<p>^^^And the Vandy game is Homecoming. Experienced peeps: how difficult does that make it to get tix?</p>
<p>Crimsonmom, you’re sweet to think of me. Would have loved to see that hawk.</p>
<p>I am also interested in the Vandy game. Would love to see Bama give a tailwhooping to that team! But I do believe it is Homecoming, and my son told me that the Quad was covered every inch on that weekend. I do not think that would be the weekend to visit!</p>
<p>As for where to stay, we stayed at the Fairfield in Tuscaloosa, but no rooms available now. Our friends stayed in Bessemer, where we will be this year, but they did not like the drive. But they weren’t willing to pay gameday prices for a hotel. I would recommend joining Marriott Rewards programs. They’ve been running a lot of specials lately where after three stays, you get a free night. After our marathon of visits in early fall last year, the other “pick up” visits were on Marriott, thanks to this great offer. PS, free room offers ARE NOT available for special events, but they come in handy when you want to do a “housekeeping” visit.</p>
<p>While in Tuscaloosa, a terrific side trip is to the Westerfelt-Warner Museum of American Art. It is affiliated with the Yellowhammer Inn and Conference Center next to it which is pricey, but looks lovely for a special weekend. Write down the directions and believe them; the museum is located in a golf course community and the signage is not great. Occasionally, Mr. Warner is in the building and will give a spontaneous talk on any piece in his collection.</p>
<p>*And the Vandy game is Homecoming. Experienced peeps: how difficult does that make it to get tix? *</p>
<p>That may be a hard game to get tix to because Vandy is only about 3-4 hours away. When the opposing team is within a rather easy driving distance, it’s harder to get tix. It is also a conference game…that also makes it harder. </p>
<p>It might be easier to get tix if you show up to the quad early in the day and buy from sellars who tend to walk along University by Denny Chimes.</p>
<p>Oops I forgot Vandy was homecoming. That does raise the price
(and demand) for tickets up a bit. </p>
<p>I guess it depends on whether you want to spend a bit more for a better game and better weather or if you’d rather get tickets easy and cheap and watch The Tide roll to a 60 point blowout. </p>
<p>I won’t be down there for either weekend. I already have my hotel rooms booked for the Arkansas, Tennessee & LSU games and I’ll be in Happy Valley for the Penn St game. Just 6 more months :-)</p>
<p>If you able both time wise and financially I would suggest you do Parents Weekend one time. We have always gone for each of our four children their freshman year. I have to say that Bama’s was by far the biggest, the craziest and a little overwhelming. It was quite warm…I wore a sundress and H wore shorts and a Alabama collared shirt. D had a date and so was in the usual game day sundress attire. We started off on the Quad at 8 am on Saturday, tailgating with D’s friends and families. We tailgate for the Mizzou games but it is NOTHING like this. H found a comfy chair and a big screen tv under a tent of Trussville folks and was quite content for a better part of the day. They had over 150 people at their tailgate! The game was a blowout and I have to tell you we were in the nosebleed section (my husband commented that we were above the stadium lights!!) but it was fun to hear “Sweet Home Alabama”. D sat with her date in the Greek section but we did meet up after the game and again for breakfast the next morning before making the long drive home to Missouri. We stopped by the UA Parents tent. It was very nice. Things seemed to be fairly well organized.
