<p>We were notified about the October Homecoming back in April and I could not even get reservations at that point! It's the height of foliage, so that might be another factor. I was able to make reservations in a nearby town with no problems.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that parents weekend won't be high on my list as a weekend to visit anyway. I don't even go to the football game when I go to my own college homecoming so missing the game is a plus for me. Fortunately, she will be less than 3 hrs away so visits won't be a problem.</p>
<p>Karen, my sister lives within walking distance of D's school, so we have a great deal also! It was great for visiting colleges, I will stay there during orientation, and parents' weekend if we go.</p>
<p>Another consideration is if there is something else going on in the college town the same weekend. My son goes to college at Roanoke College in VA and the town where nearby Virginia Tech is located doesn't have a lot of hotels so if there is a home football game there, the hotels in Roanoke and Salem get sold out. It's funny staying at a hotel five minutes from son's college and seeing VT banners and people all dressed up in their red and orange. I booked in April for his first two years for a Sept. parents weekend. The Hampton there allows for fully refundable reservations with 24 hour notice.</p>
<p>Just called my kids...</p>
<p>Kid #2 (sophomore).. Do you want us to come for family weekend? I want to make reservations. Answer -- "If you want to come, I'll make time for you." Parent makes growling sound. Response -- "No, seriously, if you want to come it's ok. I know that I'll be busy as a R.A. that weekend with families of the freshmen and I'll be studying for organic chem, but if you want to come I'll find some time to spend with you."</p>
<p>Kid #1 (senior)..Do you want us to come for family weekend? I want to make reservations. Answer "Again? You already know what goes on. Why don't you come up some other weekend when there isn't so much traffic, and you can bring up my winter clothes."</p>
<p>I guess with the price of gas I shouldn't complain. I think I'm going to call Thanksgiving "Parents Weekend." I intend to reciprocate their high levels of enthusiasm for family time in November, when they want to come home to eat turkey.</p>
<p>Neon, we found that after S's freshman year, when we did attend the "official" family weekend, it made more sense to choose a convenient-for-us fall weekend, based on S's scheduling of midterms, etc.</p>
<p>We realized that we didn't do any school sponsored activities, just hung with S--and it was easier to get a hotel reservation.</p>
<p>Went to Parents weekend with son #1 and vowed to never do it again. Overpriced hotel rooms, "fun" sessions with your student that weren't really much fun, and people everywhere. Now that two are in college, we pick another fall weekend to visit each and are rewarded with an enjoyable laid back weekend.</p>
<p>Since this is the first child at college, we decided to go ahead and do the "family weekend" this year. Probably will not do it again next year :)</p>
<p>Reminds me of camp "parents visiting day".......Not sure how freshman would feel if other parents visited and hers/his didn't.......Would rather go another weekend, but like MTnest, since this is the first child, we'll go along with the "dog and pony" show for year 1 and re-assess ater that......</p>
<p>I'm feeling lucky that it is a day trip for us--only an hour drive. The highlight for H and S1 each year is a 5k race that is held pretty early in the morning. That unfortunately means we leave the house by 5:00 a.m. but we beat the traffic and have no problem getting parking. H and S1 have won the father-son category in each of the past two years, getting a nice t-shirt to wear the rest of the day. This year H has really stepped up his speed workouts (unrelated to this race), and thinks as a result he might have a chance of beating S1, which adds a little extra anticipation to the week-end. I warned S1 to be ready and not just roll out of bed this year if he wants to keep his pride intact.</p>
<p>Southwest has just opened flights through January 9th.</p>