Egg Roll My name is Patricia Derry, I would like to bring my nephews to the Easter Roll. President Obama, written to my nephew. He like to meet
him in person . That is his dream. I hope this will be possible. Thank you. You're doing a great job. God Bless!!
statue of liberty tours USA has many elegant attractions which are a must see and will leave you mesmerized with their elegance. I had a very nice time visiting the Statue of liberty. It is a must see for every visitor in America, because it is one of the best attraction in the world. It symbolizes the universal message of hope and freedom for every person seeking freedom.
statue of liberty facts
In my experience, Ed, Riverhead has seedy motels I wouldn't want to stay in, or nicer places that are just as expensive as the Hamptons. Whenever I look into Riverhead accommodations I leave unsatisfied.
Terrific Reading! Niagara Falls has been a must see; and, we're thinking of going this September .... I thought your review and suggestions being that you're in your own neighborhood, were very helpful. Much Thanks! Photos are Terrific! Sounds like your family had a great time.
Try Riverhead Why not stay in Riverhead instead of the Hamptons its only 20 minutes North of West Hampton Beach. Gives you easy accee ss to the North and South forks plus all that Riverhead has to offer. Outlet shopping, nascar racing, Water Parks, Aquarium, Resturants, and Now two new Hotels the Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn Express. for more on Riverhead check out my Blog thanks Ed.
http://travellongislandnewyork.blogspot.com
2010 Egg Roll Review Despite the late entry time (3:45) we had a GREAT time. They opened our line to start waiting at about 230, so we went ahead and got in line. This was in the blazing sun with no shade so it was pretty miserable, but we had some water bottles with us. We waited about an hour before they started checking people through - first they scanned tickets and gave the kids wristbands, and then we went through security. You could have your open bottles of water and whatever else all the way through to security and then they had plenty of trash cans to ditch them. Right after going through security, they had volunteers handing out Vitamin Water. After about a half hour of more waiting (with some cheesy kids' entertainment), we finally got in. Once on the grounds, they had more volunteers handing out water all over the place. Because we had been at the head of the line, we were able to do a couple things with little to no wait. The egg roll itself was a little anticlimatic (yes, they used real eggs) but overall I thought it was a very well run event. Because we were the last group of the day, the hula hoopers let the audience take home the hula hoops they used to participate. Yes, it was very crowded, and b/c my kids are so young we didn't really try to do a whole lot, so I can't speak to the long waits to do the various activities. I'd say the worst part was the walking to and from Metro - especially b/c we used Metro Center which is on the east side of the WH, and our line entrance and the only exit were both on the west side.
In the four years I went they used real eggs. The only artificial one was the souvenir at the end. I've always wanted to see the president, never got to do that. Thanks for the review!
2010 egg roll BP, that sounds horrendous. We were able to keep all of our closed beverages. I wonder if they were more cautious since you were with a group? I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience.
Our experience was similarly exhausting and we only had a 4 and 6 year old. The kids were very hot from all the walking and sun. I think the weather was beautiful but made the day harder.
There were beverages and snack bars on the Ellipse. They also had various groups performing while you waited. Our wait was not very long. We arrived at the line up area right about 9 for our 9:45 slot. We didn't find the wait unbearable as it was still cooler out.
We became overwhelmed and tired once in the actual event area. There were just so many people. The crowds were intense. We went straight to the egg hunt and were disappointed to find real hard boiled eggs. We had heard that in the past they were signed faux eggs and that some were signed by famous people. Hard boiled eggs sitting in the sun were not appealing to me or the kids.
Face painting was a big hit and the line moved quickly. My kids also like the hula hooping/dancing area. They had many costumed characters but it seemed once you waited in line to see them the characters were escorted away by their handlers. Again, I'm guessing the heat had something to do with that. Many disappointed little kids.
We were lucky enough to have the president come out to speak while we were there. It was exciting for sure. We were very far from the WH at this point but thanks to zoom on our camera we got some good pictures.
All in all we would go again, but I would go in to training 2 months before. The heat, distance for walking and lack of food and drink is something we wish we could have prepared for. We were all flat out beat.
I can't imagine what you mean when you said you were walking for 50 minutes. Does that include the walk from the Metro to/across the Ellipse?
Once you made it to the Ellipse did you have to wait very long to get on the WH grounds?
Did they offer anything to drink on the Ellipse this year? Before passing security?
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I would love to hear reviews from other people who attended this year.
2010 was a repeat of 09 We had a group of 1st graders for a Field Trip in slot C. It took fifty minutes to make it in. I want to clarify something, we didn't stand in line, we walked for fifty minutes to get in. We had been told no open containers, so we kept the bottled water closed. At the security gates, they were removed. Once we actually arrived inside, we were immediately looking to get the kids water. The only place was the nursing station, and the line was another 40 minutes long. The only other choices were the smoothie samples (not exactly hydrating), or the fruit juce lines which were even longer. After getting the kids water there was time for one activity, the Easter Egg Hunt. We were in line for 30 minutes at one of the sports zones when we ran out of time. After another long walk to the exit and the receiving the wooden eggs, the volunteers asked the kids if they liked it and wanted to come back again next year. To a child, the entire class yelled "NO!" At the exit, we were two blocks from the staging area for buses, but that way was closed off. The alternate route they told us we had to take required us walking eighteen 1st graders over ten city blocks in a very crowded Washington, DC.
