Strykur said:

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Well I decided to splurge and got a good deal for the Hilton Garden Inn, where's everybody else at?

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Wrigleyville...our group already has tickets for the Friday afternoon Cubs game. Looking forward to it!

And just because I see this thread may be resurrected as the "official" travel thread, and I think it was mentioned elsewhere but not here: There is railway construction that will be going on such that the "official" rooter train (and I think all Chicago-South Bend rail service) will not be available on gameday.

OldenBear said:

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philbert said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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palisadesbear said:

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I booked at the Candlewood Inn -- whatever the hell that is -- in South Bend about a month ago for $175 per night.

A ND alum buddy of mine cautioned about staying in Chicago. His thoughts: if it's an early afternoon game, you'd be cutting it close to make kickoff and wouldn't be able to soak up ND football pre-game environment. If late afternoon or evening game, there are safety issues to consider if taking the train back to Chicago late at night.

Just his two cents, not mine.

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Take the train from Chicago that ND sets-up for visiting teams. You get a police escort on buses from and to the train station to and from the stadium, and they get you there early enough to soak in the awesome Notre Dame atmosphere. The Mrs. and I hav been to 8 games there by now, and after the first game, we never drove again. Freaking traffic nightmare coming and going.

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Thanks! Would the tickets be sold through the Cal AD?

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I'd hope/imagine Cal would get its act together and arrange a train car or two or three for Cal fans. This is apparently the train line that runs it ... South Shore Line to Notre Dame games; has various pickup points and drops you off at the South Bend airport, with free bus shuttle service to and from the stadium.

.... and I want these guys to go too

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That be-furred group will end up locked in a pawn shop basement in South Bend trying to buy their way out.



*I think Rudy works the graveyard there.

YamhillBear said:

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And just because I see this thread may be resurrected as the "official" travel thread, and I think it was mentioned elsewhere but not here: There is railway construction that will be going on such that the "official" rooter train (and I think all Chicago-South Bend rail service) will not be available on gameday.

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With a 2:30 local kickoff (1:30 Chicago time) my group decided to just stay in South Bend Friday and Saturday nights to avoid any travel complications on gameday.

Anyone seeing good airfare deals to Chicago?

JTfromClash said:

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Anyone seeing good airfare deals to Chicago?

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Spirit is likely the cheapest....if you're willing to trust them and tolerate the nickel and diming. I passed on Spirit.

I've done Frontier. Their nickel and diming is somewhat tolerable. Not sure I would do Spirit. thanks for the advice though

Others certainly have more experience than I, so take this with a grain of salt…but be forewarned. I went to the ND SC game this year and was surprised at the lack of food and drinks anywhere on campus before the game. It appeared that none was to be had unless you were invited to, or had tickets to, a tailgate party…which were few and far between and organized. I didn't see any small, fan-based tailgates…but perhaps I wasn't in the right places. The one tailgate I could find that we could buy tickets to was about $125 per person if I remember correctly. We saw plenty of folks bringing in food from off campus, but we didn't come prepared. I did find a patio bar at the Morris Inn where I scored some drinks, but no food since their restaurant was crammed. So if you want to eat and drink before the game, I recommend you consider bringing it with you.

Buy tickets to Cal tailgate!

where are people sitting in the stadium?

i presume the "Cal section" (such that it is) is in the nosebleeds / least comfortable part of the stadium.

based on some very cursory geometry from the notre dame site, the wiki and stub hub, it seems like section 13/113 through 26/126 (e.g. the "oniell hall" side of the stadium) are the south, looking north - e.g., out of the sun and the most likely to be in shade.

can anyone confirm my geometry? fwiw tickets on stub hub for sections 26 are going for a bit over $200... not sure how that compares with the ATO allotment

SadbutTrue999 said:

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where are people sitting in the stadium?

i presume the "Cal section" (such that it is) is in the nosebleeds / least comfortable part of the stadium.

based on some very cursory geometry from the notre dame site, the wiki and stub hub, it seems like section 13/113 through 26/126 (e.g. the "oniell hall" side of the stadium) are the south, looking north - e.g., out of the sun and the most likely to be in shade.

can anyone confirm my geometry? fwiw tickets on stub hub for sections 26 are going for a bit over $200... not sure how that compares with the ATO allotment

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"i presume the "Cal section" (such that it is) is in the nosebleeds / least comfortable part of the stadium."

