Who Knew We Were Virginians?

[dolphingirl47]

I love the wolves. It is also nice to see some "Alaskan Pigeons" again. I knew that this version of Busch Gardens had a different theme, but it is totally different from the one in Tampa. This almost seems like the runt of the litter.

Corinna

 

[natebenma]

Now I am bona fide caught up!!!

That fairy tale show was "interesting" Too bad the food was not better and the show was cheesy. At least it was cool in there. I guess.

How did everyone like the sky ride?

I like your pictures from the animal show. They are all beautiful. What a bummer that your perfect shot was ruined.

Sounds like the pottery painting was a good idea. The finished piece is really nice.

 

[jenseib]

I love the wolves. It is also nice to see some "Alaskan Pigeons" again. I knew that this version of Busch Gardens had a different theme, but it is totally different from the one in Tampa. This almost seems like the runt of the litter.

Corinna

It really is. But again if you like those big coasters, this place is for you. I know you are more like me though and will pass on those.

Now I am bona fide caught up!!!

That fairy tale show was "interesting" Too bad the food was not better and the show was cheesy. At least it was cool in there. I guess.

How did everyone like the sky ride?

I like your pictures from the animal show. They are all beautiful. What a bummer that your perfect shot was ruined.

Sounds like the pottery painting was a good idea. The finished piece is really nice.

woohoo!

Claire loved the skyride. She really didn't say too much other than it was fun.
Even though this place wasn't perfect for our family, I am still glad we went and experienced it. It's nice to try new places and see new things.

 

[scottny]

That show did not look all that great. Glad someone enjoyed it. LOL
I would have done the skyway. I miss that at WDW.
That owl is gorgeous.
Nice jewelry box she made.
Caught up.

 

[jenseib]

That show did not look all that great. Glad someone enjoyed it. LOL
I would have done the skyway. I miss that at WDW.
That owl is gorgeous.
Nice jewelry box she made.
Caught up.

Yeah, it was definitely strange.

I loved the owl!

 

[jenseib]

I was fascinated with the little Clydesdale and loved watching him. It was so nice to just stand and take it in.



Claire on the other hand thought this was boring and a big waste of time. We could be buying one, instead of watching one.















Finally Claire got her way and we headed on…only a few steps and I stopped again. She wasn’t too happy about that.







And then we moved on. Claire was ready to leave at this point, but I did want to look at the few areas we hadn’t seen yet.



We never went back in there. It looked too “kiddy” for Claire’s taste.

We entered Italy next.









Basically no one was riding this. It has started to cool down and who wants to be wet and cold.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

That's a heck of a good looking ram! I didn't realize BG had those countries, sort of like a cut rate World Showcase!

A mighty handsome Clydesdale, I'd be wanting to buy one too. Looks like Merida's horse, so a little Disney on a totally unrelated trip!

 

[dolphingirl47]

That horse is seriously cute. When I was Claire's age, I was absolutely obsessed with horses.

Corinna

 

[MEK]

Gorgeous clydesdale! Your pictures of him (or her) are wonderful.

I love BG - I think its such a pretty park and that really shows in your photos.

 

[Poolrat]

I think BG got an award for prettiest landscaping or something.
Such great shots and I guess I missed the animals when I went last. I remember that Pompeii ride.

You get wet and it was a quick one. Like they attempted some sort or storyline but failed. About as long as the scene in SE.

 

[natebenma]

Beautiful animals! And a very pretty park.

Too bad it was too cool to ride the water ride.

I'm guessing your day is just about done, here!

 

[jenseib]

That's a heck of a good looking ram! I didn't realize BG had those countries, sort of like a cut rate World Showcase!

A mighty handsome Clydesdale, I'd be wanting to buy one too. Looks like Merida's horse, so a little Disney on a totally unrelated trip!

it was a nice looking ram!
WE have a plush of Meridas horse too and they are almost identicle to each other (Claire does buy a plush here)

It is like a cut rate Epcot. LOL

That horse is seriously cute. When I was Claire's age, I was absolutely obsessed with horses.

Corinna

I was too. I always wanted one so badly. I had mean parents.

Gorgeous clydesdale! Your pictures of him (or her) are wonderful.

I love BG - I think its such a pretty park and that really shows in your photos.

it is a very pretty park. the flowers were so uplifting to see at that time of year.

I think BG got an award for prettiest landscaping or something.
Such great shots and I guess I missed the animals when I went last. I remember that Pompeii ride.

You get wet and it was a quick one. Like they attempted some sort or storyline but failed. About as long as the scene in SE.

It really is a pretty park. I was loving the spring feeling I got.
I am sure we missed a lot of things, but we did see quite a bit and enjoyed it.

Beautiful animals! And a very pretty park.

Too bad it was too cool to ride the water ride.

I'm guessing your day is just about done, here!

It was one of those days where you were hot one minute an cold the next. I don't like to walk around wet on a hot day, so a cold day wouldn't be my choice either. years ago, I loved doing those wet rides though.

 

[jenseib]

Claire did a little map reading to be sure there was nothing else she wanted to see.











If we had found Italy earlier we could’ve had lunch here too.



We were thirsty however and refilled our cup. I also ordered a vanilla gelato. Claire kept asking me why I was doing this, as we still had that free snack credit and she had every intention of getting popcorn with it on the way out. I told her she could, but this is what I wanted, which she firmly told me she wanted no part of it.



And yes, I got 2 spoons and she did eat half it and it was darn good!

After we finished up our treat we headed back towards the front. Claire was ready to buy her plush Clydesdale.



The train station was right there (and we never did ride that either) and Claire said it was freaky to be walking across the tracks with the train right there.







