Camping this year: Like or Dislike?

[milos57]

Despite all the enthusiasm I've seen for the car camping, I really missed the simplicity of tent camping. Not only was it more complicated getting our assigned spots this year but the amount of people in the grounds was insane and the whole place was incredibly noisy (even for a festival campground, which is always going to be rowdy). It was like trying to sleep in a club.

If they're going to continue car camping, I think they should go back to making every person buy a ticket in order to be admitted into the grounds. At least they can better estimate the number of campers and properly plan showers and similar things. And also, have the courtesy to move the all night dance tent away from the campers tents, like they've done in past years.

[wstsidela]

A fucked up mess. I won't camp again. Not enough showers. Gouging prices. RV camping was way the fuck in the North 40. I'll stay at the Four Seasons next time and save some money.

[tigermilkboy]

By Sunday I was itching to get out of the campsite and drive in to town and get some decent food and drink-and have a quality shit in a proper bathroom! It felt more like you were captive to paying for ice, food etc.
The car camping created barriers and tensions. More than a few times I heard the shout 'STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY CAR'. People seemed more protective of their space and car.

[Inthecolumbiagorge]

Car camping had its moments that for sure....was able to bring in a full size grill and cooked for about 20-25 people for each meal...that was cool! Showers were a joke though....wait for 2-3 hours for a shower......no water to even wash your hands from noon to 8PM.......STUPID! A sprinkler in each camping area would have been WAY better I think! We did meet some really great people though that we would never have met if not for camping! We would do it again but with a hotel room on the side to shower in and perhaps a pool!!!!

[lickety_spit]

i think the pros outweighed the cons. i'm sure they'll work on the cons in the future.

[michaelmontanez]

on the other hand, Afterhours Campsite was pretty good, turned out to be very laid back, and fairly awesome.

[justTom]

i think the pros outweighed the cons. i'm sure they'll work on the cons in the future.

camping was definitely a lot of fun! Triple the amount of showers next year and done, no more cons...

[Geno_g]

More showers, that's all...

Pros out weighed the cons...

[someone]

We were in the Forum Tent car camping because we got there early and it was really nice and quiet. We had one shower unit for our campsite alone (which did not ease up the showering situation, my husband had to wait for 45 minutes each time at 6:30 am). The main camping ground looked incredibly noisy and gross. I felt bad for the people stuck up next to the clubhouse listening to shitty house music until 3 am every nite.

I LOVED the car camping. Super nice to just tear down our stuff and throw it in the trunk rather than making that incredibly long haul across the field with all your fucking stuff.

What did suck though was the car search. We got in a line that was being run by a guy that took his job way too fucking seriously, he was borderline invading privacy, he went through EVERYTHING, sniffing stuff, he was obscene. I asked the lady checking the car next to me and she whispered that the guy was in the sheriff's academy, so he was a total fucking prick about the searching. I felt really bad about his partner. He'd half haphazardly look through all of our stuff, mostly looking embarrassed by the retarded wannabe sheriff. Poor dude.

[candi]

the guy who searched my car was a dick.

i was half asleep in the back and i overheard him talking to my friends about how not all white people are bad, just white girls. and then he went on about how shitty white girls are while they hesitantly listened. he opened the back car door and i looked at him. he was like "oh! hey! i didn't notice anyone else was in here!"

i got out, grabbed my blanket, turned to him and said "oh ya! there's a white girl in the car!"

he tried to save himself by going on about how i didn't "act" like a white girl because i could sleep in a car and wasn't stuck up blah blah blah.

and this is after we waited in that fucking search line for SIX HOURS.

[fergie]

PROS: not having to drag my shit to the camp area. i liked the private stall showers. loved to cook my own food and save a ton of money. the sink area had outlets to charge your gadgets or use a hairdryer.

CONS: early bird arrivals like myself were there 3 hrs before noon. We were given the WORST area, Lot 12A, Forum Camp site. Latecomers received the MAIN camp grounds with all the amenities. Walking that "horse poop trail" to get to the entrance or to anywhere was a long ass hot walk.

The Forum camp site was so quiet you can only hear those "devil birds" chirping all night long.

[someone]

It was a pretty short walk to the entrance actually.

[gotavan]

Well I guess the advantage of camping in BFE was that it wasn't all that noisy (the girl next to us bitched at us for talking too loud in the morning. we were both struggling with allergies and could barely even talk.) disadvantage is that it was about a 25 minute walk to the car/tent and we missed some key moments, and left early because we were so exhausted. thank goodness we weren't parked next to the porta johns. that woulda been nasty. the poop was piled up to the toilet seat. it was a good experience. the venue was amazing looking. but that damn walk to the car. unbelievable.

[PrettyRagdoll]

While I agree the pros outweigh the cons, I was pissed they penalized the people that came early by making them camp in the farther campsite. And they were WAY underprepared for the amount of people that showed up. I mean, why have more people camping, but less showers and portos?

