Arlington Million For a Out of Towner

[samyn on the green]

If someone wanted to go to the Arlington Million what should they do? Should they buy tickets ahead of time for seats or is General Admission available and a good option to enjoy the day at the races? My plan is to fly into O'Hare. Is there a train from AP to downtown? Where should I book a room, near O'hare or downtown?

[miesque]

The train station is literally right outside the entrance of Arlington Park and that train goes into town. I personally prefer to book a room in Arlington Heights/Schaumburg (I will be at the same place as last year, the Schaumburg Embassy Suites right next to the Motorola campus, which drops me off and picks me back up at Arlington Park).

http://metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_nw/cnw_nw.shtml#STATION

I have no idea about general admission, as I have just done the Million Room (sent in my application in late February and had tickets in hand by mid-April). I did get an e-mail from Arlington Park recently mentioning there were tickets still available.

[Irish Boy]

General admission is $15, and the cheapest seats after that are another $25. General admission is OK if you get there early and stake out a particular position, but it gets very, very crowded. You can book a hotel downtown and still catch the train that goes, so long as you pick the correct station to stay near (there are two downtown train stations). That might be more expensive than the hotel that's right across the street from the track, which is supposed to be nice (haven't been there). Of course, if you stay there, it's tougher to do anything non-track related, so there's tradeoffs everywhere.

[OTM Al]

The train system in Chicago is very good, so as someone from NY, you should have no troubles with it after having a good look at the map. The map itself is a good guide as to where the most convenient places are to stay. Chicago is a fun place so I recommend you spend some time in the town if you have the chance.

[Black Ruby]

Chicago station for the Arlington train is at Madison and Canal, it's about a 50 min trip, I think. If you're thinking of staying downtown, you better book now. I booked about a month ago, and they were almost full then. Lollapalooza music festival is at Grant Park that same weekend, so you might want to avoid the congestion in that area...unless you wanna check out the music and hippie chicks.

[Steve 'StatMan']

If you're really wanting to see the race live, get reserved seats, as the grandstand will all be reserved. If you like watching the races with the crowd on the apron and a day in the sun, get there early and grab & hold onto a bench on the apron. Picnic Area has picnic tables, gotta get there early to hold those too - and will only be able to see them come out of the far turn and view on the Jumbotron in the infield. But if you like fun crowds and walking among the people - it is a great place for people-watching, it can be quite fun - but with General Admission be prepared to stand around all day if those benches & tables are taken.

[samyn on the green]

Thanks for the tips. Some of the best tips ever given out on this board. I purchased seats from the Arlington website. It seems like they do a good job on there with on-line seat purchase. Better than NYRA for sure.

[alhattab]

Thanks for the tips. Some of the best tips ever given out on this board. I purchased seats from the Arlington website. It seems like they do a good job on there with on-line seat purchase. Better than NYRA for sure.

I think the sightlines from the AP seats are best in the biz- maybe right up there with Belmont 3d floor.

Hit Peggy Kinanes in downtown Arlington Heights for Irish Breakfast and a Bloody Mary before the races.

Have a great time. I had to be in suburban Chitown on business over Million Weekend in 2004. Went to track Fri-Sun. Never forget it the trip (Powerscourt got DQd and Kitten's Joy bossed the Secretariat) even though I was flying solo. Arlington is one of the best.

[BIG49010]

Depending on how light you travel, each airport has a train to downtown. If you stay at a hotel close to Arlington you should get a local or suburban cab, other wise they nail you for double cab fare to the suburbs.

Check airport they have phone for American Cab, that is a suburban cab. Similar to car service in NYC. http://www.americantaxi.com/index.asp