Colonial Williamsburg

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Hello All!

We are planning a trip to Colonial Williamsburg this summer. We have booked 5 nights at the Williamsburg Lodge, but don't really know what to do next.

Are their places that we MUST see and things we MUST do? Are there restaurants that we will need to book in advance, how far in advance?

Any advice would be most welcome, we're really excited about this trip, and I want it to be successful.

Thanks muchly

[pshokie]

Can't really speak officialy, since I have only been on long day trips to certain area attractions. I have never been for an extended trip. Curse of being both to close and too far away... (3 hours)

But I wanted to make sure you had atleast a moderate answer so I will provide just a few items. I'll break it into areas...

Lodging: Again, having never stayed, I cannot really comment. But there is a place called Great Wolf Lodge that actually has it own indoor water park. My DW was trying to get us to do a weekend there recently with our 2 kids. If you have kids you may want to look into that...

History: Aside from Colonial Williamsburg, you are right in the center of "the colonies". The Historic Settlement of Jamestown is right down the road, and it is celebrating its 400th aniversary this year. So there will be A LOT going on. Also, there is Yorktown (English surrender during the Revolutionary War) if you wish to continue the educational tour. And don't even start a Virginian on Civil War sites....

Theme Parks: you actually have two relatively good theme parks in that area: Water Country USA (obviously a water park) and Busch Gardens (Europe). Sacrilege on a Disney site , but this is more of what you would think of as a "trditional" theme park: multiple roller costers, water rides, etc. It is, in my opinion, one of the better if not best "themed" parks outside of the WDW. Think a poor mans Epcot with the monster thrill rides: Loch Ness Monster(Scotland), Draken Fire (Germany), Big Bad Wolf (Bavaria), etc.

All in all, there is really quite a bit to do inand or around Williamsburg.

[NJGIRL]

We have been to Williamsburg 4 times. These are some of the things that we do.

Since it is the summer and it will be crowded, count on two days for Busch Gardens. On the second day you probably will have time to do rides over again. If you don't care if you miss some things do Busch Gardens for one day only. By the way I would compare Busch Gardens to your "Wonderland" park in Toronto. I thought that was fun and had a nice atmosphere to it.

One day for Water Country USA. It's a really fun water park. While not "themed" it still has great water rides.

One day for Colonial Williamsburg. It will be extremely hot there during the summer. For some reason that area always feels more hot and dry than the rest of the town. If you are going to eat while there start off to the restaurants as soon as you feel "a little hungry" because the wait times can be long. The buses are a nice way to get around but don't come as often as we would have liked.

One day for Jamestown and or shopping at the outlets.

Busch Gardens owns Water Country USA so you can buy a combo ticket for them.

You can also get a combo ticket for Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Have fun

[Wayne]

If you haven't visited the Colonial Williamsburg web site, then you need to do so as soon as possible. Lots of good information is availabale there. The restaurants in CW are very good (menus available at the website) and will need to be reserved in advance (reservations are toll free 1-800-TAVERNS).

There are lots of activites in the historic area after hours and the programs are interesting and quite good. Our (then) 10 year old daughter loved CW when we were last there 2 years ago...and we didn't even bother with Busch Gardens.

[ParrotheadMinni]

I live about 45 minutes from Wmsbg. I see that your honeymoon was a couple of years ago, so if it's just the 2 of you, here are my recommendations.

1. Busch Gardens. 1-2 days. This depends on your love of roller coasters. There is no "fastpass" here, so count on long lines for (in this order) "NEW" Griffon opening "late spring", Apollo's Chariot (excellent!) Alpengeist (woooooooo) Loch Ness Monster, and Big Bad Wolf. (Drachen Fire was shut down years back). There are several worthwhile shows IMHO: Irish Step Dancing, Octoberfest, Big Band/Swing Show. BG is consistently voted one of the "Most Beautiful" theme parks in US. It is very shady and lush, not at all like a park sitting on a parking lot slab. Best place to eat: Trappers Smokehouse. Lots of beer available.

