Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2008
Arriving home after camping out
You can see the gear he took with him. He also had a pop up tent that he carried on his shoulder that is not pictured.This entry is for the compulsive over planners out there. I know who you are and how you think, because I'm just like you. So here it is friends; I am going to spill the beans, share the trade secrets, give you everything I know about getting tickets to and attending the
White House Easter Egg Roll. Hopefully this will help another family plan their Washington DC vacation.
The Saturday before Easter, free timed entry tickets to the Egg Roll are distributed at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion in Washington DC. You can get all the official information at this website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/easter/2008/ . Although they hand the tickets out at 7:30am, the line actually forms way earlier than that. If you arrive at 7:30, don't expect to get tickets. Your only hope at that point is to join the line of desperate parents who are offering cash to buy tickets from people who actually slept overnight on the Ellipse. I absolutely can not recommend that strategy though because Park Rangers say it's illegal.
This is actually the third year we
This morning's line.
This is part of the line this morning that was in front of my husband. Everyone had packed up their tents and they were prepared to receive their tickets. will be attending this event. My husband has been the guy gracious enough to camp out all night for the tickets each year. In 2006 he had a family friend with them and they brought lawn chairs, coolers, blankets and sat out under the stars. They also froze their butts off. They got there between 10 and 11pm that year and secured tickets for the Egg Roll that were timed for 10:30. There were a few hundred people in line in front of them.
There have been some changes in our strategy since the first year. Nowadays my husband brings a pop up tent, a cooler, a sleeping bag, a portable radio, blankets, and reading material with him when he goes. If we decide to try this again in 2009, he says he'll bring a portable heater too. Another thing that we've been doing each year is getting down there earlier and earlier.
I can't explain
why it's happening, but the line is forming earlier and earlier every year! The time on your tickets usually reflects your place in line. So if you get in line first you will probably be in the first group to enter the Egg Roll. Like I said earlier, in 2006, my husband got in line between 10-11pm and got tickets timed for 10:30. In 2007, my husband got in line between 8-9pm and noticed the line was much longer than the previous year. Our tickets for 2007 were timed for 12:45.
This year my husband showed up by 7:30pm and noticed the line was significantly longer than previous years. He actually called me to tell me he wasn't sure if they'd have any tickets left by the time they got to him so we shouldn't get our hopes up. The local news reported that the first person in line got there at 3:00am Friday morning! Luckily for our family, my husband arrived home this morning with tickets and I noticed they are timed for 1:15. The last entry time for the Egg Roll is 2:00pm, so I can see we were close to the cut off. My husband says there were over 1000 people in line in front of him.
While waiting in line, there is a camaraderie that forms with the people around you. My husband has actually run into some of the same families year after year. The first year he went, he had a friend there with him to pick up extra tickets (each person is allowed to get a maximum of 5). Last year, dh (darling husband) went by himself but was able to get extra tickets from the friendly people around him who didn't need all five of theirs. This year, however there were no extra tickets to be had, so we will be going as a family and not bringing any of the cousins with us.
When you get your tickets, they also give you a flyer with important security information. Like an airline, there are things you can't bring with you onto the White House lawn. You'd be surprised while waiting at the security line, how many people in front of you never bothered to read the flyer. Do yourself a favor, follow their instructions precisely and you'll save time getting through the security line.
If you arrive early on Monday for the Egg Roll, you'll be able to partake in breakfast which is spread out for attendees and there is entertainment at the Ellipse to watch before your entrance time. They then shuffle people into tents according to the time on their tickets and pretty soon you are led over to the White House lawn.
One of the benefits of being the very first in line is you get to see the President or First Lady who only show up at the very beginning of the roll. The year I got there at 10:30, I met attorney general Alberto Gonzalez. Even if you don't get to see your favorite (or not so favorite) politician, there will be plenty of other characters strolling around. We've met "historic presidents", Arthur and DW, the Easter Bunny, and many others in previous years.
About a week before the event, the White House will update their website with the scheduled entertainment. Last year they had one of my favorite children's authors there, Mary Pope Osborne. She writes the Magic Tree House books. So I took one of her books with me in my purse and during the event, I saw her strolling around the grounds and was able to get her to sign the book for my son.
The activities at the event include the famous rolling of the eggs, egg coloring, and an egg hunt. The actual activities are geared for kids 7 and under. But you can take older children if you have at least one child in your party that is under 7. I find that older children will enjoy the entertainment acts. Last year they had Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) performing and my 10 year old neice went crazy! This year the Jonas Brothers are scheduled to appear.
Some years the Egg Roll is called off due to rain or bad weather. That has not happened to us yet and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't happen this year. I've heard however, that even in the years it's been called off, it has usually been called off after the first hour or so. That means getting there early also gives you the best chance of participating on inclement weather days.
Finally, if you missed getting tickets on Saturday morning, I do know they give out a small number of tickets Monday morning, but I have no idea how many or how long that line gets. I would say camping out over Friday night is your best chance. It's really a fantastic event that every American child should get the chance to experience at least once. There's nothing like getting to play in the President's yard!
