Virginia Beach/Williamsburg area??

[malibuconlee]

I'm hoping someone can help. I'm looking for ideas on what to do see when in the Virginia Beach/Williamsburg/Norfolk area.

DH and I are going to Virginia Beach next month for a few days for his annual meeting. We'll have Sunday, Monday and most of the day Tuesday to explore.

I would like to see Colonial Williamsburg, but the website I've found seems vague. Anyone been? We would probably go there on Monday. What else should we see?

I'm also trying to decide if we should stay in Virginia Beach after his meetings are over (We'll be there late Thursday and stay in the Sheraton on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights).

DH didn't seem really interested in Busch Gardens, so I wonder if we should just stay in Virginia Beach and find things to do there, and just drive to Williamsburg for the day.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm off to see what rates they will give us for staying on after the meetings.

 

[isyne4u]

Lots to do in VB!! We have an aquarium, we have historic houses, and great shopping. VB is beautiful we have a very nice oceanfront with a couple of museums down there (the Old Coast Guard station is the only one I can think of at the moment), we also have 2 lighthouses at Cape Henry, and First Landing State Park. Norfolk has the Chyrsler museum, the MacArthur Museum, Nauticus, and a bunch more things I can't think of right now.

Williamsburg can take you a whole day if you are seeing Colonial Williamsburg. I'm not sure how much the passes are for the day but I think once you buy the pass you can see most of the houses in the Williamsburg Colonial district. They also have 3 taverns you can eat lunch in...I ate at one a couple of years ago and it was fantastic! Of course I can't think of the name now. They also have colonial stores to buy tea, honey, hats, and such. you can take a ride around town in a horse drawn carriage, you can visit the armory, and the governor's palace. It is really awesome!! Then you can go to Merchant's square and do high end retail shopping and dinning (the Trellis is most excellent). When you buy your ticket to CW you can ride a bus to the historic district and then take the same bus back to Merchant's square.

There is also Jamestown and Yorktown. Jamestown is gearing up for its 400th anniversary so this is a great time to visit.

have fun when you come to visit!! We love tourists (and their money )

tara

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I live in Williamsburg, ask away! We have Jamestown, Yorktown, Colonial Williamsburg (different passes and prices available), Busch Gardens, Water Country, The Great Wolf Lodge and Presidents Park. There is also the Outlet Mall, Prime Outlets and the Williamsburg Pottery Factory. There is a ton to do. If I don't know the answer you are looking for, I will try to find out for you, so ask away!!!!

 

[Pedler]

I live in Williamsburg, ask away! We have Jamestown, Yorktown, Colonial Williamsburg (different passes and prices available), Busch Gardens, Water Country, The Great Wolf Lodge and Presidents Park. There is also the Outlet Mall, Prime Outlets and the Williamsburg Pottery Factory. There is a ton to do. If I don't know the answer you are looking for, I will try to find out for you, so ask away!!!!

Hi,

We are going to Williamsburg in about a week and a half. How are the crowds at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA during that last week before labor day? We have been to Disney then and the crowds are non existent. Just trying to get an idea on what to prep our boys for.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Christine]

There is also Jamestown and Yorktown. Jamestown is gearing up for its 400th anniversary so this is a great time to visit.


tara

Yes, I just heard from someone that Jamestown has got a lot going on right now.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Hi,

We are going to Williamsburg in about a week and a half. How are the crowds at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA during that last week before labor day? We have been to Disney then and the crowds are non existent. Just trying to get an idea on what to prep our boys for.

Thanks in advance.

They are both pretty crowded. You can wait on a line for a roller coaster or water ride for an hour or more. All schools in Virginia go back to school the 5th of September so everyone close to us is getting in their last hurrah before school goes back. But you can still have fun. The Wave Pool and Hubba Hubba Highway is always easy to do at Water Country. But most times the wait for rides at either park is about 30 minutes. But the shows are great and usually you can get in and cool off. Have a great time. I'll probably be there too!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Yes, I just heard from someone that Jamestown has got a lot going on right now.

