Williamsburg, VA

[kimnmiah]

A little OT here but for those of you who have been to BG, is a stroller necessary for a 3.5 year old? She doesn't do a lot of walking right now but we'll be working on it and I think I would like to go stroller free if we won't be able to take a bunch of stuff into the park with us anyhow.

Busch gardens is HUGE and very hilly. I would want a stroller for a 3.5 yo. We still take a stroller for ours at 6/3. It's Atleast a mile from the back of the park to the exit I would guess

 

[lucigo]

What is a good price for Busch Gardens? We have been in VA for 18 months and still haven't ventured that way....all of our vacation money seems to go to Florida and the Caribbean LOL

 

[havaneselover]

I buy an annual pass (bg + water county) and pay $13/month. That gets me free parking and a discount on food. My kids are getting fun cards. For $72 it gets them into bg from 3/16 to 9/1 and wc all season. Last year I bought them a one day ticket for $40 from our Parks and Rec office. This year my dd is 10 so a one day ticket would be $50. At the gate it's $72. I only live an hour from bg and have probably been there 30 times in 4 years. WDW is out of my budget but bg offers a ton of value for my family. To keep costs down we have refillable cups and a refillable popcorn container and we drink tap water and pack snacks.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

We're a family of 6 (4 adults 2 teenagers) Traveling to Williamsburg for the first time at the end of June and trying to figure out what we should do. We'll be visiting DC, Annapolis, and Mt Vernon first so I think by the time we get to Williamsburg we'll have had our fill of museums and historical buildings and would like to do some "just for fun" stuff in Williamsburg.

I've done a little research and think we would like to visit:

Busch Gardens--Not interested in the water park, but I found one day tickets for BG for $52 at http://vrps.memberpath.com/Services/TicketPrograms/BuschGardens.aspx

Colonial Williamsburg--I don't know if we'll find CW interesting enough to buy the full day ticket so I'm thinking we could just walk around and visit the shops. Are there any historical figures (Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry) on the streets or do you need to buy a ticket to see them? I've heard the Visitors Center rents audio tours for $15. Has anyone tried that?

I'd also like to have lunch at one of the taverns and maybe do an evening activity. How much are tavern meals? Is there any kind of entertainment at lunch time? Cry Witch sounds like fun. Has anyone done that?

Jamestowne--Not sure if we want to see both Historical Jamestowne and Jamestowne Settlement. How long does it take to see each place?

Any suggestions on things to do and ways to save money? We'll be staying 4 nights in a timeshare so we'll have 3 full days for touring. Thanks.

We visited Williamsburg, Jamestown, Mt. Vernon, and D.C. last summer - had a wonderful vacation.

We could have easily stayed at Williamsburg for two days. However, we only scheduled one day last summer. It was wonderful. In the evening we went on a ghost tour of colonial Williamsburg - it was fun, not too frightening, our kids loved it, etc. Just a thought if you are wanting something to do in the evening.

And, just a thought, while at Mt. Vernon go on the "National Treasure" tour. It's only an additional $5 per person, but very interesting; make your reservations ahead of time as they sometimes will sell out. Our kids loved the tour more than anything else at Mt. Vernon.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

What is a good price for Busch Gardens? We have been in VA for 18 months and still haven't ventured that way....all of our vacation money seems to go to Florida and the Caribbean LOL

My husband gets an annual pass, the girls and I get fun cards and the boys get the FREE Preschool pass.

This may change as the boys age out of free passes

The annual pass gets us free parking and discounts on food and merch.

 

[wishesuponastar]

We live super close to Williamsburg and go there all the time, so here are a couple of suggestions:

Do you like to shop? The Yankee Candle flagship store is in Williamsburg - it's HUGE and has lots of fun stuff to do (Christmas town where it snows every 5 minutes, dip your own candles, wax impressions, etc). There is also an outlet mall in Williamsburg that's fairly big and nice.

If you like movies, there's a theatre there called Movie Tavern where you can eat, drink, and watch a movie at the same time. I am NOT a movie person and I love going to Movie Tavern!

William and Mary is fun to visit - the campus is beautiful. My kids love walking around the campus and in the shopping area (they've closed off a lot of street) just outside it.


If you're willing to drive a bit and have a car, you could go to one of the plantations. Or the beach, which is not too far away.

We also like Yorktown a lot, as well as Jamestown (although you said you'd be museum-ed out by then, which I totally understand!)

Bolded by me - Can anyone tell me where the nearest plantation is to Busch Gardens. We will have a car.

 

[got2sammies]

Groupon right now has a one day ticket for $36 that's half the gate price

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Bolded by me - Can anyone tell me where the nearest plantation is to Busch Gardens. We will have a car.

There are several in the Charles City County area which is between Williamsburg and Richmond. You can see them all here:

www.jamesriverplantations.org

Last time I toured you got to go inside Shirley and Evelynton. You could only visit the grounds at Westover. I can't remember if you could go inside Berkeley or not, it's been a while. I also toured Sherwood Forest (may be the least impressive of the 5), I think I went inside because I remember the small room they used for dancing the Virginia Reel. Check tour hours, cost, and what exactly you get to see on the tours.

Carter's Grove Plantation used to be owned by Colonial Williamsburg and was the closest, but CW sold it to a private owner and it is no longer open for tours.

 

[LisaInNc]

Don't rule out Va Beach. It's only an hour from Williamsburg and there is always a ton of free stuff to do.

Depending on when you are there you might be able to see a national recording artist for free. They do that all the time.

check out BeachStreetUSA it lists all the events. Nightly for an 8 block range there are different street performers. Weekly fireworks. I usually go every weekend in the summer.

The boardwalk there is a LOT of fun just sitting to people watch. There is a nice bike path. Plus they have all of the touristy things.

Memorial Day weekend it's The Band Perry, Little Big Town, Darius Rucker and more they sell tickets to get up close but you don't have to buy them we rarely do you can easily hear them from the beach and they put up a huge screen so you can see them.

It's just another option.

Lisa

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Groupon right now has a one day ticket for $36 that's half the gate price

Ticket to what? I went on Groupon but I am not finding anything.

Nevermind, found it.

 

[chisnpeke]

We went for a few days back in September. Williamsburg is magical! Eat at Food for Thought. It's a little outside of Colonial Williamsburg but is easy to find and across from the Residence Inn. We also went to Jamestowne and the recreated settlement. It was great but I could see a little kid maybe not having much interest unless they love Pocahontas. We drove to Yorktown but didn't do a tour or anything.

I'd love to go back. Enjoy your trip!

 

[chisnpeke]

I would like to add that we did not buy a pass to go into the buildings and still had a good time.