Class of 2023 Graduation

[EmeraldPA]

Good morning all! Checking in to see if anyone has friendly advice on graduation week and how many days one should look to book a house or hotel? Which days are MUSTS for being on the grounds? Also I remember seeing at one point some links to home rentals through a USAFA parents or organization. Any help on how many days and where I should looks would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Mikeandcris]

Haven't been on this site for a few years, but your question caught my attention. The first main event typically takes place on Monday and is the parade where the seniors "separate" from the rest of the wing. Tuesday is reserved for commissioning and is a "must" for parents and close family to attend (attendance is sometimes limited due to constraints of the facility in which it's held.). Those events typically are in the late afternoon and early evening of the night prior to graduation (again, likely Tuesday night.). Graduation is typically on a Wednesday and you'll need to get to the stadium early....like 7:30am or even earlier if the speaker is President and security is ramped up. Graduation ends around noon, but graduation parties (with parents) take place that evening. Plan to leave COS on Thursday. As to when to arrive in COS, Monday is the latest. My two cents is "your child is graduating from a service academy and saved you a boatload of money in tuition." It's time to celebrate. Treat yourselves to a couple nights at the Broadmoor....Friday and Saturday prior to the graduation. Then transition to something like the Marriot Residence Inn for Sunday through Thursday. Or, look for a VRBO depending on your family size. Enjoy the week in May!

 

[Bigrod]

Well graduation is actually June 1st this coming year and that is a Thursday. With that said the commissioning ceremony and parade will be on Wednesday morning and early afternoon to late afternoon. So on Tuesday will be any academic, military, athletic awards if your son or daughter ranks high enough receive something. Graduation homes are listed through the Facebook page if you are a member on the parent resource page just request to also be a member of the graduation home page and you can see the ridiculous prices on there. We will be staying in a hotel I’m not paying the grad prices for a house plus my family is used to staying in hotels all the time anyway.

 

[Cerberi]

As you probably know - plenty to see and do in the area. USAFA puts on a good show for parents. If that interests you come early and stay late.

In the end it’s just a college graduation with boring speakers and a great air show.

The graduation parade is unique and there has traditionally been a graduation ball.

My Dad hated to be away from home, so they didn’t come early and left as the hats were landing

DD graduated USNA and we had planned to rent a house because wife’s family had never experienced an Academy graduation and DD had a lot of friends that wanted to come see it. (In the end Covid cancelled all those plans)

It’s your $ and your time. Do what you are comfortable doing.

 

[Stealth_81]

We rented a house near the North Gate from Saturday to Saturday. There is a lot going on all week and we enjoyed being able to spend some downtime here and there during the week. If you only come in for a couple of days, I feel that it would be very hectic and you’d miss a lot. It was nice to sit on the deck of the house two days before graduation watching the Thunderbirds practice. There were also daily flyovers from various airframes which were prior grads paying their respects to the new class. Also, remember that your grad will be moving out of the dorm immediately after graduation. The house that we rented had a 2-car garage that our son and a couple of buddies used to move stuff to during the week prior to graduation so that they could get a jump on moving out, and then take their time loading their cars and/or putting stuff in storage. It was very handy.

Stealth_81

 

[mommahedg]

We did Air BnB from the Friday before to the Thursday after (graduation was on a Wednesday). Since we drove out (rented a large van to haul all of DS's stuff back home - 9 hour drive so lots of time to talk, which was the best part), we helped load up his stuff on Saturday and Sunday. The parents of his baby squad became very close so we had a party with all of us and our grads on Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday were a busy busy blur as we had the parade, the commissioning and the ceremony over those two days. Then drove home on Thursday. Agree with Stealth_81, it was nice to have some downtime before and after the craziness to just soak in what our DS had accomplished.

 

[dah19]

We are coming in on Monday and leaving Friday. We will drive out from the East Coast, but will arrive in COS on Monday. He said we should be there by Monday because that's when activities begin.