch and pirate tours, live performances at the theater, and other tours. There's also a cinema called Movie Tavern where you can watch a film and have lunch or dinner at the same time. They even have a pancake breakfast on Saturday. We had a wonderful week.

 

[DOOM1001]

Unfortunately last year was the last year for the big bad wolf, so sad I really like that ride. Busch Gardens still has some really cool shows and a few more tame rides Corkscrew Hill(one like Star Tours) then Dark Castle (one that is in a building has a lot of spinning but not a rollercoaster).

Last year was Corkscrew Hill's last year,this year they are debuting "Europe in the Air" which is basically Soarin with a Europe theme using the same simulator theaters from Corkscrew Hill.The Irish Dance show is also new replacing Emerald Beat and is now called Celtic Fyre.These are just two of the non rollercoaster attractions in this park,along with several different shows,animal attractions and just the park itself,this park has been named the most beautiful park year after year,so trust me even without the coasters this is a great park.I'm down in South Florida with the Orlando parks closer to me and I always tell myself how I wish this park was as close as it's one of my top 3 parks out there.

 

[PA Princess]

Well, I know all people are different. But we went in August last year and it was 106 degrees all week and had a GREAT time!

We did CW or BG in the mornings while it was coolest (a cool 95 degrees, lol) and then Water Country in the afternoons.

Interesting...you really found you were able to bounce between places like this? This is similar to how we do Disney in the summer, but I had not thought to try this in Williamsburg. I will have to give it some thought!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We'll be going for homeschool days in september. Due to the very nature of why we are going, I won't be doing Busch Gardens at that time...or at least I don't plan to. They did just open a Sesame Street play area for the kiddos. So maybe.

For now we are booked at the Marriot Ford's colony. Some how, my DH got a $99 rate. It's a bit further out than I would have liked (a mere 3 miles--so not exactly far). But given the questionalble pro- and con- opinions of the closer establishments, we snatched that rate while we could.


My kids will be 10, 7 (almost 8), 3 and my infant due in a couple of weeks.

I have been wanting to take our future children since DH and my first anniversary trip to Williamsburg. I love living history--and to me, it just seems a wonderful place to take children. Since we are going during homeschool days, programs will be specficially geared towards students (both young and old). That, and we get a nice discount on tickets.

I have done tons of field trips in the past and my kids love to explore and look at things. I do have to balance it with some fun--and not make it 8 hours of continuous history for example. I'm hoping that at least for homeschool days that there are hands on opportunities. I had taken them to Fort Christmas during this recent school year (it's a historical area northeast of Orlando in Christmas Florida). It really cracks me up when my kids participate in washing clothes the old fashioned way and want to ditch our modern appliances at home. Yeah--fun to wash 1 doll dress..not an entire household of clothing for 5 (soon to be 6) people.

I'm not hesitating to take my children at all. We will have fun and enjoy it. I think our hotel has an indoor swimming pool--so at least if weather for my Florida babies is too chilly, they can still swim. That will be their "fun" if they find the historical areas too boring.

I do anticipate trying to do the costume rentals as my kiddos love dress up.

 

[estherhead]

Interesting...you really found you were able to bounce between places like this? This is similar to how we do Disney in the summer, but I had not thought to try this in Williamsburg. I will have to give it some thought!

Actually the lady who checked us in at Colonial Williamsburg was the one to tell us to do it. We bought Bounce tickets for the three places (CW, BG, WC) and she said it's the way she recommended.

We'll be going for homeschool days in september. Due to the very nature of why we are going, I won't be doing Busch Gardens at that time...or at least I don't plan to. They did just open a Sesame Street play area for the kiddos. So maybe.

We did do BG one morning (as opposed to only evenings/afternoons.) We went to the Sesame Street place first. We rode two rides & then all the characters came out & danced. We did the Hokey Pokey with Zoe, Abby Caddaby, and Elmo. And then right after that Big Bird, Ernie, and Bert came out to take photos with everyone. But we were the only ones in the park so we got them all to ourselves. It was totally cool. Not sure about educational Altho I guess it taught us our right from our left.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We've gone to the area a few times, and the kids just aren't interested in the Colonial part, so we allott time for it but end up skipping it every time. We've stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge before, but their rates have been really high lately. We went for Spring Break 2010 and I decided to just risk it and get a 3 Star on Hotwire, and we ended up with the Holiday Inn Express for $66/night. It was decent enough, and included a continental breakfast. We spent 2.5 days at Busch Gardens, and saw the Yankee Candle Factory for an hour or so on our way out. All 3 of my kids- the one that loves roller coasters, the one that only rides non-roller coaster rides, and the toddler, all had a blast. We got Platinum passes and will be going back this year, as well as to Water Country. Passholders also get discounts on everything in the park- merchandise, food, etc. and with our Premium passes we got free Platinum parking, which was nice.