Yes they have alot going on, but in comparison to the crowds at Colonial Williamsburg, it pales in crowds. The crowds are never like CW, however, it is picking up; the real crowds for the 400th won't hit until next year, so come and enjoy it now if you can.

 

[Pedler]

They are both pretty crowded. You can wait on a line for a roller coaster or water ride for an hour or more. All schools in Virginia go back to school the 5th of September so everyone close to us is getting in their last hurrah before school goes back. But you can still have fun. The Wave Pool and Hubba Hubba Highway is always easy to do at Water Country. But most times the wait for rides at either park is about 30 minutes. But the shows are great and usually you can get in and cool off. Have a great time. I'll probably be there too!

Thanks for the quick reply. We will probably avoid all the coasters except the Big Bad Wolf. Does the strategy we normally use at Disney, get there at opening and try to do most things before lunch, work at Busch Gardens as well?

Also how is the Revolutionary City in Colonial Williamsburg? I see from the web site that it starts at 2:00 PM. We would normally avoid being out and about then but from the description on the web site it looks like it would be great to see.

Thanks again for the help. We are really looking forward to our trip down there.

 

[HamTown]

All schools in Virginia go back to school the 5th of September so everyone close to us is getting in their last hurrah before school goes back.

Actually, only the school systems near Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion are waiting until after Labor Day. There are lots of systems west of Richmond that are already back. North Carolina starts back on the 25th, so the crowds will thin a little more after that during the week. We're heading to BG this afternoon, so I can report on the crowds, but from past experience, during the week this time of year the crowds are not horrible. Weekends are a different story.

Does the strategy we normally use at Disney, get there at opening and try to do most things before lunch, work at Busch Gardens as well?

BG opens at 10:00 but there are several spots toward the back of the park that do not open until 10:30 or 11:00 (everything will be listed on the map). Depending on historic crowd levels, during the week (especially in the kids' area) some rides may be understaffed and some of the snack carts will not be open. But for the roller coasters (except Loch Ness) and The Dark Kastle, I would hit them early.

 

[Pedler]

Actually, only the school systems near Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion are waiting until after Labor Day. There are lots of systems west of Richmond that are already back. North Carolina starts back on the 25th, so the crowds will thin a little more after that during the week. We're heading to BG this afternoon, so I can report on the crowds, but from past experience, during the week this time of year the crowds are not horrible. Weekends are a different story.


BG opens at 10:00 but there are several spots toward the back of the park that do not open until 10:30 or 11:00 (everything will be listed on the map). Depending on historic crowd levels, during the week (especially in the kids' area) some rides may be understaffed and some of the snack carts will not be open. But for the roller coasters (except Loch Ness) and The Dark Kastle, I would hit them early.

Thanks for the info. If you could please post a report on your experiences this afternoon. We will be in Williamsburg for about 5 & a half days going from a Sunday afternoon to Friday. Our plan is to get the 7-4-1 tickets so we can come and go to all the attractions we want to. The general idea was to go to either Busch Gardens or Water Country USA when they open and stay until 1:00 or so at the latest and then rest back at our resort and maybe hit the historic attractions in the afternoon. Of course DW will want to visit the outlet mall attractions (ha, ha) and we will probably do that in the evenings.

We are looking forward to Busch Gardens but I think the kids got a bit spoiled last year when we almost never waited in line more than 5 minutes at WDW. Fortunately with the exception of the Big Bad Wolf I think we will be avoiding the coasters so hopefully we wont have any major waits.

 

[motherhen17404]

Because my family travels on our stomachs I thought I would recommend a good place to eat. We always try to eat at The Jewish Mother for breakfast when we are in VB. We also enjoyed sitting at Rudee's and having a drink on their cabana. Have a great trip!