I am glad we went but we will not be attending this year. H wants to pick up tix to a couple of other more “competitive” games and we have commitments to all the MU games so we will be juggling to see how to get to T-Town. Good luck with hotel tix…we did not pay anything more than the regular rate last year…not sure how we lucked out with that one. Have fun and enjoy the experience. Roll Tide</p>
<p>Thanks all of you! Working on a hotel room this morning…</p>
<p>Thanks, ahpimommy, for commenting on the game experience itself. Yes, we were in the nosebleed section. These old knees could barely make it up to the seat. I think I did promise myself that next year, I’d spring for closer tickets. We’ll see. It’s a toss up, because …</p>
<p>The nice thing about being that far up, great view of the band doing their formations. Couldn’t quite figure out what they were, but they were awesome. The soda guys will actually bring you your drink to your seat, so you don’t miss any of the game. Beautiful view of the city from that high up. </p>
<p>But the thing I loved the best about the game, whether you’re sitting up or down, blowout or competitive, was hearing the kids yell, when Bama gets a First Down, ROLL TIDE!</p>
<p>After that, husband and I were hooked. We watched or recorded every Bama game on TV after that. And when Bama got that first down, even though we were sitting in our living room, we gave out a hearty ROLL TIDE! We even had friends over often to watch the games with us, putting on a tailgating spread in the comfort of our living room, even though they had no “dog in the hunt”. </p>
<p>Okay. Have I convinced you guys to go to Family Weekend yet?</p>
<p>You know what else I would recommend and it actually doesn’t have anything to do with PArents Weekend but the whole “being a parent of a child that goes to Bama”. Kansas City has a very active Alumni Association. My H met a woman one day in the parking garage when he was heading home from work. She had an Alabama A on the back of her car. Not being shy H struck up a conversation and the next thing you know they exchanged info and the very next day she called our D and invited her out to luch with several other alumni women. Those ladies took D under their wing, wrote her rec letters for recruitment, invited us to alumni events in the area. We watched the National Championship game with them at a local restaurant/bar…complete with pom poms, hats, noise blowers and tons of food…all free. They took D out again before we left, called during and after recruitment for updates and when D was home for Thanksgiving we watched the Iron Bowl game with them as well. My point is that this type of a connection was such a great thing for H, myself and D. Just like the professors, staff and students at Alabama…the alumni are just plain nice and helpful. they love their college, the experiences it afforded them and want to share that with you! So look and see if you have an active alumn group in your area. Call them and get acquainted. You won’t regret it!</p>
<p>For future reference: If I want to book a hotel room in Tuscaloosa to see a big game, or homecoming, or move-in day, etc. Is there a way to pay less? Or do you have to pay double and triple the normal amount?</p>
<p>Is it worth it to stay outside of T-town for game days? For instance, is the traffic very heavy to travel from Bessemer to T-town on game day? What would be amount of time to travel from an out-of-town hotel to the game? Is there a secret way into Bama on game day?</p>
<p>These are the type of questions that I always wanted to know the answers to but wasn’t sure who to ask. Thank you.</p>
<p>Great questions, cuttlefish. Would like to know the answer to them as well.</p>
<p>I know my friends who stayed in Bessemer did say it was a drive and they would not do it again, but rather than spend Gameday hotel price, they’re just going to pass on doing Parents Weekend again.</p>
<p>After the game and climbing to the nosebleed section, husband and I were happy we had a short drive back to the hotel. In fact, we must have looked in a bad way. Some Parents Ambassadors rushed us onto a shuttle back to our car. Kind of scared us. Did we look that bad? We thanked them profusely and got back to the hotel and collapsed. </p>
<p>But keep in mind, we are in our fifties, VERY out of shape, so it was a toll on us. Also, we live below sea level, so the altitude got to us.</p>
<p>Those of you who are fit and go hiking and live in higher altitudes will probably do fine. </p>
<p>I would like to know some back ways to get on campus during Gameday and if there’s a way to get a reasonably priced room if you act quickly.</p>
<p>I will say this, there are LOTS of signs indicating the way to the stadium, even on the outskirts of Tuscaloosa, and we were happy to see them still there at Thanksgiving time. I don’t remember seeing them last week when we picked up for Spring Break, so they must be just a seasonal thing.</p>
<p>Yes, some people do book hotels out of town and drive in. </p>
<p>Traffic on McFarland is always bad on game days. I don’t know if it’s better to take I20 further west, then take 359 north (which becomes Lurleen Wallace) and then exit and go east on either University or Jack Warner.</p>
<p>One way to minimize the traffic impact is to arrive early, park at walkable distance, hang around the quad til game time. Then, after the game, don’t try to get to your car too soon. Instead, stop and eat somewhere on The Strip, let the crowd die down, and then head to your car. (Seriously, otherwise you’re just stuck in a traffic jam with 100,000 other fans.)</p>
<p>I think that now that Sunday liquor sales is legal, we’ll soon see more hotels springing up which should help a bit with costs. </p>
<p>Also, once your child is in an apt or in The Bluff, it’s sometimes doable to “camp out” there for a free night. </p>
<p>Also…if you want to escape the crowds on game weekends when all the restaurants seem bursting at the seems, head north on McFarland and cross the river into Northport. The restaurants are much less busy there. (Going north on Lurleen Wallace will also get you to McFarland. McFarland starts turning west after you cross the river)</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. It will be a great experience this fall during game day. Can’t wait.</p>
<p>What restaurants are in Northport?</p>
<p>Northport restaurants…</p>
<p>Cypress Inn
FIG (food is good)
City Cafe (but I don’t think it’s open on weekends)
Bottomfeeders
Swen Chinese Northport
Dreamland BBQ Northport
Mr. G’s Italian
Archibald’s & Woodrow’s BBQ
The Pottery Grill BBQ
Fernando’s Mexican
and…some national chains like Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, etc.</p>
<p>I believe I read the cost of each package is $75? Then how much are the football tickets on top of that? Older 2 might come, I want to have a commitment from them before I plunk down any nonrefundable $$. I did reserve the hotel. Do I buy the student a package? He already has a ticket in package B?</p>
<p>I was rethinking going down for the weekend because of the crowds, but I can’t see as how any of the bigger game weekends would be less crowded- restaurant and hotel-wise.</p>
<p>Montegut, what are you saying about the altitude? I get terrible altitude sickness, but like in Colorado. Is it because the seats are so high up? How high can it be? Are there taxis? Can you take a cab right from the stadium to the hotel?
