Happy Holidays from Team 85! We’re in the process of planning travel for the championship event and would like to know how other teams have chosen to travel while in Atlanta. Were you able to walk from your hotel to the location, or would you suggest booking a charter bus to travel around Atlanta? Let me know what you Atlanta veterans would suggest… :]
It depends on where you stay. The Marriott Marquis is across town and requires a charter bus. The Omni CNN Centre is located approximately 2 minutes (walking distance) away from the Georgia Dome (competition) and Georgia World Congress Center (pits). It was a really nice 5-star hotel and it was said some celebs were there when we were there. However, Atlanta is known for it’s excellent Rapid Transit Authority, MARTA, which connects every corner of town for like $1.50 per ride on bus or light rail, which goes right to teh competition. Hope this helps!
Alex
Last year our team flew into Atlanta and took MARTA (local light rail) directly from the airport downtown to within two blocks of our hotel. We stayed at the Wyndham which is about a half dozen blocks from the Georgia Dome. Very walkable. We had actually reserved a minivan to run errands in (to get stuff to repair our robot should it happen to, gasp, break!) and wound up returning it the next day because we really didn’t need it.
Venue location (very close to a lot of things) and MARTA make getting around Atlanta very easy - at least from our teams point of view.
Hope this helps.
Sean
Depends on where you stay. I’m not too familiar with all the hotel locations, but I’m sure you could find something online. The Omni Hotel is a 2min walk from the competition site - it’s right behind it. There are other hotels nearby that people walked from. Othewise, there’s a pretty good train system that takes you thru the city, and it’s quite cheap. I think you can get to most of the “attractions” and things around Atlanta using that. Unless you are going out of the city, you should be ok walking or using the train. You can try **www.itsmarta.com ** which should be their site. There’s a lot of info on there too.
I’m sure others will have plenty of recommendations/suggestions based on their stay.
We stayed there last year and walked to the competition everyday and did not find it a problem - probably a ten-minute walk but it seemed much most cost-effective to walk (especially considering we could barely afford nationals last year and charter buses are about $1000 a day, I hear). The walk was very safe and well lit at night, so that was not even a concern, and it seemed much more convenient because sometimes part of the team left earlier than the rest, which would be difficult with one bus.
We walked from the Marquis too… It wasn’t a long walk, and it woke us all up 
MARTA was offering a weeklong pass for like $7 which seems like it would be a very good deal.
The only kind of transportation we needed was from the airport to our hotel, and back at the end of the week, and we just got one of those airport van services to take us.
Steve,
If your team is flying down to Atlanta, I really see no reason to charter a bus. Last year all the hotels available through THS were either within walking distance of the Georgia Dome, or right on the MARTA (Subway) line. MARTA had passes specifically designed for FIRST that lasted either 4,5 or 6 days. These passes were around $7-13 and provided unlimited travel for your stay. There’s even a MARTA stop at the airport, which saves the expense of a shuttle.
Also, unlike many other cities, the subways in Atlanta were safe and clean. A pleasure to ride.
http://www.centennialpark.com/images/Downtown%20map.pdf
Everything is within walking distance.
We stayed at where it says Peachtree plaza, in the topish rightish corner and it was either a 15 minute walk from my room to my pits, or a 10 minute subway ride.
The only reason it was 10 minutes on the subway is because you had to go south, then west and transfer to go that west.
It’s not bad once you get used to it, but just don’t forget which way you are going, or you may get into some trouble with your teammates for leading them off the correct train… :ahh: 
Also, a map of the actual Georgia World Congress Center (pits) and the GA Dome (stadium) complex can be found here.
http://www.gwcc.com/images/gwccmap.pdf
Good luck in 2005, and if you need help navigating Atlanta, just ask any team you see if they were there in 2004. BY three days of being in Atlanta, you pretty much know your way around.
