Colonial Williamsburg?

[ChrisinNJ]

We are trying to figure out what to do for vacations this year, and hubby mentioned Colonial Williamsburg.

If you have gone there with kids, do you think it is good for a family with kids ages 9,9 & 6?

How much time would you plan to stay there?

Is Busch Gardens worthwhile? We don't do rollercoasters....

Any hotel recomendations for a family of 5?

We are also condsidering a long weekend in DC.

We would love to plan one of these trips for thew summer & the other for November, Jersey Week, is Williamsburg or DC better for the fall?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[tchrrx]

We are going to Williamsburg this summer with Adventures by Disney. We'll be staying at a Great Wolf Lodge. Your kids would probably enjoy that.

 

[micki7337]

in the williamsburg area there is yorktown, jamestown, berkly plantation, and tons of other great historic sites and museums. I would not got during the dog days of summer either. the fall might be better also

hope this helps

 

[cvjw]

We visited Colonial Williamsburg last June. My kids were 13 and 9 at the time, and were visiting with their 4 cousins - all around the same age. None of the kids was very interested in the historical sites - Williamsburg, Yorktown or Jamestown. We did make them stay a day at each. They all loved Busch Gardens and Water Country. They would've been happy to spend the whole week at those 2 parks. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, and the kids really loved it there.

 

[JOLLYHOLLY]

My Dad took me Colonial Williamsburg when I was 7.... (wow just realized that was 20 yrs ago ). Honestly to this day that was one of my favorite vacations. It was neat seeing how people lived back in the Colonial time. I have been hoping to go back soon. He also took me to Bush Gardens that same trip. At the time I wasn't into Roller Coaster but there was plenty to do. I did end up going on the BIG BAD Wolf (very mild roller coaster) I was scared to death but loved it. As I said before this was my favortie Vacation with my dad.... I have pictures of him trying to put me in a cannon and to this day we laugh at the good times we had together.

You may also want to check out Water Country USA... I remember liking that alot also!

I say go for it... there will be plenty for ya'll to do!

 

[debbiemomto4]

We go to Busch Gardens almost every summer. Lots of fun even if you don't like roller coasters. We actually only gone to Water Country once and also had a very nice time. Colonial Williamsburg is very nice especially when no one is in a stroller. Lots of history. The kids also liked Jamestown a lot. There is an Indian village and the ships there. We have gone to CW a few times but definitely more pricey than Jamestown. DC is always a lot of fun - all the Smithsonians are free so that is always cost effective. At the same time you need to figure out how your children will react about walking in the heat. DC is always very hot - usually we try to get into one museum early lunch there and then go to a different one in afternoon. Usually thats all they could do the walking would just get them cranky after a time. Jamestown does have shade but CW not too much.
Have fun!

 

[maleficentmom]

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.

 

[Ava]

I think it depends on the kid - I've loved history since I was around 9-10 years old, so I probably would've loved a trip to Colonial Williamsburg at that age. We did go when I was in high school and my sister was around 12 or so, and she thought it was the most boring thing ever. If your kids don't show any interest in that type of thing, I'd maybe hold off on CW until they are older. If you do decide to go, Busch Gardens is a great park, as is Water Country USA.

 

[momejay]

We went & had a lot of fun. (My kids are preteens & teens)
There are a lot of rides that aren't roller coasters at Busch Gardens. Then again, there are Pooh sized seats for those Pooh sized peps that like roller coasters too. My kids really enjoyed the show in Germany, the Irish dancing & the animal show. Lots of hills! Be prepared with comfortable shoes!
We went to Jamestown too. Kids loved it! There's an Indian village, fort, ships, movie top climb on & tour through with or without guides. We brought a picnic lunch. ($5 foot long from Subway & bottles of water) This takes at least a day to see everything.
Williamsburg, the kids were bored. We had trouble with buses & finding bathrooms. I found it very educational & two of mine liked it, the other hated it. I would take well behaved kids. (not someone that needs a nap or would rather be in Disney...LOL!)

 

[LisaInNc]

My DD loves history and she loves CW she is 9 but when I was a kid I went and snoozed through it. If your kids like history they will enjoy it if not, don't do it. Summer is HOT and CW is really hot. If you go I really think you just need one day.

BG is a great park. If you don't like roller costers there are some great shows but I can't think of too many rides for older kids. They have a lot for little ones that like kiddie rides. Be aware....there is NO Fast Pass or anything like that. One day here too.

Water Country is a blast for all ages.

For budget hotel I would check out Sky Auction they often have Colonial Williamsburg timeshares but if you go through Sky Auction you don't have to do the tour.

Have a good time!

Lisa

 

[RooRach0906]

My Dad took me Colonial Williamsburg when I was 7.... (wow just realized that was 20 yrs ago ). Honestly to this day that was one of my favorite vacations. It was neat seeing how people lived back in the Colonial time. I have been hoping to go back soon. He also took me to Bush Gardens that same trip. At the time I wasn't into Roller Coaster but there was plenty to do. I did end up going on the BIG BAD Wolf (very mild roller coaster) I was scared to death but loved it. As I said before this was my favortie Vacation with my dad.... I have pictures of him trying to put me in a cannon and to this day we laugh at the good times we had together.

You may also want to check out Water Country USA... I remember liking that alot also!

I say go for it... there will be plenty for ya'll to do!

