We've had a day now to digest some of our thoughts from Colonial Williamsburg and after a pretty lackluster and disappointing experience. We drove from the West coast as a homeschooling family with hopes that this would be the highlight of our trip but honestly it was probably the least favorite thing we've done so far. It wasn't horrible but we all left pretty bummed out so we've been trying to come to a conclusion as to why. I think it can all be summed up in that the entire thing is poorly managed.
1. They really need to go all in on the theme. Take it up a notch and give us something to do here. Our kids were bored about 5 minutes into our walk and barely remembered going here once we were back home. “It was just a bunch of walking” was their reply when asked if they liked it. And they were kind of right. It's really just a bunch of old houses with people milling about in colonial costumes. Why not go all in on the theme and liven things up a little? Everyone looked bored. Some of the ads will show actors drumming, horses roaming about, photo ops with your kids' heads in the stocks. In reality, none of that was available. The stocks were roped off and you weren't allowed to use them for photos. Seriously, why were the stocks roped off?! Covid? Can you catch covid outdoors from the stocks?? We didn't see a single horse all day. No one was drumming. It all felt like a big bait-and-switch. The entire time you are there you're wondering “What are we supposed to be doing here?” “Why are we here?” Give us a reason to be here. (We actually left earlier than we had planned and went to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News where we had an amazing time).
2. Maybe some of our above complaints are due to the fact that this place is going WAY OVERBOARD on the covid restrictions. We've driven across the country through over a dozen states and this was the most locked down place we've been to by far. Maybe it felt like there was nothing to do there because 2/3 of the things weren't running because they were blaming everything on covid. I saw multiple times people being told that things were shut down or not running because of covid. The restaurant that was still actually open forced everyone to sit outside (when the entire rest of the country is now eating indoors) on picnic tables eating some terrible uninspired menu of hot dogs, bad pulled pork, Lays potato chips (and a few other items, as their normal “authentic” indoor menu wasn't available for whatever reason). Once again, it's time to move on from the covid restrictions. And for what it's worth, I'm pro vax and my wife and I are vaccinated and we wear masks whenever asked, but this was way over the top, even for us. Everywhere else we've gone to in this region hasn't been nearly this uptight. Move on. It's time. The website is advertising “Totally Touchless ticketing!”. Who cares! How about offer something to actually do here? Also the little shops right next to the historic area don't give a rip about masks or covid which made the covid restrictions in the historic area more annoying.
3. Probably one of our biggest complaints was that, despite being shut down tighter than a drum because of covid, they were still charging astronomical prices to get in for the day. They want $45 for adults and $25 for kids. If they are going to neuter 2/3 of the park for covid reasons then they should charge you 1/3 of the admission fees, right?
Normally I don't get bothered by these things enough to leave a big negative review but I think we were particularly disappointed by this because it could have been so much more and so much better and we left really disappointed. They are also still advertising this place as having things that they no longer have. And when you look online for videos of Colonial Williamsburg you'll see what looks like a pretty awesome park! Soldiers showing your kids how the guns work, marching bands, horses, carriages, etc. NONE of that is there in reality. Again, this is nothing more than a shopping area adjacent to a bunch of old buildings (lots of them lived in by the general public and off-limits), with bored workers milling outside of them telling you that you can't go inside many of the buildings because of covid.
I just did some searching online to see what was going on to maybe shed some light on what the story is and it sounds like there's new management in recent years and they have done some cost cutting in the face of huge drops in attendance over the years and they are moving a lot of the stuff online (terrible idea for what could basically be a fun “theme park” for lack of a better term), and are going to focus more on “making it relevant for the 21'st century” and talk about more slavery issues, lgbt issues, women's rights etc. (you can look it up for yourself on the Washington Post and other websites). I'm not going to discuss the politics of this and you may love or hate that change so your miles may vary there. Make of it what you will.
Tip: Don't pay to get in. You can ride the shuttle for free. You can see most of the place without paying their crazy high prices and in reality it's just a shopping area connected to some old houses anyway. No one is going to stop you from going to the adjacent Lululemon (why do they allow this in the historical area?) or candy store if you haven't purchased admission tickets. Most of what they advertise isn't even available. Maybe if they ever make this place fun or exciting to be at again it might be worth paying for. But if you want to eat a bad pulled pork sandwich on a bench outside you don't have to pay the $45 admission fee to have the privilege.
I was tempted to give it an extra star simply because it really is pretty here and the buildings are really great but I'm pretty upset about the bait-and-switch and misleading advertising about what this place really is. I wish I could have seen it in it's glory days 5-20 years ago.