First time to FOS, help!

[md_ian]

We are planning our first trip to FOS next year, a bucket list item for me it has to be said. We being myself, partner and young son (5yo by then).

We'll be booking the family camping despite not yet having a VW camper (hopefully we'll sort by then!).

We plan to be there on Thursday and Friday to enjoy what hopefully is the quieter of the days, though I suspect they are all booked out fully.

Are grandstand passes essential? Or is it fairly open for everyone to get a decent vantage point around the site? I don't want to go and find most areas are no go without a certain wrist band, that would suck!

Is the holding area where the supercars tend to live accessible to the public, or special passes only?

Anything else I should consider to make the time more enjoyable, event programme with ear-piece etc?

Thanks in advance.

[ecsrobin]

For me I’d leave the 5yo at home. To get the most out of FOS you’re going to need to do 2 12 hour days of walking. To see everything. My nephew is the same age and I want to take him but I know he won’t last the day.

With regards to camping you’re aware that you pay for all days regardless? If that’s the case then I’d really be suggesting Saturday and Sunday if you’re only doing 2 days. All days used to be sold out and now Thursday is a running day it will get busier.

Paddocks are free to enter as part of entry and grandstands I never bother with but I guess with a small child then it’s probably worth it to leave him and the Mrs so you can take a walk.

[mikeyr]

ecsrobin said:

For me I’d leave the 5yo at home. To get the most out of FOS you’re going to need to do 2 12 hour days of walking.

I'd agree with part of that ECS - I think a day is sufficient to enjoy the event so if they've got weekend tickets life could be more leisurely. But I'm with you, it would have to be a very hardy 5 year old that likes walking and cars!

You do see young 'uns there but it's a steep site so I feel sorry for parents pulling them behind on trolleys; on a hot day there can be a lack of shade too. Ear defenders a must at that age I'd think?

You can walk around and get close to pretty much every supercar you'd ever wish to see so no need for fancy tickets. You should be able to get near enough along the route for a small kid to see the cars driving, it's pretty awesome!

Noticed that car fest tickets go on sale today which I've only been too once and was pretty kid friendly though.

[md_ian]

ecsrobin said:

For me I’d leave the 5yo at home.

That isn't an option, he's a massive car fan, though a lousy walker. Fortunately we'll have a camper, and my missus knows that FOS is a bucket list item for me, so if he runs out of steam, they'll just entertain themselves whilst I see everything. She gets a VW camper out of this arrangement, so can hardly complain - also, we'd be making the most of the opportunity (long drive) to also visit some other places, so it will be the start of a family holiday.

[SwissJonese]

In 2017 we went and took our 5 year old twins. We used our camping wagon which they can sit in and we managed to dump all the usual kids stuff into, water, snacks, coats etc. However it was useful and a pain, mainly because we had to wait for when the road is open and use the road crossings. The kids had a great time, there was quite a lot of kids things to do (Vauxhall had a great stand) and as we went on Thursday most places was empty.

This year with twins being 6 we didn't take the wagon as they are pretty fit and managed to walk the whole day. However I felt there wasn't actually that much for kids to do, well not kids specific. They still enjoyed the day, but I didn't get to do as much car stuff as I wanted, as they said looking at static cars was boring.

We have a T5 camper and always stay the night before at some campsite near FOS to get to there as early as possible on Thu. We travel back home after FOS day out and never really find too much traffic.

[md_ian]

SwissJonese said:

We have a T5 camper and always stay the night before at some campsite near FOS to get to there as early as possible on Thu. We travel back home after FOS day out and never really find too much traffic.

That's interesting, did you find using a local campsite was a better idea than actually camping at FOS? The price for a family plot is £335!!!

[SwissJonese]

md_ian said:

That's interesting, did you find using a local campsite was a better idea than actually camping at FOS? The price for a family plot is £335!!!

We only go for 1 day as we usually get all we want out of it and the kids would be utterly bored going back a 2nd day. The local campsites we used where about £30-50 per night for 4 of us.

[md_ian]

Bringing this thread back to life for additional insight.

We now have a T5 california so hoping to make FOS this year. The intention is to stay on the family campsite and visit the show on both Thursday and Friday. The agreement with the missus would be for her to entertain little legs whilst I explore.

