A Week in Williamsburg VA: Family Vacation for Under $600

This year we decided to forgo our usual Orlando vacation and instead took two vacations, one in April to Chicago, IL and one in July to Williamsburg, VA. I choose Virginia because my kids absolutely love theme parks, and I found a rocking price that just couldn't be beat, which helped us enjoy a sweet weeks' vacation for under $600.

Also in researching the tickets available for Busch Gardens and Water Country USA, I found a way to save the $13 a day parking fee as well, the "Bounce Ticket". You pay $28.05 more but save $91 in parking just buy buying the Bounce Ticket.

Another big savings factor was the fact that I decided to drive over flying.

My numbers run down:

Roundtrip Gas plus toll:

$95

Hotel through Hotwire:

$283 (included a complimentary breakfast each morning, homemade waffles anyone?)

Parking at the theme parks:

$0 (A $91 savings)

Seven day theme park tickets to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA:

$168 (Would have been $262.80 had my youngest not gone to visit his dad for the summer)

Grand Total:

$546

The regular ticket price for a seven day ticket for both Busch Gardens and Water Country USA was 69.95 per person online, which right off the bat was a savings of $10 over an in person purchase. This price was for anyone over the age of 3.

The Bounce ticket offers a third attraction in Colonial Williamsburg as well as the "parking included" feature that was such a great help to us. The price was $98 for adults and $82 for children 6 and over, children 5 and under were free with the purchase of this ticket. So if it were one adult and a 5 year old it would be $139.90 for two of the regular passes or $98.80 for one Bounce Ticket each which as I said, included free parking. A no-brainer, I'm sure.

How would this translate for your family of four and still be kept under $600? Let us assume it would be 2 adults, one teen and one child. First, you should only purchase one Bounce ticket to score the free parking and get your youngest a free ticket.

So tickets and parking would total: $237.90

My gas total was for an 8-hour drive each way, I will keep that amount but if your drive will be shorter it stands to reason your transportation cost will be lower.

Transportation: $95

And finally, your accommodations, I am a firm believer in using sites like gtahotels.com and hotwire.com to score a great deal on a hotel. Since I used Hotwire I will tell you that I could have gotten a higher star hotel if I would have stayed closer to the airport and added an extra 10 minutes to my drive to the parks each day. And since we are trying to keep your family vacation under $600 I will use the amount that hotel would have cost me:

Hotel: 222.37 (for a 3 star near the airport with complimentary breakfast and pool)

Grand total: $555.27

And remember, it isn't how much you spend on a vacation, but the fact that you and your family are getting a much deserved break, having a ton of fun and making memories that last a lifetime!

Here a few side bar tips:

Take advantage of the fact that you are allowed to purchase a drink cup ticket online for about $1.50 less than at the park. You exchange this voucher for a souvenir cup that allows you $1 refills at both parks. Or you can forgo it altogether and just bring your own reusable cups and get free ice and water refills all day, and in that heat, this may be the best way to go.

Grab a few pieces of fruit and some of the pastries that are given with breakfast for snacks later in the day. We always enjoyed our cheese Danish after our night swim. I estimate this saved me about $20-$30 for the week for both me and my son over me having purchased snacks near our hotel.

Leave the park for lunch or better yet bring a cooler to the park and enjoy sitting at a picnic table outside of the entrance. Once day we passed by Kentucky Fried Chicken and snapped up their $8.99 ten piece bucket and some biscuits, that along with some canned soda and juice and a bag of chips was our lunch that day. And since I split it with my friend that was on vacation with us, my total for lunch that day was less than $7.00 for both of us. Meanwhile in the park a few strips of chicken and some fries was $8.99 per order. And also there are quite a few fast food joints you can hit within 5-7 minutes of the parks' entrances and hit the dollar menu.We ate at the coolest retro filled, mini-museum McDonalds.

Happy Vacationing!