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I didn't pay for VIP...and I paid for that....I had to walk like a mile and a half from my tent to the arch, and my tent was right next to a heard of cows....and all weekend, it smelled like we were next to a heard of cows....so in a nutshell....stop your whining...you did fine...it's Bonnaroo not Sundance!!!
Exactly......you DIDN'T pay $600. You paid for GA, and (if you did your homework by reading the threads on here like most of us did), you knew that your BFE cow pasture section was a possibility.
Let me take a sledgehammer to your brand new car, and let's see you smile through the experience......
I was at the gate with ya on Saturday roorunner. The friend I was with was egging on the mad as hell VIP guy that wound up getting us in. My friend offered the a-hole security manager a granola bar if he would let us all in. He declined, so we gave it to a poor guy in ceteroo that looked hungry.
VIP crybabys......I've been VIP for 2004 & 2005. Last year I was a volunteer(never again) and this year I was general. VIP rules. I will always be VIP from now on. Don't cry about all the easy shit you get....be thankful!
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you weren't in VIP thts year so maybe stick to your memories of VIP in 04-05, and save your misplaced judgement for someone else. I knew folks who were there those years, and there were definitely some differences.
Most of us aren't hating on the whole thing, just irked that we paid extra for the complete conveniences and not all of them lived up to years past.
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
It says to pick up the tickets at 10am. not 1am. I, personally, find it disrespectful to the hotel to camp out in their parking lot all night to be the first in line and out of the lot in the morning. I had considered doing this and thought against it for this reason. We are visitors to Manchester, and damn lucky that some torqued hotel manager didn't go off booting people off the property in the middle of the night. Not to mention if half of us show up at 1am, it's just as much of a problem as us all showing up at 10am, we end up no further ahead in the line. I would have actually been there around 8am if not for a traffic screw up and not being able to exit at 114.
In the future, you may want to re-consider your thought process. You have to remember there are 80,000 people showing up to this thing over the course of 2 or 3 days. Any amount of consideration you can make for coming in later than wednesday night will surely land you in a clusterfuck of cars. Wednesday night is traditionally the open of Bonnaroo, people are showing up every minute of every hour. It is without a doubt the best night to come in to avoid traffic.
When we pulled in at 1 am Wednesday night there were at least 200 people already in the HIE lot, and just as many over at the Walmart, and more over at the KOA. All of these are within the vicinity of the HIE.
It is a well known fact that thursday is BY FAR the heaviest day for traffic. If you sincerely wish to avoid any traffic problems the only option is to come in wednesday night. The gates to GA are open, and the hospitable people of Manchester are not upset that we are there, I assure you. Last year and this year the Holiday Inn lot was packed on wednesday night. The people in the lot had nowhere to go, and there wasn't anyone there to kick us or any of those people out.
I am not trying to sound preachy, but the one thing I have learned after 6 years of Bonnaroo, is that there is much to be learned in terms of planning and co-ordination regarding your arrival time. My first VIP last year was a learning experience, and this year I used that knowledge to get in fast and with little-to-no wait. I understand the complaints about the wait, but I think you have to realize that with an event this size, you must orchestrate your arrival to minimize your time spent in traffic and waiting to get in. If you don't you will surely have a wait. I have not waited in over 90 minutes of traffic since 2003.
Anyways, I had a great time, thought VIP was MOST CERTAINLY on par with last year. I will be back in VIP next year, without a doubt.
Post by sunshine37922 on Jun 19, 2007 10:54:47 GMT -5
Well this was my first VIP experience, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I do know that I will never EVER do General camping. I saw the long lines and searches for entry each time I walked right through the VIP entrance with no search and a 6 pack of beer in my backpack....that alone was worth the ticket..i could see the main stage from the top of my Jeep....had food whenever i wanted it...just don't go right when it opens. I did have to wait a little in the "no cameras at Tool" line, but they seemed to clear that up pretty fast....I'll go back every year as long as I can afford VIP...you couldn't give me a free ticket to General Admission...
heh. I'm definitely not saying I'd go back to GA, maybe only if I had an RV and even then it's doubtful. The pros still outweighed the cons, all things considered.