As far as what you do after, that will depend on the game time. When H&S went down to Homecoming last year it was a very late game. They were staying in b’ham and got back to the hotel at 3 am, a very long night, particularly since S couldn’t drive the rental.
Maybe in the spring we can come down and enjoy the warmer (than here) weather and less crowds.</p>
<p>the Family Weekend packages are $40 each person (for Friday night Beach Party …and Saturday Lunch Tailgate and other stuff)… This package also enables you to buy football tix. </p>
<p>lol…you’re not going to get altitude sickness in the stadium seats. It’s not that high! However, the walk up to them can be tiring if your seats are that high. </p>
<p>The city is only 223 ft above sea level. The top the stadium is several stories high…nothing like Colorado which is 7,000+ ft above sea level.</p>
<p>The state of Conn is about 500 sq feet above sea level.</p>
<p>What is the registration fee, and what does that include?
There is no fee to attend Family Weekend. By registering for Family Weekend, you are eligible to attend events hosted by various campus departments at no cost. However, Family Weekend packages can be purchased for a fee. A package includes your admission to participate in specific events hosted by Parent Programs and makes you eligible to purchase football tickets.</p>
<p>Do I have to purchase a package?
You do not have to purchse a package, however by registering for Family Weekend, you are eligible to attend events hosted by various campus departments at no cost. A package is also required for eligibility to purchase football tickets. You may purchase one football ticket per package.</p>
<p>What events can my student attend?
Your student is invited to attend all Family Weekend events with your family. All events are free for students (unless otherwise noted).</p>
<p>When should we plan to arrive? Do parents stay for the whole weekend?
Families are encouraged to arrive Friday afternoon so they can enjoy the many events planned for Friday. Events are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so plan to stay for the entire weekend if you can!</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, the football tix are about $50 each. </p>
<p>8:00pm-11:00pm Bama Beach Bash- (Package holders only)
Come experience a taste of the South along with beach music at the outdoor pool! Sample shrimp and grits, carved ham biscuits, fried chicken, and much more! Bring your dancing shoes for the official kick-off to the weekend. Make sure to wear your Parents Weekend nametag, and enter the party at the pool house gate located behind the Recreation Center. Sponsored by the Office of Parent Programs and University Recreation
Location: University Recreation Outdoor Pool </p>
<p>2.5 hrs. prior to kick-off Pre-game Lunch- (Included in Package or $15/UA Student)
Join us before the football game against San Jose State for food, fun and Alabama pride! Please refer to your guide for parking before the game. Make sure to bring your Pre-game Lunch tickets! All guests, including UA students, must have a ticket to enter. If you did not purchase one for your student with your registration, student lunch tickets are available at check-in and the Pre-game lunch entrance. Sponsored by the Office of Parent Programs </p>
<p>other events…
[Student</a> Affairs | Parent Programs](<a href=“http://www.parents.ua.edu/fwSchedule.cfm]Student”>http://www.parents.ua.edu/fwSchedule.cfm)</p>
<p>Your student doesn’t need a ticket/package to attend the Beach Party, but does need a $15k lunch ticket if particpating at that event.</p>
<p>And…on Game Days…the Crimson Ride takes people from the parking lots to the Stadium. Game Day is HIGHLY ORGANIZED…so don’t worry.</p>