Paul Cantrell
The parking situation at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival this year could safely be described as a fiasco.
You might be thinking, “Yeah, I know, you wait in an endless line and park in a dusty field and then walk half a mile through a muddy quarry!”
No, my friend, no, those were the good days we now long for.
Paul Cantrell
@fishidwardrobe if only
Fish Id Wardrobe
@inthehands You're parking in the muddy quarry and walking half a mile to a dusty field?
Paul Cantrell
I’ll just say that the whole situation is a case study in how having technically made all the necessary information •available• is not the same as having •communicated• it.
Paul Cantrell
@jacquiharper
I’m honored!
@jacquiharper
@inthehands Pirating part of this for my next work-related slide deck
Paul Cantrell
Basically, you can on-site for $10 (used to be free) except it’s online only except you can’t buy it online same day but it’s not really online only, you can pay on-site day if but it’s $30 but the first sign that says so is at a point where you have to make a dangerous U-turn to avoid paying, but there are multiple park and rides but they’re 20+ min away and when you get there the sign that appears to say “Parking for Ren Fest here” actually means “over there” and I’m running out of characters
Paul Cantrell
I didn’t even get to the helpful sign with directions to the park and ride which says something along the lines of “EXIT SB 9 & RB 3 W J SNRFL BLP” (not quite sure, only had ~2 sec to read it at freeway speeds)
Paul Cantrell
@jacquiharper Appreciate it! Hope it does the trick, and curious to hear what it’s about.
@jacquiharper
@inthehands I will credit you!
Paul Cantrell
@kmccoy Aw, thanks! The handicrafts, performances, costumes, and people watching are all delights. Just got about an hour less of them than we’d bargained for.
Kevin McCoy
@inthehands it's been many years since I attended but I remember getting the feeling that it was a festival designed to make you feel bad about attending. I hope you had a good time inside once the parking nonsense was over.
Paul Cantrell
UPDATE: The return trip park and ride bus driver got lost
Paul Cantrell
When the bus finally arrived, the whole bus cheered. Passengers were pretty cool about it; many thanked him while exiting. It was heartening.
I’m not mad at the driver, but I am mad at whatever mismanagement put him in that position.
Paul Cantrell
@luca_lichen Thanks! We’re all fine. It was nothing worse than comical and annoying. But it does have me thinking yet again about the chronic institutional failure that seems to define the present era.
luca
glad the passengers were overall pretty cool. 🧡
luca
and that you're home safe and sound.
sounds like a weird experience. sorry you and yours experienced that.
rest well. 🖤:black_sparkling_heart:
Paul Cantrell
@luca_lichen
Seems like somebody already beat us to it!
luca
@inthehands
yes. burn it the fuck down.
:black_sparkling_heart: 💗 🔥
luca
@inthehands
wait, they burned it down? 🤗
Paul Cantrell
@luca_lichen
I mean, it sure doesn’t seem to be functioning!
Paul Cantrell
@abracanabra
That was where we ended up parking too. But somehow we had multiple serious signage fails. I suspect that at least part of the problem was not getting tickets online days in advance, because that’s what would have warned us that parking procedures had changed.
Abra Staffin-Wiebe
@inthehands Hooboy. Our Renfest park-and-ride experience was very smooth--great signage to the Canterbury Park location.
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