In the Irish section, there is a castle, and you can book character meals with Elmo. This was a big highlight of our trip. We dined with Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar (stays on the stage in his can), Bert, Ernie, and Cookie monster. The buffet was pretty decent for theme park food.

 

[beccasmom]

We love Williamsburg! Really nice area with tons of activities. We have not been there in a while but often there are good packages that include tickets to the historic area. We've stayed at the Patrick Henry Inn (was a Best Western at that time) and it is located very close to all activities.

Busch Gardens is great fun!

 

[Scully12]

you really found you were able to bounce between places like this

All three places are about as far away from each other as the Disney parks so it's very easy to go between them! I loved going there when I was younger. I did Tea Time with my Felicity American girl doll Virginia Beach is only about an hour away too!

Personally I'd recommend Williamsburg in the summer and DC in November. The museums are so crowded you'll be hassled and knocked around with so many people trying to see everything. April is was already ridiculously crowded because of the Cherry Blossom festival and the crowds don't fade away until the end of September.

 

[MinnieForMe]

When do the schools in the South start back? Would the last week of August still be crowded and crazy hot? My kids are very interested in history and this would be a nice way to end the summer. My 4 year old is obsessed with the American Girl Felicity movie and always talks about taking Felicity home. I would need to get a gown made for her and Felicity! It would be almost as much fun as planning Disney. Plus, I could wear our custom Busch Garden shirts again. LOL!

 

[Heidict]

just got back a week ago from Williamsburg.We got a 3 bedroom,2 bath,3 story condo(complete w/laundry room,kitchen,liv. room,and sitting room,plus a room with it's own hot tub) at a place called Powhatan Plantation, paid $195 for 4 weeknights through a guy on Ebay, plus we did the timeshare tour they offered us when we checked in(we didn't have to...but they offered us $100..so we caved)...went to Great Wolf and did Magiquest there,did yankee Candle village(get coupons out of tourist coupon book to dip candles free) they have Santa there and it's a neat place, CW was wonderful(do tour of the coffehouse!they take you through and then you sit around with a costumed guy discussing "taxation without representation" while a lady serves you old timey tea/coffee/or hot cocoa...yum!...Really nice Prime Outlets(Brighton Outlet is awesome..$65 sunglasses for $10)and there is a little pizza place and Mexican Tienda across the street,the tienda has awesome sweet breads and fried pies for less than a $1 .Ghost tours are only around $12, we skipped eating at the taverns,but they looked fun.I would go sometime other than summer,as one of the tour guides told us Williamsburg area is one of the most humid places in U.S.

WOW, I'm sold. Are you sure you don't work for the Williamsburg visitors bureau?

We were actually trying to think of a good place to go for a fall family vacation and this was one of the places we were thinking about.

 

[scjo68]

When do the schools in the South start back? Would the last week of August still be crowded and crazy hot? My kids are very interested in history and this would be a nice way to end the summer. My 4 year old is obsessed with the American Girl Felicity movie and always talks about taking Felicity home. I would need to get a gown made for her and Felicity! It would be almost as much fun as planning Disney. Plus, I could wear our custom Busch Garden shirts again. LOL!

We are an hour from Williamsburg.

Many schools in VA don't start until after Labor Day (our county doesn't), so there may still be crowds. There should be fewer out of state visitors, then, and most local folks have probably already been by the end of Aug. so it wouldn't be too bad. We actually have a state law that requires school systems to start after Labor day (unless they get a waiver to start earlier) and I think that it was the local theme park industry that lobbied for that law. This way tourism stays busy through Labor day, and they have enough High School kids to work. More counties are getting waivers to start early though.

Yes, it will be crazy hot most likely.

But this August, like last August, we left the VA heat to go to WDW, so we we are hot either way!

