Entry to Olympic Park

Cosimo

Cosimo

Cosimo

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Email arrived with info:

Dear xxxxxxxxx,

This email contains critical information about your event on the Olympic Park. If you have tickets for more than one London 2012 event, you may receive multiple emails. Please read each one carefully as important details, such as when to arrive and what you can and can’t bring, may vary.

1. Be prepared for security checks when you arrive: this will be like taking an international flight at an airport. It will be busy and you will have to queue, so get there early. The gates to the Olympic Park open at 7am – check your venue information for when to arrive.

2. Bring as little as possible with you: one small soft-sided bag is allowed per person – this must fit under your seat. There are no storage facilities available. You can bring food, provided it fits in your bag, and an empty plastic water bottle to fill up inside the venue. You cannot bring in liquids over 100ml. Read the full list of prohibited and restricted items

3. Leave plenty of time to travel: London will be extremely busy and very different to what you’re used to. There are lots of ways to reach the Olympic Park and Stratford is not the only station nearby. If you’re coming from central London, there are plenty of Tube and train options – including the District and Hammersmith & City lines to West Ham station, the seven-minute Javelin® from St Pancras International and National Rail trains from Liverpool Street. Use the spectator journey planner to plan your journey and, if necessary, book your travel in advance. Don’t forget your free Games Travelcard for London zones 1–9.

4. Remember the only way to pay is by Visa (debit, credit or prepaid card) or cash: for details of the services and facilities available in your venue, read the venue information online. ATM cash machines are available inside the Olympic Park, and these only accept Visa. There are no ATM cash machines available inside your venue.

5. Keep your ticket with you at all times: your ticket will be checked on entry to the Olympic Park and your venue. If you decide to leave either the Olympic Park or your venue, you won’t be allowed back in. Got a ticket for the Orbit? Please be at the Orbit 15 minutes before the time on your ticket and be ready to queue.

Ticketing Terms and Conditions also apply. Ticket holders aged 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Things change, so check online!
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So is my small rucksack a small soft-sided bag? I bet people will have fun and games getting through security.
 
I must remember to take an empty clear water bottle with me. It would never have occurred to me to do so.

Seeing I haven't flown anywhere since the innocent days of pre 2001, I have no idea what an airport style security check will entail. Should I assume the position? :p Or will that see me strapped to the front of the nearest surface to air missile and fired in the general direction of Essex. :D

This Olympic business sounds more iffy the closer it gets.
 
The end of my road is now a "Security Checkpoint" and my road is the queue for this checkpoint. God damn it's going to take half an hour just to drive from the end of my road to my door.

Foreigners and tourists at every corner, asking for directions, etc...

I guess all these tourists are good for the local drug trade.
 
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I also got a text after that e-mail saying that failure to read the e-mail would be at my cost, as I might be turned away from the event.

I'd quite like to know what the deal is with cameras, are they going to really anal about them too?

At least I'm going to one of the last events, so by then any details of what is happening should be known by then.
 
DB_SamX said:
Yeah, I want to take my DSLR and telephoto lens. Might email then ahead to ask.
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Yeah that's what I intend to take.
Considering they have all these rules on having small bags, no liquids and only being able to pay with visa, I am worried they are going to get silly.
 
Just dropped them an email. Fingers crossed I get a reply in the next 2 weeks. That article you have linked to seems to indicate that as long as it fits in a 30x20x20 soft bag, then it's fine. That's probably most DSLRs and a mid range telephoto. Gonna hav a look at TP forums to see if anyone knows there.

There we go: http://www.london2012.com/mm/Docume...Prohibitedandrestricteditemslists_Neutral.pdf

Limited to 30cm.
 
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Says in there you cant bring in a WiFi AP... So that's pretty much every smartphone???

I doubt they mean a router, otherwise they would have mentioned "router", and a router is useless anyway since it requires a power source and a ethernet WAN input, both of which are unavailable.
 