Unsure grandstand tickets are worth it for those two days.

Unlikely to stay Saturday/Sunday, probably explore elsewhere.

Is the programme considered an essential purchase, and is picking up tickets straight forward, or recommended to have them posted (no electronic version for some reason).

Any more views would be appreciated, never been, long way from home (5+ hours).

[Taylor James]

md_ian said:

We are planning our first trip to FOS next year, a bucket list item for me it has to be said. We being myself, partner and young son (5yo by then).

We'll be booking the family camping despite not yet having a VW camper (hopefully we'll sort by then!).

We plan to be there on Thursday and Friday to enjoy what hopefully is the quieter of the days, though I suspect they are all booked out fully.

Are grandstand passes essential? Or is it fairly open for everyone to get a decent vantage point around the site? I don't want to go and find most areas are no go without a certain wrist band, that would suck!

Is the holding area where the supercars tend to live accessible to the public, or special passes only?

Anything else I should consider to make the time more enjoyable, event programme with ear-piece etc?

Thanks in advance.

Thursday and Friday are traditionally the quiet days with Thursday the quietest of all.

The entire site is far too big for an average 5 year old to cover, so as has been said, you will need to leave him somewhere for at least part of each day. That could be the campsite but I'd suggest it might be just as good to leave him and the babysitter somewhere like the GAS area where there will be things to watch he'll almost certainly enjoy as well as plenty of places to buy food and drinks. You'll also be able to pop back easily during the day whereas popping back to the campsite will be much more of a trek. Weather might be a factor on the day.
See about GAS here:

https://www.goodwood.com/flagship-events/festival-...

Grandstand passes are not essential and absolutely not for Thursday when if memory serves they are open to all. That's not as good as it sounds because there is much less going on during Thursday. If you want to get a really good view of the cars you will need a grandstand pass for the Friday although one exception is near the start line when it's not hard to get close as the cars set off. Once they are on their way it's a bit pot luck with regard to a good view if you stick with finding a space on the various raised platforms. You don't buy tickets for individual grandstands at the FOS; the tickets cover any grandstand so you can move around the hill. I've never had a problem getting a space but it will pay you to grab one well in advance if you want to see the more popular runs such as the F1 cars. It might be worth noting you can only buy grandstand tickets in advance so you will have to make a decision before you go. As a first timer and as a percentage of overall time you probably won't spend much time in grandstands. This means the tickets can look expensive but I think you might regret missing out. Maybe just one ticket for the Friday? It can be passed between your partner and yourself as they don't carry any identification.

The supercar paddock is open to the public as are the vast majority of areas. There are very few restricted areas, mostly corporate or the drivers' area but being unable to access those shouldn't diminish the experience in the slightest.

A programme is useful if only for timings but the site is well signposted. For the money I'd recommend getting one, if it only gives you the timings and makes a nice souvenir. I think you get the ear piece with the programme but I've never used mine as I've been talking to a friend throughout the day.

You're there for a couple of days so my advice would be don't try and do too much in a day as you'll only end up exhausted.

For the best uninterrupted photo opportunities get on site as early as possible. Some of the paddocks get uncomfortably busy later in the day, especially if it's hot.

[FIREBIRDC9]

md_ian said:

Bringing this thread back to life for additional insight.

We now have a T5 california so hoping to make FOS this year. The intention is to stay on the family campsite and visit the show on both Thursday and Friday. The agreement with the missus would be for her to entertain little legs whilst I explore.

Unsure grandstand tickets are worth it for those two days.

Unlikely to stay Saturday/Sunday, probably explore elsewhere.

Is the programme considered an essential purchase, and is picking up tickets straight forward, or recommended to have them posted (no electronic version for some reason).

Any more views would be appreciated, never been, long way from home (5+ hours).

Went Thursday last year.

Grandstand tickets are definitely not worth it on Thursday.
The only running cars on Thursday was the Supercars , none of the Meaty stuff ran (F1 cars etc)
Also , top gear top tip.

Thursday isn't busy so get yourself over to the sky sports F1 stand.
They let us up top last year for free!

Spent a good hour up there

The Bulitt tribute also ran