Nationals is open for business…. Quick updates

[Lucas00]

Just went today,
Got in the show around 10:15.
Was really amazing for about 2 hours. Then got slammed. Hard to move around, the usual.
It’s crazy how much you can get through when you are on a hunt for certain very rare cards and the show isn’t busy yet. I probably got through 80% of the vintage baseball dealers in those first 2 hours. Slogged through the rest in the following hours.
Steered clear of the company booths. Unfortunately not a ton of what I was looking for but that is to be expected.

As for transportation, DON’T try to park at the event center unless you get there very early.
Park at a lot or parking garage and take a taxi. Skip the headache.

[Oscar_Stanage]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

Park at a lot or parking garage and take a taxi. Skip the headache.

Thanks, the problem for me is that I am staying at the marina side of AC…. $15 for an Uber to the convention. Then a cab charged me $30 to get back, takin advantage of the mob scene …

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Oscar_Stanage

Thanks, the problem for me is that I am staying at the marina side of AC…. $15 for an Uber to the convention. Then a cab charged me $30 to get back, takin advantage of the mob scene …

Wow?! That is an insane price. Definitely need to bargain with them. Not sure they have fixed prices or much regulation..
I paid $13 for my taxi back.

[vintagesportscollector]

Went Wednesday evening, and the biggest problem by far (aside from no cellular reception) was finding a parking spot. I finally found a convenient garage on Club Ln for only $5 for 8 hours. It's a short 10 min walk to the convention center, if that, and it's an indoor garage and felt secure. I recommend the self park garage on Club Ln, directly across from the Caesars Self Parking garage entrance.

[Pat R]

Originally Posted by chadeast

No first hand knowledge, but Blowout has a section just for the National in their forum. There are comments in that thread that parking is a major mess today. IIRC, one commenter decided to leave after driving around for an hour and try again tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

At the 2016 National in AC, parking in the main convention center garage was plentiful and always available.

Originally Posted by chadeast

Full before 10 AM if you believe posts on the Blowout forum.

My wife and I were a couple of blocks away from the convention center a little after 10 am, just shy of the entrance to the parking garage there was a cop coming up to the vehicles telling everyone that the parking garage was full and it was closed. When I asked him where we could park he told me good luck it's every man for himself and added that it was a major mess because of a lack of preparation. We drove around looking for a place to park for at least another hour before I gave up and parked across town at the Golden Nugget.

Originally Posted by Oscar_Stanage

Thanks, the problem for me is that I am staying at the marina side of AC…. $15 for an Uber to the convention. Then a cab charged me $30 to get back, takin advantage of the mob scene …

If it was a city cab they're regulated to a maximum charge of $13 unless you're going to the airport which is $35.

After we parked at the Golden Nugget we asked about a getting a cab, the guy in the valet parking called one for us but he said he had been calling all morning and most of the time no one showed up or it was a long time before they did. After a minute or two a guy pulled up in a stretch limo and asked if we needed a ride, my wife told him we did need a ride to the convention center but we didn't want to pay for a limo to get there, he said he would take us there for $20 and after driving around for over an hour and seeing several people there still waiting for a cab it seemed like a bargain.