Colonial Williamsburg Explorer

I loved this app, until about a month ago. We used this app every time we went it CW. Great place to keep track of our event tickets, plan what or where we wanted to go or do while we were the colonial city. Now? Not so much. Every time I try to use this app I’m told I don’t have permission to see anything. I can’t sign in or sign up again. I’ve tried deleting it and reinstalling it. No luck. Definitely needs a fresh. Too bad that it has failed. It seems like the CWF is going the same way. What a tragedy

The map feature of this app was useful, and our family used it several times during our stay during the week of Independence Day. Although this seems like the perfect place to note schedule changes and up-to-date holiday happenings, be advised that CW does not do so. We missed going to a desired restaurant because the app said it would be closed until another day, but when we walked by later that same day, we found it was open to the public. The app would have been the perfect place to note this. They don’t necessarily update other things either. For example, the app noted this about the Post Office: “Thinking of sending home a postcard? Scribe your thoughts in ink with a quill pen for an authentic 18th-century look and feel.” I told my kids all about this, and they were set to write with a quill. When we arrived, the person there said that they no longer do that (and stopped quite a while ago). The app wasn’t updated. We were disappointed and felt frustrated that CW advertises the app but doesn’t really keep it updated. Over a month later, the incorrect information about the postcards still comes up in the app. Bottom line...use the map and maybe look at other things for reference, but don’t count on the app to be accurate.

Recently I visited Colonial Williamsburg due to having family in the area and decided to check out the area. Prior to heading in I downloaded the app and the map and made an account. If you do plan on using it the map is probably one of only two useful functions and it has issues. Most of the times for when shops and events open and close are not accurate in the app. So if you do use this have the daily list available and always look at the posted times outside each shop. When we told multiple employees of CW about the issues they said they don’t care, their hours are posted outside the shop. If you’re going to try and get tickets to any event the app is useless. Use local ticket vendors in CW. The app only crashes or freezes if you try and use it for that. The only other useful feature is what events are available but the daily list issued at the visitors center has all that. To be perfectly honest this is only a burden to your experience until they fix all the issues.