A mixed experience at a very well intentioned living museum. We visited during the week of the Mayflower's return. Ticket purchasing was confusing online, and it seemed impossible to purchase just a ticket for the plantation property (??). We paid $124.41 for two adults and a 10-year old.
We showed up at our entry time, but at the wrong place--did not realize the ship was 2.5 miles away, had to race to get to the ship. And the Mayflower was... ok. A beautiful ship when viewed (for free!) from the harbor, but minimal information on board. We encountered only one costumed staff person offering information, and few informational signs. I would not pay to board the ship again, if the experience remains the same.
Back at Plimoth Plantation, again information was lacking! We were sent down a hallway to start the experience. After we stood there for a while, we learned that we needed to download a QR code and watch the 12-min orientation on our phones. Nobody had mentioned that. Hm. The indigenous and colonial areas were fascinating, but also seemed very understaffed; sparse representation of informative costumed staff. I'm very glad the museum has embraced the indigenous side of its history, but you'd never guess there was anything other than happy coexistence between native people and settlers. It is still a bit lowest common denominator.
I am sure this is all pandemic related, but still, the price was premium given that we were channeled through the Mayflower thing.
No visitor Wifi in this day and age is weird, especially at this price point. Food was fine, and reasonably priced.
Réponse de l'hôte
Aug 2020
Thank you for your comment. Let me try to answer some of your concerns. When purchasing admission tickets through Trip Advisor there are redemption instructions on the ticket to exchange the voucher for admission at Plimoth Plantation. I'm not sure where the confusion of timed entry came from, all Trip Advisor tickets are open, next available, there is no timed entrance listed. So, I'm even more confused as to why you had to race down from Plimoth Plantation to the Mayflower, unless you upgraded your ticket on arrival to include the Mayflower which was only being sold through our online site or at the museum the week of the ships homecoming. If that's the case, with the ship open until 7pm that week, I would have recommended that you stay in place and visit the ship later in the afternoon. along with the Plimoth Grist Mill that had a closing time of 5pm. I'm sorry you had to do a lot of running around, not the best experience when you are planning a relaxing day to visit Plimoth.
Regarding you comment about wifi, yes we do have service for our guests. you may have needed the password from guest services.
I will pass along your comment to the Director, Guest Services. While all ticket associates are required to inform our guests of covid policies and that our orientation film is on available through a QR code/Plimoth.org, it's always good to remind them. Thank you for letting me know. Safe travels home.