Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

My team and I are planning to go to the WORLD championship and I was wondering what I should know before hand and anything to look forward towards?

Some questions so far.

1. Plane or bus? Which is better? I am worried that if we take a plane that our materials and tools will be lost.

2. Wrap party any good? Should we attend?

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

It's always good to see a team trying to attend the Championship event. It's the best event FIRST has to offer, and the biggest.

As for your questions.

I know teams who have traveled from NJ to ATL by bus, and it just takes obviously an extra day for it to happen as opposed to flying. As far as costs, and things related to the details, it may be just as expensive as flying if you are renting the bus for the whole time you are down there.

The great thing about ATL is that once you get there, everything (and I mean everything) is within a 10-15 minute walking distance. The bus may not be needed during your time in ATL itself, so that may be a consideration.

As far as flying, it depends on the amount of people you have with you and how early you make the plans, but I know that both Newark and Atlanta are huge airports, so you have a large variety of flights/carriers to choose.

I would say price them both out with a realistic estimate of the number of people who will go and see what you come up with. Early is better than late, as the closer you get to the Championship Event, the higher the cost of flying.
(I tried to book a flight the week before, and it was about 1000 dollars from NY/CT to ATL) Needless to say, I missed the Championship event last year. :(

OK, Now for the wrap party. I'm not sure what the specifics of the event is as far as pricing/packages but my advice is this.

If you go there with the intention of keeping your team together all night long, save the money and just go out to eat, or just spend time together on that bus ride.. lol
If you are going with the intentions to meet new people, and having a little fun while you are at it and enjoying some free buffet style food for the masses, I would say go.

While the championship event wrap party is fun when you are on a team, the best part of it for me was meeting all the other people from the other teams in a casual non-competitive setting and having some fun.

So, if your team is antisocial, I would say do something together that night instead of going to the party. But, if you are all very social and want to meet new people, then go to the wrap party.

Hope this was some help.

As far as activities at the wrap party, I know there was some cool ones in 2004, but I'm not sure what was in 2005, or what will be in 2006.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

Freddy,
From Colorado to Atlanta plane and bus fare were almost the same. We have always flown. We have never lost any tools or material. The MARTA subway system in Atlanta is wonderful, you can ride it from the airport right to your hotel. MARTA offered a 4 day pass in 2005 for $11 that could be purchased at the airport or any MARTA terminal. I am sure it will be the same in 2006.

The wrap party to me is a "Must Do". It was a little cold last year, but well worth it. It is a great way end the season, everyone seems to forget about robots, computers, and winning for a while. The focus is on just having fun and enjoying a relaxing meal. To me it is time well spent.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

ChrisH and I stayed downtown last year; the rest of our team stayed near the airport. So my observations will be a little different than the previous responses.

A team from New Jersey stayed in our hotel (Atlanta Downtown Travelodge). They had a bus. We, on the other hand, walked. It took me 45 minutes the first day. I was a little quicker after that. I was not in shape, and there were hills. I sometimes thought of hitching a ride on that other team's bus! So, details like how you travel may depend on where you stay. Not all the FIRST hotels are located downtown. Our non-FIRST hotel was located on the far side of downtown.

If you stay near the airport and ride the MARTA train every day, it will take you about an hour each way. If you have a vehicle, you have to pay for parking downtown. This is cost-effective for a bus, but not for rental cars.

If you want to fly, but are worried about losing tools and equipment, you could have a couple of volunteers with a reliable vehicle drive the equipment, while the rest of the team flies. Also, keep in mind that some types of equipment are prohibited from going on commercial flights, for example, gas-powered engines, and (I think) welding tanks.

The wrap party is good for food, and for socializing with other teams. The fireworks were pretty good. Because it's outdoors, you have to chance it with the weather. In Atlanta, the weather can be nice, or it can be wild. In 2004, it was nice. Last year, it got wild at times, and was unseasonably cold. Even the natives were complaining. Our team did not care for the hypnotist show, and because of the weather and the long commute, they left before the end of the party.

It didn't help that the party started about 2 hours late, thanks to the long-winded speakers that afternoon. This is another "unpredictable": when the Championship actually ends! Don't plan on catching a plane home early Saturday evening, or you'll likely miss something important.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

Taking the plane is an easier option. I am not sure how you would take care of the tools. I guess you could put it in our crate. If you do end up taking a bus, make sure your team gets to Atlanta on Saturday night(latest). Last year, we had the bright idea of taking the bus after school on Wednesday and reached Thursday morning. To make this post short, all of us were majorly exhausted and were not able to perform to even 1/4 our abilities and we didn't do that well in the competition. I would suggest to look at your budget and see what you can afford.

The wrap party was decent. It was relaxing after a tough weekend. Alternately, you can stay at your hotel and have a team party or just chill in the pool.

-Bharat

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

How you get your tools to Atlanta depends on how big your robot is. Last year, we happened to have a very short robot so we built two level crate with the robot on top and all of the tools on the bottom. It worked out great I don't think there not much that we needed that we didn't ship in the crate.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

Keep in mind that your tools don't have to be shipped and they don't have to travel with your team.

