SHIMMER Planes, Cars, and Hotels Thread

[G-Reg]

This is the catch-all SHIMMER travel discussion thread. It was started in 2011, so the early replies may reference previous tapings. Travel suggestions from the past still apply though.

Upcoming SHIMMER tapings:


OCTOBER 2015 SHIMMER EVENTS

Olympic Theatre - Cicero, IL
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015; 2PM-9PM

Eagles Club - Berwyn, IL
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015; 1PM-8PM

If you need help, or can offer help, copy the following into a new posting:

Name:
Attending shows:
Flying in to:
Date and Time:
Flying Home to:
Date and Time:
Ability to rent and drive a car:
Knowledge of the area:
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message):
Other Information:

Let's help each other out as much as possible, by doing the following:

• Offer rides.
  
• Recommend other things to do while in town.
  
• Form groups to split the cost of rental cars and hotel rooms.
  
• Point out money-saving travel deals.

While sharing rides are encouraged, there is public transportation available in Berwyn:
Chicago Transit Authority
PACE Bus
American Taxi
Metra Rail

Recommended Berwyn travel options:
Hotels
Rodeway Inn - The (un)official SHIMMER Hotel - 8640 Ogden Ave, Lyons, IL; 4 miles from Eagle's Club - $60 per night pre-tax according to hotel website
Priceline.com Name Your Own Price - Prepay a hotel at a desired hotel star level at your price; guaranteed to save 30% or more over listed price.
Hi Hostel - 24 East Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL; Very affordable $34-$38 a night; easy access to public transportation to get to Berwyn.

Airlines
Southwest Airlines - First two bags are checked free.

[G-Reg]

Name: Greg
Attending shows: All three
Flying in to: NA; Local
Ability to rent and drive a car: Own a car
Knowledge of the Chicago area: Lived in suburbs for 20 years. Been to 15 days of SHIMMER shows.
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): PM
Other Information: As usual, I'll have my car. My requirement of our group is that you're in town no later than Friday night, and that you attend both afterparties.

[capricornscott]

Name: Scott
Attending shows: Both days
Ability to rent and drive a car: Renting/Driving from Arkansas
Knowledge of the Chicago area: none
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): PM
Other Information: I've stayed at the Rodeway Inn the last two Shimmer trips. However, I am not staying there this time. After bad experiences both times, I'm opting for something else. One of my fellow chair people said something about a Super 8 that was close.

[JessAndreia]

Name: Jessica
Attending shows: Both SHIMMER shows and AAW
Flying in to: O'Hare
Date and Time: Friday 16th, 12 PM
Flying Home to: Flying to Buffalo, NY.
Date and Time: Tuesday 20th, 2:15 PM
Ability to rent and drive a car: Drive, yes (automatic)
Knowledge of the Chicago area: None
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): Private Message
Other Information:

[SHIMMER office]

AAW will run on that Friday as well.

[JessAndreia]

Nov 6, 2011 22:11:55 GMT -6 SHIMMER office said:

AAW will run on that Friday as well.

One more wrestling show to go to. Great!

[G-Reg]

Nov 6, 2011 22:11:55 GMT -6 SHIMMER office said:

AAW will run on that Friday as well.

YES!

[themib]

Name: Martin
Attending shows: Both (and AAW)
Flying in to: O'Hare
Date and Time: Friday
Flying Home to: Heathrow
Date and Time: Monday
Ability to rent and drive a car: Won't, I'll taxi it like last time
Knowledge of the Chicago area: Much more now than I had last time
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): Twitter themib
Other Information: As it's St. Paddy's Weekend, I'm down for drinking a lot of Guinness. Rock it.

[Crusty Ruffles]

Name: Nick
Attending shows: AAW and both SHIMMER shows.
Flying in to: Driving down from Wisconsin
Date and Time: Friday Morning
Flying Home to: The mothership, daddy!
Date and Time: Monday Morning
Ability to rent and drive a car: Have my own.
Knowledge of the Chicago area: Pretty good
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): PM here or a DM on twitter @crustymarshall
Other Information: Probably staying where Priceline gets me for cheap, but not positive yet. I do have an SUV so I can get 2-3 more people with me if need be since most likely I'm going solo.

