Plebe Parent Weekend

Grad/Dad

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
77
Does anyone know what activities take place during Plebe Parent Weekend? We are trying to determine if we should stay in Annapolis proper or save the buck and stay a little farther away. We know that it starts at Noonish on Friday and ends at 6PM on Sunday but nothing about what happens during the weekend. Are there activities on the yard with the parents or is it just a chance for the new mids to get off the yard with their parents? Will they have overnight liberty, daytime liberty or no off yard liberty?
 
We rented a house within walking distance. It was worth the money for a one time thing as traffic can be horrible during PPW. Had a bunch of High School friends and roommates come down on Amtrak and they had a great time wandering around Annapolis showing off "THEIR" Plebe. Staying a little farther away is fine. They will only want to sleep, sleep. sleep and eat junk food so it really doesn't matter how far away. You will have access to and parking on the Yard I think. See the formal parade and then book for the weekend. If you haven't taken the tour it is worth it and the newly reopened museum is great. I think Liberty is an up and down thing but pray for the best.:thumb:
 
There are lots of activities on the yard (sailing, ship visit, Midstore open, etc.). However, your plebe will undoubtedly want to go to a hotel/house and sleep, watch TV, play video games, sleep, eat non-USNA food, talk a bit . . . did I mention sleep?

Plebes typically have town liberty from noon to 2200 (more or less) on Saturday and from noon to 1800 on Sunday. Staying further out is OK BUT you will need to allow extra time to get your plebe back. Annapolis traffic can be wicked and your plebe does not want to miss his/her return time.

So, staying further out will cut down a bit on the free time your plebe has. But it's not fatal. I would not go much beyond the outskirts of Annapolis, however. Too much time spend driving; too much stress on your plebe's nerves.:smile:
 
Seen them jump out of cars and run to Gate One.:thumb: Mid Store is a must visit:shake:
 
What you end up doing also depends on your plebe and who else might be with you. Ours didn't want to sleep, just spend time with us since he knew we would not be there again soon. He actually showed us his room, King's Hall, etc on Friday after he was released--I'm pretty sure he was the last plebe to leave the yard that day! We spent Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday together--starting from whatever time they release them. We stayed close to BWI--cheaper--and didn't run into any traffic issues with respect to being able to pick up or drop off our son. But we also made sure we didn't venture too close to any drop off deadlines. On the other hand, there's something to be said for being able to walk to the Yard from your place of stay and Annapolis is a pretty town.

As for parental activities, we arrived on Thursday (August 2012) and went to Dahlgren where they had various department representatives/professors as well as other Navy organization reps. On Friday morning before they released the Plebes, we took the building and simulator tours and attended a parental information session. Tours of the grounds are available and visiting the midstore is also an option.
 
Careful of eating too much good stuff. PRT was the following Tuesday morning this year.
 
Can anyone recommend hotels for I Day & PPW? Possibly include prices & proximity to the USNA. We are from the Mdwest and have never been to the East coast. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated!
 
PPW for Class if 2016

Does anyone know what activities take place during Plebe Parent Weekend? We are trying to determine if we should stay in Annapolis proper or save the buck and stay a little farther away. We know that it starts at Noonish on Friday and ends at 6PM on Sunday but nothing about what happens during the weekend. Are there activities on the yard with the parents or is it just a chance for the new mids to get off the yard with their parents? Will they have overnight liberty, daytime liberty or no off yard liberty?

Here is the schedule of events for the last PPW, class of 2016. It seems to be typical for past plebe classes. This is an event you don't want to miss, right along with I-Day. Congratulations.

http://www.usna.edu/SpecialEvents/PlebeParentsWeekend/schedule.htm
 
Hotels in downtown Annapolis tend to be VERY pricey and some also charge for parking and/or don't have onsite parking, so be sure to ask. The Sheraton by the mall has free parking and runs a free shuttle bus to/from the academy and other local attractions. Other nearby hotels also exist so check those out online.

Some nearby hotels advertise within 'walking distance' but that too depends on your definition of that term.

The exact schedule from year to year might change, but the question of liberty always comes up here and you really don't know what the plan for that is until officially published by the academy.
 
The Sheraton at the Annapolis Mall is quite good and they run a shuttle service.
 
More Answers for You

Does anyone know what activities take place during Plebe Parent Weekend? We are trying to determine if we should stay in Annapolis proper or save the buck and stay a little farther away. We know that it starts at Noonish on Friday and ends at 6PM on Sunday but nothing about what happens during the weekend. Are there activities on the yard with the parents or is it just a chance for the new mids to get off the yard with their parents? Will they have overnight liberty, daytime liberty or no off yard liberty?

Please keep in mind, I will be referring to what happened last year for the class of 2016. Don't consider anything official unless it comes from USNA.

To further answer your questions; yes, there are activities on the yard you and your plebe can share. A favorite is Sunday morning worship services in the chapel. The schedule for Sunday will show worship schedules. For the class of 2016, there was liberty, town liberty. There are 3 kinds of liberty at USNA. Yard liberty, town liberty and overnight liberty. They are self-explanatory.

The first chance you may get to see your plebe will be at the noon meal formation, Thursday. The first chance you'll get to greet and hug your plebe will be after the noon meal formation on Friday. Town liberty commences right after that. Your plebe is excused. This is where you will have the opportunity to see his/her room and dine in King Hall, where all the mids eat. We saw our son's room and then headed out to town. We found by staying in the local Annapolis area, we were close to just about everything. If your plebe does want to get away good choices are in the Bowie area, about 15 mins west of USNA on highway 50 and a mall area named Arundel Mills, just south of Baltimore and about 30 mins from USNA. We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Annapolis. The location is very convenient to Annapolis mall, eating places and movie theaters. The mall has all these things too. It seemed everywhere we went, plebes would run into each other and just chat and hang out together. An added benefit of that was we got to met our son's friends and roommates and their families. It was a good way for all of us to meet and get to know each other. These relationships have strengthened as time has gone by.