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
the 2 hour wait to get in, my friends in GA got in quicker then i did
rude people/staff. I had a corner spot and woke up saturday with a RV blowing exaust in my tent who did want to park in the back so decieded to park in the road next to our spot, let me fix that, RIGHT ON TOP of our spot. Went to VIP supervisor everyday, only to find out he parked them there.
i had so many people try to park in our area because we had extra room, it was a multi time daily occurence.
other then that, the proximity was great, showers were good, bathrooms were better then mine at home. not to discounted on the discounted brews. all in all, still worth the money and ill do it agian next year prob.
EDITED: last thing, they parked RVs next to tents, there was no RV section. thanks for the fumes.
Gouge, I love ya man, but I just have to say that in '06 I drove in at noon to HIE and was setting up the tent by 12:45. This year we had the same schedule, but the waiting in traffic caused us to not set up camp until 4pm - the heat of the day. I agree Thursday is always going to be a clusterfvck, but the directions taking us to another county with GA'ers and the closed exits caused some problems.
I'm sure SF/AC will better prepare/plan next year, but I felt really, really bad because I had posted in the "Convince me to go VIP" thread that VIP was the sh*t and there would be no waiting and no security checks. It really made me feel like I mislead you guys and I'm sorry.
Don't worry about it Andrea, I don't think anyone holds a forum thread responsible for some of the misgivings that most of us endured, and I'm sure we all still appreciate the VIP information we got that helped us make our decision.
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
Post by hailboognish on Jun 19, 2007 11:51:22 GMT -5
Wow - I really didn't expect so much negativity about vip. This was our 2nd year in a row doing vip - a few things bugged me a little more than last year, but all in all we had a great time and will happily do it again.
Yeah, we got to the check-in around 9am - stood in that big ol' line - but all you had to do was walk inside and they were putting out pitchers of water constantly - I must have made 3-4 trips inside for the wife & myself while we waited.
Yep, traffic sucked getting from the check-in to vip - and I sat in my car complaining like everybody else. However, we didn't miss out on a single note of music on Thurs - we were still set up relaxed by 2:30ish. And really, you've got 80k people going to 1 place, most of them showing up on Thursday - do you think there might be some traffic problems??? I'm going to assume that the folks complaining about that line didn't have to endure the 12 hour traffic jam in 2002 - if you did, I'll listen, if not . . .
I never once stood in line for more than 5 min for food or the bathrooms all weekend. The only major problem was getting in on Friday, that line was stupid - but I was still at the Cold War Kids when they started.
Yep, they still have some logistical problems after 6 years, I wish they could get their s**t together a little better, and maybe next year they will. Really sorry to read about all the problems everybody else had, that sucks. But for us vip was incredible and worth every penny.
This year was my first time and because of these boards, I decided to go VIP.
Not for a second have I thought that was a bad choice.
Sure, it may not have been as good as last year and we did have to put up with some shit, but I had one of the greatest experiences of my life this weekend. I'm walking down the sidewalk with a huge grin on my face all day today because im still so happy that I got to be part of what I was.
Something that I thought of today while i was standing in line for lunch today: If you put ANY other group of people in the situation we were in at the Holiday Inn, I think some sort of violent mass murder would ensue. The way that we all handled the situation in stride speaks volumes on the type of people that come to 'roo. Just thought i'd put that out there.
I loved every second of this weekend. In retrospect, I wouldn't have even traded the Holiday Inn Experience, because then I wouldn't have met some people that I did or had some of the experiences that I had.
I had this in another thread and thought I'd post it here:
Thoughts on VIP:
- Check in was a perfect storm of a younger VIP crowd who all showed up as they've been taught right at 10am or before, a larger VIP area, more artists needing to check in for Thursday (i.e. more buses) and issues with the Airport Shuttle buses and entering VIP peeps colliding. Certainly not like previous years and likely to not happen again. It sucked, I wasn't happy, but after I bought a watermelon from a local while waiting in line, my anger faded.
- VIP was larger. It also included a second set of showers, a (thankfully) separate tent for drinks. But it also suffered from a lack of coordination as the parking pass debacle gave way to the RV/tent mix, and mixed signals meant false starts for early entry to What stage area.
- I still like doing VIP. Is it as amazing as last year? Eh. Probably not all told. But we were on top of our RV latenight and had a great time with all passing by.