Visitor section is side of end zone, and good sight lines assuming you are not too low. South looking north. Given the weather during when we have gone to games, shade isn't an issue, it is about wind chill. On Sept 17th average high is about 72, which is great weather for South Bend. Just seeing the sun in football season is great weather in South Bend IMO.

Just started to do my research for this trip, and there's a good 3D seat viewer at the link below.

One thing is that there's just one big screen behind the south end zone. I guess ND didn't want to block Touchdown Jesus' view on the north end of the stadium.


https://www.seats3d.com/ncaa/university_notre_dame/football/#/

Nobody's doing this, eh?

https://calfantravel.com/event/notre-dame/

Seems like a decent deal to not have to deal with hassles of driving or train delays. The Westin River North isn't worth the price, but staying at a local hotel and getting round trip bus ride with cal fans, including beer and lunch seems good to me. Still debating the pregame tailgate, but assuming the bus leaves at like 9am, it'd probably also be a good deal to get a couple of hours of that in, too. The full package, if you're traveling as a couple, seems pretty slick.

Go Bears

bearsandgiants said:

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Nobody's doing this, eh?

https://calfantravel.com/event/notre-dame/

Seems like a decent deal to not have to deal with hassles of driving or train delays. The Westin River North isn't worth the price, but staying at a local hotel and getting round trip bus ride with cal fans, including beer and lunch seems good to me. Still debating the pregame tailgate, but assuming the bus leaves at like 9am, it'd probably also be a good deal to get a couple of hours of that in, too. The full package, if you're traveling as a couple, seems pretty slick.

Go Bears

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I think a lot of people are doing the bus based on all of the other various threads on this game. Looking forward to it.

wifeisafurd said:

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SadbutTrue999 said:

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where are people sitting in the stadium?

i presume the "Cal section" (such that it is) is in the nosebleeds / least comfortable part of the stadium.

based on some very cursory geometry from the notre dame site, the wiki and stub hub, it seems like section 13/113 through 26/126 (e.g. the "oniell hall" side of the stadium) are the south, looking north - e.g., out of the sun and the most likely to be in shade.

can anyone confirm my geometry? fwiw tickets on stub hub for sections 26 are going for a bit over $200... not sure how that compares with the ATO allotment

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"i presume the "Cal section" (such that it is) is in the nosebleeds / least comfortable part of the stadium."

Visitor section is side of end zone, and good sight lines assuming you are not too low. South looking north. Given the weather during when we have gone to games, shade isn't an issue, it is about wind chill. On Sept 17th average high is about 72, which is great weather for South Bend. Just seeing the sun in football season is great weather in South Bend IMO.

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guess i'm just scarred from pasadena and (more recently) TCU. sounds like no issue, so i'll just get some seats from the ATO... do i need to be a season ticket holder to do that still?

bearsandgiants said:

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Nobody's doing this, eh?

https://calfantravel.com/event/notre-dame/

Seems like a decent deal to not have to deal with hassles of driving or train delays. The Westin River North isn't worth the price, but staying at a local hotel and getting round trip bus ride with cal fans, including beer and lunch seems good to me. Still debating the pregame tailgate, but assuming the bus leaves at like 9am, it'd probably also be a good deal to get a couple of hours of that in, too. The full package, if you're traveling as a couple, seems pretty slick.

Go Bears

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looks like an awesome deal, if i had seen it beforehand i would be doing it