Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

You can park in a couple of gravel lots across the street from the Dome. You might also want to check out hotels between the airport and downtown for cheaper rooms and breakfast included. We've stayed at the Double Tree, Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, and Embassy Suites. Be sure to bargain with them for the best deal. Hotels are hurting right now and willing to do this. Staying a bit out of the downtown core works well if you have a charter bus. About a 10-25 minute drive in each morning but really not bad traffic that way in the morning. North of town is a different case-morning rush hour is all headed the same way you will be going-so I'd avoid it. We picnic a couple of days with parents making sandwiches, and we order pizza one day.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Hi all, THANKS for all this info so far. We will be traveling from Colorado so a road trip would be really long. Do you have tips for getting tools and other supplies (basically all the stuff not in the shipping crate with the robot) to Atlanta? Apologies if this is explained elsewhere (if you could point me there, that'd be great).

BTW, I've compiled several tips from other threads, would it be OK to repost them all here in one place? That way if any details have changed (some of the tips are from 2007) someone could give us an update.

Thanks,
Emily

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Hi Emily, 1583 is driving a van to Atlanta with our tools, batts & Cart. Our team is flying so we may have room to help out. The regional staff is going to give your lead mentor my telephone number and email this week.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Wow, this would be great! I'm sure our mentor will be really happy to talk with you about this.

Thanks,
Emily

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Our team has the same dilemma. Tools and small parts aren't too difficult; pack them in a sturdy, airline-safe box and check them as baggage. Some items could go in team members' luggage. Valuables should go as carry-on. Be sure to study the TSA guidelines. Sharp tools should be checked, but batteries must be carry-on. If you watch the weight, cost should not be a big deal. The box of tools could be someone's "second bag."

The most difficult part is the batteries. They are NOT allowed in checked baggage, but may be allowed in carry-on baggage. One year, each student on our team was handed a pair of batteries in a box, and they merrily went through airline check-in, TSA security, and onto the plane lugging batteries! Except one of our mentors, the last one to check in, was stopped. On the return flight, our students were lugging huge trophies instead of batteries. :) You could call the airline and ask, but if the TSA nixes the idea, you'll be at the airport with no way to bring your batteries.

It seems to me the safest idea would be to ship the batteries directly to your hotel via UPS Ground or something. Make sure you have trustworthy arrangements for shipping the batteries back home. Most of the downtown hotels have a concierge who can assist with this task. So call your hotel to verify what arrangements can be made.

Regarding other questions:

According to the Google map, the straight distance from the pits to the Georgia Dome is about 1000 ft., which is nowhere near a half mile, more like a quarter mile. The problem can be bottlenecks at the escalators, when crowds of people are all trying to go one way at the same time. The big distances are walking to the venue from downtown hotels--you have to cross the entire Centennial Park and pass Halls A & B of the GWCC, which are equivalent to several blocks. If you stay at the Wyndham Garden Inn, for example, it's about 14 blocks to the pits.

If you're thinking about saving money by renting cars and making picnic lunches, especially if you're staying downtown, be aware that you will have to pay for parking at the hotel AND at the venue. And the downtown area has no supermarkets to speak of. If you want to buy food at a supermarket, perhaps your team could rent just one vehicle for running errands, and everyone else can walk.

Don't expect the downtown hotels to have either free breakfast or free Internet. Usually they charge per day per computer. Sometimes you can sign up for their "membership" program and get free Internet.

Don't expect a free hotel shuttle from a downtown hotel to the airport, either. Only the airport hotels have a free airport shuttle. Our team stayed near the airport one year. The shuttle took us to the airport (1/2 hour), then we took MARTA to the Georgia Dome (another 1/2 hour). This is why our team now prefers to stay downtown. Airport taxis in Atlanta charge per person. Atlanta ain't cheap.

As others have mentioned, you can eat in the Peachtree Plaza (which is only open during normal mall hours, so no early breakfast) or in the CNN Center food court. Some places in the CNN Center are open for breakfast, and the food is comparatively cheap. I don't know if breakfast will be available in the GWCC food court this year. The Georgia Dome itself has a greater variety of food than most of the Regional venues I've been to.

One other thing for us Westerners. Spring weather in Atlanta is variable. If it's warm and sunny, lunch can be a picnic on the grass with Frisbees and shorts. These are the fun times people like to remember. But things can get really wild--pouring rain, gusty winds, lightning, freezing, hurricane, tornado--and you can get soaked in an instant. So usually teams have no problem walking from the hotels to the GWCC, but it's good to bring along weatherproof outerwear.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

This is an essential part of your trip planning. Use google maps or mapquest to find those parts of the trip you need. For instance, I recommend the Publix market down MLK blvd to the west, but not for walking there. If you are doing the self-prepped lunch, this is a good place for the fixins'. reconnoiter at the parking lot or the courtyard to eat.

My point is that virtual walkthrus are possible online and will save you agonizing about where things are while you're in the area. You can also get the "mileages" from these sites to see how much shoeleather it will cost for the various options. If you use google maps, you can get walking directions and they now have a streetview option that shows pictures of things along the routes.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Karen - This information is PRICELESS!!!! Thanks so much.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Google maps is useful for many things, but my favorite maps of the downtown area are provided by the GWCC. Click the two PDF map links on this page.

I like to print out a copy for myself, and copies to share. They are especially useful if you are staying downtown and walking, or if you need to know where to park. They are clear, and show the MARTA stations as well.

Be sure to check out the FIRST website as well. Usually they have pit maps and the recommended walking route. The latter is recommended for safety.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Just as a test here is a street view from google in the vicinity of the georgia dome.
street view aimed at the parking lot across the street. You can swing the view 360 degrees. go back to map and drop the little orange guy on a street for another view. This is not good for carrying around, but if you've never been there, you can get familiar with how it looks.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35378
shows the orange guy dragged from the zoom bar over next to the dome
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35379
click and it deposits the guy and enables a view of the area.

I'm still experimenting to see if the other, non-street walking paths can be viewed too.

I like those GWCC guides too. I'll be printing a new set to replace the folded/crumpled/grungy pair from last year.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

I've been volunteering at the Champs for many years. A few years ago I clocked 36 miles on the pedometer during my days at Championships; last year was "only" around 28 miles if I recall correctly. It's a lot of walking.

NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization) is hosting a session for all adult/college age mentors on Friday, room C207 in the GWCC. It's free, you don't need to belong to NEMO. We'll be discussing any non-technical topics/concerns that you want to talk about like fundraising, recruiting/retaining mentors, teambuilding, team organization, etc. Come and go as you need to between 10am and noon. This is a great way to network and make new FIRST connections!

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

How's the wifi? I assume there is wifi, but it certainly must be pretty laggy considering the number of people in the Dome and pits.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

I believe there is no wi-fi in the pits. On page 14 of the essential information document it says

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

That's frankly very unfortunate. 3G is so slow! Hahah.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

Bring your decongestant. Today's (Wed, 4/7) pollen count is only 5733...

For reference, anything over 120 is considered "Extremely High" :)

http://www.atlantaallergy.com/pollencount.aspx

Hopefully by next week they will be back down in the 1000-2000 range. One of the things I sure don't miss about not living in ATL anymore.

Re: Never been to championship before got questions
 

At the GTR, theres usually a section for cheering and dancing and stuff, which they took out this year. Annoying, cause as my friend said, we're a party team. I was wondering if they had anything like this in Atlanta.