Stay tuned, in my next entry I'll give you details about how this year's event went!
Author's Note 3/1/09: Thanks to followers of my blog, I've learned the White House may be changing the process for getting tickets this year. It might be a lottery that you sign up for online. Families who are interested in getting tickets should probably start checking the White House website (now) for information.
We never get picked in lotteries, so I'll just throw this out there: President Obama, on the slight chance you've got some tickets to give away, there are three boys in Buffalo, NY who would love to meet you! (Can't blame me for trying! LOL).
Author's Note 3/23/09 :
The White House released information today about the event. Tickets will be distributed this Thursday, March 26 at this website: www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll There are several ways the event has changed this year:
1. Tickets will be distributed online. There will be NO tickets distributed on the Ellipse the weekend before the Easter Egg Roll.
2. Families can get up to 6 tickets (last year the limit was 5).
3. The event is open to children aged 10 and under. One child aged 10 or under must be in each party (previous years the age limit was 7).
4. Your ticket will list an entry time and and exit time (we never had exit times before).
I hope people do not plan on using this information to sign up for tickets that they have no realistic intention of using. It would be a shame to shut out people who really want to go. I'm sure with signing up online, the White House will have precautions in place so that the tickets cannot be sold or transferred to another person.
Good luck everyone. I hope this info has been useful. I'll update again to let you know if my family was able to get tickets this year for ourselves. We had been planning to descend on DC a week early to camp out, but looks like that plan is out the window. LOL.
Author's Note 3/37/09 :
I promised I would update the blog today. There are thousands of disappointed and frustrated parents across America this morning. I'm sorry that you didn't get the opportunity to get Easter Egg Roll tickets. I'm not sure if they will be sponsoring the free events on the Ellipse this year for non ticket holders. I would keep watching the official websites for more information.
I have mixed feelings about the online distribution. Yes, it allowed people who wouldn't be able to camp out in DC to participate. However, this method also left thousands (tens of thousands?) more disappointed people. Everyone in America who remotely considered the event could try for it since it was online. Not seeing how many people who are competing with you for tickets built frustration levels. If I had shown up on the Ellipse and seen a line of 10,000 in front of me, I would have packed my things and gone home. I couldn't do that this year. The average American had no idea how many other people were competing for these tickets.
Secondly...people who won tickets this year still had to camp out. They didn't camp outside, but they did camp out in front of their computers. I have two long comments from people who shared their strategies. One person hit refresh on her computer 7 times a minute...all day! Another person hit refresh once a minute. My story is similar to the ones posted.
My husband took the 12-3am shift. I got up at 3 am and refreshed the computer every five minutes (I had to take the day off of work to do this). At 8 am I saw them giving out tickets but I missed getting any. I was able to get as far as entering the security code, but that was it. When I realized the tickets were gone, I explored around the website. I printed out the FAQ for future reference and I tried to create an account, but midway through the process, the site went down. What I learned from that first experience was that my laptop was too slow and old (5 years) to compete with everyone else in America. I went to my father's house and parked myself in front of his brand new more powerful computer.
I hit refresh on that computer every other minute all afternoon. My eyes still hurt today from spending all that time looking at his monitor and I think I've developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrist! I saw them giving out the tickets at 2:15 and once again, I got all the way to entering the security code but couldn't get any. The second time I
was able to create an account. I hoped this would make me faster the next time tickets were available.
From 2:15 to about 7:35, I hit refresh on the computer
once a minute. This process was not for the faint of heart! I finally got through at the last distribution time and scored tickets. I don't know if having the account already set up helped me or if I was just lucky by hitting the refresh button at exactly the same time the tickets went live.
I think the current administration would have heard complaints about the process no matter how they chose to do it. The sea of humanity that showed up for the inauguration probably would have lined up this year for the egg roll, creating all sorts of problems.
I do have some suggestions for anyone in the administration who might be reading my blog. (I've had about 14,000 hits this month, I've got to assume at least one person from the White House has seen it). I would stagger the way tickets are given out in the future. You could give some out online, some to people camping out, and perhaps allow people to request them from their congressman like they do for White House tour tickets. Maybe that way all of America wouldn't converge on one spot to get tickets.
Thanks to everyone who read and left comments yesterday. I appreciate you taking the time to visit. Stay tuned because I'll share my experiences at this year's egg roll in a new blog entry!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.228s; Tpl: 0.031s; cc: 6; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0762s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Suzanna
non-member comment
So Sad Easter egg roll has turned into this...
My DH went to stand in line for the White House Easter egg roll tickets this year around 3am, because the National Park service recommended he should be there by 4am. At 5am he was informed that he was too late and there was no hope of getting a ticket. My DH is in the military fighting for our Country's freedom and we can't even get a ticket. We are moving this summer so this was our only chance to get tickets. After living in the Washington area for 2 years this event is a perfect of example of how crazy this area is. So sad that this American tradition has turned into a fiasco because of people trying to one up the next guy. Sad....