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I finally found some real information about the shuttle by clicking the "purchase travel packages" link at the official website, but I still have some questions...
---What kind of vehicles do they use? Are they like big coach buses, or minivans, or what?
---They say they run the shuttles 'throughout the day' but how often? is it 2 vans running back and forth, only making a pickup every 3 hours? Or do they have more vehicles and more frequent pickups (like every hour)?
---Are there huge lines waiting to get on these shuttles? Am I gonna have to get up at 5am Monday just to stake my spot in the shuttle line?
---Do you have to book your spot on the shuttle beforehand by buying it through the website, or can you just show up at the airport with 50 bucks?
---Does the shuttle get to bypass the line of cars waiting to get into the festival grounds, or do they get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else?
---Is the dropoff/pickup (Woodland Av. at S. First Av.) anywhere near the tent-only camp?
(Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get all the info I can before finalizing my travel plans...)
Post by blueslikehail on Feb 28, 2006 23:26:59 GMT -5
i did the airport shuttle 2 years ago, so i'll answer as much as i can....
the shuttles are those big comfortable coach buses.
i have no idea how often they left the airport...we got in to the nashville airport in the early afternoon on thur. and there were a lot of other rooers arriving at the same time...too much for one bus, but there was a second one very quickly for the rest of us. i got the sense that there were pretty frequent departures, probably about every hour. i'm sure there were more than 2 buses doing the trips.
have no idea about showing up at the airport with 50 bucks. i wouldn't chance it it i were you though.
yeah the shuttles come in a special entrance....no waiting in line. very nice
the drop-off and pick-up location then was at the end of that road back to backwoods, disco-ball camping area. as you're walking back that road, right where the pasture starts there's a road off to the right. that's where the buses came in and left. it was a pretty rough hike up that road in the afternoon heat with all of our crap....but the camping only area was right near the end of that road. i'd check a site map though to see if that's changed.
as far as departing....they told us when the earliest and latest shuttles would be leaving on mon. seems like they left as early as 6am and as maybe as late as 2. not sure though. we didn't try for the earliest shuttle and were one of the first ones in line for the next one, even though we got there some time after the first one left. there weren't a whole lot of people...i think the shuttle we got on was only about 3/4 full. as long as you get there before they tell you the last shuttle leaves, you'll be allight. the waiting area was grassy and shady. very pleasent.
hope this helps. probably the best 'roo travel experience i've had. i love road trips, but not waiting in line was just sweet!
Post by famousblueraincoat on Mar 2, 2006 17:17:44 GMT -5
I'd like to know: Did you fly with all your camping gear? How was that? How did you handle food, drinks, etc.? I'm thinking of flying from Chicago this year, but Bonnaroo can be a mess and the car has always been great because you can drive down with supplies (especially WATER). I can't see myself flying with grills and coolers obviously. If I did fly, does that make VIP a better option?
I'm trying to work through this. I enjoy the camping, but I must admit (particularly with this lineup), I plan on spending very little time at the campsite. Your advice is appreciated.
Post by blueslikehail on Mar 2, 2006 18:54:30 GMT -5
yeah we flew in with everything we needed for the weekend. def. not the most luxurious experience, but we made it work.
my gf and i have 2 big duffle bags that we filled with all our camping equipment and clothing. we checked those and our camping chairs, but i've since discovered that you can carry the camping chairs on. we didn't have much gear really - a 2 person tent, ground cloth, solar shower, couplea sheets for sleeping, little stuff like flashlights, soap, etc.....hmmm i guess that's about it.
in those bags and our carry-ons we stocked up with food like trail mix, granola bars, apples, jerkey, and the like. stuff that doesn't need a cooler. for substantial food at lunch and dinner we just bought stuff from the vendors. yeah it was kinda pricey, but it's not too bad if you just buy one big thing, like a burrito, and eat other small stuff like i mentioned along with it. we decided after the first roo that doing any cooking or grilling there takes too much time and is just too much of a hassle. we always just bring easy food, like cold cuts for sandwiches, now.
for drinks, a couple times we bought water from the vendors and just filled those bottles up with the free water they provided. we quickly discovered which locations had the sulfer water and which had the good water and always filled up at those stations. yeah it wasn't the coldest water, but it kept us hydrated. the plus side of this is that we didn't spend a crapload of money on ice that year. didn't even bother with bringing any beer or alcohol that year. we're not big drinkers anyway, so the times we wanted to drink we just bought from vendors and other campers.
nights were kind of cramped b/c we obvs didn't have a car and didn't want to leave stuff sitting outside. so we piled everything at our feet, where we had a little room. wasn't a problem b/c i'm so spent at the end of a roo day that i could probably sleep in any position.
like i said it wasn't the best camping experience, but i'm not really there for that. i'm always a little perplexed at people on this and other boards talking about hanging around camp with their neighbors and whonot. that's cool i suppose, but if there's bands playing, i'm going to be at centeroo checking them out. i can meet and talk with folks every day of my life for free. to each his own.
we had friends going there too that year and if i had to do it again, i would have had them pick up some extra waters for us. just for times in the morning and at night that we didn't feel like going to fill up the bottles.
all in all, it is a whole lot nicer to have a vehicle there. but like i said you can make it work as long as you are not used to a super-high level of comfort when you're camping.
