All Things Citrus Bowl/Orlando Travel Tips, Plans, Hotels, Tickets, Actities and More

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I wonder if it might be useful to have separate threads for travel information and ticket information...
 

Orlando Fla

Keep in mine that Orlando is only a couple hours drive from Jacksonville, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm and Ft Meyers

Go Gophers
 

Never was considering the upper deck. We ended up going Plaza level as those still have the individual seats, and just wanted to protect against being put too low. Should be a nice view from there.

Flights: BOOKED (Delta)
Hotel: RESERVED (Residence Inn down by Buena Vista/Downtown Disney)
Game Tickets: PURCHASED (P36-P37)

Next Up: Rental Car.
 

afurry91 said:
Anyone know where to get a parking pass?
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I registered but found out that lot was full. I'm assuming that was your experience as well.

I called the toll free number and got on the waiting list. The gal told me that they open up lots on an as needed basis and they had put in a request early this morning for another lot. She said it would likely be by the end of the day that they would get authorization to do that. In any sense, she said she'd let me know by either a call or e-mail.

The short answer: they open up as demand warrants and more will come on-line.
 



One more thing about Florida. You can rent a car from one airport and return it at another airport in Florida without paying an additional fee. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly in and out of different airports.
 

If Sun Country can provide a couple charters (we'd fill every plane they offered) that would be huge. Cheapest flight I can find is around $500 and climbing, if they dropped that even by $100-150, I'd be there. Easy.
 

Fly AKeep in mind Gopher fans that everything upper deck is bench seating, narrow rows and the old part of the stadium. Upper deck has a weird slant to it too, your facing kind of crooked even if your seating between the 40 and 50 yard line side. you have to come down to use the restrooms and concessions down the ramps at the ends.

Has anyone tried Allegiant Air out of Cedar Rapids to Sanford ORL?
 

Gopher028 said:
If Sun Country can provide a couple charters (we'd fill every plane they offered) that would be huge. Cheapest flight I can find is around $500 and climbing, if they dropped that even by $100-150, I'd be there. Easy.
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This itinerary is brutal (arrive MCO 11:35pm on 12/31, leave MCO 7:25pm 1/1) but it'll get you there for the game for $406. If you can pull an all-nighter you won't even need a hotel.
 



Gopher07 said:
This itinerary is brutal (arrive MCO 11:35pm on 12/31, leave MCO 7:25pm 1/1) but it'll get you there for the game for $406. If you can pull an all-nighter you won't even need a hotel.
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That'd be a heckuva deal! But i'm bringing my 2 yr old and staying at my folks' place in Kissimmee a couple days..
 

Jike Spingleton said:
Keep in mind, the entire lower level of the stadium was torn down and re-built - this will be the first Citrus Bowl with the renovated stadium.

We just locked down four seats in P41-43 - should be a good view, directly above the marching band.
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Here are a few extra notes about the renovated stadium.

- The field runs north/south with large grandstands on the west and east sidelines. The game starts at 12:30 ET. Keep that in mind if you want shade or sun. There is no canopy or sun shade.

- As noted, there was a big renovation project this past off season that created a new lower tier and luxury box level. This was badly needed. The old stadium was a complete dump with high school/small college caliber concessions and restrooms along with a very strange layout due to the incremental expansion of the facility.

- Only the lower deck has chairback seating. The upper tier of each grandstand was not replaced and retains aluminum bench seating with no backs.

- To be blunt, the neighborhood around the stadium is not good, especially the western side. There are no bars or restaurants to congregate at in the immediate vicinity of the venue except for a few fast food joints to the east a few blocks. Concessions at the stadium were pretty basic a few years ago, but were improved in the renovation.

- Parking is available, but not plentiful. I'm not sure if tailgating is allowed. I seem to recall either Duke or Florida State fans getting in some trouble over this when they played a Blue Devils home game there when it was relocated in a revenue grab.

- For my one trip to the stadium we took a shuttle bus from downtown. The buses had their own dedicated lanes which zipped through traffic. This was a good thing because road access isn't great with lots of city streets to traverse depending on your approach route. Give yourself time to make the journey.

- This may be your last chance to see Tinker Field, the long time home of the Twins' spring training and Florida State (A) team. It's on the west side of the Citrus Bowl. The renovation shortened its right field fence to an unplayable distance so it's unlikely it will host baseball again. Some in city government want to demolish it, but preservationists want to save the circa 1930s grandstand. The battle rages on, so the grandstand is still there. It may not be by this time in 2015.
 

I can't find anything out of Des Moines that's reasonable. Driving seems like it'd be exhausting. AHHHH somebody help me!
 

maliksealy said:
I can't find anything out of Des Moines that's reasonable. Driving seems like it'd be exhausting. AHHHH somebody help me!
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An old football adage...When in doubt, drop back ten and punt.
 