 

[kirstenb1]

We are an hour from Williamsburg.

Many schools in VA don't start until after Labor Day (our county doesn't), so there may still be crowds. There should be fewer out of state visitors, then, and most local folks have probably already been by the end of Aug. so it wouldn't be too bad. We actually have a state law that requires school systems to start after Labor day (unless they get a waiver to start earlier) and I think that it was the local theme park industry that lobbied for that law. This way tourism stays busy through Labor day, and they have enough High School kids to work. More counties are getting waivers to start early though.

Yes, it will be crazy hot most likely.

But this August, like last August, we left the VA heat to go to WDW, so we we are hot either way!

We're west of Richmond, and we start back the third week of August. The western counties in Va start back earlier, due to more snow days. Late August is a great time to visit for lower crowds.

 

[aprilgail2]

Me and my 9 year old daughter went last year for what was supposed to be a 2 day trip- she loved Colonial Williamsburg so much that we ended up staying an extra day (4th of July!). We are driving down to Myrtle again and going to stop at Williamsburg again on the way home this year since she really wants to go back. She loved how you went into all the buildings and people were there to explain everything to you and how friendly all the people who worked there were. It was easy to get around the area with the buses so we usually parked at the visitors center and just hopped a bus over- they run very frequently! We had plans to go to Busch Gardens but my duaghter just wants to skip that and spend all the time in Colonial Williamsburg. I found the ticket prices for Colonial WIlliamsburg to be very reasonable too! Well worth it! My daughter loved the palace tour and the courthouse! We did a ghost walk at night that we both really enjoyed too!

 

[loveysbydesign]

just got back a week ago from Williamsburg.We got a 3 bedroom,2 bath,3 story condo(complete w/laundry room,kitchen,liv. room,and sitting room,plus a room with it's own hot tub) at a place called Powhatan Plantation, paid $195 for 4 weeknights through a guy on Ebay, plus we did the timeshare tour they offered us when we checked in(we didn't have to...but they offered us $100..so we caved)...went to Great Wolf and did Magiquest there,did yankee Candle village(get coupons out of tourist coupon book to dip candles free) they have Santa there and it's a neat place, CW was wonderful(do tour of the coffehouse!they take you through and then you sit around with a costumed guy discussing "taxation without representation" while a lady serves you old timey tea/coffee/or hot cocoa...yum!...Really nice Prime Outlets(Brighton Outlet is awesome..$65 sunglasses for $10)and there is a little pizza place and Mexican Tienda across the street,the tienda has awesome sweet breads and fried pies for less than a $1 .Ghost tours are only around $12, we skipped eating at the taverns,but they looked fun.I would go sometime other than summer,as one of the tour guides told us Williamsburg area is one of the most humid places in U.S.

Wow...what an awesome deal on the condo! How did you search for it on Ebay? By the condo's name??

 

[McKelly]

Right now, I think Powhatan Plantation is going for pretty cheap on Travelzoo (Atlanta and Southeast tab) through July. We want to go the second week in August, I am waiting to see if I can snag a good condo rental then.......

 

[loveysbydesign]

Right now, I think Powhatan Plantation is going for pretty cheap on Travelzoo (Atlanta and Southeast tab) through July. We want to go the second week in August, I am waiting to see if I can snag a good condo rental then.......

Thanks for the heads up! I love Travelzoo!
Also does anyone know where I can find pix of the 1 and 2 bedrooms there or even of the resort itself?
We have 3 kids...youngest is only 2 y.o. so I'm wondering if we need to book a 2 bedroom instead of a 1 bedroom?

 

[Minnie M6]

Right now, I think Powhatan Plantation is going for pretty cheap on Travelzoo (Atlanta and Southeast tab) through July. We want to go the second week in August, I am waiting to see if I can snag a good condo rental then.......

Thank you SO much for this post- we are now staying at Powhatan Plantation for the same price we would have been paying at Quality Inn (and that was with DH's government rate). We changed our dates by a few days and got the $66 rate

Now I just need to figure out how to get the best deal on tickets.....

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thank you SO much for this post- we are now staying at Powhatan Plantation for the same price we would have been paying at Quality Inn (and that was with DH's government rate). We changed our dates by a few days and got the $66 rate

Now I just need to figure out how to get the best deal on tickets.....

I now wish I had snagged the $39 BG tix. the other day!