The countdown is on to our first-ever Haunting on DoG Street. Blackbeard and his crew are ready to join the thousands of men, women, and children registered for our free trick-or-treating and ticketed family events. To make sure everyone has a good time and you feel prepared, we’ve put together a list of answers to some frequently asked questions.
CAN I CHECK IN EARLY?
Yes! The Visitor Center opens at 8:45 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday and you can stop by any time during the day you are registered to redeem your voucher and pick up any paid event wristbands. So take your time with dinner and putting those last minute touches on the costume. And don’t worry. If you can’t find your confirmation email, just give the ticket agent a photo ID when you check in. If you registered, you’re in our system!
WHERE DO I PARK?
You must register at the Visitor Center to get your candy bags and/or wristbands. We encourage everyone to start at the Visitor Center (even if you register early) and take the spooky shuttle to all the fun on DoG Street. You’ll be dropped off at the stop on the corner of Francis St. and Botetourt St. where Blackbeard will greet you and direct you to all the fun.
DO ADULTS NEED TICKETS TO GET INTO “A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME”?
Yes! Every child must be accompanied by an adult which means no child can enter any “A Pirate’s Life for Me” event without a wristband. That includes all paid activities such as pirate games, costume contests, Jolly Roger decorating, and sing-alongs. If you purchased tickets for your children but did not realize you also need them as adults, they will be for sale at access points into the activities.
CAN ADULTS WEAR COSTUMES?
Nope. Unless you’re an 18th-century interpreter, pirate, or child under the age of 13—we are asking you dress in regular clothes. Kids are allowed to carry accessories like magic wands and cowboy hats but please, no masks!
UPDATES: Due to your feedback and suggestions, we have decided to allow children 13 and under to wear masks with their costumes. We do ask that you take into consideration this is a family event and there will be younger kids in attendance. We are depending on your judgment and consideration to keep all masks PG so as not to scare or offend other guests. We want to ensure that everyone has fun! We have also decided to allow adults accompanying children who want to dress up in the spirit of our family-friendly event go do so during the 5-7:30 experience. However, we do have a few ground rules.
First up, no 18th-century costumes (please). This is so that guests can easily identify our staff working the event. And… no zombies! We’ll leave that to Blackbeard and his crew when they take over DoG Street at 8 p.m. (Everyone else, leave your undead at home). Finally, and most importantly, please be mindful that there will be young children trick-or-treating. Keep the scare factor PG. Our staff reserves the right to turn away any Freddy Kruegers, chainsaw-wielding murderers, etc. Nobody wants to deal with nightmares, including us!
Still unsure if your costume is appropriate? Allow us to illustrate.
Please remember that face painting is available from 2:30-5:00 (both nights) at the Visitor Center and only costs $5. It’s free if you also rent one of our colonial costumes.
WHAT ABOUT MY CHILD WITH ALLERGIES?
We have a pretty sweet plan. That’s right. We’ve teamed up with Food Allergy Research Education (FARE) and will be participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project. When you check in at the Visitor Center, be sure to let the ticket agent know and your child will receive a special bag with a teal logo. Eight of our 16 trick-or-treat sites will have teal pumpkins where interpreters and staff will hand out Skittles and Starburst in addition to non-food treats. Expect spider rings, plastic fingers, stickers, etc. (Kids without allergies may also trick-or-treat at these sites). The complete list of participating sites include: Tarpley, Thompson & Company, Edward Charlton House (not to be confused with the Coffeehouse-this one is directly across from the Golden Ball and next to the Wigmaker), King’s Arms Tavern, Shields Tavern, Edinburgh Castle, Nicolson Store, Alexander Craig House, and the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop.
WHAT ABOUT DINNER?
Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. You can stop in King’s Arms Tavern or grab a quick sandwich and gingerbread cookie from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. We will also be selling hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, and gluten-free wraps behind Shields Tavern. All of that food is priced at or less than $5 so we recommend you bring cash if you can.
And don’t forget to pick up your skeleton mug. They’re $6.95 (with tax) and available at the Visitor Center, Everything Williamsburg in Merchants Square, and on merchandise carts along the trick-or-treat route. Refills are just $1 with your mug and are good for all cold drinks including cider, soda, and water. Make sure you hang on to it because the same deal applies for all return visits. Huzzah!
CAN OUR DOG COME?
Sorry, but not this year. Given the expected crowds, we are only allowing service dogs into the event. However, we have it on good authority that Miss Liberty is already planning some dog-friendly events for next year. We’ve even heard rumors of a dog costume contest so stay tuned!
WHAT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS WHEN I GET THERE?
