How about versus Houston?
We’ve attended all three cities, now (but not Atlanta or earlier).
We stayed in Greektown this year. The hotel was expensive but it was still cheaper for us than having to get ground transportation every day after flying in. The People Mover was right there. Getting to/from Cobo was a breeze. We tried a lot of restaurants that were reasonably priced and had great food. Parking the trailer that drove up was a disaster and took hours to find a parking spot for it. After being on Carver in Houston last year (farthest field from the pits) having the pits adjacent to the field on Carson in Detroit was amazing. Food was easier to come by over the other two venues without the lines being as long. I did see one guy get dragged off the DPM by police, and another mentor saw a drug bust with a ton of police.
Houston: Discovery Green = great for meeting and eating. The convention center configuration = terrible with the pits so far away from the fields. Ford Field & EJ Dome >> Minute Maid Park for viewing experience. There were enough rooms that we could stay downtown both times so I can’t really comment on traffic although I know it can be a bigger issue than in the other two cities. Having NASA and the beach as pre- or post- event activities is a huge plus.
St. Louis: I remember having tons of trouble finding food near the venue that didn’t have long lines or wasn’t $15 for a cheese sandwich at the venue. But we really didn’t have a good plan for travel and didn’t know what we were doing so I am not sure I can judge as well. We had several people get sick after eating the EJ Dome food. City Museum is awesome and we went there all three years we were in St. Louis. Food on The Hill is great if you can get there. Long walk from pits to queue.
Out of all the activity nights we’ve had, the favorite of the kids (aside from City Museum) was the year that FIRST had the big inside carnival at Americas Center after closing ceremonies. For some reason they liked the indoor party at Ford Field this year better than the outdoor party at Discovery Green last year even though they had basically the exact same activities. Maybe it was because Ford Field was a little more crowded and had more energy than being outside.
They’ve all been good in different ways, and have all had some issues. It’s hard to put together a massive event and have it go off without a hitch. The Minute Maid experience the first year in Houston was the worst time we had just due to the length of the program and the crazy security line.