I second that, and what the others have said. I personally usually walked but a couple times took the MARTA to comp and at night took it to the different atractions. The pass was well worth the money and I would highly suggest it rather than renting a van or bus. $7 x 20 = 140 vs. bus= $hundreds ?
-Mike - Team 1654 In Holland Michigan
Take MARTA it’s smarta! 
I liked taking the MARTA. Except that one day when I realized I had left my pass in my hotel room and had to walk back to hotel to get it…Then the hotel people were nice enough to drive me back to the MARTA station…
Plus on Thursday and Friday it gets really crowded because of people going to work and such.
But other than that, I highly reccomend staying at a hotel near a MARTA station rather than near the Georgia Dome.
Nah… don’t worry about getting a bus or anything it isn’t necessary. We stayed at the Marriot Marquee last time and we walked everyday. We thought it was pretty cool too because we got to walk through the city area and then through a park. If you want a convenient place to stay I recommend the Omni. Can’t wait to see everyone at Atlanta again.
GO TEAM 1403!!!
the only reason team 188 and west hill used a bus is because we took the 18 hour bus ride down there in the first place :ahh:
it seemed much easier just to walk everywhere =). though at the times we did use marta, it was great.
If you are flying into Atlanta, a multi day MARTA pass is the very best deal for travel. Last year we used our MARTA passes to get from the airport to the hotel as well as traveling back and forth to the competition site. We spent less than $200 for a MARTA pass for all team members and mentors versus renting two vans at a cost of over $300 each for Wed through Sun.
Even if you are staying at the Omni right at the Dome, I would wager a multi day MARTA pass would still be cheaper than the airport shuttle, $7 vs probably $12 to $15 each?!?
Travelling in and around Atlanta was very cheap and very easy. The hotels that FIRST offers in their packages are typically all under a 20 minute walk from the Georgia Dome. I had a Segway with me last year, I highly recommend it!! The MARTA was easy to find and travel to and from the airport with, so no shuttle bus was particularly necessary (unless it’s included with your hotel accomodations, then go for it!)
Atlanta was fun.
erin
That’s a great recommendation and I think I will take you up on it. I’m glad that I am the first person to ask for your Segway. It was nice to trial last year but to use yours for the whole Championship would be great. Thanks again!!! 
Having a vehicle parked in Atlanta at night isn’t a good idea. My team always brings an RV for various reasons. Unfortunately, it got broken into last year. To tell the truth, Atlanta’s crime rate is very high. Like everyone said, MARTA is a good choice, but there are definitely parts of Atlanta you don’t want to be in at night. Just get a hotel somewhere near the dome, and even if it’s not within walking distance, you can use MARTA, and it’s far safer than somewhere farther out.
We flew into Atlanta got the $7 pass for 4 days of unlimited trips. We all hopped onto the MARTA. It was approx 25 minute ride from the airport to the Peachtree station which was just outside the hotel. We stayed at the Westin Peachtree (I think that is the correct name).
Being one that really felt lazy the first morning of competition I did take the MARTA. We had to go one stop west then get on another train and go one stop south, if I remember correctly.
I was really awake after the competition so we decided to do the 6-8 block walk back. We determined it was a lot quicker to walk then to get on and off trains.
On Sunday we took the MARTA back to airport and flew home
If you are flying into Atlanta get the MARTA 4-5 day pass. It is worth the $7.
If you are not flying into Atlanta it may be nice to get couple of passes so that people can go around town quicker and get supplies or materials to fix robots
My 2 cents worth
MOE is taking a bus to Atlanta for the first time. After 12 hours or so, even DVDs and IPods are boring. We are looking for group activities, games, etc., to entertain the troops (about 50 people, mixed students and adults.) There was a thread last year on this topic:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=243818&postcount=1
Has any team found some new, exciting ideas we could try? Particularly for the last couple of hours before we arrive, when everyone is awake and antsy to get off that bus!
We are getting dropped off by parents of our club.
A fun thing to do is play poker.