doyle079 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 not finals but still on topic of hotels... best western in madison was pretty bad, broken AC silverfish on ceiling, crappy awkward shaped room. oh and bad service desk. BUT decent breakfast. but the night before we went to normal stayed in a marriot fairfield. highly recommended in san antonio marriot (the one with a mini kitchen, meant for extened stay kinda deals) alamo plaza. great hotel only downside no wifi on upper floors, but they had an ethernet cable in room. bottom line marriot hotels seem to be good overall for OP call and complain tell them how bad it was and because of it you will never stay in a best western again and would advise your friends against it as well. see if you can get a lil more than $90 back. also call the health department for that town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 (edited) Good: loved the venue, it had great views from even my seats in 3R Row 56. sublime crowd. parking was pleasantly cheap and quick to get in and out of. i didn't eat anywhere in town b/c i decided to take a nap after i checked in to my hotel in bedford. holiday inn express wasn't bad overall (even tho i got a random $110 charge from them, which they had no record of and i've been assured that Chase Manhattan will take care of). i try to gain Hilton Honors points, but there wasn't a room available at the time i searched in the bloomington area. i'll be sure to book further in advance for Indy. Bad: the drive. 5.5 hrs. as i've commented in another thread, indiana must invest in better roads. not having a decent four-lane highway running north to south is RIDICULOUS in this age and time. i-69 should've been planned years ago. and to top it off, there was construction every town i drove through. boo. and after that driving, comfortable seats would've been nice. but the end result of the evening was worth crawling over broken glass for. Edited August 14, 2008 by chaos001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbell211 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 (edited) THE GOOD I think that Bloomington is a good venue for drum corps. The stadium was very nice and easy to get to and there was ample parking. The people I sat around really enjoyed the performances and were friendly. I thought the seats were small but that didn't bother me. For those complaining about bleacher seats, I have two words: SEAT CUSHION. THE BAD There is no best route to get to Bloomington. I don't like the idea of traveling on two-lane highways, especially at night, which made the trip long. Coming I-70 East from Illinois, I had to take a detour from my original route to Bloomington. I ended going two exits down on I-70 which was 18 miles down. Later on, I found out that the detoured route was the best route. Concessions could have had more food choices. Has anyone been to the DCI show in Murfreesboro? Lots of food choices there! Edited August 14, 2008 by gbell211 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peel Paint Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 ... So, I brought him some BBQ in between corps! What can I say? To some people, "WE" all look alike! You mean BBQ lovers?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peel Paint Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 (edited) i try to gain Hilton Honors points, but there wasn't a room available at the time i searched in the bloomington area. i'll be sure to book further in advance for Indy. HHonors has rooms within walking distance of Lucas Oil for August 2009 available now. Go ahead and book this week as I did. You can always change or cancel later without penalty as long as you observe their rules. (I changed my Indy HH reservations last winter when the rates dropped and then canceled them this past spring when they suddenly moved finals to Bloomington). But if you wait too long, those walking-distance rooms will be gone or blocked for DCI. Bad: ...indiana must invest in better roads... and to top it off, there was construction every town i drove through. boo. Err... Edited August 14, 2008 by Peel Paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 One of the Worst experiences I had during Finals Week came when I was outside the stadium in the Marketplace on Saturday morning. The Open Class Finals had just started and I had extra tickets. I was not attempting to sell any. Rather, I was asking people if they would like some tickets.... FREE of charge! Things went well for a few minutes, and I gave away about ten tickets, when from out of nowhere a man wearing a DCI shirt approached me and told me to stop. I asked him why should I stop, since there is no law against giving away tickets.He replied, "You are cutting into our profits"! Can you believe that? DCI would rather we all get stuck with extra tickets than to sell them or even to give them away for free! those tickets had already been bought and paid for once. What was the harm in giving them away? DCI saw $20.00 per ticket slipping out of their hands. According to their thinking, the 10 tickets I had given away cost them $200.00! They could not see how my actions could benifit the activity in the long run. All they cared about was maximizing their profits! The next time I have extra tickets I want to give away, I will do it in front of the local WAL-MART! Yours in Drum Corps, Ron Gunn I don't see what the big deal was either. If you had tickets that were already bought and paid for and were willing to offer them free of charge, and not selling them above the initial price (more commonly referred to as scalping) then I don't see a problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillygwm Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Good - Overall, B'ton was a pleasant place to be. Weather was unparalleled for a finals, stadium sightlines were excellent, acoustics were very good. Parking was pretty good and relatively reasonable. Hotel (Hilton Garden Inn in B'ton) was kind of pricey but that's to be expected on a sellout weekend. It was comfortable, and the staff was quite accomodating. I'd absolutely stay there again if I needed to return to Bloomington. BTW, Hilton related properties are accepting reservations for 2009 finals dates NOW; many other chains won't for another 1.5 weeks. Bad -- Idiots who brought their little kid to finals. He looked to be around 5-6 and wasn't in the least bit interested in sitting still or staying quiet through the performances. Apparently, this is his 3rd finals; I feel sorry for the people around them at those! Next time, pack Ritalin. Or Valium. He finally calmed down a bit when his parents bribed him with toys if he promised to stay still for the last 4 corps. Really, I know we want to get the next generation involved in the activity but this was just not appropriate. Also, the shuttle loops around Bloomington were great going to the stadium, but not so much on the return. My friend and I called a taxi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 So I was just standing there minding my own business waiting for scores on Finals night, when all of the sudden some guy in a green shirt falls right on my feet. I didn't know what to do, so I just kinda ignored him and kept standing there. Luckily someone eventually came along and told him to get up. I'm glad Acheson told that falling down drunk judge to get up and move along. (I knew what you meant...very funny!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillygwm Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 (edited) The next time I have extra tickets I want to give away, I will do it in front of the local WAL-MART! Ron, giving the extra tix away was a nice gesture but, though you were being facetious, perhaps the local Wal-Mart (or another non-DC venue) is a better place to do it in any case. People at the stadium are already fans. They're generally ready and willing to purchase a ticket to the event. If you gave away extras elsewhere (assuming, of course, that you knew you'd be stuck with them beforehand), maybe you involve someone in the activity who wouldn't otherwise be involved. Maybe they get hooked...as you explained happened to you as a kid. Still, it's a nice gesture regardless of where you do it, and DCI was wrong to try to stop you. Edited August 14, 2008 by Phillygwm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Dixon Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Good-loved the stadium, its sightlines, ease of getting in-and-out of traffic, and the shade trees out front under which I took a nice nap and fired up the grill between open class and world class. Bad-unless I somehow completely missed them, there were no water fountains. There were gatorade coolers filled with water that we at first thought existed to remedy the no-water-fountains problem, but we learned on the last day that those were intended only for the ushers (whoops!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.