Coachella 2019

Shaw at your campsite is more important than anything else.

Meatball I camped back in 2017 and I'm used to Ohio winter at this point so night time never is bad there

Looking at the weather app on my phone for Coachella and it says Unhealthy Air Quality for Sensitive Groups. Pretty solid late add for you guitar fans out there. They're kind of like if Built To Spill and We Were Promised Jetpacks met up, and then they went to a party that Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah was throwing. Who says rock is dead?

Poor guy is gonna be in shambles when this doesn't pan out. He's already posting desperate calls for help pleading for people to console him and tell him it's still true even though there's been no announcement. While simultaneously saying that the obvious solution is that the Sahara will be turned into a giant dome for Kanye.

Shuttle 1000% IMO. I’ve heard way to many horror stories about trying to get into the grounds on Sunday recently.

We had VIP parking last year (first time for me after camping previous 6 years) and drove in from Palm Desert each day. 

Pros:
- Getting in each day wasn't a problem. We arrived by 2pm-3pm each day and had no problem getting into the VIP lot. 
- We left early on Saturday (midnight) and Sunday (10:30) and were out of the parking lot in 5-10 mins both nights.
- Added benefit of having your own car and being able to make a late night In-N-Out run.

Cons:
- Parking was $150 but also spent another $60-$80 on bicycle taxi rides down the yellow path - it's a trek, especially at night when you just want to rest.
- We left at midnight on Friday and didn't leave the VIP lot until 1am; total clusterfuck that night.
- Yellow path security checkpoint into the festival was worse than anything I experienced the previous 6 years in camping. Easily 45+ minutes to get through during the middle of the afternoon. Missed at least one early set each day thinking that we were early enough but took too long to get through security.

I've never done shuttle or GA parking, can't speak to those, but I was planning to do shuttle over VIP parking this year based on last year's experience (doing premium camping with the rest of the group instead).

No, it's a bit of a walk from where they drop you off. (Especially for us Palm Springs shuttle stops)

What’s a big walk? Like from the back of camping or further? Is that where they pick you up from too? Is there a fucking Faq list so I can stop bothering the few of you fine folk?

Man, we had the worst of both worlds last year. So many people on the message board + reddit love the shuttles that I convinced my group of 15 to do that. Took us 45 mins longer than we expected to get in Friday, and leaving that night was a post-apocalyptic nightmare...half of us stumbled down the street for over an hour til we found a dude with a van to pay for a ride home, while the other half - which left first to grab shuttles - still got home after us. I felt pretty guilty about dragging everyone into it.

So we drove after that, which was a breeze Saturday. But Sunday, the parking lots were evidently full and it took us a solid two hours to get into the fest.

So this year we got the "preferred parking" in hopes that that's a better situation. I'm sure something will go wrong. 15 years of attending this damn fest and I still haven't found the right balance (i.e. a house within walking distance I can afford).

I'd still say to go the shuttle route if that's an option for other people, if only because so many other people recommend it that I can't help thinking we just had a weirdly bad experience last year.

Prydz pulled out of ultra due to an acute medical condition. Doesn’t sound like Coachella will be affected but something to keep an eye on.

Re: shuttle things people have mentioned...

1 - Friday of W1 expect a delay of 30-45 mins like Braun has noted. They are figuring out the routes and it gets clunky (sort of like the issues the gates have, security has, etc on Day 1), where maybe no shuttles come for 45 minutes and then three come back-to-back. The other two days of W1 and all three days of W2 there are no issues (at least in my experience), and usually I just walk on one and then it leaves. But good to build a buffer if there's a must see early set.

2 - The walk is not terrible to the gates from the shuttle drop off. Maybe 10-12 minute walk to gates for GA and 2 minutes for VIP gate. Wayyyy easier than the walk to the Uber line. I've never driven but looks like the walk would be way worse from any parking lot except ADA.

3 - Most shuttles are on a route of 2-3 hotels, with the exception of La Quinta Resort which is a one-hotel route. On the way in the shuttles leave from each hotel and go to the fest directly so there's no wait. On the way back, they drop off guests at the shuttles in a line. When they release the shuttle routes, obviously the closest hotel on that route will get dropped off first so if you can plan around that, it's better than being the final one.

4 - The parking issues on Sunday stem from the fact that the car campers are becoming more and more aware that they can drive their car into day parking on Sunday morning in order to leave right after the festival instead of waiting a few hours post fest before the car camping gates are opened. So they see a huge influx of cars on Sunday compared to the other two days, which leads to delays and lots being full super early on. Braun's two hours isn't even that bad...I know somebody who tried to get in the festival at 3:00 in 2017 and walked through the gates after 7:00 after looking for parking for four hours. GV really needs to address this.

5 - The shuttles are wildly different in terms of size/quality. Some are essentially luxury motor coaches with leather seats and nice bathrooms, some are school bus quality. So definitely pee before you get on them just in case. You can totally drink on them though, and most people do.

6 - Lastly there can be a wait to leave depending on the line. Maybe 20-30 minute line at worst (in my experience). Still beats the crazy Uber lines in my experience.

I can deal with a little hassle or pain in the ass if it means less of a walk and everyone in my group can have a good time. Also, 30-40 minute wait sounds better than an hour wait to get out of the lot.

This shuttle info has been super helpful. I probably would have ended up asking similar questions in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping with W2 possibly having a smaller attendance, maybe that'll help the logistics of everything. I'll be getting on and off at the Albertsons' stop in Palm Desert and I'm thinking if I want to catch a set at say 2:00, I'll probably have to be at that stop at 1:00. Is that a fair estimate?

If it’s one of the 4 trips that go totally smoothly, that should be just enough time. You have to go through security twice when you arrive, once entering the campground, and then again entering the fest. (Edit, now that others are correcting me, it may be that you go through a ticket checkpoint right when you get there and then security, been a few years so I can’t remember for sure) That plus the walking can be 20-30 minutes even when everything goes smoothly.