[someone]

I still don't get how it was a penalty. It had it's own set of showers, a really good food vendor, and it was quiet, plus it was a short walk to the entrance. Did you SEE the other campground? It was retarded. I mean, if you like retarded, you could walk to it, but at least you didn't have to sleep next to it. Also? This is my third time camping, even in the main campground it's A LOOOONG walk to everything. So stop with the complaining about the Forum tent camping, it's nonsense.

[enkidu0]

this was my 4th year camping onsite, and I'm not sure how I feel about the changes

PROS: pulling everything out of your car and setting up right there was awesome; forum site (where I camped) wasn't so crazy and loud; wait for showers was what I'm used to, no crazy 3-4 hour waits like the el dorado lots

CONS: the walk to el dorado 1 & 2 SUCKED (yeah I suppose I could have stayed in the forum lot but I needed to charge my phone and wanted to check out the farmer's market and roller rink); no wave of "COACHELLA!!!!" screams on thursday night; no parades; no going to ihop to eat breakfast and take a leisurely shit

[PrettyRagdoll]

I still don't get how it was a penalty. It had it's own set of showers, a really good food vendor, and it was quiet, plus it was a short walk to the entrance. Did you SEE the other campground? It was retarded. I mean, if you like retarded, you could walk to it, but at least you didn't have to sleep next to it. Also? This is my third time camping, even in the main campground it's A LOOOONG walk to everything. So stop with the complaining about the Forum tent camping, it's nonsense.

I've camped for the last 4 years. And it was not a loooong walk. When you came early you were closest to the camping entrance. And how was the other camp ground retarded? You say they had showers and portos? Usually there were showers and portos along every single wall for the single campground. This year there was only one set in the forum. And I saw an insane line in the main campground.

So stop pretending to be some kind of authority. It's annoying

[Vic Viper]

what exactly was the forum camping? was it just a name?

[PrettyRagdoll]

what exactly was the forum camping? was it just a name?

The "Forum Camping" was just the GA camping that was right next to the VIP Safari tents. It was basically directly behind the Rose Garden

[TheClares]

Pros: Close to the entrance. Great People who shared, gave jump starts, and generally got along. Ice prices, although inflated weren't criminal. Things to do like the clubhouse, roller derby, swing sets, etc. Fun atmosphere. Being able to bring your equipment, food, beer, wine right to your site and not have to drag it more than 20 feet from your trunk.

Cons: Lack of showers was ridiculous. 3 hour lines which some people waited in and then were told they ran out of water. Crazy long waits for security checks and lack of consistency (the line next to us moved 50 - 60 more cars through than ours). Promised amenities not provided (Camp Magazine and Raffle Tickets not at the check in area), 2 AM noise curfew... HA (amusing since the clubhouse and derby went well past 3). Lack of periodic walking lanes through the campsite towards, making people squeeze by tents. Lack of Garbage Pickups. Inefficient and generally rude security (yellow shirts, the blue shirts were OK) "Camping on the Lush Green Polo fields"... HA. DUST.

Grade: C+

Would I do it again? Let's wait for the lineup. If Goldenvoice admits the problems they had and promises improvements. I think I would. I wouldn't ever do tent only camping, and I doubt I'd stay in a hotel. I know what to expect now, and would make more adjustments to compensate, like bringing the solar shower I talked myself out of buying.

[icarus]

Well all I've got is another sob-story camping bitchfest; I'll try to be quick. No complaints in 3 years of Coachella other than this though.

We arrived for car camping check-in at about 7 pm, had some drinks with people in line, chilled for a while, got through the inspection line, and then we were told "yeah these lots are full. drive left, left, and then there will be employees directing you." After following these instructions we asked every employee we saw on the road if they knew where to direct us, and all we got were "no sorry" and "i can't talk to anyone on the radio." So we turn back, wait in line again for a while.

A few hours pass, it's now 11 o'clock. No big deal, tons of people, waiting is expected. I was curious as to the status of the "fire marshal" rumor, and started inquiring if there was any parking at all. The female employee admitted that the "left, left" instructions led nowhere: she said they just wanted to give everyone waiting something to do, there was no parking. Anyways each employee was eager to send me to their respective boss as nobody had any idea what was up, and I finally hit the top boss or whatever. He smirks at us all (about a dozen people gathered) and just tells us to relax as he walks away. I said something about "yeah that's how a 45 year old man communicates with people at his job" which resulted in him getting 4 cops to come over with their nightsticks out and tell me that I'm getting "kicked the fuck out of the festival, me and my friend."