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). There is the Yankee Candle store which is awesome and has so much to do and see in it. I think you would have a good time.
My parents own at a timeshare in Williamsburg called Kings Creek Plantation, we have stayed there twice just for a relaxing vacay close to home. They are really nice and have a ton of different accomdations. The pools there are really nice too.
Go and Have a great time.

 

[lorihannahgwen]

We went to CW, BG, & WC this past summer. It was myself, DH (history teacher), DD (6) and DD (4). We all had a great time. They have a lot of activities for kids. They did a sort of "scavenger hunt" throughout the day. If they visited enough places on their map they received a "prize". I think it was a postcard. They were thrilled that they completed it.
Last year they had deals with CW, BG, & WC. You could buy a combo ticket or something. I think it was through the Virginia vacations website. We did not do it becasue we bought APs for the Anheuser Busch parks (we went to Sesame place too). Since my husband is a teacher, he received a discount on his CW tickets.
A couple of years before we went to Jamestown (during the big celebration). Our girls had a great time there too.
I would do it. We have no choice, but to go in the summer. It is very hot, but if you are prepared for the heat, it's not that bad.
I hope that this helped.
Lori

 

[hedge333]

I've been to Colonial Williamsburg several times. My family went the first time when we were 14, 12, 9, and 8. We loved it. We did Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and Yorktown and Jamestown. On the way home we did Monticello. We had a blast!!!
Last summer my husband and I took our girls 7mos and 3. They liked all of the hands on stuff at Williamsburg. We went to Hampton Beach about 30 min. away and had a great day there. Then we went up to DC and did the Smithsonian museums, the zoo all free. Our 3 dd loved those. Then we did Mt. Vernon and Monticello on the way home. They have new interactive exhibits for kids and we loved those.
I can't wait until my girls are about the age of your children to take them back. I think that is a great age for that kind of trip.

 

[HeatherC]

We just got back from a week here on Saturday. Took the kids for spring break and stayed at King's Creek Plantation...timeshare resort. We had a two bedroom with an extra sunroom and definitely recommend staying here.

That being said...this was my second time to Williamsburg. First time we took the kids and I have to say that 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 also went to Jamestown Settlement, which we all thought was heads and shoulders above CW. They have an awesome museum there and a recreated colonial fort, ships, and indian village. Kids learned a lot there and so did we.

The Hampton Roads area itself is beautiful and we had a great week. We even went to VA beach one day.

What I would suggest doing is walking around the CW area the day before you plan on going to see if you actually want to buy the tickets to get in the buildings. You may have better luck than we did!

All in all....it was a wonderful week and we'd go back to Williamsburg again...just not CW.

Hope this helps!

 

[JOLLYHOLLY]

Unfortunately last year was the last year for the big bad wolf, so sad I really like that ride.

Now I really feel old...

 

[TaraPA]

We did CW over the 4th of July in 2006. It was unbearably hot & humid. We had 4 kids in our group - ages 6, 9, 13 & 15 - and all 4 of them were bored to death & not shy about telling us! The oppressive heat & their whining really put a damper on it for the rest of us. They had more fun at the resort pool & mini golf than in CW, BG or even the day we spent at VA Beach. I think Great Wolf Lodge might be a great idea, that way if they're not interested in CW, there's plenty to do there. We stayed at Greensprings Plantation, a timeshare we rented from friends, and they had a great pool, mini golf onsite, club house, etc. I enjoyed the outlets & the Yankee Candle Flagship store! I'd love to head back to CW with a bunch of girlfriends -but NOT in the hot summer months!

 

[RooRach0906]

Now I really feel old...

Don't feel old!! I don't think it was because of the rides age. There were many who were upset that they were taking it out and selling it. We will see what they put in it now.....


OH yea I forgot but last year they opened a Seasme Street portion of the park with a lot of cool small rides for kids.

 

[pooh4brains]

I would agree that CW is not a summer place. It gets HOT, although DC is similarly hot in the summer months.

CW is expensive, and if your kids aren't into history, or aren't interested in listening to what can be lengthy talks, I would say skip paying for the tickets and just walk through the place. It is free to walk through, and you can enter all of the gift shops w/o a ticket (of course).

The Jamestown Settlement is great - very interactive, and their folks are more than willing to talk to adults and kids. BUT, this is not the REAL Jamestown - it's a simulation of what the real Jamestown may have looked like. While I wouldn't discourage you from going there, I would strongly encourage you to also go to the National Park Service site which is where the real Jamestown is. There is not as much to see, but it is the true site and it gets overlooked. They have great ranger tours, and they have a kids program once or twice a day. The same goes for the Yorktown sites - there's the real battlefield, and the simulated site.

 

[dgbg100106]

This would be a trip for my DH and myself. We love history and think this would be a great trip for just us adults...

We would want to do Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.

Does anyone know how long I should plan on the trip taking for us to see all three places? We would drive down so we would have a car.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[pooh4brains]

I think you could do it in 4 days. I would say to leave at least 2 days for CW - that way you can take your time and see everything. You could do Jamestown and Yorktown in one day each - that's including the non-park service sites. The park service sites used to have a joint ticket that saves about 2-3 bucks per person and was good for 7 days. The NPS website could give you more info. I think the non-NPS Jtown and Ytown have a joint ticket, too.

The three parks are situated on the Colonial Parkway which is a beautiful drive. Jamestown is at one end, Williamsburg is in the middle, and Yorktown is on the other end. The road is about 20 miles long if memory serves so you need the car. There are buses around CW if you have a park pass.

Good luck with your planning! I think you'll really enjoy all the history - it's a fun place to be.