---
Addition: I have to say I was a little stressed out Wednesday night because we were staying in the HIE with our RV parked in the back; I was worried because the HIE wasn't even taking down license plate #'s and I thought my RV could get ticketed or towed. By 11pm that night I knew not to be worried because so many people were not only parked there, but camped there. My concern was for naught. But more than that, I was actually a little miffed. while I was wishing the HIE was taking plate #'s so I could justifiably park back there, others were turning into Wal-Mart part deux. I'm not judging the campers, but I kinda wish HIE was a little more strict for all of our sakes. But as above, it was the perfect storm of several problems with no easy solution.
I'm sure SF/AC will better prepare/plan next year, but I felt really, really bad because I had posted in the "Convince me to go VIP" thread that VIP was the sh*t and there would be no waiting and no security checks. It really made me feel like I mislead you guys and I'm sorry.
Hi Andrea...I just want to say that I super duper appreciated all your posts and pictures and everything you have chosen to share! VIP was exactly what we expected from your descriptions and you are no way responsible for the few snafus that occured.
Yeah, all in all, VIP was great. No, I didn't feel particularly "I" most of the time, but so what? Compared to GA, it's worth every penny. Call me soft, but not having to go #2 in an unholy combination of a phone booth/toaster oven is key. Also, being able to run quickly back to your camp to reload on water and supplies, or rest for a little while.
Honestly, after the initial grumpiness of having to sit in traffic like the opening scene from "Office Space", the only real gripe that sticks out in my mind is that Sweetwater Blue was not available in the VIP tent. Chilling in the back of Superjam with a Blue and a yummy soft pretzel (for some reason I came down with a serious case of the munchies) was one of my favorite single moments of the whole weekend.
As one of our neighbors in VIP put it, after walking around GA, it was like "an emerging humanitarian crisis" over there. I admire anyone who has the guts and love for music to go through with it. But as my wife put it when we plunked down $1200 for VIP: We're old enough to afford it and young enough to enjoy it.
I plan on writing to SF/AC soon to voice my concerns about how VIP was run. There was a noticeable drop in quality across the board from last year and there were a couple of major mistakes made, especially in relation to traffic management and parking, things that you'd think they'd have figured out by now. It was still the giant step up from GA that it was last year, though, and ultimately worth the ticket price. In this free-market society, I guess that's really the only point that matters. Quality will probably continue to drop until they see a dent in ticket sales and then they'll improve just enough to keep us coming back.
Like I said, I plan to write an email to voice my opinions (I have some positive feedback for them as well), but I don't expect it to make any real difference.
Really? I didn't see Blue at all in the catering tent. Then again, I was guzzling down 420 like it was going out of production. I brew my own beer, used to work at a brewery and generally love beer, but I've never heard of the beer or the brewery and I don't think i've tasted a better beer in my life (Not that the weather had ANYTHING to do it that at all...)
the only real gripe that sticks out in my mind is that Sweetwater Blue was not available in the VIP tent.
Wha-huh? I drank Sweetwater Blue all weekend from VIP! Both at catering and under What Stage bleachers!
For real real? Damn, I specifically asked for it a few times in VIP catering and once at the beer tent under the What bleachers. They said the only Sweetwater they had was 420.
Yes, I will definitely be writing a letter. And almost everyone I spoke with will be doing the same.
There were several things that really irked me. But to it’s really the amount of money we spent compared to the overall quality of service we received.
I did some rough estimates (corrections welcome)
70,000 tickets at $200 = 14,000,000
10,000 vips @ $1,200 = 12,000,000
My estimate for vips could be high, not positive but even if it's only 5,000 then you still get the idea. We are their bread and butter. Being their top money earner they really need to account for the price of these tickets.
Just a couple of thoughts
1. The Holiday Inn experience was horrible. Instead of 6 people working the check-in try 12
2. Allow us to arrive on Wed night and check in. Wow there's an idea
3. If you state, which they clearly did on the information we received, that you are going to provide breakfast. Then provide breakfast!
4. If you say that you are going to allow us to enter the main stage area earlier... Then allow us in earlier. Thank god for the kid at the main entrance who took it upon himself to create a separate line for us. If not I would have paid $1,200 buck to stand in the same line as everyone else. This got really long.
