Chicago parking/lunch for Oprah
 

It took awhile but I got audience tickets to see Oprah. Is there a place to park near the studio that's not $5 an hour? Is there a close quick place to eat near there? Thanks for your help!

You can try to find street/meter parking but $5/hr. in the city is about typical for a lot. There is a great Southern homecooking restaurant just south of Harpo called Wishbone with a lot across the street from it that may be slightly cheaper. Also, West Randolph has a huge selection of restaurants and is about 2 blocks north.

Eileen-
What was your secret for getting the tkts? Any tips?

Too funny. I just clicked on this to see how you managed to invite Oprah to lunch and what you were serving her.

jane -- i got tickets too by being persistent! i've heard of people spending over 5 hours and never getting through. i redialed for about 40 minutes...so i guess i was lucky :)

Jane, just keep calling. Also, peridically they do offer tickets over the internet so check there, too.

Is there any mass transit to the studio? I'd like to leave the car near Ohare since parking will be costly. Oh, and I called off and on for 3 days to get the tickets. Just kept hitting redial.

Get bus and train instructions at transitchicago.com
You can certainly take the train from O'Hare and then a bus (or the Lake Street El, or a cab). Parking at O'Hare, hoever, is not all that cheap!

It will be less costly to park near the Harpo studios than at O'Hare so if your concern is the cost of parking, I wouldn't choose O'Hare over local parking. Harpo is extremely easy to get to from the expressway too.

Would you share the telephone number please?

http://www.oprah.com/tows/program/to...getticks.jhtml
is the link to her website. I found it by doing a google search for oprah. It tells when you can call for tickets. They are available a month in advance-I don't know when they start taking reservations, but they quit when the month is filled up.The phone # is 312-591-9222. There is a limit of 4 tickets and you have to list the people you are bringing when you call.
I am coming from Madison Wi and thought I could park at the Cumberland Park & Ride on I90 for $1.75 for 12 hours and take the blue line in, but the blue line doesn't get me there. I was also hoping to avoid that last half hour of traffic getting into Chicago. Drat. Guess I'll just have to drive in and hope I get lucky with parking..

Stick with your plan to leave the car at Cumberland and take the train. Once you hit the Loop, (Clark/Lake), just get off, walk upstairs and take a $5-6 or so cab ride to the studios.

While parking at O'Hare itself is expensive, the CTA lots are a very good deal. This way, you will save yourself driving an 45-60 minutes through very heavy traffic. If you do drive, get off at Ogden Avenue and head south.

Eileenleft
Thanks for the number :-)

Thank you patg. That traffic is nuts-I wanted to hear that I could avoid the very worst of it. Besides, I will be bringing people who never go to Chicago, so riding the train will be a fun part of the trip.

Eileen,
What time do you have to be at the studio? If it is early, i really suggest you just drive..there is TONS of street parking..especially if you have to be there very early..I find it silly to park your car, wait for the train, get off then have to take a cab!:)

Thanks for all the info. Do you get to pick the day you want to attend or is it basically what ever day they assign to you?

Also- looks like seat assignments are on a first come first serve basis so it may be best Eileen if you get there as early as possible!

I went to the Oprah show last summer. I forget what time they tell you to get there (was it 8:00?) ... but my sister and I got there 10-15 minutes before that and there were a TON of people in line already! I couldn't tell really if being towards the front of the line was better or not ... since, once they let you in you are all in one big room for about a half an hour anyway before they let you into the studio. But my sister and I did not get very good seats ... so maybe it would have been better to get there earlier. If good seats are really important to you, then I would say get there 1/2 an hour-45 minutes before the time they tell you!

Of course, having said that ... the reason my sis and I wanted good seats was because Tom Cruise was the guest that day! But if it is just a regular show with no celebrities ... then I don't think it matter so much where you sit.

Also ... Wishbone would be a GREAT place for lunch! One of my faves!

Dreaming -- When/how did you find out the topic of your show? I have reservation for 9/17, but they said they weren't able to tell me the show topic.

Jane-by the time I got through on the phone there were only 3 possible days open on the schedule. 2 of them were for 8am seating and 1 had 12noon seating. They only film on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.Since this is a day trip for my group we picked the noon seating where doors open at 11am. They wouldn't tell me the topic or guest-said it sometimes changed so didn't want to tell.

Hipvirgochick,

I don't think they normally tell you what the topic is but in this case my Mom heard them make an announcement on TV that if you were interested in being on the Oprah show with Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg and seeing a pre-screening of The Minority Report to call a certain #. My mom, sister and I all called repeatedly and finally my sister got through. It was just luck!

eileenleft ... I would suggesting getting to the studio around 10:15 ... (10 if you're really ambitious). Grab a cup of coffee ... and bring an umbrella just in case. You will not believe how early some Oprah fanatics will get there!