We made our purchase and then headed towards the exit, but first we had to find a popcorn stand to use our free snack voucher.



We got in line and made our purchase.

The line wasn’t very fast, so I took a few pictures while we waited.



At some point in time we also filled the big sipper cup I had purchased. I think it was something like 99 cents to refill it. We then took a seat to munch on some popcorn.







And it was now nearing closing time, so we made our way out to the tram.







And that is the last picture I took that day with my camera!

We got to my Dads truck and oh my! It just feels so big compared to what I was used to.
There was a car in front of me and they were getting ready to leave, so my thought was to wait till the moved and pull out that way. The parking lot was emptying out, but I wanted to be as cautious as possible.
The people were just sitting there like me and I think they were waiting on me, but then I realized they had friends a few cars over and they eventually drove over by them.
Amanda had texted me as well while we were waiting. They were starving and wondering if they should wait on us before they got dinner. Yep, we’re on our way.

We finally left and I was a bit confused on how to actually exit as it didn’t appear to be clearly marked, but I followed some cars and made it out and I had programed my phone to get us back. At one point we were going down a road with orange markers to mark the lanes. Being in the big truck I was sure at any moment I would see orange pylon’s flying out behind us, but I never hit a 1.

We weren’t back very long and we took off again.
We decided on Fridays tonight. Claire and I got an appetizer combo and shared it. It was very good and we had to fight the others off from stealing our meal. The bad thing was that is was freezing cold in there. I think we were seated under a vent and we sure felt it!

After a nice meal we headed back to the hotel and I took Claire for another evening swim and then off to bed for the night.
It had been a fun day. Very different than I expected, but it was still neat to see this park. I don’t think I personally would rush back there because we are not big on the roller coasters and there weren’t enough other things for us to do, but a 1 time trip there was well worth it.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That train looked impressive. What a shame that you did not get to ride it. A child that does not want ice cream is a new concept to me. I am glad that Claire enjoyed some of the Gellato after all.

Corinna

 

[natebenma]

You made it to close.

The picture of Claire with the Clydesdale is adorable!!!

Yum on the snacks on the way out. Vanilla gelato- good call.

Very cool looking train.

It is too funny how most of us can't go to an amusement park and not look at it through Disney-eyes. Last Friday, we went to Canobie Lake Park and I just could not stop comparing it to Disney!

 

[Caretames1]

Kadence thinks the horse looks like the one form Merida, and now she's off planning which plushies she's all buying in Nov. Just what she needs

 

[scottny]

Great update and pics.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Way to stick to your guns and stay at the park until it closed. If you're like me, you want to get your money's worth. Now you can say that you've been there/done that. It's so hard for us to not compare all amusement parks to Disney. The last one we went to (besides Disney) was Dollywood. While we enjoyed it, we kept saying "this ain't Disney".

 

[jenseib]

That train looked impressive. What a shame that you did not get to ride it. A child that does not want ice cream is a new concept to me. I am glad that Claire enjoyed some of the Gellato after all.

Corinna

I don't know why we never rode it. I guess we didn't have time, or perhaps Claire didn't want to.
She was just on a popcorn kick, but once she had a taste, she was all for it!

You made it to close.

The picture of Claire with the Clydesdale is adorable!!!

Yum on the snacks on the way out. Vanilla gelato- good call.

Very cool looking train.

It is too funny how most of us can't go to an amusement park and not look at it through Disney-eyes. Last Friday, we went to Canobie Lake Park and I just could not stop comparing it to Disney!

I do compare all to Disney now. Mostly for cleanliness and family rides. it's amazing how many parks just have extreme or baby rides and not much in between.

Kadence thinks the horse looks like the one form Merida, and now she's off planning which plushies she's all buying in Nov. Just what she needs

it sure does. She has that plushie too and they look like siblings.

Great update and pics.

Thanks Scott

Way to stick to your guns and stay at the park until it closed. If you're like me, you want to get your money's worth. Now you can say that you've been there/done that. It's so hard for us to not compare all amusement parks to Disney. The last one we went to (besides Disney) was Dollywood. While we enjoyed it, we kept saying "this ain't Disney".

I did want to get our money's worth (even though I had free tickets,LOL) but I really wanted to try and see as much as I could too. I don't know if I will or would go back so I wanted to give it a chance. Plus I just hate leaving early.

 

[jenseib]

April 15, 2013, Monday, Day 3

I was up early as usual! I got up and dressed and headed outside for a morning stroll around the property while I let my family sleep.



There’s one of the elusive Cardinals that would hide from me.







And a Dove, who also wasn’t too happy about me taking a picture.





Mr. Squirrel.











This gave me an Alice in Wonderland feel.





Another gazebo I found.













The family was in VERY slow motion today. No one would wake up. Well, Dad did, but everyone else acted like I was crazy to want to get moving. This was going to be our first day at Colonial Williamsburg and I was excited to see it.

At this point I vowed that if we ever traveled together again, I was renting a car for myself. I want to go when I want to go and I am not patient for waiting for others.
And Amanda…..she is so slow!!!!! Sorry Amanda! But she takes a shower, then primps her hair, then irons her clothes, and it all seems to be in slow motion….oh and she freezes us out while doing all this because she gets hot while getting ready, so she turned the air to sub-zero temperatures. I think we all snuck a turn at slowly warming the room up a bit.

Finally around 11 or so we headed out. This was a MUCH later start that I had planned.
Siri gave us directions to Colonial Williamsburg and the drive wasn’t too far and fairly easy to follow.

Soon we were pulling into the parking lot, which looked kind of busy. But in reality it wasn’t that bad when we saw the additional parking on the side was not being used.

We found a parking spot and made our way up to the visitor Center.