 

[hiwaygal]

The general idea was to go to either Busch Gardens or Water Country USA when they open and stay until 1:00 or so at the latest and then rest back at our resort and maybe hit the historic attractions in the afternoon. Of course DW will want to visit the outlet mall attractions (ha, ha) and we will probably do that in the evenings.

Just a word of advice...I would reverse your plan a bit. Do the historic attractions in the early part of the day, then plan on hitting BG or WC in the afternoon/evening. Most (if not all) of the historic area attractions close around 5 or 6pm. While Colonial Williamsburgs historic area is still "open" to walk around, the buildings and stores themselves will be closed. There are night programs sometimes, you might want to check the website or their weekly calendar to find out for sure 'cause those usually are really cool!

While the outlets are open normal "shopping" hours, I believe the Pottery still closes earlier (7:30pm).

And don't forget the new Yankee Candle shoppes...they're cool too!

 

[Pedler]

Just a word of advice...I would reverse your plan a bit. Do the historic attractions in the early part of the day, then plan on hitting BG or WC in the afternoon/evening. Most (if not all) of the historic area attractions close around 5 or 6pm. While Colonial Williamsburgs historic area is still "open" to walk around, the buildings and stores themselves will be closed. There are night programs sometimes, you might want to check the website or their weekly calendar to find out for sure 'cause those usually are really cool!

While the outlets are open normal "shopping" hours, I believe the Pottery still closes earlier (7:30pm).

And don't forget the new Yankee Candle shoppes...they're cool too!

When we are going to be there Water Country USA closes at 6:00 PM and Busch Gardens closes at 7:00 PM. Our thought was that most likely the kids wouldn't last more than 2 hours at a time at the historic attractions. The idea behind going to Busch gardens / water country early is to avoid the lines. Of course the nice thing about having the equivalent of park hoppers is that if it doens't work out that way on the first day we can always change things around.

The plan really comes down to 3 hours or so amusement park type of stuff, 2 hours maybe of historic stuff and the rest hanging out at the resort or shopping and stuff. Of course that will be the real contest. Seeing how long the boys last at ye ole outlet mall.

 

[ItGirl753]

We went over Easter break. I had always wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg.

It depends what you like. We are Civil War enthusiasts so we visited several battlefields in the area. We went to Colonial Williamsburg at night (free) and didn't go in any of the buildings (we had our dogs with us anyway).

We also visited Jamestown, Yorktown, and spent a day at Busch Gardens. I was very disappointed in Busch Gardens. I guess i just remembered it as better from when I was a teenager.

But we did have a nice time in the area. I love VA.

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

Colonial Williamsburg is one of my favorite places to visit. While in the area we always have to drive to Yorktown and head down to the waterfront and eat at Yorktown Pub. Yummmm...great crabcakes!

 

[Pedler]

Colonial Williamsburg is one of my favorite places to visit. While in the area we always have to drive to Yorktown and head down to the waterfront and eat at Yorktown Pub. Yummmm...great crabcakes!

OK... now you have my attention. Crabcakes! How is the pricing at the Yorktown Pub and is it OK for my heathen children that don't particularly like seafood. (My way of asking do they have a kids menu)

 

[HamTown]

My Busch Gardens trip report from today...

My crowd theory was shot to hell. Today was the most crowded I have seen the park all year (note: we do not go on weekends). However, in our very unscientific survey of license plates, reading t-shirts and hats and eavesdropping in line, we determined that a large percentage of people at the park today were from the Northeastern US. I really think it must have been "Jersey Day" or something. Have you ever been in line at Disney World and you're the only one around that speaks English? It was sort of like that today, except instead of hearing Spanish/Japanese, we were the only ones with a (semi-) Southern accent! The park was fully staffed and with 3 little ones, we didn't attempt roller coasters but we did have short waits at rides that we normally can walk up to.