RodentRampage said:
I wonder if it might be useful to have separate threads for travel information and ticket information...
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And for posts that are suggesting new threads be started on the same topic being discussed in that very thread.
 

maliksealy said:
I can't find anything out of Des Moines that's reasonable. Driving seems like it'd be exhausting. AHHHH somebody help me!
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Des Moines-Jacksonville, 12/30 through 1/2, is $486. Not particularly reasonable, but potentially a start.
 

A couple of airport options as well:

Daytona Beach or Melbourne Fl both are around a hour from Orlando.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Here are a few extra notes about the renovated stadium.

- The field runs north/south with large grandstands on the west and east sidelines. The game starts at 12:30 ET. Keep that in mind if you want shade or sun. There is no canopy or sun shade.

- As noted, there was a big renovation project this past off season that created a new lower tier and luxury box level. This was badly needed. The old stadium was a complete dump with high school/small college caliber concessions and restrooms along with a very strange layout due to the incremental expansion of the facility.

- Only the lower deck has chairback seating. The upper tier of each grandstand was not replaced and retains aluminum bench seating with no backs.

- To be blunt, the neighborhood around the stadium is not good, especially the western side. There are no bars or restaurants to congregate at in the immediate vicinity of the venue except for a few fast food joints to the east a few blocks. Concessions at the stadium were pretty basic a few years ago, but were improved in the renovation.

- Parking is available, but not plentiful. I'm not sure if tailgating is allowed. I seem to recall either Duke or Florida State fans getting in some trouble over this when they played a Blue Devils home game there when it was relocated in a revenue grab.

- For my one trip to the stadium we took a shuttle bus from downtown. The buses had their own dedicated lanes which zipped through traffic. This was a good thing because road access isn't great with lots of city streets to traverse depending on your approach route. Give yourself time to make the journey.

- This may be your last chance to see Tinker Field, the long time home of the Twins' spring training and Florida State (A) team. It's on the west side of the Citrus Bowl. The renovation shortened its right field fence to an unplayable distance so it's unlikely it will host baseball again. Some in city government want to demolish it, but preservationists want to save the circa 1930s grandstand. The battle rages on, so the grandstand is still there. It may not be by this time in 2015.
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Friendly FYI. The game is at 1pm ET/12pm CT. Not at 12:30pm ET/11:30AM CT
 



Gopher07 said:
Des Moines-Jacksonville, 12/30 through 1/2, is $486. Not particularly reasonable, but potentially a start.
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Any flights out of Des Moines to anywhere should be cheap, really cheap. What a schidt hole of a city.
 

Found a flight on American Airlines leaving 12/30 and returning on 1/6 for $344 round-trip. You have to fly a Tuesday to Tuesday to get the best value.
 

harley_gopher said:
Found a flight on American Airlines leaving 12/30 and returning on 1/6 for $344 round-trip. You have to fly a Tuesday to Tuesday to get the best value.
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Posted this above but if you use Kayak you can fly two seperate airlines there and back for 247. (31st-6th)
 


harley_gopher said:
Found a flight on American Airlines leaving 12/30 and returning on 1/6 for $344 round-trip. You have to fly a Tuesday to Tuesday to get the best value.
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I was also seeing fares on American (thru Orbitz) that seemed the best. $500ish for 12/30 thru 1/2. Haven't really looked into hotel yet. Issue for me is I'd probably be going solo. I checked the land package thru the alumni association, but the single rate is ridiculous.
 


Woo - Hoo!

My wife, kids and I are booked with Creative Charters! I got tickets in Section 36/37.

We'll visit The Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios.

Thanks Gophers for making a bowl that we could turn into a great family vacation.
 

Dr.Don said:
Any flights out of Des Moines to anywhere should be cheap, really cheap. What a schidt hole of a city.
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I live in West Des Moines, which is actually quite nice and affluent. Comparable to a Maple Grove or Edina I'd say.
 

Go Gophers Rah said:
Woo - Hoo!

My wife, kids and I are booked with Creative Charters! I got tickets in Section 36/37.

We'll visit The Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios.

Thanks Gophers for making a bowl that we could turn into a great family vacation.
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That is awesome! Good for you GGR!
 

Cheapest Flights Out of MSP. Book One Way Flights on Different Airlines

12/29 - $209 American Airlines
12/30 - $129 American Airlines
12/31 - $143 American Airlines

Cheapest Flights out of Orlando Area (within 100 miles)
1/2 - $211 - Daytona Beach (US Airways)
1/3 - $329 - Tampa (Spirit)
1/4 - $329 - Tampa (Spirit) / Daytona Beach (US Airways)
1/5 - $159 - Tampa (Spirit) / Daytona Beach (Delta)
 


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