Arrival question-speculations welcome

[CornyJokes]

Hi all
I have burned 7 times in the past. Last time was 10 years ago. First time was at the Helco burn. Anyway, we're bringing sis and brother in-law from Florida for their first time. Given gate lines and overall size of the event now, do you all think that it would be better to arrive (off the pavement) on Tuesday night (like 8 pm) and maybe have to find a spot in the dark, or Wednesday about 10am, when the lines would be short, but the area may be pretty full? We will just have an RV and a small shade structure. Your guess is probably Not as good as mine.
thanks

[Eric]

If you haven't been in a decade you're about to discover how much has changed. Pretty much everything is up and running by Monday or Tuesday now, and small burns start as early as Thursday (no more "the city isn't even ready until Weds or Thurs"), plus most people arrive the first few days - for the most part the "weekend warrior" has become a thing of the past. When tickets are scarce people want as much time there as they can get. I would worry more about timing your arrival for comfortable set-up then I would about trying to avoid a line at Gate.

The link below will take you to a huge aerial view from last year (sadly it doesn't say what day, but from how full even the back streets are, I'd guess later in the week). Your best bet is probably to aim towards the 3:00 side, since the 9:00 side always seems to fill up the fastest.

http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/966a716 ... 46490e071/

[Ratty]

When you get past Greeters keep to the right. Choose a street and drive to H street. You won't get a 'curbside' spot. Get out and walk around behind the camps with street frontage. Find a space and a way to drive in there. Keep in mind you may get boxed in untill Sunday night. (I had to move 2 tents last year for someone to get out on Friday night.) Talk to the neighbors to make sure they aren't using the space and set up. There are no bad sites unless you are next to a 24/7 loud sound camp. Can't find one on H, try i street and so forth. Have fun....

[Drawingablank]

I usually work a greeter shift Tuesday evening 8 - midnight and the traffic is normally not heavy at that time. Often during that shift we are asked to start telling people that the 9:00 side is full and to head to the 3:00 side if not in a placed camp.

You can always just park the RV and set up the shade in the morning in case you want to seek a spot you like better.

[CornyJokes]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I do understand about the "weekend warrior" issue. That was definitely a factor "back in the day"...Maybe I can find a plug-n-play camp!

[Captain Goddammit]

I think the biggest change from the old days is the jammin-on-the-1, hit the ground running, full steam right on Monday of today's BRC.
Back ten years ago and more, as you will recall, people slowly filtered in throughout the week and the city gradually built up, generally not in full swing until Friday.
I used to like getting up every morning to go out and look how much bigger everything had gotten.

Welcome to today. It's on, right on Monday.

[gaminwench]

I remember coming early to build and heading out to the Man pre-opening for a nighttime look at the city (establishing waypoints, anyone?).

There would be worklights in the city, with the rare colored something blinky.
Deep playa had no light at all.
Worklights at Temple and Man.
No MVs.
Lots of dark playa space.

Sigh.

Now there is a solid ring of flashyblinky colored light (with worklights interspersed) by Friday.

I'm in favor of the Wednesday night dark out, so we can see the amazing sky.