<p>So we have a registration form. I see where all meals are provided for the midshipmen, how about the tickets for Beat Retreat and Football Game. Do we order tickets for the midshipment for this?</p>
<p>Where did you get the registration form? Did it come in the mail? And what is a Beat Retreat?</p>
<p>Beat Retreat is awesome. Would highly recommend it. Regimental band plays along with a local Long Island (Police or Fire Dept.?) Pipe and Drum corps. Very impressive!</p>
<p>Wow! We are bringing immediate family and both sets of grandparents. Between the mandatory registration fee and events, this can get costly. Any optional events that can be missed? To do it all, I'm well over $500 and that's before hotels/transportations. Whoa! Any tips on how to do this?</p>
<p>Yes Kawalla, the registration form came in the mail today (east coast), so you should be seeing it soon. We have until August 24th to reply and get a discount.</p>
<p>yes my restration form came in the mail yesterday as well. The funny thing is I thought the mail was slow... I got a registration form but no letter from son. Go figure.</p>
<p>Folks, I would do as much as you can at parents weekend. You never know when, or if, you will get an opportunity to go again. If your kid ends up in "B" split there will be no point in going during their 3rd and 2nd class year as they will be at sea. If I were going to take a "pass" on anything it would be dinner at Delano. I thought it was dreadful but my son was shoveling it down with both hands saying it was the second best meal he had ever had there.</p>
<p>KPMARINEOPSMOM---Great Insight!</p>
<p>Parents weekend is great! Beat Retreat is awsome. I really didn't expect much, but really did enjoy it. As I learned from this forum last year, it does get hot in there (body heat), so dress accordingly. Last year they held the Acceptance Day ceremony in O'Hara also and the poor Plebes kept passing out! I heard it was from the fact they were "locking" their knees....</p>
<p>Anyway, if you can get there to take advantage of all the things on Friday - visit classes, see the Kings Pointer - do it! But if you want to save a couple of $, don't bother with the meals. My daughter says they make them "special" for the families, they are not represenative of what the food is really like. She preferred eating out! We actually ordered pizza from Mange Bene for Friday night dinner and had a picnic under a tree by the football field. Yes, that was a little anti-social, but that's what she wanted to do!</p>
<p>Don't buy tickets to ANYTHING for your Plebe - they eat free and get into the activities for free.</p>
<p>THANK YOU KT2010Mom! Great advice - it's nice to know the options. Because of the splits, are most of the parents 4th and 1st class parents?</p>
<p>I would think you are probably right. I wouldn't go if my daughter wasn't there, but she's A split, so we'll be there (plus it's her birthday that day)! My nephew is 1st class this year & plays football, so his parents are going. He was A split, so they went every year. I would think if the kids are at sea, the parents probably don't bother going.</p>
<p>It's definately worth the trip, but don't expect your kid to want to do much. She just wanted to GET OFF CAMPUS!!!! We had to go shopping (she's still a girl after all) and get some home cooked food (her uncle cooks, not me). But mostly she just slept - went to sleep early, slept late and took a nap!</p>
<p>I have heard some of the sponsor parents will house girl/boy friends. </p>
<p>I think it is also a good idea for some of the midshipmen to get together and see if their quest would like to share a room. It cuts cost and they are not alone. Remember some of the guest are not necessarily boy/girl friend but good friends from back home.</p>
<p>by all means , do not miss Beat Retreat. Your son/daughter may participate even if they are not in Band. Our son surprised us last year when he marched out carrying the Battle Standard for the color guard. Talk about tears in our eyes..oh yeh, I mean pollen. The rest of the weekend after the football game is a great time for chilling out...they will want to sleep, eat well, and sleep..that was our experience.</p>
<p>My S is 3c but plays football. They practice on Sundays so we aren't going to go to Parents Weekend, instead we will probably go over Columbus Day weekend. Leave Friday, watch game Saturday, sightsee or watch practice Sunday and then have Monday to spend with our S (no school that day) and head home Tuesday. Parents Weekend worked out great for football parents last year because it was a three day weekend, otherwise we would have hardly seen our S at all.</p>
<p>If extended family members are coming and not participating in anything except for attendance at the Acceptance Day ceremony and the football game, do they have to pay the registration fee?</p>
<p>BUMP
Here are 11 pages of parents week-end stuff from last year. Might answer many questions. Takes a while to wade thru but there is some great info there.</p>
<p>kawalla, sorry to say that, yes, the fees are for each person setting foot on campus. It is indeed a very expensive week-end I'm afraid. But as one Mom wrote already, it may be one of the few rare opportunities you'll have to be at the Academy.</p>
<p>I just have to add to this: as expensive as Great Neck is, and with all the fees for Parents Weekend, it's really a small price to pay when you consider the GREAT education these mids are getting for pretty much a nominal fee! (But I agree that you can skip the meals at Delano!) I still have a daughter in 'regular' college, and in the first year the costs well exceeded the cost of all 4 years at KP for my s. Wait 'til you see how the hotels jack up the room rates for graduation weekend! </p>
<p>And the adventure continues after they graduate! This morning we received a long-awaited call from Singapore (of course we do talk via e-mail at least weekly). After over 100 days on his ship, s is getting off and has decided to go to Australia for a couple of weeks before coming home. Actually he doesn't know for how long---however long he feels like staying! Won't be getting back on his ship for 75 days, so has plenty of time to kill, although I think he has to do his ATR thing (Navy Reserves) while he's off. Between his Sea Years at KP and his job since last summer, he has ALMOST circumnavigated the globe--just a small piece of it between Singapore and India where he hasn't sailed. And he wanted to stay on board since the ship will be circumnavigating the globe, but he's already been on too long so they're making him get off. Plans to dive the Great Barrier Reef while he's there, among other things.</p>
<p>So for all you new parents with kids at Indoc, you've just begun a long journey that, 5 years after Indoc (which we can remember like it was yesterday), still hasn't ended for us. So do all that you can at Parents Weekend this year, and go back their senior year. It's a great time and you meet lots of other parents going through the same thing! I still network via e-mail with a lotof those parents, and we share stories of what our kids are doing now.</p>
<p>Thank you, KPMom06, that makes good sense and helps to justify the cost. Some things you just can't put a price on. It's also good to hear from the voices of experience.</p>
<p>One more question to help with the Parents Weekend registration...If we eat the meals at the Academy, will our son be able to sit and eat with us? If we eat elsewhere, he will not be allowed to go with us, will he? Thank you to all of you experienced parents for your help...</p>
<p>I recommend Jamzmom's suggestion above: Check out that thread from last year (above). I read on there all of the nitty gritty of the weekend. Good stuff. One of the conversations is about exactly that: when you get to spend time with your plebe. Apparently, we get to stay with them throughout most of the weekend. We cannot' leave campus with them until after the football game and we can sit with them at all events except the football game. Then they added that when KP scores a touchdown at the game, we are to watch the plebes. I guess they do something amusing! Lots of good info on there. Check it out!</p>