Anyways long story short they ended up parking quite a few of us in the actual lot we were inspected at. Rest of festival experience: awesome. But.. if there's one place I didn't expect the employees to be lying dicks at, and didn't expect to be threatened by cops, it's Coachella. The amount of angry people in that parking lot was honestly shocking, both security and campers. Goldenvoice: if you do car camping again.. please don't fuck it up so hard next year. This year was inexcusable.

P.S.... Sorry for this wall of whiny bitch-tears.

[juloxx]

The whole time I was thinking camping was not worth it. I mean it was wayy to hectic and I got pretty much no sleep.... but my whole perspective of camping changed Sunday night. That was one of the funniest nights of my life. Seriously, the campgrounds turned into a shit-show

[Rosemont17]

Well all I've got is another sob-story camping bitchfest; I'll try to be quick. No complaints in 3 years of Coachella other than this though.

We arrived for car camping check-in at about 7 pm, had some drinks with people in line, chilled for a while, got through the inspection line, and then we were told "yeah these lots are full. drive left, left, and then there will be employees directing you." After following these instructions we asked every employee we saw on the road if they knew where to direct us, and all we got were "no sorry" and "i can't talk to anyone on the radio." So we turn back, wait in line again for a while.

A few hours pass, it's now 11 o'clock. No big deal, tons of people, waiting is expected. I was curious as to the status of the "fire marshal" rumor, and started inquiring if there was any parking at all. The female employee admitted that the "left, left" instructions led nowhere: she said they just wanted to give everyone waiting something to do, there was no parking. Anyways each employee was eager to send me to their respective boss as nobody had any idea what was up, and I finally hit the top boss or whatever. He smirks at us all (about a dozen people gathered) and just tells us to relax as he walks away. I said something about "yeah that's how a 45 year old man communicates with people at his job" which resulted in him getting 4 cops to come over with their nightsticks out and tell me that I'm getting "kicked the fuck out of the festival, me and my friend."

Anyways long story short they ended up parking quite a few of us in the actual lot we were inspected at. Rest of festival experience: awesome. But.. if there's one place I didn't expect the employees to be lying dicks at, and didn't expect to be threatened by cops, it's Coachella. The amount of angry people in that parking lot was honestly shocking, both security and campers. Goldenvoice: if you do car camping again.. please don't fuck it up so hard next year. This year was inexcusable.

P.S.... Sorry for this wall of whiny bitch-tears.

sadly you are not alone this year... alot of people did not enjoy it as much this year...

[Radiohead]

This was my first time camping at Coachella since 2004 (I've done hotels for the past few years). I really liked it.

Two suggestions -- keep the dance party going later and on Sunday night, and MORE SHOWERS.

[nerdmachine]

loved camping last year. fucking hated it this year.

next year i'm collecting a group of friends to go in on a rental close to venue and we're riding bikes. i was so glad to leave monday morning.

[dancinginthedesert]

In El Dorado 1, about 200 feet from the BassFace tent, it was kind of a fucked up situation. When you have driven all day and then waited in line to get in for two hours, you don't necessarily want your head to be blasted open by millions of watts of terrible dub step. I saw that like six sites were vacated by about 1AM by people who were unwilling to put up with that shit until 3AM.

Maybe if the tunes had been better/more universally acceptable/only lasted until 1 or so, it would have been okay. As it was, they really fucked up. I was up late partying every night like everyone else, but nobody needs to have fucking dub step droning out all conversation at the CAMP GROUND, which should be somewhat of a refuge for your ears.

Other than this, I was extremely happy with the setup. But I still contend that this was a massive fuck-up. And I cannot understand why the kids like these DJs - I was on drugs the whole time, and I still couldn't stand them.

[TonyWonder]

We didn't camp for the first time in four years but we checked out the campsite each night and the vibe was wayyyyy off from previous years...almost seemed kind of creepy in comparison.

[thisdj]

all i hear is "waaaa, not enough showers.. waaaa, too far to walk.. waaaa, my pussy hurts."

how 'bout you bunch of bitch-ass crybabies DON'T go next year.

[Jankypirate]

ok yes there was confusion, how could there not be with so many changes being made for the first time?

I was with a group of 9 cars camping together. Yes we got shuffled around and lied to and ignored by the people directing traffic. So we all just drove to an empty corner and told the yellow shirts we werent leaving that spot until the rest of our group caught up. They called over the guy in charge and he apologized for people being rude and unaccommodating and told us we could wait there.

Showers = FAIL. Need more. and not all crammed in a way too small area with no lines marked!

But the good FAR out weighed the bad. Grilling, not having to haul your shit, having a couch in our camp site, and best of all using a power inverter to power a fan and mister system. Oh and the massive amount of beer that could be brought/snuck in was a huge money saver.

GV: Good job over all. Some problems of course but Im sure youll work them out for next year. Please Continue Car Camping!

[Cdubby]

More showers, that's all...

Pros out weighed the cons...

pretty much. just add a lot more showers and some more food vendors and shaded areas with phone charging stations.