Tightwad tips for Championship, Atlanta

[ManicMechanic]

Well, FTC season is done for us (no Atlanta this year ), which means more time to finish this project, posted here. Thanks for all the ideas.

[Deep Dark]

Our team did a test and found that taking the marta from near our hotel (well into the downtown area) to the stadium, and walking from the hotel to the stadium took just as much time. So if you're not carrying heavy totes or the like, don't pay for the marta pass, and dont get suckered into paying for a 5 day pass or whatever...i did in 2005 and used it twice because i was one of the advance crew and that was before we found out that walking down the marta steps, waiting for the train, and walking up the marta steps took just as much time as walking from our hotel to the arena. but if you DO plan on using the marta, and plan to use it a lot, buy the passes cuz they do save you.

There's a pizza place, papa murphies i think? I cant be sure anymore, down the street from the pit entrance to the GWCC (where the busses drop you off, not where you walk from the stands to the pits). We bought pizza's for our team and two people (me and another person) always went to go get them and walk them back. You can also have them delivered, but we found it takes FOREVER, even if you call 2 hours in advance saying you want them at a certain time. we'd call as we're walking there, wait about 5 minutes while there, then pick them up. It was about $2 a large slice per person, and drinks were often thrown in as i recall, because the pizza guy thought 5 mins of waiting in heat was too long....

one free entertainment event my team did was go to the fountains. Everyone wears swim suits and they jump in the fountains of sentenial park during the synchronized music thing. It can be fun i guess.

other than that, i have no clue.

[KathieK]

If you can manage to pack an extra suitcase (with the airlines starting to charge for baggage now, be careful how much extra you bring with you) with "toys" for the team, plan an outing at the park. It's nice and a great way to blow off energy after a long day indoors at the competition. One year we packed nerf footballs, a kite or two, hackey sacks, a board game or two... and they were used often.

[BigWhiteYeti]

If possible, partner up with another team going. This can be huge savings if you are going by bus. We go to Milwaukee with two other local teams, and it is not only fun but saves big.

[DonRotolo]

These are more general:

After travel costs (e.g., airfare), the next highest cost is usually food. So, buy groceries in Atlanta that work with travelers.

Minimize purchases of anything requiring refrigeration, but for smaller things like milk (for cereal = breakfast) a sink full of hotel ice works well. You can even do cold cuts this way, but better to buy that morning & assemble for lunch immediately. Or PBJ it, add bananas for a real treat (PBJB)

Pop-tarts are your friends, as are donuts, cookies, and all the breads. Except Cinnabons, these can be fatal.

Soup in a can (get the kind that pops open, no can opener kind) can be heated with hotel sink hot water. Sure, it takes 15 minutes, but it's cheap. Pair that with your bread friends.

Fruit, fruit, lots of fruit. Portable, delicious, and good for you. 'nanas, apples, pears and oranges for starters.

As previously said, cups allow for free water. A case of water for $5 costs more than gasoline... er,, well it used to.

It is possible to live without cooking and refrigeration for a solid week, still eat well, for around $25.

Don

[Carol]

There is a Costco somewhere in Atlanta (sorry I don't know exactly where). Last year our team made a trip there and got enough lunch and breakfast food for the team for the entire week. We passed out the breakfast foods for the week (juices, muffins, granola bars - we were trying to be somewhat healthy) to everyone the first night. Lunch was sandwich makings, fruit, chips, and drinks. A couple of parents kept the food in coolers in their hotel between times. Every evening we would announce that lunch would be at such and such a time at a particular grassy area near the dome. Time was selected according to our match schedule. If you made it, it was all-you-can-eat (and some on our team can eat!) If you missed it, you bought your own. Pit crew members were saved food for when they were free.

I wouldn't encourage people to bring food in the dome. Yes, people have in the past but you don't know how tight their security will be this year.

[Elgin Clock]

What not to do: Buy a whole pie from the deli in the CNN center, at $3.50 a slice.
~45 dollars later, we had 1 pie that a bunch of us split the cost of at 7 or so bucks each.
It was very rich Reeses Chocolate pie... in more ways than one as you can imagine.