Park notes: Due to construction of the new attraction, the LeMans raceway (the cars you drive around the track) is gone and the skyride is closed for the remainder of the season. Because of this, the train will be more crowded than normal. Also, they have begun decorating for Howl-o-scream and there are scary clowns and ghosts and things visible from the train. If you have kids that are afraid of clowns, this may be an issue.

I've heard good things about the food in Yorktown. If you want to try other Virginia delicacies, ham and peanuts, head across the free ferry to Surry and try out the Surrey house. It just reopened to pretty decent reviews and they have great peanut soup and peanut pie. They used to have PB&J on the menu for kids along with other normal kids stuff. Be warned however, that there is absolutely nothing else to do in Surry. The ferry ride is pretty fun for kids though.

 

[hiwaygal]

Be warned however, that there is absolutely nothing else to do in Surry. The ferry ride is pretty fun for kids though.

I'm laughing with you...honest I am!

 

[Pedler]

My Busch Gardens trip report from today...

My crowd theory was shot to hell. Today was the most crowded I have seen the park all year (note: we do not go on weekends). However, in our very unscientific survey of license plates, reading t-shirts and hats and eavesdropping in line, we determined that a large percentage of people at the park today were from the Northeastern US. I really think it must have been "Jersey Day" or something. Have you ever been in line at Disney World and you're the only one around that speaks English? It was sort of like that today, except instead of hearing Spanish/Japanese, we were the only ones with a (semi-) Southern accent! The park was fully staffed and with 3 little ones, we didn't attempt roller coasters but we did have short waits at rides that we normally can walk up to.

Thanks for the quick trip report. How long of a wait would you clasify a short wait?

We don't plan on going on any of the coasters except maybe myself and one son will try Big Bad Wolf. As for Dar Castle DS7 will definitely not try that. Too scary. How are the other dark rides like Escape from Pompeii, Corkscrew Hill and Pirates? last year DS7 wouldn't go on anything remotely scarry at WDW. He is a bit more adventuresome this year. Pirates seemed to be a funny 4D movie so that looked OK. I still don't quite know what Corkscrew Hill is and we aren't sure about Escape from Pompeii. I think he will be OK with the drop but I don't know about the inside part of the ride. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Park notes: Due to construction of the new attraction, the LeMans raceway (the cars you drive around the track) is gone and the skyride is closed for the remainder of the season. Because of this, the train will be more crowded than normal. Also, they have begun decorating for Howl-o-scream and there are scary clowns and ghosts and things visible from the train. If you have kids that are afraid of clowns, this may be an issue.

I think the kids will get a kick out of that during the daylight. I know DS7 wouldn't do it a night but maybe during the day. We are bummed about the sky ride and the raceway. The kids were looking forwards to that. Its a shame they are taking out the raceway and not replacing it with a kids attraction. Part of why we are going to Busch Gardens is because it isn't just another roller coaster park.

I've heard good things about the food in Yorktown. If you want to try other Virginia delicacies, ham and peanuts, head across the free ferry to Surry and try out the Surrey house. It just reopened to pretty decent reviews and they have great peanut soup and peanut pie. They used to have PB&J on the menu for kids along with other normal kids stuff. Be warned however, that there is absolutely nothing else to do in Surry. The ferry ride is pretty fun for kids though.

We are planning on one day starting out at Yorktown so we will definitely have to try lunch there.

BTW have you been to Water Country USA?

 

[malibuconlee]

Because my family travels on our stomachs I thought I would recommend a good place to eat. We always try to eat at The Jewish Mother for breakfast when we are in VB. We also enjoyed sitting at Rudee's and having a drink on their cabana. Have a great trip!

We're the same way. Thanks for the suggestion!!

We still haven't gotten any plannign doen. I wasn't able to use some of our rewards the way I thought, and the hotel won't extend the conference rates for us, so looks like we'll be moving hotels.

Any suggestions? We're flying in/out of Norfolk and wil be at the Sheraton in VB Thur-Sat nights.