Awesome theme park/water park

Busch Gardens and Wild Water Country are a must! My family has not yet been to Disney, so this theme park was a wonderful land of fantasy for them. My husband and I truly enjoyed it too--it was our best vacation yet!

Quick Tips:

The multiple-day pass to Busch Gardens and Wild Water Country is more economical than buying individual days. If you check, the RCI specialty desk at RCI Travel may even have a discount. Our resort also offered tickets at a discount--I wish we had taken them up on it instead of purchasing at the gate, as I had a coupon from the entertainment book that had to be used at the gate. The only problem was that it is only for single-day passes and doesn't apply to multiple days, and that ticket is actually a better deal.

Best Way To Get Around:

You need a car to get places. Wild Water Country and Busch Gardens are about a 10- to 15-minute ride apart.

The accomodations were very nice, and there was construction going on--the clubhouse is being renovated. The units are condominiums that are freshly decorated in early American style. The units can be ground level to a three-story walk up. We were on the third floor, with a one-bedroom unit that was adequate, spacewise, for us. We are a family of four with two elementary school-age children. The kitchen was a mini-kitchen. We had a fridge, a small cooktop, and a small dishwasher and sink. The eating area was small--it is a round table--and there is little counterspace and little cabinet space. We brought a lot of our groceries from home, and since we drove there, the plastic tupperware unit I used to transport the goods came in handy to store it.

The outdoor pools are beautiful, with a private adults-only pool that is gated and located behind a larger pool with a children's pool. There is a small indoor pool with a very small deck area--I found it a little claustrophobic, and the fumes of the chlorine were strong. I did not find the indoor pool appealing, although my children swam in it. There is a small gameroom located next to this, a small library area with computer/Internet access, and games can be borrowed at the desk. There is also a video rental machine.

Nearby there are lots and lots of family-friendly restaurants and fast-food places. There is a Kmart withn a few minutes, and there are outlet malls just down the road--maybe 20 minutes away.

Busch Gardens is a celebration of world culture, similiar to an EPCOT, but not built on a lagoon. There are various countries to visit, each with an attraction/ride, entertainment, and food. The park is built in a circle, and the entertainment/rides compliment the area of the world that you are supposed to be visiting. It's Disney without the characters.

There are lots of different tube rides and water attractions to pick from. Perfect for a hot August day! There is an area for the babies/toddlers with interactive play and a small waterslide, which we used to get my 5- and 8-year-olds ready for the regular ones. The more you ride, the more you want to ride--what seemed outragous and impossible when we first got to the park was tempting and enticing by the end of the first day and day two! The park can get very crowded by mid-afternoon, so get there early to ride without the wait. Use the bounce pass and change into dry clothes and head to Busch Gardens for late afternoon and evening, and have a meal at the park and take in one of the spectacular shows. The park has a different ambience in the evening, so it's worth it. Also, after a few hours in a wetsuit and soggy feet from water shoes, putting on dry clothes is a treat, and you can unwind on the approximately 20-minute ride to get to Busch Gardens from WWC.

The beach is not as deep as those I'm used to on Long Island, but it is beautiful. I was not impressed with the Virginia Beach area itself, though--it have a very Atlantic City or Ft. Lauderdale feel to it, and I do not know if I would be comfortable walking around in the evening. By day, it is many families and tourists. Parking is a little steep--$10-15 for the day. The water was beautiful--the perfect temperature and very clean. There are various dining spots and some fast-food places just off the main access road to the public beach area. We packed a picnic lunch for convenience.