We're going with a type 1 diabetic and the hoops they have to jump through and the possible dangers about hypos are a bit worry some. We are splitting stuff like oj between us going so they can have enough to cope if they go hypo, still not sure exactly what snacks you can and cant bring in. Not really sensible if some one is going hypo and you have to walk around the stadium, queue for a mars bar and walk all the way back.
 
msmalls74 said:
Not really sensible if some one is going hypo and you have to walk around the stadium, queue for a mars bar and walk all the way back.
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Actually, I was watching a show on NatGeo and they said there's no food/catering facility in the actual stadium. So you might have to walk all the way to that giant McDonalds and get a Mars McFlurry or something.
 
asim18 said:
Says in there you cant bring in a WiFi AP... So that's pretty much every smartphone???

I doubt they mean a router, otherwise they would have mentioned "router", and a router is useless anyway since it requires a power source and a ethernet WAN input, both of which are unavailable.
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In the list linked to it does say specifically that "smart devices such as Android phones, iPhone and tablets are permitted inside venues, but must not be used as wireless access points to connect multiple devices". So essentially don't enable your phone as a wireless access point and it should be fine.

msmalls74 said:
We're going with a type 1 diabetic and the hoops they have to jump through and the possible dangers about hypos are a bit worry some. We are splitting stuff like oj between us going so they can have enough to cope if they go hypo, still not sure exactly what snacks you can and cant bring in. Not really sensible if some one is going hypo and you have to walk around the stadium, queue for a mars bar and walk all the way back.
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If someone was going into hypoglycemic shock you'd rather hope that the nearest Olympic staff member would either be trained and have access to emergency kit for common emergencies or could get emergency trained professionals on scene very quickly.
 
I have to say i'm a little confused why they feel the need to ban wireless APs? What does that achieve?

Are they planning on having pay to use wifi access themselves or something?

I don't see how they'd really police it anyway, how are they gonna know if you've decided to enable your phone as an AP for half an hour? Sure they might see it appear but are they going to send out three security guards to triangulate your position and kick you out?
 
Kenai said:
I don't see how they'd really police it anyway, how are they gonna know if you've decided to enable your phone as an AP for half an hour? Sure they might see it appear but are they going to send out three security guards to triangulate your position and kick you out?
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Why don't you experiment? :p

Name yourself something like "Al Qaeda hub" and see what happens...
 
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Kenai said:
I have to say i'm a little confused why they feel the need to ban wireless APs? What does that achieve?

Are they planning on having pay to use wifi access themselves or something?

I don't see how they'd really police it anyway, how are they gonna know if you've decided to enable your phone as an AP for half an hour? Sure they might see it appear but are they going to send out three security guards to triangulate your position and kick you out?
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Just a couple of reasons I can think of:

- A photographer might be trying to off load their photos to an external source which they aren't licensed to do so, cutting out the liscened ones.

- They no doubt have various WiFi channels devoted to things in the stadium and don't want the extra signals or confusion for staff over what they should be using.

I'm sure there are more, but like you say, impossible to police.

I also believe there will be other food outlets near the stadium, rather than the 3 huge McDonalds. Nature Valley is a sponsor, so no doubt will have lots of places selling their bars.
 
DB_SamX said:
Just dropped them an email. Fingers crossed I get a reply in the next 2 weeks. That article you have linked to seems to indicate that as long as it fits in a 30x20x20 soft bag, then it's fine. That's probably most DSLRs and a mid range telephoto. Gonna hav a look at TP forums to see if anyone knows there.

There we go: http://www.london2012.com/mm/Docume...Prohibitedandrestricteditemslists_Neutral.pdf

Limited to 30cm.
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The email reply just linked me to this pdf.
 
Items that are restricted in London 2012 venues are:

– Large flags (bigger than 1 metre x 2 metres), banners and poles
- Oversized hats
- Noisemakers such as hunting horns, air horns, klaxons, drums, vuvuzelas and whistles

Going to be some great atmosphere then... :rolleyes:

Glad I'm just going to the Olympic Road Race on public roads, my flag pole is 3m long :p
 
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