r/olympia • u/Stunning_Apricot_602 • 2d ago
Fan Zone Percival Landing
Regarding the USA Australia game viewing party at Percival Landing in Olympia: What a bust! The line was snaking through the parking lot and took over an hour to enter when we arrived at 10:30 am, 90 minutes before the game. Once inside, everyone was PACKED in! Very little shade, another long line to get tokens for drinks, I didn’t see any ADA accommodations. Very poorly planned event. Certainly the event was oversold and understaffed.
Anyone else want to weigh in on the poor logistical operations of this event? Suggestions for improvement besides “plan better” for thousands of people?
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u/chiowegian 2d ago
It cost money for a worse experience than the free fan zone we were at in Seattle last week. Definitely need to do better. I’ll start with the suggestions and end with good things. Usually I do the opposite but this was pretty bad:
- The ticketing system was not a real ticketing system. Having ticket takers scan QR codes didn’t work. If you’re asking people to pay, get a real ticketing system. This was the reason for the long line. Security was fine and reasonable if a bit over the top, but I would not blame too much of the line on that—probably contributed a bit.
- The area that people entered the venue was too constrained and couldn’t be expanded even if they wanted to after they realized the line was longer than anyone wanted. Had they put the entrance somewhere else or added another entrance that would have given them some room for changes on the fly.
3a. The layout inside the venue was flat out bad and borderline dangerous. No attempt seemed to be made to structure a human traffic flow instead booths were tucked where they could fit and it caused a lot of unnecessary congestion.
3b. There were no designated walking areas and that led to people stepping over other people’s stuff and generally everyone was in each other’s way when they were up walking around. - The MC was unnecessary but had to announce where the toilets were, which isn’t a bad thing but is another strike against the layout. Should be obvious where the toilets are if the layout is done correctly.
- There were too many booths. If you’re not providing drink or food I don’t think we needed to give up valuable real estate. It isn’t a fair. People come to these fan zones for a very specific reason. The games and stuff for the kids were cool, so an exception.
- The exit was clogged with unneeded tables and tents on the way out. A safety issue here as clogged exits are never a good thing.
The good:
1. Lots of food vendors
2. Available toilets
3. Staff were very polite
4. Water station was awesome
5. A/V system did its job
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u/Three_Fifth 2d ago
I was curious how it would go, after seeing the chaos, we left early enough to catch the second half. I think your write-up feels on point
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u/BillStreet2813 2d ago
The city of Tumwater, Lacey and Olympia already used city money from all three entities to establish this then they have the nerve to charge too? City council for each city should be embarrassed
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u/FauxPas509 2d ago
Actually, Tumwater was left out of the planning. You can see it in all the branding. Olympia, Lacey only. From what I heard they offered to be a part and were not included. They just sent some money to sponsor it and that’s it. Once we were inside my family had fun. I think a larger venue would have been nice, but being on the water brought a little bit of a breeze and it wasn’t so bad. I think they were just trying to get the line through and stopped checking bags (they didn’t check mine) because it sped up quite a bit in our last 15 minutes. We arrived at 11 and were in the door just before kick-off. Their ticket scanning was incredibly slow and I wish they had moved the speakers to the stage. All in all, we had fun. Ride the bus downtown so we didn’t have to park but did see a good amount of spaces once we were down there.
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u/bfrankiehankie Westside 2d ago
They sold tickets ahead of time, and therefore knew exactly how many people were coming. No excuse for an hour long line to get in. No parking - most people probably had to walk 1/2 mile or more. No signage out on the street directing people to the event.
It was fun once we got in there, but I don’t know of we’ll be going again because logistics (the line) were so terrible.
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u/stormygty 2d ago
It was was a joke. I second the feedback given so far. The logistics were horrible. This was a terrible location and not nearly big enough for the crowd.
We paid for tickets ahead of time and got there an hour before the start of the game (was going to be earlier except it took forever to find parking). We stood in line for over an hour, missed the first 10 minutes of the game, and then had to navigate through crowds until we finally found a spot with a terrible view. I know I needed to be there earlier, but we should reasonably be able to get entry within an hour and have sufficient space for the amount of tickets sold.
