[QUOTE=WestSideBilly,Apr 28 2007, 04:56 PM] There are other places nearby, just none that can host 150+ people.

 

I'm not a fan of Fontana either but i think you guys have to consider that our cars are somewhat safe there! Having a heavily moded car (as alot of the members on this board), i wouldn't trust leaving my car in Alcoa. I'm not from the area (Alcoa) but chime in on whether or not you guys think there would be problems .
Also you have to consider that if we drove from Alcoa to the Dragon over the Three or Four day stay, we would be VERY vulnerable to local Police ( I'm sure we would help them meet their ticket quota).

 

To top that off I was without electricity till 1:30 AM or so on Saturday and had to pack that evening (borrowed a flash light) to return back home Sunday morning.

I'll also add that you need to develop more interesting activities to gather bigger group drives, everyone seemed scattered all over the place (small groups.)

 

Actually, I think smaller groups are a better scenario than having 200 cars all trying to go through the same area at once. Having said that, I saw a decent number of people going on groupdrives Satruday afternoon (there were official groupdrives put together for the weekend but were initially postponed due to weather).
Just my $.02.

 

Not sure what the security is like in Alcoa or any of the neighboring cities, but in the past, prior to staying at Fontana, we stayed in hotels where we had roped off S2k only parking. Not saying that this makes it safer, but we were fairly successful with this setup in the past.

This was WTD '03 or '04)



and this is WTD '05





I know that for many (including myself), this experience at Fontana was less than ideal but I'm willing to give them another chance.....it's also not mandatory that everyone stay at Fontana... (I know some poeple stayed at other venues but participated in the Sat. morning rollout, banquet Sat. night, etc...)

 

About a half a dozen of us showed up at Panera for brunch this morning and we're thinking about Topoco for DBR

 

One thing you can do if you are worried about the security of the cars is to hire a security guard to walk the lot the two nights of the event. You can get the two nights from 11pm to 7am for about $150 a night. Spread out over 150 plus cars you are looking at a couple bucks a person.

However, we parked at the Hilton a couple years ago and I felt fine leaving my car there.

 

Even though I complained about fontana, I would rather stay there than in a city. I like the remote location of it. I was merely stating how for next year, the organizers can warn the hotel staff to be a little more prepared for us, thats all.

 

Interesting that the Village was so poorly prepared for the event. Has there been a change in management? With the amount of coin we're willing to throw at them twice a year you would think they would have planned better. Can't believe they didn't at least make arrangements with the store to stay open later.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to start a "dive list" of cabins to avoid.

 

Interesting read on other peoples thoughts on the place.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews...h_Carolina.html