Colonial Williamsburg is an American treasure. It's one of my absolute favorite places in America.
I've visited a half-dozen times in 25 years.
While much of it on the surface never changes -- it's always the 1770s -- my experience was noticeably different.
For starters, everything was more expensive than just a few years ago. Especially things like food, drinks, souvenirs, etc. Look, I get it. Inflation. Everything is more expensive these days.
Colonial Williamsburg is very expensive for just a one-day visit. Even a day and a half isn't enough time. Not every building is open every day, not every program or tour is offered every day, etc. They really need to offer a discounted admission during the offseason.
Here's some insider advice: If you only have a day, don't buy a ticket. You can roam the grounds and look at the buildings from the outside without paying. It's not cheating. It's perfectly legal. The streets or most of the streets are public thoroughfares. In the morning, you see a fair number of college students from nearby William & Mary running or walking through Colonial Williamsburg. While admittedly not same experience, it's still interesting -- especially if you've been to Colonial Williamsburg before or have some knowledge of the colonial era.
Another noticeable difference from previous visits of mine (especially many years ago) was authenticity or lack thereof. While everything looks authentic on first blush, especially to the casual visitor who doesn't have much knowledge of the period, I noticed quite a few things that were problematic from a historical or authenticity standpoint.
I don't think you would have seen this 20 or 30 years ago. Things like interpreters (Colonial Williamsburg doesn't like to call them reenactors) wearing modern shoes. Or male interpreters with facial hair. Maybe some of them are volunteers. I don't know. But it was noticeable. Then there's the more touchy subjects. Do you allow a black person to interpret a character or the role of a character when it wasn't possible for a black person to hold that hold or be that person during the colonial era? That's obviously a touchy subject with valid arguments on both sides. Same for gender roles. I saw at least one person who appeared to be a woman doing something that a woman in that era couldn't wouldn't have done.
That aside, some of the interpreters who play a very specific character or historical figure are quite good. When you think about it, they're part actor, part teacher, part historian, and part tour guide. That's not easy. It's actually quite impressive.
My only real complaints?
1) The art museum needs better hours. 10 am to 5 pm is way too limited, especially if you're spending most of the day in Colonial Williamsburg itself. At the very minimum, the art museum should have extended evening hours like 8 or 9 pm on Thursday and Friday evenings, like an increasingly number of art museums in bigger cities.
2) It would be nice if they offered visitors the experience to dress up in authentic colonial attire.
3) They need to do more experiences. Most of the visitors seem to be senior citizens, parents with children, or school age children on group visitors. You don't see many 20-30-40 somethings without children visiting. Maybe a colonial era cooking class? Or a mixologist explaining and making colonial era drinks?Or a Colonial Williamsburg behind-the-scenes tour. Some of these would also be of interest to repeat visitors of all ages.
Réponse de l'hôte
Oct 2024
Thank you for your detailed review and suggestions. We have provided them to our management team. When you plan to visit again, be sure to check our website for special promotions. For example during this month and next month, we offer a 25% off single day discount. Take care and safe travels.