Olympic experience......

dp1

My 13 year old daughter and I went to the Olympics yesterday! 4 hour train journey, arrived at Kings Cross just before 11am to find loads of friendly Games makers and pink signs with directions. Straight on to Javelin train and 7 minutes later we were at Stratford International. Again loads of volunteers and pink signs everywhere....walked to Olympic Park queued for just a few minutes and through security by about 11.40am. We went straight to Mcdonalds....she's 13, we had to have food from the biggest Mcdonalds....cost the same as any other Mcdonalds. Had a wander, took lots of photos, queued to get in Megastore where she bought a T shirt and made our way to Copperbox for ladies handball at 2.30pm. I had 2 tickets which weren't next to each other, asked at the entrance if there was any way we could sit together....they told me to ask at a ticket office. We went there, explained the problem, 2 really nice men went over to a table and had a chat....and came back with 2 category A tickets, saying we'd be able to see really well. They were right, they were brilliant seats and we really enjoyed the game, even if GB got beaten by Russia. The atmosphere in the arena was brilliant! Afterwards, we had another wander, sat in the sunshine and watched the big screen for a while. Then made our journery in reverse, again no problems, train waiting and back to Kings Cross in 7 Minutes.
We both had a brilliant day...the atmosphere in the park was great, the volunteers and staff all so friendly....no complaints at all. There were plenty of places to fill empty water bottles and loads of families having picnics.....you could go in for the day and not have to spend any extra money. I was really impressed at how many places there were to sit and with the amount of lovely areas full of flowers....of course, it makes a difference when the sun is shining, so we were lucky.
I hope veryone else has such a good Olympic experience!!:)

Gregory421

Tomorrow, at 2pm i'll be flying to London, hope to see a lot of sport fans!! i wish to visit olympic village and so on! That will be my first visit in London

shorelines

Great to hear you had a lovely time dp1.

Gregory421 - enjoy your experience!

debsjc

Thank for all the information, sounds like you had a great day.

Looking at the times, it looks like you were allowed to enter the Olympic park more that 2 hours before your event?
Did you see any signs/ or hear anything about only being allowed in 2 hours before?

dacouch

Saw quite a few athletes from different countries still in their tracksuits doing the touristy bit when I drove over Tower Bridge earlier.

Amusing seeing athletes there

photome

Gregory421 wrote: »

Tomorrow, at 2pm i'll be flying to London, hope to see a lot of sport fans!! i wish to visit olympic village and so on! That will be my first visit in London

Do you have tickets (if you mean the olympic park) as there are none left

dp1

debsjc wrote: »

Thank for all the information, sounds like you had a great day.

Looking at the times, it looks like you were allowed to enter the Olympic park more that 2 hours before your event?
Did you see any signs/ or hear anything about only being allowed in 2 hours before?

It would be about 11.30 when we first showed our tickets - handball started at 2.30. Nothing was said about it - I didn't realise we'd gone in more than the 2 hours earlier till we were through security! I expected the journey from Kings Cross to take longer. I didn't see any signs or hear anyone mention anything about being allowed in only 2 hours early.

debsjc

dp1 wrote: »

It would be about 11.30 when we first showed our tickets - handball started at 2.30. Nothing was said about it - I didn't realise we'd gone in more than the 2 hours earlier till we were through security! I expected the journey from Kings Cross to take longer. I didn't see any signs or hear anyone mention anything about being allowed in only 2 hours early.

Thank you, i'm thinking maybe that is just a rumor!
I can't find any info on the official sites, that says either way.

balletshoes

sorry debsjc, it may be me who has confused you. Your venue at Olympic park will only be open to you 2 hours before your session begins (and possibly later, as you don't get in until any earlier session spectators have all left). But it looks like you are fine to enter Olympic park with your venue ticket any time you like - (I took this from the spectator information for the Olympic stadium venue)

"When to arrive
Aim to arrive at the Olympic Park 2.5 hours before your session starts so you have plenty of time to go through airport-style security screening and get to the Olympic Stadium.
The Stadium will open two hours before your session. Your ticket will show you which bridge to use as you approach the venue.
Please note that recommended arrival times are for guidance only."

http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/venue/olympic-stadium/visitor-information

Hezzawithkids

Glad you enjoyed your day A friend took his kids to the park on Monday, they didn't have event tickets only park tickets. They had a brilliant journey too, he anticipated it being a bit long and tortuous to get there but also took the Javelin from St Pancras and arrived 45 mins early! He also said that park was fantastic and the atmosphere brilliant, no queues, staff & volunteers doing an excellent job. Interesting to see how that changes on Friday when the track & field events start but still!

debsjc

balletshoes wrote: »

sorry debsjc, it may be me who has confused you. Your venue at Olympic park will only be open to you 2 hours before your session begins (and possibly later, as you don't get in until any earlier session spectators have all left). But it looks like you are fine to enter Olympic park with your venue ticket any time you like - (I took this from the spectator information for the Olympic stadium venue)

"When to arrive
Aim to arrive at the Olympic Park 2.5 hours before your session starts so you have plenty of time to go through airport-style security screening and get to the Olympic Stadium.
The Stadium will open two hours before your session. Your ticket will show you which bridge to use as you approach the venue.
Please note that recommended arrival times are for guidance only."

http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/venue/olympic-stadium/visitor-information

Thank you, it seems they are recommending a minimum of 2.5 hours. I haven't seen anything saying you can't arrive at the Olympic park 4 or 5 hours before your event ...has anyone else?