Any price/menu updates for 2016? Meal plan?

[DougS]

Hello,

My family will be vacationing in Williamsburg July30-Aug6. Our plan is to go to Busch Gardens 2 of those days. I'm trying to create a schedule/budget and was wondering if anyone had any 2016 prices.

Also, is the pre-paid meal plan worth the money? I have not read many positive things about it, but they are all from a few years ago.

Any info would help! Thanks,

Doug

 

[GoHokies87]

Unless you plan to eat more than once at the park, the meal plan isn't very much worth it. If you eat twice, it's a slight deal. Seeing as how you will be in from out of town and will most likely be eating out anyway, I would recommend looking into it.

 

[min_roadkill]

I always get the meal deal with the drink cup for our trips. The website says that all entitlements must be used on the same day, but I have used them on multiple days in the past with no problems. I would appreciate confirmation on that if anyone has tried the new meal deals.

As for the schedule, I prefer 3 park days with afternoon breaks. It can get very hot there and mornings and evenings are much more comfortable in the park. Our trip is planned for July 9-16 and here is my schedule.

Sat Colonial Williamsburg Vistor Center and then Yorktown Victory Center/Battlefield
Sun BGW
Mon BGW
Tues Water Country and then Pirates Cove in late evening
Wed Jamestown Settlement/Historic Jamestowne and Ride the Ferry(I try to ride in the middle of the day so it doesn't affect the people that have to commute)
Thurs Colonial Williamsburg/museums
Fri BGW

Make sure to take the drive around Jamestown and then to Yorktown along the Colonial Parkway. It is a nice way to relax in the middle of the day in between trips to the park.

 

[DougS]

Here is our tentative schedule, depending on weather of course!

Saturday - arrive, Pottery, possibly 5:00 Mass
Sunday - 9:00 Mass if not done Saturday, Jamestown Settlement, Dinner - Capt. George's
Monday - BGW
Tuesday - CW, Cry Witch Trial
Wednesday - BGW
Thrus - Water Country
Friday - CW, dinner at Christiana Campbell's
Saturday - depart for home

What is Pirate's Cove?

 

[Thomas]

Pirate's Cove is a mini-golf course on Bypass road.

 

[Merboy]

Let us know how the Cry Witch trial goes! It sounds interesting!

 

[min_roadkill]

I have always wanted to see Cry Witch, sounds fun. We are trying Christina Campbell's this year as well. I hear the food isn't that great, but it is more about the experience to me. All I ever read about the pottery place is that is horrible, but I have never been myself. Maybe some locals will chime in.

 

[Username]

Christina Campbell is known as the "seafood tavern" which can impact a lot of people's perceptions of it.

I've lived in/around Williamsburg for 20+ years now and the new pottery is horrible compared to the original BUT I do have a lot of nostalgia influencing that and I think without that, I wouldn't mind the place too much. It is know by locals for having an interesting wine and food selection. Also, I went last summer and got some very cheap prints that were cool as well as an interesting bird house.

Honestly, half of the fun of the old pottery was walking around abandoned buildings, feeling that you were in a zombie movie, just so you could buy a basket shaped like a frog for a quarter.

And literally everything in that above statement was true. That frog basket holds my produce.

 

[netdvn]

I think the old pottery ended up renovating because the place was pretty much abandoned and it looked like a dump. The last time I was there before the renovation, I was literally the only person there (and maybe a few shopkeepers and such). Most of the place was pretty vacant.

The new pottery is nice to walk around in. I didn't really find it all that special.

- Maybe my nostalgia's a little off. I remember being bored out of my skull every time we went. The Pepperidge Farm place was the only place I cared about in the whole complex lol

 

[DougS]

Yes, we remember the old pottery well! When we were in college, many moons ago, a friend of ours was a BGW performer - he did the one man show about the Sorcerer's Apprentice - don't remember the name of it. So, we went down to see him every summer. We have not been back in 25 years, but do remember how cool the pottery was.

 

[min_roadkill]

The new meal voucher is a hot mess and in my opinion, a big step back from the old version where the kiosks printed a separate ticket for each meal. With the former, you could hand them the ticket and they stapled it to their receipt and off you go to eat. You know exactly what entitlements you have left, because you had a ticket for each. With the new style you keep your printed sheet and they scan the barcode. This sounds ok at first, but when you have a family of 4 and 3 meal vouchers for each person it gets confusing. I was told by different employees that the new system allows people to use their vouchers on separate days without losing entitlements, but if that is the case then why do the printouts say that they must be used on the same day? The only way to know if you have entitlements left is to go to a cashier and have them scan the barcode to see(it will also print out remaining entitlements on your receipt). They cannot check on any computers other than food services. I was given food on more than one occasion because the system crashed when trying to redeem the voucher. They should change the marketing to (save 70% on meals by purchasing a meal plan) because there is no way to calculate savings LOL. I was given at least $80 worth of free food while there so it truly saves money for the consumer