Convince me to go VIP please!

as nice as VIP seems, i'll stick to the crowded tent city. although free food and cheap beer is badass.

My friend and I who both went to our first Roo last year are greatly considering going VIP this year.

Thing is, we're both only 18. Think we'll get lots of odd looks or trouble? It seems like everybody in VIP is really laid back and it should be a great time.

The ages were a much wider range than I expected. Sure it had more older people than regular, but there were still plenty of 18-35 year olds that looked very young.

Oh, we're more than respectable. Neither of us drink or do drugs (a Bonnaroo faux-pas, I know!) so we tend to be very respectful and accomodating.

Oh dear, I'm so excited.

Man, you know we really must not have lives if we're on a Bonnaroo message board, this excited for it, 6 months before the actual event.

I read this thread last night and really started thinking about the dollars and cents of it and realized that it does make a lot of sense to go VIP. The pictures really helped out a lot. Thanks for those, Andrea. I think those were the tipping points. Also looking at the satellite image from last year, and seeing how far we were parked, and the various places that we kept getting lost at, makes VIP seem much better.

You guys are right, if we are getting this amped up for the Roo, 7 months out, then VIP is for you. The dissappointment that I have had during my previous two Roo experiences, is that I get stuck at the RV (which last year was parked a mile away) and I don't go see the bands that I like, I only go check out the bands that I love and I end up not getting to see nearly as many bands as I would normally. At Coachella, there is no re-entry, which kinda sucks, but once you get out of the hotel and into the grounds, you end up seeing bands for 10 or so hours (which five of those hours are bands that you really wanted to see, and the other five you eat/check out stuff/wander from tent to tent/discover your next favorite band). Then you do the same thing the very next day. So both times I went to Coachella I probably saw three times as many bands as the times I have been to the Roo (even though Coachella is only a two day festival). Its like I am forced to see all these great bands (due to the no-entry), which is a good thing. The RV sometimes makes it so that you get a little too comfortable, especially if you are parked over a mile away. Heck, I remember a couple times last year, when we were all ready to go to Centeroo, and ended up getting sidetracked on the way, and never made it.

While I DEFINITELY don't find the drinks in Centeroo to be "outrageously priced"; I too would be very curious as to what the price different is like.

12oz beers in the Brooers tent were $5 - and those were microbrews. 20oz Bud/Coors/Miller were $5, I think (but I haven't had any of those at 'Roo). I don't have a reference for the VIP prices or whether they were only Bud/Coors/Miller. If they're $1 microbrews, I might be able to drink the difference in VIP tickets...

Go VIP or I will break into your house and pee in your kitchen sink.

I'll add that I think bottled water was $1.50.

The food was ..... not good..
Being that my Wife is a vegetarian there was really no food selection for her.
I didn't think the burgers and other food was good either ( I ate only one burger) ..I guess the "quality" of the food is about the same as you can buy anywhere else on the grounds.
We brought all of our food and drink since we have the camper.
The only thing I treated myself to once a day was a iced coffee drink.

We like the VIP section for it's convenience.
I think if you were OK to happy about the food served elsewhere you will be satisfied with the food served in the VIP area.

I didn't see any breakfast served this year.
I know the guy next to us had "limited funds" so he could not buy breakfast...we took care of him..

Peace

I have to disagree about the food. I don't know how fancy everyone here eats on a regular basis, but for me being able to eat great salmon, scalloped potatoes and asparagus is not crappy. The VIP meal tents are catered. Yes, it does err on the side of being "general" catering in the sense that tons of spices aren't used because you'd have that many more things for people to complain about and allergies to avoid. But the entire group I was with was very impressed by the food all-in-all. Having ice cream, cookies and sun chips available much of the time was an extra treat. There was almost always a salad option (or two). Some of the meals were absolutely fantastic (I went back for seconds all the time- I think it was the same night as Radiohead that I was so famished after not eating much earlier in the day and I was so happy with the meal- I wish I could remember the specific menu that night).

Yes, the burgers were only cafeteria-style burgers. Nothing special, but that was only one night. They still weren't bad and better than some crappy fast food.

Now with all that said, I can see how a vegetarian's choices were limited, so no argument there. But they were LIMITED not impossible. There were frequently multiple vegetables or salads and the staff were very friendly about trying to accommodate. The quality was standard general catering. We would still occasionally get something from the Centeroo vendors (like a funnel cake or some absurd amount of noodles) just to splurge, but we never really needed to.

I'm really happy with the food-- it's better than I would probably eat if I was trying to cook all of that myself in an RV. That plus cheap good beer like Hat (or just bringing a beer or drink of my choice from my RV to the dinner, which they didn't mind) was great. I can understand some specific gripes, but I'm not sure what people are used to.

No need to be sorry! I think it's easy once you're in VIP to be really general describing it to people; I've seen people describe VIP and shrug about the showers and nice bathroom while for others it was the reason they went VIP. It'll be good for someone to read that someone did and didn't like the food. Helps people figure out where they'll be happiest!

well I have been convinced that VIP is the way to go - sadly - this year will not be the year because we are not going to make it at all - but next year - we will be there - in VIP - with an RV with bells on!