Many teams ride a bus or fly to the Championships. As this is happening, some energetic parent or mentor can drive the tools to Atlanta. We've done this every year since 1998. You'll see many small to medium-sized trailers at the Championships with a few team members unloading their tools, totes, and pit supplies.

If you want to put much effort into a pit display, this is the way to go. Ask around to see if parents have a cargo trailer and see if they want to help by driving this trailer to Atlanta. Then, once this is secured, you can make your neighboring teams happy by offering them a service of tool transport to Atlanta.

Andy B.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

I assisted a team with planning a trip to the Championship on a shoestring last year.
They rented a bus and saved on two nights hotel by sleeping/traveling on Wed. night (12 hours with a stop for breakfast) and Sat. night (leaving after the wrap party). Coach buses are not cheap, but it was more affordable because of saving on the hotels. Although not my idea of a good time, they said it was fine, unlike Bharat's experience. The trip, for about 25 worked out to be about $400/pp, including bus, 2 nights hotel (booked outside the THS system, free breakfast), wrap party, vex party, and money for other meals.

Many school systems have an approved bus company list you have to use.

Lots of teams are restricted not only by money, but by time missed from school. Having a bus gives you a little more flexibility.
In 2002, before I got involved in helping plan travel, a travel agent booked us on a flight that had to change planes. Although there were about 10 non-stop flights, changing planes turned the trip into an all day thing.

My advice would be to start investigating the options now, looking at not just bus vs. plane, but with hotel, food, etc. The NEMO forums have some helpful hints.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

MOE 365 took a bus last year - as Robomom said, the trip was overnight and you don't get much sleep, but it did save on one night at a hotel. I can get you the name of the bus company we used if you need it. This year, thanks to a suggestion from the NEMO conference at Ramp Riot, we got group rates on air tickets from Philly to Atlanta on AirTrans.

We had looked at traveling by Amtrak, which you could do from either Philly or Newark. It is an overnight trip similar to the bus. However, you would have to skip the wrap party Sat. night as it leaves about 8:00 PM.

We also have some mentors/parents who drive and take tools and other pit supplies. And of course buckets of buttons as well.

If you can make it the Atlanta, do so - it's an experience your team will never forget!

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

NEMO has white paper on "Tips for Travel" thanks mainly to KathieK.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

I personally flew with both coaches, my father, and another team member(I depise long trips in cars and busses). Others on my team drove, it was about 11 hours, so I can't answer about having EVERYONE go together.

However, the food and entertainment was pretty good last year at the party, it was just too cold. Me and 5 others from my team ran to The Omni and hopped in the hot tub becuase every other time we went, the place was jam packed with people.

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

The MARTA system is great we went everywhere i still have my MARTA pass. from the five points station you can go just about anywhere

that and the after party was awesome i won this hammer thing at the game where you hit the lever and the weight goes up and hits a bell (that was hard) they i was the shorter of the two running around with two of these at the wrap party and at the hotel you may have seen me

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

awesome! Championships is def worth it!

i can't tell you from experience because we are located in Atlanta, but once your down here, the DOME, hotel, and a variety of restaurants are no more than a 15-20min walk!

the wrap party is SO fun, lots of activities to choose from and lot of FOOD!

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

I've never had the experience of driving to Atlanta from Indiana or Milwaukee, but I've been on my fair share of long drives with teams, and I have enjoyed all of them (except when the bus fumes made everyone sick :( ). So the journey is whatever your team prefers...I would imagine the costs will be fairly comparable.

Last year we were lucky to have team 93 from Appleton pack our pit display and tools in their trailer that they drove down. If you have someone willing to do this, or have someone within your team that can do it and offer it to other teams (if space is available), this is a very good option. Taking ANY robot supplies through the airport will give you much more of a hassle than you want. This includes buttons too!

As for the wrap party, I didn't get to go in 2004, but last year's was very neat. It did get cold, but a simple sweatshirt would have been good enough for me. Even so, I stuck it out and enjoyed the full Cirque du Solei (I think I spelled that right....) show and had my fill of GOOD food! The games are great for students and mentors alike - they had a laser tag game, some basketball games, obstacle courses, and the always popular jousting and bungee runs (Baker, you still owe me a joust!!). My students had a lot of fun competing against the mentors.

Good luck, no matter what you decide, and we hope to see you there!

Kev

Re: Questions about the WORLD championship, so far.
 

Great question, 1403 is from NJ and we flew down last year, and we encountered your worst nightmare too. On the way down to Atlanta, we left from Newark on Airtran and when we were sitting on the plane we were able to see them taking our extra crates and some of our luggage away from the plane. They told us it wouldn't fit on the plane and it would be flown to Atlanta asap.

When we arrived we went down to baggage claim and only about 1/2 the team's luggage and 1/2 the tools that we shipped with us (it was a miracle to get that much stuff through airport security) we got our batteries to be driven down by another team driving down from NJ since they probably wouldn't of gotten through security so well. After filling out what seemed to be a mile of paperwork for the some 20 items that didn't get put on the plane they said that it would be at our hotel within 6 hours. To much of our relief it was there in 4 hours, every single piece of it.

Whats the moral of the story? Don't put your tools on the plane, either have someone volunteer to drive a uhaul down and everyone else fly to Atlanta or have the entire team take a bus.