As I said earlier, we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard. It is close to Downtown Annapolis (DTA), Annapolis Mall and of course, USNA. This will be an important consideration because during liberty because your plebe will be constantly aware of the time and when liberty expires. Liberty expires Fri at 2200, Sat at 2359 and Sun at 1800. As you can imagine, traffic to USNA around these times will be hectic. But where we stayed allowed us access to a route back to USNA that a local resident told us about. The main road coming into USNA is King George Street. It takes you right into gate 1, the closest gate to DTA. A careful study of a map of Annapolis near DTA and gate 1 will show another street, Randall St, that intersects King George St right at USNA. A very good alternate route to gate 1 is Randall St, from Compromise St. These two streets intersect at a traffic circle in DTA. We would approach gate 1 on Randall St and just drop off our son right there at gate 1, then meet him again the next morning.

This should give you a good start on planning for PPW and of course, I-Day. If I can help you or any other parent, just let me know. Cheers.
 
Last edited:
Our mid was really locked on during PPW. He was constantly looking at his watch to make sure that he would get back on time and asked to leave extremely early to make sure that he got back to the Yard. We stayed pretty close to DTA (still a hike to walk so took the car) and I remember him getting out of the car when we were stopped in traffic and running to get back even though he wasn't near to being late. I remember him not wanting to leave the hotel room the first day. He just wanted McDonalds. The next day his company apparently got yelled at for something and he was nervous and worried all day long. The last day he finally was a bit more like himself and wanted to go somewhere for lunch. Don't make too many plans. Try to go with what your mid wants to do. We took extended family members. Not sure I would do that again. It was a surreal time. I wish I would have gone with the flow more. I have learned a lot in 3 years! :thumb:
 
We rented a house for PPW last year through Annapolis Accommodations that was close to gate 1 and had a parking space (very important as parking is brutal). It was not much more than a hotel cost wise and held the extended family. Plebe was much more relaxed knowing it was a 5 minute max walk back to Bancroft. It was also nice that the whole family could relax in the living room as opposed to a hotel room and he could snack on food in the Kitchen .

As far as hotels we stayed at the Doubletree Hilton Annapolis for all the home football games and its a great spot. They have a USNA parents discount that includes breakfast and parking is free. It has a restaurant/ bar and is close to a number of other restaurants . Also has a shuttle that will take you to DTA and the Academy.

For I day we stayed at the Westin as he wanted to be in walking distance to the yard. The lobby cafe is also open for Breakfast at 5 am for the last meal !! The 6am walk down Main Street to the yard is one both of us will never forget !!!
 
DTA Hotels

It has been awhile since PPW for us but if you can afford it there are a lot of positives to a DTA hotel. We stayed at the Loews and got a suite and enjoyed every minute of it. Great location parked the car, and walked most of the weekend, to the Yard in the morning to pick up our plebe, lunch in DTA, walked our Plebe back to the Yard at the end of the night with a vibrant group of other plebes and parents heading back to the Yard at the end of the night. The suite gave us room to spread out and relax. Stay flexible as our plebe did not sleep at all off the Yard we did go into DC to the Smithsonian and to watch an IMAX movie. We also hung out one night in the suite and ordered room service and that was appreciated as well. Since each night ends with your plebe having to report back to Bancroft the DTA hotel and walk back to the Yard with an ice cream stop on the way gives your family a lot of time together. Enjoy it is a great weekend. :thumb:
 
We stayed in Eastport for PPW and loved it. Lunch and/or dinner at the Boatyard always hit the spot.

One word of warning - when timing your trip back to the Yard, keep in mind the schedule of the drawbridge. It is a LONG drive around if it is up and there is a line of traffic. As an alternative, you can use the water taxi to get back to City Dock.
 
No more early morning PEP?

As for parental activities, we arrived on Thursday (August 2012) and went to Dahlgren where they had various department representatives/professors as well as other Navy organization reps. On Friday morning before they released the Plebes, we took the building and simulator tours and attended a parental information session. QUOTE]

Did they do away with the early morning PEP "demonstration?" That was definitely one of the highlights of Plebe Parent weekend way back in '05 - arriving at Rip Miller Field by 6 AM Friday and watching from the bleachers with hundreds of other plebe family members as the plebes went through their morning Physical Education Program - with the back drop of the misty sunrise over the water and a large sailing ship out there too - and spotting your plebe on the field - but not making your presence obvious/obnoxious - it was great! To get a glimpse of what those morning work-outs look like and even better, an early glimpse of your plebe for the first time in weeks! Priceless!:smile:
 
PEP

Yep, we were told no more watching the early morning PE. Not sure why the change....
 
I apologize in advance for how foolish my questions probably are.

Will they have their sponsor families by then? Do we meet their sponsor families?(Im just thinking if we bring gifts for them?). Do we bring other items from home or not yet (IE blanket? sports equipment?) son plays tennis and golf. Do we bring these?

Here is a really really dumb question-sorry! My son has a dog-they are inseparable. It's a runt so it is pretty small. (travels well) I swear he will miss his dog more than his mom. did anyone bring their dog?


(just reread these questions...sorry-they are so dumb)
 
If memory serves me, we did go to DS Sponsor's house as we were invited over to meet them on Sunday afternoon. I believe there was an event we could sign up for on Sunday that was a brunch at the USNA club. It was a bit pricey, but we went after going to church in the chapel. I am not sure if they do this anymore as that was 3 years ago. I am becoming more and more forgetful about that whole time. It seems like a million years ago.
 
Back
Top