Season Parking Pass for Pioneer?
We’ve got a chance to re-acquire season tickets for a really good price and I’m thinking we used to buy a season pass for parking at Pioneer but right now I can’t recall. I tried calling Park & Party but all I get is answering machine.
Anybody know?
I have no idea if you had Parking Passes at Pioneer bud, but good luck!
Uugghh... yeah, I didn’t word that too well. ?
Just wondering if you can still buy season parking passes for Pioneer.
It looks like you can purchase parking passes for each game on their website.
Yeah, I saw that but didn’t see any option for a season pass.
I'm now wondering if ParknParty will still be selling individual game passes for parking across the street on the golf course (Ann Arbor Golf and Outing). AAGO isn't listed (at least not yet) on their website as one of the parking lots for Ann Arbor, but the U of M Golf Course is.
AAGO has been our preferred tailgating spot for at least the last 15 years, but for a variety of reasons I haven't bought a season pass directly from them since the 2016 or 2017 season---all too often, AAGO completely shuts down to avoid damage to the golf course (which is totally understandable) and leaves us scrambling for parking and tailgating. I can't see paying for a season pass but only parking there half the time, so I usually monitor the weather forecast and instead buy thru ParknParty.
I also looked at the AAGO website and there's no info there yet on game day parking.
LAZ Parking taking over. I have not seen any further announcement of season pass information. https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/01/new-pioneer-parking-lot-contract-would-give-vendor-greater-share-of-revenue.html
https://www.parknparty.com/site/lot/256
Looks like the new map does include some reserved spaces, but fewer than in the past. Not sure if they have the old contact list and will send something out.
Also no more in/out. Only one admission to the parking lot per pass. Guess trips to the liquor store and back are out of the question.
https://www.parknparty.com/site/pioneer-high-school-parking-rule
from what i've heard, the rates are considerably higher... like almost double. but that may be only if you plan on tailgating with a tent. but if you arent doing that, just find street parking and walk a bit farther
LAZ Parking is the new parking vendor for the Pioneer lot. They have sent out emails to people who have purchased season parking passes in the past allowing them purchase for upcoming football season through their new web site. The season parking pass fee of $355 for 2021 for a general auto pass is consistent with prior years. I guess they are going to roll things out to the general public soon.
There was a dust up over the increase in fees for reserved RV parking, now at $405 per game - I don't remember what it was prior since I don't have an RV.
LAZ Parking has the new contract for Pioneer. It looks as though they have increased the cost from already high rates.
General Parking season pass: $355 (no large tail gates) Looks like single games will be $55
Reserved Parking season pass: $565
Reserved RV season passes: $2315
I think they are reaching out to previous season pass owners now.
www.michigangamedayparking.com
They don't appear to have completely thought out the logistics at this point as they are directing almost everyone to enter at Gate 5...which was already overcrowded.
....and this is why it pays (no, it saves) to be from and therefore know people in Ann Arbor, because you can avoid all this like I do.
It goes a bit deeper. Their current approach for General Auto to permit tailgating but if you read between the lines they're definitely swaying towards not permitting people to tailgate where they park. That may not happen for 2021 but don't be surprised if it pops up in a future year. Their reasoning was/is:
"Tailgating in General Auto Areas – Our initial policy regarding setting up tailgating in general auto parking areas was that it would be prohibited. There were substantial considerations that went into this decision and some of those were as follows:
· We do offer reserved tailgating spaces in designated areas of the property, including within the zoned hospitality areas that can range from simply renting space to full coordinating amenities.
· The set up invariably creates increased congestion for exiting traffic.
· The concern for liability if emergency service vehicles cannot negotiate within the property to provide those services or if evacuation due to an on-site incident was hindered because of congestion."
The emergency access is valid but they have always been able to get access in the past to all but the most crowded of areas (i.e. the first row nearest the fence along Stadium up near Main), Again reading between the lines they're trying to drive people to buying tailgating space too.
Beyond that, where previously (2019 and earlier) there was just a couple spots where you'd see big hospitality tents and setups, in 2021 the area to the east of gate 1 (on Stadium) after the paved lot, according to their map, more than half of the space that used to be General Auto is now "Hospitality" and at the mercy of Tailgater Concierge as they got their greedy little paws on that space. Park & Party are listed as a partnership too but if you go to their site they do not mention Pioneer slots. Here's another snippet from LAZ:
"there is a hospitality zone in Zone A. There are still some General parking in Zone A. Also, if the Hospitality section is not used up then we can put more General admission parkers there. There is still other General Parking spaces available."
What does this all mean? It'll get harder to get parking at Pioneer under LAZ and progressively more difficult to tailgate there without bringing an RV, buying more higher-priced reserve slots and paying for the tailgate space too, or using their "partners". The parking crunch is happening in 2021. Unless the people who use Pioneer make this company see the error of their ways it'll spell doom for bring-your-own tailgates there too.
Where I did get the info I've posted here is we've been one of those who've been getting season parking passes at Pioneer. It really came in handy on the days when large swaths of the grassy areas were impermissible for parking. I'd reached out after reviewing their parking map, very dissatisfied with the situation in Zone A which is where we always try to get to.
Thanks for responses. I think we are going to go game by game as some of the games we’ll probably hotel it and many offer shuttle services.
Thanks again!
Not for nothing, but I gave up on the golf courses and pioneer the year that it rained for 80% of the home games. I moved to parking at a private residence near Glick. There’s a lot of people parking in yards there and you get a little more relaxed atmosphere, the owners will often let you prepay for a friend to park near you, and it’s cheaper. The other plus is you only have to cross State St and not Stadium to get to the stadium. If you’re not totally in love with the scene over there, I’d give it a try.
Yeah, we ran into much the same with Pioneer having very limited parking after rains. The frustrating part was sometimes they wouldn’t announce it until the last minute or sometimes not at all and when you pulled up, you had to have pre-paid/reserved parking. Then we’d find ourselves scrambling to find parking two hours before game time. After a few times of that, I’d find private residence parking on Craigslist during the week but we’d miss out on the fun of tailgating at Pioneer. Oh well... we’ll figure it out. Thanks again to all who responded!