5. Why did I buy an RV pass? There was really no differentiation. I could have just used my regular parking pass.
6. Where was the ice at the food tent? I never found it.
7. They clearly state that snacks would be provided at the vip tent behind the bleachers at the main stage. They never were. And the staff always seemed surprised by that.
8. Port a jons at the VIP tent behind the bleachers??
9. The bleachers. Not much advantage here for viewing. I don't really see them getting closer so not sure what could be done about this.
10. Tent VIP access. I tried getting on the side area of the stage for clutch and they told me no.
I went back the next day for Ulmer and was able to get in. I also got in for Govt Mule but the guard didn’t seem sure if I was supposed to get in or not so he let me go.
At the other tents this was not available at all.
Not really sure why I tried this in the first place as it never really states that we can get in there.
They should allow it at all times all stages!
I think that's it, although I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
With that all said it was well worth the money. But I will be letting them know that if they don't upgrade their service they won't be getting me back.
Wha-huh? I drank Sweetwater Blue all weekend from VIP! Both at catering and under What Stage bleachers!
For real real? Damn, I specifically asked for it a few times in VIP catering and once at the beer tent under the What bleachers. They said the only Sweetwater they had was 420.
Hmm... lemme consult with my friend on this one, but I thought we had Blue at least once in the What tent and once in the segregated beer tent (out of a small cooler, not the truck).
I just don't get these messages trying to rationalize this crap. Nobody's crying, nobody though it wasn’t worth it, they just need to make some simple improvements. If I didn’t have the money I wouldn’t have spent it. Constructive criticism is helpful.
Some people act like theie doing the best they can. They are making a killing and they need to make some adjustments.
"We are in the business to make money," says (Superfly's Jonathan) Mayers...
They also need to be in the business of taking care of its customers.
I'm just not the kind of person that settles for whatever crrap someone wants to throw my way..
-T
PS, I did arrive early on Thur morning and rode in smoothly w/o problem; which is what I expected. What I didn’t expect is them not having enough staff to process people through quickly. They simply didn’t staff it well as they should have. Just a little less change in their pocket at the end of the day.
First VIP experience for me. GA last year. I got just about what I was expecting.
Got to the HIE at about 5/5:30. Pulled in, attendents were nice and pointed us where to park. Walked in to the HIE and encountered a very small line. No big deal at all. Got our wristbands, directions, etc, everything was good. Got in and out of HIE quickly. Pulling left out of the HIE was a bit of a hassle, and I immediately raised the point to my friend of the lack of police directing traffic. Cut off an SUV and got out rather quick. Oh well.
Got in to camp quickly and got a space in VIP Camp E with no RV's around. Had lots of space around us and were lucky enough to be on the end of the row nearest the exit to the main VIP area/Centeroo. Walked around, found hospitality tents and what not. Noticed that there were RV's amidst the tents in the other VIP Camp sectoins. What the hell? Was a bit peeved that we had to walk all the way to the arches on Thursday to get to Centeroo. Being in E, it was a pretty healthy walk. Oh well. Had a fine time Thursday night. Got to the food early (line got pretty long at one point on Thursday). Food was okay. Edible at least.
Saturday morning. Got up and found the showers and AC bathroom trailer. That trailer was very helpful and I was really glad it was there. Friend and I exited the VIP hospitality entrance to Centeroo and walked through What Stage area. Went and sat down at Cold War Kids, where I decided I was going to go back and get our camp chairs. Walked back out the What Stage, got the chairs, then went to leave and was told that we couldn't go through. Wow, good thing I walked all the way back to camp to get my chairs. A bit angry at this point.
Sunday morning. Got up and washed up. Went to the hospitality tent at about 10:15. Waited 50 minutes for them to even start selling beverages. Excellent. I wake up with my pillow drenched in sweat and I can't even purchase a cold water yet.
It was well worth it for the proximity and no lines, but I definitely felt there were some things wrong with the experience. Very, very simple things that could have been easily fixed. Of course problems like the VIP bleachers being full/far are going to happen. I expect things like that. But not being able to get into the What Stage until 2:00+ on Friday afternoon? Please. I think these people shelling out $600 for tickets are intelligent enough to avoid Nissan trucks and golf carts. We can take care of ourselves. Thanks.
Overall, it was okay, but I may not go again next year. The lineup will have to be great or VIP will have to be improved.
There were several things that really irked me. But to it’s really the amount of money we spent compared to the overall quality of service we received.