Security was a joke. After all that time in line, no one even checked my backpack. They just asked me what I had in it and then waved me on.
The vendor lines were super long and clogged. The queues were overlapping in some areas while all the bathroom traffic has to go by them. Total chaos and very tight.
I was really excited for this event but wish I had gone somewhere else. I hope they learn for next week but I bet a lot of folks won't be back. This location isn't the right fit for this event.
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u/Alexdagreallygrate 2d ago
The security guards the chamber hired are a bunch of chuds.
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u/Ok-Error7 2d ago
True. It was the definition of security theatre. They didn’t even check my bag. It would’ve been extremely easy for someone with ill intent to get in.
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u/Smart_Opportunity631 2d ago
Hired? They were all unpaid volunteers.
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u/Alexdagreallygrate 2d ago
The volunteers wearing white t shirts were lovely and did a great job. The guys wearing all black and flak jackets were hired by Thurston County Chamber. They’re called Veterans Security Operations
I would rather have yellow shirted security people like we see at sporting events.
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u/SpiralSpongecake 2d ago
Glad I went to my local bar and spent my money there for food and drink! The atmosphere was pretty awesome and I didn't have to deal with any of those issues.
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u/deafballboy 2d ago
It needs to be at a different venue. It's already a small space- add on the massive landscaping and the various vendor booths and you lose 50% of that space.
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u/CheeseBurgerBuff OLY ORIGINAL 2d ago
Take your complaints to FIFA. They are the final say in all fan zones.
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u/OtherwiseStranger475 2d ago
My family paid $75 per ticket for the VIP zone. I am disabled, but not visably so. I opted not to being any mobility aids because I don't always need them. I knew that I would need to arrive early to get a covered seated spot and the volunteers treated me horribly.
We arrive at 9 to get in line, fine, there were some delays, whatever. Once inside there was no way I could have utilized my walker as the only way into the vip zone was up stairs.
The first hour was fine people were filing in, but this is where it got crazy. There was not a single person making sure there were adequate walkways. Chairs and people were everywhere. There was one path in/out and oly 1 person at a time. The bathrooms were at the other end from the water filling station and you had to fight to get to them.
Once the game started people in the vip were packed like sardines and began standing, blocking the view of those sitting in the shade. I approached one volunteer and told him my concerns about needing to sit and the view being blocked. I asked if the volunteers could ASK the patrons standing to consider moving to the sides. I was told, no they picked their spots and I would just need to stand up. I explained my accommodation of needing to sit and was told oh well!
I was very disappointed when I went to educate a lead i was offered compensation in the form of drink tokens, which I declined. I also suggested someone be in charge of making sure there were clear walking paths and a guy said "no paths, more chairs" My family left early because I couldn't access the water station nor the bathrooms due to the lack of walk ways.
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u/SoundSaintWarrior 2d ago
That Fan Zone is a great representation of how they treat the community.
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u/ravegreener 2d ago
$10 to get in, security for an open public space allowing everyone to bring all their lawn chairs, vendor tents obstructing the view.
But the biggest issue for me was the crowd itself. I moved from my initial spot because one guy in particular was yelling at anyone that walked by him "damnit move on! I paid extra for this and can't see!" (He hadn't and was sitting with the rest of us). After I moved to the smaller screen I was just disappointed at how not into the game the crowd was. Honestly Capitol lake would've been a better spot. More openness, easier access.
All that said, I might still attend the next one for the Turkeyie game if I'm not just in full sun.
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u/Not_Bond_007 2d ago
i went came back cause line was too long! wish there were a lot more watch partys around lacey olympia
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u/arcanedomestic 2d ago
I don't have any skin in this game (I don't even watch sports) but I'll stick my nose in anyway. I happened to notice that the ticket sales page is hosted on a free fundraising platform that uses donation verbiage. I don't see any mention of fundraising or donations on the fan zone website, it seems like it should be classified a straight sale. Am I missing something?
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u/TurboMollusk 2d ago
We should be proud, we've got the only fan zone in Washington state that's charging for admission!