Most liked posts in thread: 1000+ For MOTD!!

Ironically, it's kinda true. Of course at the Welcome Dinner, Farewell Dinner, Brewswap and Bingo, there will be 300 to 400 people in the same place at the same time. But aside from that we are kinda spread out. Since Fontana can not accomodate all of us, we are spread out over the town of Robbinsville and many folks are staying 30 to 60 minutes away. On one hand it would be super cool to have an event where all the MINIs were in the same place at the same time, but it's probably a blessing in disguise that it doesn't happen. Last year we jump from 635 to 823 registrations. I thought for sure we gonna feel really crowded, but it never happen. While some folks are out on the Cherohala, another group is on the Dragon and then some folks are in Bryson City, etc. I'm sure it will get a little congested around the vendor alley at times, during the Photoshoot, the Dragon Parade and the Ice Cream Run. But other than that I think we'll be OK.

I look at it this way.......I rather be stuck in a traffic line of MINIs in the Mountains than just about anything else I could be doing back home

 

Having been to all the MOTDs and watching them grow from 63 people at the 1st one to almost a thousand for this one, all I can say is...the more the merrier.
Yes, there will be a record crowd this year, and yes it will be congested. Parking will be a challenge to say the least. However, I don't see the crowds as a reason to stay away. View it as a challenge rather than a roadblock. Go with the flow or against it. Watch. Learn. Explore. Ask questions. Make friends. Have fun. Above all, don't cross the yellow lines!

 

Get up early, run Hellbender and THEN eat breakfast. Hang around the vendor area, eat lunch and watch the crowd from the porch. Take a nap and then run the Dragon while everyone else is eating. Return to the village, retire your MINI for the night and enjoy the mountain air with some cold beers and great friends. ( did someone say something about large crowds?)

 

Let's do some math, shall we?

Mini sales are about 59% hatchback + convertible (~146" long), about 12% Clubman @ ~155", and about 28% Countryman @ ~162". Yeah, proportionally there will be fewer Countryman at MOTD than 28%, but many of the others have driving lamps and trailer hitches, and we won't get that close to each other, so let's agree on an average length of about 12.5 feet (150").

If EVERY MINI participated in Midnight On The Dragon, leaving an average 2 second gap between cars and all traveling at exactly 35MPH, the first car will reach the Overlook - ON THEIR WAY BACK - before the last car leaves Deals Gap.

The line will be over 14 MILES long.

Another way, if we parked 'em nose-to-tail, it would require a parking space 1.6 miles long. If we parked 'em as densely as we could, we'd cover every square foot of the playing area of a football field, with the running track packed with Minis parked nose-to-tail around the outer perimeter, with a few MORE in the end-zones full of cheerleaders!

Atsa lotta Minis.

(and if my math's wrong, I apologize... Minis are 12.5' long on average, 35MPH is about 51 feet/second so a 2 second gap is 102', the Dragon is just over 11 miles, and you know the conversion from feet to miles...)

 

Just processed the final registrations from last night and the numbers are....

1115 People and 722 MINIs

 

490 people with 310 MINIs

 

I'm virtually pulled over, you lead.... :wink:

 

keep in mind we've been getting several cancellations each week, depending on whether those cancellations are drivers or passengers and whether the new registrations are drivers or passengers, may make the updated numbers seem strange at times.

 

Money talks ......... I'm just saying :biggrin5:

 

...and apropos to the topic of the total number of MOTD registrations:

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

:cornut:

 

Man.... I would sure hate to see JLo show up with FIAT corporate and a pack of Abarth 500's and dancing bunnies (the pink fluffy kind), pulling the rug out from a MINI moment.....

 

Snooter might have to post an official "starter" at the top of the Dragon.

Jim

 

MIINIDave, I'm with you, I don't like crowds but I'm going to try to make the best of it since it's husband and our first year and we now have two MINIs. Thank goodness I'm staying in a cabin where we can make our meals at the kitchen and use our own bathrooms.... or at least that's the plan.

 

Jim! Good buddy, good friend... :lol:

 

I don't know for sure but I would guess MOTD has probably grown into the biggest single brand auto event in the country, that is newsworthy, this will be my third and wouldn't miss it for anything. Sure there are a lot of people but that's what makes it an " event " and not just a bunch of cars.
I have been staying at the Microtel in Robbinsiville each year and have chosen to do so again the hotel is booked with MINI peeps and it is like its own little show.
To say you are not going because there are too many people doesn't make any sense to me. There is always a path less traveled if you choose not to go with the flow.

Now how many days untill I can leave for NC ?

 

A huge crowd is New Years Eve in Times Square NYC. Thats a packed area and a great party.

MOTD is never fully packed like NYC but than again its not Kansas.

 

Well said!

 

You nailed it buddy. Go against the flow and you have the roads to yourself. No problem at all.

Jim

 

Ssssshhhh don't tell everyone.:cornut: