I think it is more of a question, would you even want to park on the Yard on I-Day? It is a total madhouse that day. I experienced two I-Days with my son.
The first was for his own induction. We rented a home right near Gate 3 (the pedestrian gate near 1845 Coffee). It really wasn't much more too crazy expensive compared to other options, and it was a great choice for us. Took care of a lot of the stress.
The second I-Day experience was his firstie year, where he was a company commander. My wife and I literally decided that morning to go (we are a 3 hour drive). He had no idea we were even there until we texted him later that night. For that visit, since we had no time obligations, we parked at the stadium and took the shuttle in. It ended being very convenient and timely, and as a result we chose the shuttle many times during his commissioning week. Being that we were just observers and had no emotional attachment to anything that I-Day, we were able to see first-hand just how crazy that day is. We were too busy crying to even notice his plebe year!
I used my DBIDS many times during my son's four years at USNA, but learned that there are certain days you just do not want to park on the Yard. A final story to prove my point... Our son received an academic award last year during commissioning week. My MIL just had foot surgery, and I drove everyone in, including my son, so my MIL did not have to walk very far. It happened to be the same day as the Blue Angels show. After dropping them off, I drove around the entire Yard five times without finding a single parking spot. I missed his ceremony. I could not leave the Yard because my son was now at the ceremony (DBIDS does not work commissioning week), so I ended up taking laps until the ceremony was over in order to be able to pick them up.
The first was for his own induction. We rented a home right near Gate 3 (the pedestrian gate near 1845 Coffee). It really wasn't much more too crazy expensive compared to other options, and it was a great choice for us. Took care of a lot of the stress.
The second I-Day experience was his firstie year, where he was a company commander. My wife and I literally decided that morning to go (we are a 3 hour drive). He had no idea we were even there until we texted him later that night. For that visit, since we had no time obligations, we parked at the stadium and took the shuttle in. It ended being very convenient and timely, and as a result we chose the shuttle many times during his commissioning week. Being that we were just observers and had no emotional attachment to anything that I-Day, we were able to see first-hand just how crazy that day is. We were too busy crying to even notice his plebe year!
I used my DBIDS many times during my son's four years at USNA, but learned that there are certain days you just do not want to park on the Yard. A final story to prove my point... Our son received an academic award last year during commissioning week. My MIL just had foot surgery, and I drove everyone in, including my son, so my MIL did not have to walk very far. It happened to be the same day as the Blue Angels show. After dropping them off, I drove around the entire Yard five times without finding a single parking spot. I missed his ceremony. I could not leave the Yard because my son was now at the ceremony (DBIDS does not work commissioning week), so I ended up taking laps until the ceremony was over in order to be able to pick them up.