Post by deadhead61088 on Mar 5, 2006 12:47:18 GMT -5
Question about the shuttle, where does it pick you up from the air port? More spesifically, does it meet you at the gate, or do you need to go to a special terminal? If the second, is this terminal hidden some place in the depths of satan's anus, or can you actually get to it with out a map, compas, and first born virgin to sacrifice when you get really frustrated?
I'm taking my virgin just in case. But yeah, I was wondering that ebcause I thought they'd explain when i got the travel package, but they didn't. It also didn't give me any confirmation number or anything for the bus. Do they just trust your good will when you say you paid for it?
Post by deadhead61088 on Mar 7, 2006 16:07:48 GMT -5
I sent them an email with many of the questions gnome asked, and they replied with something along the lines of "we'll post more about that later." I don't know what this means, I some how doubt though the extra time is being used to make this experience as convient as possible.
Post by blueslikehail on Mar 8, 2006 18:53:23 GMT -5
sorry for the slow reply.....
my gf and i really don't remember how ticketing worked for the shuttle. sorry.
at the airport they had a table set up right by the baggage claim. after getting our bags, we went to the table where we showed them our tix and they put the wristband on and gave us the programs - basically everything they do at the regular gates. there was an exit right close by that we went out and that's where the buses picked us up.
i don't know how many terminals/baggage claim areas there are at the nashville airport-i can't imagine there is that many. remember that you'll be getting off a plane with dozens of other people looking for the bonnaroo staff too!! i wouldn't worry about it too much (easy for me to say). really, it all went very very smoothly, esp. considering it was the first year they did the shuttle.
Post by deadhead61088 on Mar 11, 2006 0:04:34 GMT -5
Don't appologize for the slow reply, your clarification of the situation made me just that much more conforatble with my Bonnaroo trip this year, and I think you can take comfort in that.
my girl and i took the shuttle last year. its real simple, after you get off your plane that table is easy to find. they will mail you 2 little pieces of paper they call tickets for the bus. but your name is on a list when you get there and they check you off and get you all set up for the roo, so once your there your set. it was nice, because we both got the cds and programs. my friends who drove in didnt get the cds bc they ran out i guess.
then the bus is right outside the terminal, real simple to find. we flew in wednesday night and stayed at the red roof inn and get up early and caught a shuttle in so we wouldnt be traveling nonstop, and it made are vacation a lil longer.
as for flying, one extremely helpful tip was use a cooler as a bag. we got a big 5 day cooler with wheels, and loaded are tent, tarp food and some other stuff inside the cooler and duct taped the crap out of it shut. and before we shut it, through in another roll so if security checked through it, we could retape it easily. surprisingly airport security never opened it. we also had one of the 2 man tents, this thing was extremely cheap and small. thats why we brough the tarp, to go over the top and make it waterproof. then we gave the tent away at the end. in the cooler we also had packed a case of vitamin water and regular water. then you still have your other bags, it worked out pretty well.
however, the bus got stuck in line, the back road was supposed to be for the shuttle only with no lines, it was just impossible, we were in line about 2 hrs, if that. but on a comfy bus with 50 roo'ers and the bus driver just let people on and off the whole time, it was a good time. i reccomend the shuttle, but we are going to drive down this year. just so i can have my big comfy tent which is basically a living room and a sun shade. other than that, we will probably camping with leo again this year in the tenting only area, and he was another huge help. so, see you all just after flag day.
buses were supposed to be departing real frequently, like every 15-30 minutes? but since it got held up, im sure it slowed down. either way, not a problem, it was an experience in itself. and getting out to go home was ten times even easier.
freeze has to do with both the fact my last name is freytag and im a die hard skiier and lover of winter. but not freeze the magazine, im a powder, skiing and ski kinda guy for the different aspects on winter. freeze has just become my name over time, haha. we plan on being in camping only area again this year, we were with leo last year and had a great time. we have shade tent, big tent and will have lots of good food cookin... if you look under the camping only area thread or what not, should camp in this new community being created.
buses were supposed to be departing real frequently, like every 15-30 minutes? but since it got held up, im sure it slowed down. either way, not a problem, it was an experience in itself. and getting out to go home was ten times even easier.
freeze has to do with both the fact my last name is freytag and im a die hard skiier and lover of winter. but not freeze the magazine, im a powder, skiing and ski kinda guy for the different aspects on winter. freeze has just become my name over time, haha. we plan on being in camping only area again this year, we were with leo last year and had a great time. we have shade tent, big tent and will have lots of good food cookin... if you look under the camping only area thread or what not, should camp in this new community being created.
I'll definitely be in the camping only area and part of Leo's group, so I'll se ya there. Save me a spot for my tent near you guys! Maybe we can talk skiing. I'm also a die hard skier, have a season pass up at mammoth mtn and go up there all the time. I'll be there next weekend and the weekend after that. Mammoth just broke their all-time record for snowfall in a season, and will probably be open until July. I skied there on the 4th of July last year, check it out: (and note my "FREEZE" t-shirt)
