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New Orleans Superdome/NCAA Mens Final Four Questions

New Orleans Superdome/NCAA Mens Final Four Questions

Old Nov 9th, 2011, 02:28 PM
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New Orleans Superdome/NCAA Mens Final Four Questions

What can you tell me about parking for a SD event?

I got lucky and have 4 tickets to the final four. These were on the ncaa lottery system. I won't know where I am sitting until around March 1. The games are March 30 and April 2. Tipoff times are unknown at this point. Last year all the games were in the evening.

We have been to NO a few times, and frankly don't like it, btw. We do like the plantation homes on the river road. My daughter age 18 will be with us too, and she really is uncomfortable in NO. We will of course eat a couple of meals and probably walk Bourbon Street, etc. We will be attending Sat nights games, then my parents and their next door neighbors will do the Monday night game. They like NO far more than we do, so they will probably actually stay for a few days there. They don't have lodging yet and they might stay a bit outside of the city, perhaps.

Lodging is super hard to come by. I don't really care for B&B,s but I am considering it. I did manage to get Springhill Suites. This appears to be several blocks away and probably to far to walk
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Old Nov 9th, 2011, 02:59 PM
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She feels "uncomfortable?" Sounds kinda bizarre to me (having lived there and having attended a former NCAA Final Four in the Dome.

So what are you planning to do if your team LOSES on Saturday, BTW...there will be LOTS of tickets available all of a sudden.

A couple of blocks is not too far to walk IMO and I suggest you do so so you won't have to worry about parking.
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Old Nov 9th, 2011, 03:11 PM
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The only thing I don't like about visiting NOLA is driving and parking - so I'd go for a hotel within walking distance if it were me - or a short cab ride.
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Old Nov 9th, 2011, 05:29 PM
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Dukey1,
Several Blocks is what I was referring to, not a couple. It's nothing for us to hike 20 miles at a national park over a weekend, but I don't want to get out of a ballgame at 11:00PM and worry about walking 10 blocks(and who know what the weather would be).

If you just type in a date for that weekend on say a site like expedia you will find virtually nothing at all. I did find Springhill Suites. I found that on getaroom.com. Don't know that I'm that happy with it, but I will take it for now.

I don't think there will be a lot of tickets available all of a sudden. Final Four, NBA Finals, Superbowl, Playoff games, World Series are all tickets that are hard to come by.

Myself, daughter(maybe a friend of hers or we will just sell 1 ticket), and wife are going Saturday. My parents and their friends are going to the game on Monday. I have won the tickets on the ncaa lottery system, but they don't send them out until the end of Feb.

My wife and I get an uneasy feeling as well in some places. We are not partiers and walking down the street where 50% of the people you see are intoxicated is unsettling to us--was my point. We do love the food though. We have visited the French Quarter on 3 occasions and other than the food I don't see the attraction. It's dirty, old, creepy. Even the market area is not much, IMOP. If you live there for sometime, I am sure you wouldn't have a problem with it. What I was trying to say, is that we are going there for the BB Games and Food and that is pretty much the only reason for going.
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Old Nov 9th, 2011, 06:35 PM
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Everybody is different - you don't have to explain why you don't care for New Orleans I love it, but I know plenty of people who don't.
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Old Nov 9th, 2011, 08:24 PM
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I am puzzled. You expressed a dislike for the raunchier (tourist) areas of N.O., but you are planning on taking your 18 yo daughter to Bourbon St? If I were you, I'd stay in an uptown B&B off the St Charles streetcar route, take the streetcar to Poydras & walk to the dome. Believe me, I've been to enough events to know that there is plenty of foot traffic walking in that direction after games, and have never felt unsafe. Plus you and your family could schedule walking tours of the uptown area during your stay. Much more interesting than watching drunk tourists in the Quarter when you are not drinking yourself. You can not set foot in the Quarter and have a fabulous time, IMO.
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 01:13 AM
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What frutoasty said is really good advice. If you are not partiers, the Quarter is likely to be hell during this weekend.

If you want to "eat a few meals", I would focus on places that take reservations and have some sort of dress code, and I would make the reservations NOW. And get your parents a place to stay as soon as possible.
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 04:52 AM
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Are you sure the tickets are transferrable?
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 08:10 AM
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I like frautoasty's advice too - perfect solution.

If walking tours are your thing, the Historic New Orleans Walking Tour Co does some great tours. We haven't taken the Garden District tour (it is on our to-do list for next trip), but we've done the French Quarter and Cemetery tours - both of which were great.

If you find yourself in the FQ during the day, there are some historic homes that you can tour, if that is of interest to you. I've toured the 1850 House, Hermman-Grimmer House, and the Gallier House. The Bauregard-Keyes house is there too, but it was under renovations last couple times we were there.
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 09:21 AM
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I agree with the above suggestions. There is a lot more to NO than Bourbon Street. Stay further Uptown and enjoy the Garden District (walking tours of homes), Audubon Park and Tulane area.