[dmpunk]

Name: Dave
Attending shows: All 3
Flying in to: Midway
Date and Time: 3/16/12 11:15 AM
Flying Home to: Philly
Date and Time: 3/19/12 12: 17
Ability to rent and drive a car: Renting car from airport
Knowledge of the Chicago area: None
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): davesecx@gmail or @davidmuscarella on Twitter
Other Information: I dont drink and am willing to drive other people to and from shows. I got a GPS on my phone so I dont get lost too.

[Stephers]

Name: Stephers
Attending shows: Both
Flying in to: O'Hare
Date and Time: TBD
Flying Home to: Winnipeg
Date and Time: TBD
Ability to rent and drive a car: can do both but will likely be 'pooling with a few friends
Knowledge of the Chicago area: extremely limited
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): Twitter! @sxestephers
Other Information: I'll likely be joined by at least one or two friends at the event if I'm able to make it. Depends on work and finances right now but if there's even the slightest possibility I'll be there.

[eromitlab]

Name: Paul
Attending shows: Both nights of Shimmer, not sure about AAW
Flying in to: driving from north Alabama
Date and Time: Thursday 3/15
Flying Home to: driving back
Date and Time: Tuesday 3/20
Ability to rent and drive a car: covered
Knowledge of the Chicago area: pretty good for a visitor IMO; been to the Eagles Club for Shimmer tapings sixteen times thus far
Best way to contact (E-Mail, or Private Message): e-mail (erock30 at gmail) is best, a PM is good as is a facebook message. I also have twitter (@pmahling) but don't make much use of it
Other Information: not sure exactly where yet, but I'll be in a hotel in the Oak Brook area somewhere. I recommend the eastern part of Oak Brook to anyone that wants to be fairly close (15-20 minutes away from the Eagles Club via Cermak Road) and doesn't want to stay at the Rodeway Inn.

[thomasadcock]

Name: Thomas Adcock
Attending shows: both SHIMMER shows and maybe the AAW show too
Flying in to:Taking Greyhound bus to the bus station, walking to Union Station and take the train to the
Rodeway Inn
Date and time: I'll be leaving Salina,KS Tuesday March 13th at 6pm and will arrive in Chicago at about 9am Wednesday
March14th
Flying home to: Taking the Greyhound bus home to Salina,KS
Date and time:Going to leave Chicago at 8pm and get home about 12pm
Ability to rent and drive car: No
Knowledge of the Chicago area: Enough to not get lost!!
Best way to contact: PM me, [e-mail],or call me at 785-342-5288
Other information: I will be staying at the Rodeway Inn. I've been coming to these SHIMMER shows since volumes 17-18 in. March of 2008, although I missed the last shows,due to being sick. Can call or email me anytime. I have a unlimited
plan on my phone.

[theflozone]

I think it may have been passingly mentioned in a previous thread - which one I don't recall. But I'm about to book airfare and hotels, and I'd like to have a hotey (if possible, rather than a motel or inn) a comparable distance to Berwyn as the other locations ...

But what I am looking for is something that would be in walking distance or a short taxi fare to a CVS or wherever it is you would buy posterboard in the area. I would really like to bring a "MELISSA FEARS PORTIA" sign as this will for all intensive purposes guarantee interaction with my two favorites.

I just don't want to pay like 100 bucks round trip to go to the posterboard store.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

I probably will decline on the after party as I will have made it through the holidays and my birthday without drinking. St. Patty's Day will be a cinch! I had considered drinking for this event, and who knows if I ever will again, sure had a lot of very fun memories with it, but - I don't want to break the streak just yet. I feel like if I did go to the after party I would probably just make people uncomfortable by telling them I'm the guy who pissed them off on the internet, and probably annoy Portia Perez who I would probably want to talk to for longer than I deserve. Hopefully I will be able to score Portia and Dave's autographs at the show, along with a handful of Chick Fight DVDs, and that Matsumoto vs. Kong thing, along with a few t-shirts. It'll be cool to say what's up to the girls I appreciate the most, and hopefully I will have an opportunity to deliver a very brief, condensed 30 second spiel to Portia about how frickin phenomenal she is.

Plus after six hours of wrestling, I'll probably want a classy meal, a movie, and a nap.

I'll research the internet tonight probably, but thought I'd ask for recommendations first, as to where I can find a hotel convenient to a place that sells posterboard. Something also near sushi would be a huge plus.

[tswdm]

The Rodeway Inn a lot of the fans stay at has a Walgreens across the street.