Just look for our friendly staff and volunteers. We’ll be the ones wearing the neon bracelets and Haunting on DoG Street t-shirts. We can help direct you to the restrooms, specific activities, and trick-or-treat sites. Customer Service centers will also be set up at the Charlton Coffeehouse as well as the William Pitt Store.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FAMILIES: PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING ENDS AT 7:30 P.M. AND BY 8:00, THE STREETS WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO A PG-13 EXPERIENCE. THE FEAR FACTOR GOES UP—WAY UP—WHEN BLACKBEARD AND HIS ZOMBIE CREW RETURN FROM THE DEAD. THESE HAUNTS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 12!
Party tricks do not a consistent revenue stream make. What happens in following years when Halloween does not fall on a weekend. Most folks won’t travel on a school night to a Halloween party. This isn’t a run-up celebration such as Christmas when you have a whole month to draw in new visitors. I believe it will be found that the cost to put on this dog and pony show will remove any profit realized from additional visitors for only two days and nights. And, the public will expect the following year to better than the previous. No, I believe that Colonial Williamsburg has started down a pitiful path of grasping for any thing that may give the illusion of income, and cheapens the experience for the majority of visitors and donors. If this is the best that can be done I fear Colonial Williamsburg may return to that sleepy little town slowly decaying as it was found by the Rev. W.A. R. Goodwin almost a century ago.
Richard Crenshaw says
So i saw this thing for myself. I was skeptical like a few others. But i can say that witnout a doubt this Halloween event was absolute genius. Thousands of children who would never have set foot in the Historic Area smiling laughing and engaging with CWs characters and stories. Victory. To those who maintain their obstinance in the face of this triumph, a hearty bah-humbug. To paraphrase the late Yogi Berra, History aint what it used to be and we darn well better find new ways to captivate our young people. Preserving out own ersatz illusions of the “true course” of CW is a guarantee we will doom it. Attendemce at CW and at all historical tourism sites is down precipitously. CW is drawing down its emdowment down. Id say 10,000 new faces on our streets, filled with wonder, is a sign CW did something magical and transformative this weekend. Huzzah!!!
As a Virginian and native of the Hampton Roads area I have nothing but respect for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. However, I believe that going off on this tangent of celebrating Halloween cheapens the Colonial Williamburg experience, sets up issues for security and doesn’t reflect on what would have been going on in Williamsburg during the 18th century. I believe that as a living museum Colonial Williamsburg should maintain a certain decorum. That would be being a place of research, interpretation of 18th century life in a British colony and continued study of events that shaped the future of this country.
I would hope this would be the last foray into competing with Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream.
I am a little upset about the adults not being able to wear costumes. If this was told to me at the time I bought the Pirates Life for Me tickets, I would of not bought myself and husbands costumes. I am happy they are doing this but this information should of been stated in the tickets I printed out in the rules. This is our first Halloween back in the United States. Thank you for putting on such an event but you might want to make this clear to others since we shelled out a lot of money for the costumes and now have no where to wear them.
Are adults allowed to wear costumes to the adult event?
So what are you going to do if adults show up in costume? This is the first time I’ve seen this crazy rule, and we paid a lot of money for 2 adult pirate costumes and 2 children’s pirate costumes. This is a family event so why can’t the parents participate? I’m livid.
So to all the people who registered for tickets over a month ago & didn’t keep up with these late breaking costume rules online and on Facebook, you would turn them away because they failed to constantly check for costume updates? This should’ve been stated from the start. I have shelled out a lot of cash for mine & my sons “masked” costumes. Now we can’t wear them? This is horrible planning people.
Eric - Due to your feedback and suggestions from other readers, we have decided to allow children 13 and under to wear masks with their costumes. We do ask that you take into consideration this is a family event and there will be several younger kids in attendance. We are depending on your judgment and consideration to keep all masks PG so as not to scare or offend other guests. We want to ensure that everyone has fun!
Thanks for providing this free, safe event to our community! You didn’t have to, but we are glad you did!
This is really overboard on rules. Parents can’t dress up? Kids can’t wear masks? On Halloween? We all have costumes we bought as a family to wear. My son is a stormtrooper which has a mask. Without it he is a kid in white pajamas, not a costume. I can see not allowing adults with masks for safety but not kids.
I agree. My son’s costume also has a mask that doesn’t make much sense without it. (I can understand no masks for adults, but no adult costumes at all? Where’s the “family” fun in that?) However, CW addressed those issues on their Haunting on DoG Street Facebook page. It’s CW’s first attempt anyway. I’m sure they’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t for the future.
Karen - Thank you for your positive approach and honest feedback. We are happy to announce that after much consideration, we have decided to allow children 13 and under to wear masks with their costumes. We hope you and your family have a great night!
Audrey, while adults are still not permitted to dress up, we have decided to alter our guidelines regarding masks. Children 12 and under may wear masks with their costumes. Thank you for your suggestions and we hope you and your family have a wonderful evening on DoG Street!