Fiesta Bowl Block Party - New Years Eve Info (Phoenix: house, neighborhood)

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

Yeah, the light rail is great! In the past one had to worry about driving... A sober New Year's Eve is just an oxymoron. Speaking of it, that's exactly what we'll get to "enjoy" in downtown Tucson!

Unless you can stumble home from the stops, you still ending up driving from the Park and Ride lots. The cops probably set up checkpoints just down the street from them (or ought to). New Years Eve is amateur night. The real drinkers stay home.

[cmist]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Unless you can stumble home from the stops, you still ending up driving from the Park and Ride lots. The cops probably set up checkpoints just down the street from them (or ought to). New Years Eve is amateur night. The real drinkers stay home.

We usually stay home with the kids and they end up sleeping through New Years so we tossed around the idea of getting them up and out of the house. Not sure if the block party is the best thing, but will probably do that if nothing else comes up... any better ideas out there?

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Unless you can stumble home from the stops, you still ending up driving from the Park and Ride lots. The cops probably set up checkpoints just down the street from them (or ought to). New Years Eve is amateur night. The real drinkers stay home.

Actually, last time I was in Phoenix I picked a motel on the route of the light rail and getting to Mill was a breeze.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

Actually, last time I was in Phoenix I picked a motel on the route of the light rail and getting to Mill was a breeze.

Not only that, but the further you get away from the event, the less concentration of possibly drunk drivers you'll encounter. While the danger exists all over the roads, I'd suspect that the concentration of such folks will be closer to the event...

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

Not only that, but the further you get away from the event, the less concentration of possibly drunk drivers you'll encounter. While the danger exists all over the roads, I'd suspect that the concentration of such folks will be closer to the event...

Yeah, by the time they get home on the light rail, they'd be sobered up.

[asufan]

Just be prepared for the possibility of a 30-45 minute wait to even get on the light rail train, since many people will be leaving at once. I know the trains were in operation at the end of last year, but were people riding the trains last year at new years, or were they still testing?

[Finger Laker]

my roomate used to be our DD for a lot of events

he'd agree to do it as long as he could have some fun with it

so when our drunk butts would wander out of a concert, sporting event, party, etc my roomate would take a big loud breath of air and proclaim that "ahh, nothing sobers you up like the drive home" ...... there was a wide range of interesting reactions to be sure - we found it funny because he was stone sober and many people were too drunk to recognize that

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Yeah, by the time they get home on the light rail, they'd be sobered up.

Cool, better than stumbling drunk and just behind the wheel; less of two evils maybe...assuming everyone is drunk and drinking.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by asufan

Just be prepared for the possibility of a 30-45 minute wait to even get on the light rail train, since many people will be leaving at once. I know the trains were in operation at the end of last year, but were people riding the trains last year at new years, or were they still testing?

Last year the trains began service Dec. 27th. They ran until 3:00am, with the last trains leaving the end of line stations between 2:20-2:30am...

They were busy and crowded last year, but it went smoothly and they have strategic "parking rail spots" for extra trains to come and pick up large crowds when an event ends. Waits last year weren't bad at all; not 30-45 minutes...I did hear some people waited between 15-25 minutes.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by cmist

I know how it goes getting out of major events with everyone trying to leave at the same time... Thats fine and expected, but wanted to find something we could do with the kids and be sure I didn't expose them to too much too soon.

Thanks!

Sorry if this sounds condescending, but why in the world would you want to bring children to a New Years Eve block party?! The crowds can be out of control, and the kids would be exposed to all the commotion, the drinking, and the partying. Your children would be up excessively later than what they're probably used to. Besides, there are people who simply do not want to be around a bunch of children. These types of social events are mainly adult oriented for good reasons.

I don't attend these New Years Eve events anymore ... but I used to from time to time when I was younger. From my recollection, the age ranges were mostly 18 on up ... never any pre teens or small children. If I had kids, I would never even consider taking them to adult type of events such as these. My advice: stay home with the kids, watch the celebrations on TV, and make it a quiet family night at home. Besides, you would avoid fighting the crowds & traffic trying to get back home!