carissadiane said:
Me again :)
You'll have to forgive my naivety, but I've never been to a Crew game during my 8 years in Columbus. It's time to change that!!!
I've been reading various internet/CU comments and I was hoping some of you die hard fans could help a girl out and confirm the best way to experience the Crew!
It looks like tailgating is huge.
1. Do groups of friends do their own tailgating in the parking lot, or do most people flock to the Union/ other supporter group tailgates? We want to bring in a grill/ ladderball/ cornhole and hang out before the game.
2. There is a VIP parking lot and a regular parking lot - does it matter which one we tailgate in?
3. What's the cost difference between VIP and general parking? Can't find that info on the Crew's page.
4. Also it appears beer is ok in the parking lot? (we're all well over 21)
5. Heard the parking lot gets muddy and should be avoided if its rained recently - still true?
6. And finally, will they let you in the parking lot w/o a ticket? I'd like to get a big group together and don't want to put my credit card on the line for 20 tickets ahead of time. We'll prob do the $23 tickets thru the Union. Also, parking is $15
7. Anything I missed? :)
Thanks!!!!!!
C
Welcome! I'll try to anwer your questions to the best of my knowledge and hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks.
1) Tailgating is huge and there are tons of people who do their own tailgating apart from the supporters groups not to say the supporters groups tailgates aren't fun as well.My friends and I usually bring our own stuff(grill,cornhole,etc..)although most of us our union members.
2)I'm not familiar with the differences in parking so someone may have to help out with that. We always pay the parking attendant and then park in an open spot for our tailgates. There is a parking lot directly in front of the stadium which may be the vip lot but there's tons of parking and also grassy areas for tailgating.
3) Again not familiar with the differences. We pay 10 dollars for parking the day of.
4) Beers fine. In fact I encourage it! Definately a much more lenient staff then at osu games. I'm sure if someone broke bottles or acted like an idiot someone would say something but we usually walk up to the stadium with bottles of beer in our hands.
5) A large amount of the parking lot was paved a couple years ago so that is primarily false although there are still certain areas where that may be true.
6) Sure. Alot of people buy tickets at the union tent or at the gates.As I mentioned earlier we've paid 10 per car for parking all this year.
7)Keep in mind you probably want to email the union to try to reserve 20 tickets ahead of time. You don't have to pay for it until you pick them up on game day. The nordecke(supporters section)fills up quickly and they may or may not have 20 available to reserve. Also any ticket will allow you admission to the party deck(stage area) right behind the goal if the nordecke is filled up. You still get the atmosphere of the nordecke,are very close to concessions and restrooms,and are super close to the action although sometimes the view isn't as good.
Another thing I just thought of is that if you really have a large group you could buy season tickets at a very discounted rate. The season tickets can all be exchanged for one game. So lets say there were 10 home games left. You buy 2 season tickets and exchange all the tickets for 20 tickets on one game. My season tickets average around 17 a game and I know there are cheaper packages then that.The downside is that you would probably have to get money up front from your friends but you could probably save an average of 6 to 10 dollars a ticket. If you want any info on it let me know.Either way hope that helps. Crew games are an awesome time and I'm sure you'll have fun.