Acceptance Parade

[MississippiMom]

I am looking for information about the Acceptance Parade (Aug. 4th I believe)- I would love to see my son -however, I will be working. I am planning on sending a friend of my son's to attend the event and take some pictures for me. Friend will be traveling by air and we'll need to arrange transportation to and from the Academy- (18 and too young to rent a car) any advice? Parade is schedule for the morning - What is the rest of the day like? Will they have a chance to talk? Is this an event not to be missed?

 

[eagle36]

it's definetely not a "not to be missed" event. is it cool and exciting to see, yes, but not the most critical thing to see through the career or even just freshmen year.

the parade is in the morning, and freshmen will get a couple hours after the parade to see family/friends who visit. It's not a long time, but it's always awesome to see loved ones. My mom "suprsied" me in a way by coming out (she wrote me during BCT and told me about a week out) and it was nice to have her bring photos, my phone, etc that i didn't think i'd get until parent's weekend, as well as getting to see her for a couple hours.

a couple options here. the first is a taxi between the airports and the hotel. from the hotel, you could either take another taxi, or you could hope to find someone else at the hotel who's also going to watch and try to bum a ride. I would recommend talking to people on here or the parent's site and try to find someone for this friend to "tag-a-long" with to get rides from the airport and from the hotel. If you know people in the area that obviously helps. I'm sure they'll be enough people going that you'd be able to find someone to get rides with and split some gas money with them.

 

[Texas2013]

This may be tricky, but doable. Cadets will only have about 2 hours of free time to visit after the parade. We chose to make the trip from Texas for Acceptance Day but we have relatives in the area so it made things a bit easier. There was still considerable cost associated with the trip, so I would take that into consideration when planning. The friend would have a much easier time coordinating rides, etc. if he flies into COS and stays near the Academy. I agree that hooking up with folks on this board or the parent boards is the way to go. People are often willing to help out once they hear there's a need. Hotels fill quickly so I recommend booking that first because you can cancel without penalty (usually) if he doesn't make the trip afterall.

Side note - we did not tell our son we were coming to Acceptance Day so he thought he would not see any of his family until PW. We made signs with his name and sat directly in behind (they have their back to the stands for a good part of the ceremony) him. A cadet standing next to our son glanced over his shoulder and saw our signs then asked our son if he was expecting people. Our son said, 'No' then then looked quickly over his shoulder - the look on his face was priceless! He could not believe we were there in full force! We had the best (and most expensive) sandwiches and 2-hour visit ever! It was fun.

 

[MississippiMom]

Thank you for the replies. The information you've provided is great and does help since I've never been to the Academy and do not know the area or what to expect at the Acceptance Parade. Thanks again.