2. Water Country. 1 day. Good waterpark. The "lazy river" Hubba-Hubba Highway here perks along at quite a pop and is a lot of fun. Theming is mostly Surfin' USA, Beach Boys, 50s ... Doesn't open for the season until May 12th. (we're a lot farther north than WDW)

3. Colonial Williamsburg 1-2 Days depending on how much you like history. This is harder to explain timing. You can listen to Thomas Jefferson, the Governor, visit the homes of aristocrats and meet them, see the blacksmith make horseshoes, watch the leathermaker create a saddlebag, etc. and spend all day plus more. You can also just blow through every building and do it all in 6 hours and be totally underwhelmed. Best place for lunch: The Cheese Shop!!! (sandwiches, veryyyy good)

4. Jamestown; As above, this is HUGE 400th anniversary year. The Queen (yes, of England) is supposed to come in May. They have an above-average visitor center. Field trip for all VA 3rd graders) I'd call this 1/2 day and split it with:

5. Yorktown: More revolutionary war history (field trip for all VA 5th grades).

6. Shopping Good to Excellent outlet shopping if you care for that sort of thing.

[DisneyCrazyET]

There are also ghost walks you can take in the evening at CW. It is nice walking around at night. We stayed at Williamsburg Lodge, it was very nice and a short walk to the historic area. As said above, check their website.\You can also take the shuttle over to the visitor center where there is a good resturant, can't remember the name.
Enjoy!

[BethieTink]

We spent 6 days of our honeymoon there in October 2002. We loved it. Both DH and I love history (I have a BA in Colonial American History, so this was perfect). We spent a portion of almost every day there. There are lots of night programs (Ghost Walk, Cry Witch is awesome) and wonderful restaurants (Christiana Campbells and the Kings Arms (try the peanut soup ). If you are looking for a very nice (jacket and tie) kinda meal, the restaurant at the Williamsburg Inn is wonderful.

Have fun with the trip. We can't wait to go back.

[PrincessJessica]

The King's Arms or Christina Cambell's are a must when you visit Williamsbug. Both are taverns located in the historic part of the town.

We had dinner at the King's Arms. The waiters are in costume, the surroundings are authentic and even the menu closely resembles what was offered during that time. It was lively and entertaining as well as a learning experience of dining as it was in 18th century Williamsburg.

I think that reservations are needed.

[seawitch]

Went here last summer on with a group of girlfriends. We did the evening Ghost Stories tour-done by lantern/walking. Kind of neat. There was live music in the town theater almost every day ticket prices vary but pretty reasonable. We did the Williamsburg Winery tour/tasting, nice way to spend an afternoon. We did a day trip to Virginia Beach which was fun. Plenty to do in the area...shopping, tours of Colonial Williamsburg, theme parks. Jamestown settlement is interesting too. Have fun!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Thanks everyone!

I can't wait to go...I've wanted to visit Williamsburg for quite some time, and I love the idea of dinner in one of the historc taverns.

I'm actually a little surprised in how much there seems to be do to!

[Touchdown]

Williamsburg is one of my favorite vacation destinations, here are some of my tips:

-There are combo passes out there, and the SPs for Busch and CW have some really nice perks but irregardless, I highly suggest you find a way to have one of these because its great to park hop and helps balence the days.

-Pick up an entertainment schedule for CW when you arrive, there are different things on different days.

-See CW's Thomas Jefferson reenactor, he has won awards for this (and been featured in the Colbert Report) and is fantastic.

-I also highly suggest seeing the military training end of the day show, not only do they fire muskets and cannons, but also the entire fife and drum corps march down the main street and also preform in full regalia, last summer this happend twice a week.

-BG and WCUSA is fantastic, go there, the former has disney themeing and show quality with big time coasters the latter is in my opinion better then any water park in Orlando.

-Jamestown and Yorktown are 30 mins away, and worth the trip if you are a history buff.

[murphy1]

I went as a child and as an adult (enjoyed it much better second time, it was a business conference too). I recommend Christina's too, it was good, we had one of our dinners there.

[Melanie]

Definitely eat at one of the tavern's. And I recommend a stroll around the campus of William & Mary.

And if you like to shop, go to the new Yankee Candle store! It's incredible!

[Christabel]

Besides CW...

Definitely go check out Jamestown. Both the Settlement and Jamestown Island. I haven't been the island in a while, but I go to the Settlement quite regularly (I work there) and it's really cool (from a history geek's perspective, anyway). All new galleries, a new movie, the ships, the fort, and the Powhatan village. Plus it's the 400th anniversary. Even though the main celebration is in May (and the Queen's coming May 3-4), they'll probably still have a lot of stuff there for the anniversary. ^^ Not really sure how long it would take, but I'd say the Settlement would take a good 1/2 a day, depending on how crowded it is and how much you want to see.

