I know this is an old thread, but I've just read through it all in preparation for our upcoming trip, and I want to check and make sure all of it is still up to date. We are going to Wmsbg as part of our first big road trip. We live in louisiana, and plan to go to KY, OH, PA, DE, MD, and finish with VA (I'm not mentioning all of the other states that we will just be passing through). We are anticipating CW to be the highlight of our trip and we've allocated the most days there, so we were thinking about ending the trip with that... Which will put us there on June 2... We were planning on 4 full days there, but we can add another night if we want to stay another day, since it'll be the last stop.
Will local schools still be in then? If anyone thinks it'll be crowded already, particularly BG, we can make this the first stop of the trip, which will put us there the last week in May, but then we will lose some flexibility to add a day if needed.
Crowds at both CW and BG should be very manageable. Like someone has said, schools around here don't get out until June 12ish unfortunatley.
I've crunched numbers on the tickets ad nauseam, and it looks like buying tickets separately is the best deal. If I buy the BG tickets in the next couple of days, I can get the unlimited use ones (fun pass?) for the same price as a regular ticket. But the bounce pass (plus individual tickets to Yorktown and jamestown) is not a lot more. So, my question is: am I going to regret not having the flexibility to go to CW more than once? We want to see as much as we can, but we can do a full day there... Should that be enough? Our kids are 12, 8, and 5. I would think we definitely will want to go to BG more than once, and we will try to go to WC for at least half a day. If you think 1 day in CW is enough, we may buy one bounce pass for the free parking at BG benefit, and then we will buy the separate tickets for the others. I've already signed the youngest up for the preschool pass, and he should be free everywhere else, I believe.
Does the Bounce Pass include BG, WC, CW, Jamestown and Yorktown? If so, that may be your best option. CW, James/York are three distinctly separate areas and you will have to drive to them each separately. When we go to CW, we park at the visitors center, see the little intro movie there and then you can either walk the path to CW (about a mile I think) or take their shuttles (there are several drop off/get on spots all around CW for the shuttles). Then we do what we want to do around CW and W&M. We would easily do more than a day in CW and then if you want to do Jamestown & Yorktown, that easily another day (DDs field trip last year was James & York and we did that in one long day). You could also just break up your days and do 1/2 day a BG and then go to CW at night or vice versa. Lots of ways to mix that up.
Don't buy the food deal at BG. It's not worth it. I'm a local and dont' care for their food (overpriced) and usually just get popcorn or a giant pretzel in Germany and eat outside of the park. Usually get giant soft serve ice creams too. Plus, a lot of their meals (the smokehouse in France is one place we do eat sometimes) are splittable. You can ask for the free waters at places that do fountain drinks. Also, they have refillable cups that around $10 and then refills are around $1.50 if you are soda drinkers. You can also refill those with the icee too for about $3.00. We bring those and sometimes get a cold drink or I just ask for them to be filled with ice water and do water or I bring my own lemonade pack and add that to it. You can use these refillable cups at WC too.
I think we are staying at Kingsgate, I've got a few offers for very reasonable rates there, just haven't committed yet... Although I better get on it soon!
Any other advice, particularly about saving money? Does BG still do the meal vouchers? I'm not sure I completely understand those... Do you just get a nicer meal using them? We plan on eating most meals in the condos, but we won't leave the park to eat. We will also prob eat one or two meals out if there are any recommendations for kid friendly, unique places. I have houses/condos booked at all of our stops, not sure how we are going to pack food to cook being on such a long trip, without lugging a huge ice chest or spending a ton of time in the kitchen, neither of which I plan to do on vacation!
Oh, we also plan on going to the Yankee store after reading about it here... Something I would have never known about or considered!
Any and all info appreciated!
Yes. Yankee Candle is a fun trip and there are TONS of places to eat along that road (Richmond Road). Inside there you'll probably find one of those racks with flyers for the area. You may find good coupon books there. Pierce's BBQ is the famous place to eat in W'burg. It's DELISH. NY Deli has really good subs and pizza (my DH went to the HS with the owners. Place is always crowded). There are tons of chain restuarants around too. We like Food for Thought for a nice dinner on occassion. OH! Across from YC there is a little shack called Sno-to-Go and they have yummy snow cones that have soft serve ice cream in the middle. It's a nice little treat.
If you think of any other questions, just ask. That's all I can think of right this sec.
We will be four senior citizens with 1 day in CW in May. It was two days but I booked before I read that CW is pretty much closed on Sunday (really annoyed with myself). My question is, will I need to buy one day tickets to see "living history"? Not very interested in shopping. I can't tell from the websites which lists all the activities, which activities need a ticket (except museums). My Brother-in-law does not want to buy tickets if he can help it. I sent for and received booklet "VA is for Lovers" and colonialwilliamsburg.com was some help but can you advise or point me in another direction? Thanks
