chicagojlo

We're planning to go to this, wondered if anyone has been to another one or has any tips for Detroit hotels? Thanks!

CarlM

Did you go? I saw it on Tv and it looked like a great day out! ..even if it was in De-toilet!

chicagojlo

That was San Diego. Detroit is May 31 and June 1. The British guy won by the way at San Diego...

CarlM

That explains all the sun!

lisa67

Wish we were going...guess we chose the wrong year to move out of MI.
Don't know if you've been to down town Detroit before, but contrary to popular belief it is very safe. Always plenty of police around..we've never been worried there and have always taken our kids down for baseball, theatre, motor racing etc.
Have never stayed down there but I think it's about the same as any big city - you get what you pay for.
There is a small public mono rail that runs for 50cents a ride around down town. If you'e not taking a car then stay in the center.....within a couple of miles or so of downtown in any direction are some....shall we say, not very desirable areas which you're likely to get your brains blown out if you wander into them !!

chicagojlo

We were planning on staying at the Doubletree in Dearborn. We're going to drive up from Chicago so we'll have the car although I think we'll park at one of the PeopleMover stations to get downtown on the day.
Is that a logical plan?

Socal Local

Went to the San Diego one last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, after initially being disappointed by the lack of organisation. We bought tickets in the enclosed viewing area, but I am not sure it was worth it. There was no option to print at home, so all ticket holders had to go to the will call which was a chaos of people rifling through thousands of envelopes trying to find tickets. Once eventually inside, although there was the benefit of being on the part of the waterfront right in front of the action, it was very very crowded and we couldn't really see any of the low flying stuff. After a while though we managed to find a spot with a view through the people stood in front of us and gradually as people moved to go and get food, etc, we got to the front.

I was away for this year's event, but would definitely have gone again, although I am not sure I would bother with the tickets again.

chicagojlo

They are sending the tickets out this year. At least they are charging for postage anyway!
We're planning to get there fairly early so hopefully we'll get a decent spot. Looking forward to it now! (Can't believe we never went to any of the Rotterdam ones).

lisa67

Sounds like a great plan....have fun and enjoy Detroit ! If you have any spare time take a trip to the Henry Ford Museum...well worth it.

chicagojlo

Hopefully rocking up in one of my two Fords will score some brownie points!
Thanks again. Looking forward to it!

Dan725

I watched it when I was in Abu Dhabi last year. "Bored rich blokes dicking around in hi-performance stunt planes in hotspots around the world" is the way I think about it - what a life!! Good spectacle though.

MsElui

i always think back fondly to the Birdman of Bognor - the old version of this where they used to fly/jump off Bognore Pier into the sea. A school friend of mines dad entered every year in some totally wacky costumes - was great fun!

wont be held any more as the pier had some repair work and the depth isnt enough now to hold the comp.

Manc

the people mover doesn't get you downtown, it's a downtown loop, it just goes around downtown, so to get on it, you still have to park in the center of detroit.


dearborn is alright as a place to stay I guess, but for something totally different and if your immigration statuses allow, do a hotwire for Windsor hotels. I've stayed across the river a few times and it's a nice easy city to walk around.
of course, you'll still need to drive across the bridge or under the tunnell to get to where you need to be to see the air race, but I presume it's down the river anyhow right?

anyways, enjoy your time in Dtown.

chicagojlo

Thanks - you can actually also get tickets for the Windsor side but we're a bit wary of crossing the border so we're sticking to Detroit. I know the people mover doesn't get you downtown but we're planning to drive to one of the stations where you can park and then use it to get to the race site rather than trying to drive all the way in. I guess we'll scope it out on arrival though to be sure.

Manc

The Windsor side is nicer, but understand your concerns......

when is it?