Busch Gardens is a lot of fun. Like pshokie said, it's kinda like the World Showcase, except bigger and with more thrill rides. It currently has 4 roller coasters: Apollo's Chariot (my favorite), Alpengeist, Big Bad Wolf, and Loch Ness. Plus, a new one, the Griffon, is opening in France in May. And of course, they've got more than just roller coasters... the food's pretty good IMO, and they have a lot of shows. Water Country USA is a lot of fun too, though I like Busch Gardens better.

As far as food in CW goes, I went to the King's Arms last Christmas. It was really good. ^^ There was a musician who came in as well as another reenactor. While it was Christmas, I'd imagine that they'd have something similar regularly. And the peanut soup is delicious. <3

As far as lodging goes... the Williamsburg Inn is supposed to be nice, and it's right in CW. The Great Wolf Lodge is a bit further out. I've been to their water park before. It's very fun. I don't think I'd stay there, though. It's a bit noisy for me.

And like NJGIRL said, it gets really hot and humid during the summertime here. So be prepared. ^^

[lauralemm]

There are also a pretty good amount of community events in Wburg/ Yorktown that are free/cheap. Maybe go to the Pilot Online website (one of our local papers) and sign up to get their "what to do" weekend email. That will have things like special movies in the theatre at Merchant's Square by the College as well as any live music.

I love to eat at Trellis Restaurant as well as the previously mentioned Cheese Shop (truly awesome sandwiches) and the Fat Canary. They are all there in Merchant's Square, which is a quaint shopping area adjacent to the Historic Area and the College. Trellis had (as recently as last year) a cool afternoon menu of desserts with a wine/champagne pairing list that is available on their terrace or at the bar. They have awesome desserts and its a nice break in the day.

LOVE Busch Gardens, too. It gets really stupid hot in summer, though, so BRING WATER. They let you-- so do it. We would take frozen waterbottles in an insulated lunch bag when we would go last summer. It saved a LOT of money (for buying beer and yummy food, of course.) It is nice and shady though, so if you are smart about staying hydrated you won't be miserable.

have fun!

[Melanie]

I love to eat at Trellis Restaurant

I forgot about the Trellis Restaurant. It's very nice to eat outdoors there.

[pwdebbie]

We have gone to Williamsburg for the past five or six years. This is our first "just the two of us" vacation not spent at Williamsburg -- going to Disney World this year for the first time.

As for Colonial Williamsburg, be sure to take part in the "Revolutionary City" activities. You will learn a lot, you will get drawn into conversations with "interpreters" who remain in character. It is quite fascinating to converse one-on-one with Patrick Henry or Thomas Jefferson.

One of our favorite personages to see at CW is Gowan Pamphlet, a slave preacher. You have to check the schedule as his locations tend to change.

We always plan to eat dinner one night at Christiana Campbells. A little pricey, but excellent food and atmosphere. In town, we have found that the Red Lobster is the best one we've ever been to.

We also like to take a carriage ride. You can hear some very interesting tidbits from the driver.

Bassett Hall is also intersting to tour. I would have liked to have spent more time walking about the grounds.

Also, take time to visit Jamestown and Yorktown, both the historic sites (owned by the National Park Service, I think) and the recreated sites. The shuttle will take you from the CW Visitor's Center to these other sites. And take time to enjoy a car ride down the Colonial Parkway, stopping at each spot to read the signs.

Of courses, there is Busch Gardens for a more active day. Some very good shows there -- but I haven't ridden any rides there since the mid-90s.

And Water Country USA. I have very bad memories of WCUSA back in the mid-90s. I went down a slide and almost flew over the side -- seriously! My husband was watching and was terrified, he said no one else's body came up to the edge like mine did. When I popped out at the bottom, two lifeguards grabbed me immediately, they don't normally do that!

We've never visited the plantations, CW tends to fill up our entire week. Some people tell me they've taken a ferry boat ride. We've seen the ferry from River Walk (in Yorktown I believe) but did not ride it.

Enjoy your trip!

Deb

[DisneyDog]

Okay, for those of you "in-the-know" about the Queen's visit, I have to ask ... does anyone know if she's bringing her Corgis?