In total, these children had to walk 2-3 miles in that kind of heat with little or no water. Not only was that uncomfortable, it was downright dangerous. Several of the children were ill on the bus, my son suffered from cramps in the evening as I'm sure many of the other children did, and all so they could collect one poster and one comemorative egg. Perhaps it was better in the first session, but later sessions were horrible.
The worst part was while waiting for the water we had to experience the entire 30 minutes of Justin Bieber's caterwailing. That was almost a highpoint of the day, until he actually started singing. Oh well, at least it was educational for the kids, as we got to explain to them how recording studios could make somebody sound ok, when in person they couldn't hit a not to save their life. He went from hero to goat with those kids in about 3 minutes.
In for 2010 We are first timers going to the 3:45 too. I cant thank you enough for the blog... hopefully the experience is a good one. We are so excited! Will check back in and let you know if the event has improved over last year!
Congrats on the tickets. We didn't get picked in the lottery this year, so I'll have to live vicariously through all of you going. Please make sure to pop by and leave a comment to let me know how it went.
Thank you so much for this blog! We have tickets to the 2010 egg roll this year, and I just want to thank you SO much for this blog. It is exactly what I was looking for - a real person's experience with the event. I entered the online lottery for tickets on a whim, never expecting to get in, but I did (at one of my last time choices though, 3:45-5:45). I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 15 month old. I don't expect that they are going to care about doing the activities or anything, but I thought it could be an interesting experience just to be able to run around on the White House Lawn. I am concerned about all the waiting around though, that could be rough. So we'll just hope for the best!
2010 WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGGROLL Here is the first news on this year's event from www.whitehouse.gov!!!
White House Easter Egg Roll tickets will be distributed through an online lottery system, allowing guests from across the United States to participate in a tradition that dates back to 1878.
Entries for the 2010 White House Easter Egg Roll Online Lottery will be accepted from Thursday, February 25 through Sunday, February 28. One entry per person may be submitted at anytime during the lottery period. All entries will have an equal chance of being selected.
The lottery will be run on March 1. Lottery results will be available starting Thursday, March 4, 2010 at recreation.gov
Please visit www.recreation.gov to apply for the online ticket lottery.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AGAIN!! HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE THERE!!
Thanks for reading! As Easter rolls around again, this blog starts to get a lot of hits (the title is a popular google search). Since this entry is two years old, I want to point out to readers if you click my user name, you'll see my more recent blog entries about the White House Easter Egg Roll.
The room was $199 Canadian and many activities were included. The waterpark, the horse ride, the science show, the nightly story time, and some activities in the kids club were free. The food, arcade, and a few of the kids club activities (such as craft projects) were an extra fee.
Colorful Creations I was in Hyannis last April. I made a point of going to the scrapbook store and never realized until later that the JFK museum was across the street. Guess I'll have to plan another trip. I also did'nt realize how quick the Cape Cod potato chip tour was, but I love their chips.
Hi,
I just wanted to say thanks for the great review - I found your link to this blog from the Dis boards and took your suggestion to book a room through ratestogo. We saved a huge amount of money this way and even let our daughter bring a friend with her. As I was checking in I kept expecting there to be some catch but there wasn't and we had a great time. Thank you for taking the time to post about your experience, you helped my family have a great time!
Allison
past experience vs present just wanted to add my comments as a long-time egg roll participant... I started attending in '99 and have attended about seven times, always camping out, usually with a group of friends! I hate that some folks this year did not have a great time and had to wait around so long. In the past, we've never had to wait much, and have gotten great pictures with Aly and AJ, Jack Hannah, tons of WH people, etc. I've heard the new administration has had some organizational issues in other areas, and this seems no different... probably trying to make it more "fair," but in the end, it sounds like more frustration and disappointment. Like other people said, it's one thing to get in the line early and be beat out, but then when you see some people were on the computer for tens of hours, and were beat out by someone that could have been on the computer for five minutes, that's tough to swallow! Hopefully, they'll learn and find a better system next year!
First Time - Group C - Disappointed Alexandria Mom (above) had almost the same experience I was going to describe. My kids - 5 and 3, were exhausted from the walk from Metro to the Ellipse. We didn't sneak food/drink in so my kids were thirsty and hungry. We didn't appreciate watching other kids eat food smuggles past security either. Once on the WH grounds, we used the potty, decorated and Egg carton, and had our picture taken with the Easter Bunny on the way to the Egg Roll line. We weren't far from the front when the Egg Roll was shut down around 1:15pm. Needless to say, I was disappointed. However, we did manage to get a poster on our way out after I pleaded with the woman that we didn't even get to do the Egg Roll. I'm hoping that it's better organized and less crowded in the years to come, but I can't see myself trying to go back.
Not worth it! Everything you wrote was exactly our experience. We were at the same time frame, and on of my girls with autism had a really hard time with the constant lines. It seems like too many people were allowed in this year and all semblance of class was removed.
Our middle class family of 5 enjoys traveling frequently and cheaply! Follow along on our adventures and I'll show you where we go, what we do, and how much we pay for it. My vacation reports will focus on child friendly, budget activities (and since I'm a teacher, I'll throw in some educational activities too). I hope to give you ideas for your next family vacation!
I also blog about my other interests (writing and reading) at at www.edgyinspirational.blogspot.com. Come by and check me out!... full info
Patricia L. Derry
non-member comment
Egg Roll
My name is Patricia Derry, I would like to bring my nephews to the Easter Roll. President Obama, written to my nephew. He like to meet him in person . That is his dream. I hope this will be possible. Thank you. You're doing a great job. God Bless!!