I did some rough estimates (corrections welcome)
70,000 tickets at $200 = 14,000,000
10,000 vips @ $1,200 = 12,000,000
My estimate for vips could be high, not positive but even if it's only 5,000 then you still get the idea. We are their bread and butter. Being their top money earner they really need to account for the price of these tickets.
I've never been VIP, but arent the tickets $1,200 for 2 tickets? or are they $1,200 each?
My estimate for vips could be high, not positive but even if it's only 5,000 then you still get the idea. We are their bread and butter. Being their top money earner they really need to account for the price of these tickets.
The number is closer to 2,000. At most is was 2,000 VIP packages for a total of $2,400,000.
tommy said:
1. The Holiday Inn experience was horrible. Instead of 6 people working the check-in try 12
Traffic in was kind of bad with the ~2 hour wait but we got into the Holiday Inn around 2-ish pm and the wait was perfectly tolerable.
tommy said:
3. If you state, which they clearly did on the information we received, that you are going to provide breakfast. Then provide breakfast!
Where did you see this information? I clearly understood that food was only served from noon to 9pm and even remember seeing that posted on the official B'roo website. I don't remember ever seeing anything that mentioned breakfast and we read everything over pretty closely.
tommy said:
5. Why did I buy an RV pass? There was really no differentiation. I could have just used my regular parking pass.
Honestly, this is a real issue for those poor folks in tents who would up with their tents right next to an RV. With generators and everything else, this one does need to be fixed.
tommy said:
6. Where was the ice at the food tent? I never found it.
Why would you need ice at the food tent? If you needed ice they were delivering it all over VIP every day and came by our campsite twice most days.
tommy said:
7. They clearly state that snacks would be provided at the vip tent behind the bleachers at the main stage. They never were. And the staff always seemed surprised by that.
Yah, they dropped the ball on this one.
tommy said:
10. Tent VIP access. I tried getting on the side area of the stage for clutch and they told me no.
I went back the next day for Ulmer and was able to get in. I also got in for Govt Mule but the guard didn’t seem sure if I was supposed to get in or not so he let me go.
At the other tents this was not available at all.
Not really sure why I tried this in the first place as it never really states that we can get in there.
They should allow it at all times all stages!
Why? It's not like VIP is a backstage pass. Geez, what you get now for VIP is excellent, asking for special VIP areas for all the tents is just silly. This isn't necessary or even useful. VIP rocks but it is NOT a way to totally separate yourself for the general experience of being in the crowd, dancing, and getting carried away by a show.
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
I'll add one of my complaints that no one else mentioned. Which is, they let everyone except GA onto the bleachers and into VIP areas. During the White Stripes there was a long line to get on the bleachers and I am looking around at all of the guest, artist, vendor, media, etc. wrist bands that people in the bleachers had. This does not make any sense to me, especially the vendor wristbands. I could see the logic behind special treatment for guest and artists, but why let vendors into the VIP areas?
All things considered I think the differences this year all comes down to the number of tickets sold. I heard these figures from someone over the weekend so take them with a grain of salt, but according to her they sold 2,200 VIP tickets in 2006 (1,100 packages) and 3,300 tickets in 2007 (1,650 packages).
here is my 2 cents on VIP, this was my 1st roo , vip was awsome,but i feel that maybe more bathrooms and a few more showers would be better , also i think the food was at most was just ok . the salads were good but i aint a rabbit. the burgers were about the best meal there , the chicken was tasteless. and the ice cream freezer only lasted 1 day . but we got some .. i'll always go to roo vip to me there would be no other way .
I'm sure SF/AC will better prepare/plan next year, but I felt really, really bad because I had posted in the "Convince me to go VIP" thread that VIP was the sh*t and there would be no waiting and no security checks. It really made me feel like I mislead you guys and I'm sorry.
Don't feel bad, Andrea! You have been one of the most helpful, cheerful persons on Inforoo! AC/Superfly dropped the ball on this one, and they deserve all the blame.
Side note: I think I saw you in your FJ Cruiser, on my way from the HIE to the campground, as I was on Rt. 41. I would have yelled "Corncat," but I didn't want to wreck the car trying to get the window down in a hurry. Too bad we couldn't have shared a first-day hug (or a second-day handshake! ;D)