If you cannot find a place to stay uptown, you can still stay at Springhill and take either a short cab ride or a streetcar ride to the Garden District/Uptown area (and avoid Bourbon).
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 09:57 AM
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>

Exactly what I was thinking. As a NO native - there is SO much more to the city than Bourbon Street.
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Old Nov 10th, 2011, 11:10 AM
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I have reservation for the one night lodging, but not sure if I like it or not. Springhill Suites Downtown.

I hadn't thought about making reservations for places to eat this far in advance, but that is a great idea.

The tickets won't have my name on them, but I can surely give them to my parents. I am not sure if each individual game is issued or how that works. Not sure that I could sell just one ticket for those Saturday games.
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Old Nov 18th, 2011, 09:59 AM
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There's a new Hyatt at the SD.

http://neworleans.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?null
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Old Nov 18th, 2011, 12:16 PM
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Nice to see the Hyatt back! Basically the same local as before. Spent MANY days walking thru the Hyatt area when I worked for Amoco in New Orleans. And I had a great office that overlookded the Hyatt pool! Quite popular with the guys during the summer months!!!

Our building adjoined the Mobil building, which adjoined the Hyatt, which (eventually) adjoined the New Orleans Center shopping area. So I could shop without ever walking outdoors (very nice in summer months).

Lots of fond memories of those times.
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Old Nov 18th, 2011, 12:25 PM
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Love New Orleans; hate basketball!
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Old Nov 18th, 2011, 01:18 PM
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Love New Orleans, love NCAA basketball, and I also got FF tickets in the lottery!

I don't need to worry about a hotel, because I'm not sure who will be using the tickets yet. What I will do with the tickets depends on what teams make it that far.

But I have to agree with the earlier comments. It sounds like what makes you "uncomfortable" is Bourbon Street, not New Orleans in general. If you want to avoid crowds of drunk people, avoid Bourbon St. at all costs. Problem solved.

It's a miserable place to be after a big event, and I can't imagine wanting to take anyone there who was remotely uncomfortable with either crowds or drunks. But New Orleans has far more to offer than Bourbon St. Stay uptown in the garden district, you can avoid the FQ altogether if you want.
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Old Nov 18th, 2011, 07:21 PM
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Not really sure what you are asking. We went to 03 FF and championship and there were hundreds of tickets being scalped on the streets. With stubhub, ebay etc., it may be different now. I like parking at Harrah's casino when I go to the superdome. It's at the end of Poydras down from the dome. Gamble 30 minutes and it's complimentary. We just stayed at Springhill for a Saints game. It's about 30 minute walk to the dome. It is doable leaving the game late at night. You will have a huge crowd walking to casino area and then it's a few blocks to the hotel. Hope that helps.
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Old Nov 19th, 2011, 04:23 AM
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I was just trying to figure out something else to do besides FQ and we have been to the Garden District. We have been to NO 4 or 5 times and daughter has been with us and to the FQ a couple of times. We really like the river plantation homes and have done about all of those and even stayed at a couple of them overnight. We haven't done The Madewood, so might do that. We haven't toured any of the homes in the Garden District. Those would be very handy and easier to do on this trip. We want to go to Natchez and do the homes there sometime too. I will probably have to make multiple dining reservations and then cancel as I don't know tipoff times. It could be as early as 11:00am or as late as 6:00pm for the first games.

bushwhacker,
thanks for the info about the walking and parking. I wasn't for sure how far the walk might be. We are pretty fast walkers, so we might just walk from Springhill.
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Old Nov 19th, 2011, 04:29 AM
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I am thinking that usually the Sat games are broadcast at 5:00PM eastern and tipoff is at 5:30. So tipoff in NO would be at 6:30pm for the first game. At least this appears to have happened the last few years.
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Old Nov 27th, 2011, 07:57 AM
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Agree with suggestions to stay away from Bourbon St. (and lower Decatur) at night if you're uncomfortable with the scene. I live here and I'm not a fan, either, but there are SO many other options. If you like the plantation tours, consider other similar activities, like iverboat cruises, walking tours of NewOrleans, swamp tours, City Park (New Orleans Museum of Art, Sculpture Garden), Audubon Park, Uptown and Garden District neighborhood restaurants like Patois and Boucherie...since you'll have a car, there's no reason to stay near the FQ or bring your family into it.

RE: walking -- the streets will be hopping with people during the Final Four, and I would have NO qualms walking from the Superdome to the Springhill suites/warehouse district/museum district hotels. Poydras is well-lit, well-traveled and safe. It will take you 20 minutes TOPS (10-15 if you're fast walkers) from Superdome to that area.

You might also check other places for hotel in New Orleans, like http://www.neworleans.com/new-orleans-hotels/, and look into smaller or off-the-radar hotels like the Lafayette Hotel (gorgeous, on St. Charles) or the Royal St. Charles.
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