American Royal questions...

This to will be my first time cooking in the Invitational and Open. Any advice would be MUCH appreciated. We are planning on getting there Wednesday afternoon driving from North Carolina. We can't wait

JD McGee said:

This will be our first time competing in the invitational and open events. We normally stay off site in nearby hotels/motels when travelling. My questions are...will there be access to and from the site at 5am? Is vehicular traffic permitted? Are vehicles allowed at your site? Thanks in advance and looking forward to meeting a few of you farkers! :becky:
Cheers!
JD

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After 3 PM on Friday your vehicle is locked in. You will have a parking pass for the Liberty lot in the package you will be mailed. Depending on where you spot is, you may want to consider a pay lot that may be closer. I've paid $20/day in the past. On Friday, make sure you have your vehicle in a lot before the crowds arrive, because every available inch will be used for parking.

If you are planning on staying in a motel, you had better be making your reservations as soon as possible. In addition to the AR going on that weekend, the Chiefs will be playing in town so rooms will be scarce. If you do not know your neighbors at the Royal, I think I would leave someone at the site to monitor and guard your belongings. (Just ask Scottie about what can happen.) We had all of our beer stolen at the event back in 1990. Although these are rare occurrances, they do happen.

The rules stipulate that you are allowed one vehicle to park in your designated area. These rules are strictly enforced, although they are a little more lax on Sunday. Liberty Lot, the designated parking area for contestants fills up quickly on Friday so I would recommend getting there by 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Friday night is the big party night and that is when the big crowd of 50,000 or more shows up. The crowd on Saturday is not near that many people.

In the past, I have had no problem driving into the cooking area between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. Any later than that, I cannot tell you if the guards are at the gates or not. Just make sure you have a spot to park in your area. I would strongly advice setting up your area before Friday. It can be rather difficult getting a 20 foot trailer in some particular spots on Friday. Last year it seemed almost two-thirds of the camps were set up on Thursday.

Lager,

Juggy D Beerman
Celebrating my 24th year at the Royal

I cooked both last year, and arrived Wednesday night. Park on the Liberty Lot Thursday and settle in for the weekend. Juggy is right, guard and / or lock your stuff.

Guard your site on Friday night. At other times it's pretty safe/lax. Most competitors are very respectful and helpful. It's the party goers that you never know about.

jbrink01 said:

I cooked both last year, and arrived Wednesday night. Park on the Liberty Lot Thursday and settle in for the weekend. Juggy is right, guard and / or lock your stuff.

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Juggy is in one of the better neighborhoods! He's got Charlie the BBQ dog in sight.

jbrink01 said:

I cooked both last year, and arrived Wednesday night. Park on the Liberty Lot Thursday and settle in for the weekend. Juggy is right, guard and / or lock your stuff.

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Were you able to enter the contest grounds Wednesday night? Based on the AR webpage, it looks like official load-in starts Thursday AM. If I can get in early, I would like to come down on Wednesday.

ML

mjl said:

Were you able to enter the contest grounds Wednesday night? Based on the AR webpage, it looks like official load-in starts Thursday AM. If I can get in early, I would like to come down on Wednesday.

ML

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In the past there has been no problem dropping a trailer.

mjl said:

Were you able to enter the contest grounds Wednesday night? Based on the AR webpage, it looks like official load-in starts Thursday AM. If I can get in early, I would like to come down on Wednesday.

ML

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We drop the camper off on Wednesday nights, never had a problem. After skipping last year, this will our 7th Royal.

I arrived about 5pm on Wednesday and stayed on site, running my Honda 3000 for power. I plan to do the same this year. Come on by. Site 922. It gets really crowded on Thursday, especially if your trailer is big. Mine is only 30' OAL.

Bring a lock for your cooker and porta potty...

Great contest. Have fun.

We are renting an RV and arriving in KC on Wednesday afternoon. Does anyone know of a nearby place where we can dump grey water and fill up with clean water before we enter the cooking area? Also, does anyone know if power will be available Wednesday afternoon?

Beer Meets Grill said:

We are renting an RV and arriving in KC on Wednesday afternoon. Does anyone know of a nearby place where we can dump grey water and fill up with clean water before we enter the cooking area? Also, does anyone know if power will be available Wednesday afternoon?

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Can't help with the dump station. Unless I'm mistaken power usually isn't available until Thurs. around noon.

JD McGee said:

Thanks guys! We're all signed up and ready to rock! We'll be rollin' in Thursday afternoon and staying at the Best Western a couple of miles from the site. See ya soon! :razz:
JD

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Best Western on Southwestern Blvd? We will be checking in on Thursday also.
What time is Happy Hour?

ML

How do you find out what site you have?

huminie said:

How do you find out what site you have?

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They will let you know, and post a list with the map. Sorting out 500+ teams is a pretty big job.

huminie said:

How do you find out what site you have?

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According to the AR webpage, teams will be notified by the end of the month. They also typically post the site assignments on the webpage.

ML