Shuttle or car for PIR

[jackiet]

My mother-in-law will be going to PIR with us on 10/7 and although she isn't handicapped, long walks can be difficult for her. Which would be the shortest walk, getting dropped off at the gate by the shuttle, or parking our rental car in the lot.

[medic mom]

The shuttle bus drops you off kinda close. Driving might be better for after PIR. You might also wanna think taking a taxi. Kinda hard which one to suggest since you will be doing a lot of walking to get places. My sin PIRed 9/9. We took the shuttle there and a taxi back to our hotel.

[Dodie]

I believe the taxi can only drop you off at the gate. We drove my in-laws to the PIR. We drove their car & had her get a handicap card from the DMV to hang from the mirror so we could park in a handicap space in the parking garage. It wasn't a long walk to the hall. The key is to get there early.

[Rebecca]

My daughter has a movement disorder that causes her fatigue when she walks far. We rented a car, had a handicapped placard, and we parked right by the door. They also have folks waiting with wheelchairs to assist you into the building. She can sit in the handicapped section, and only one person can sit with her, or she can go into the bleachers with everyone if she is capable. When the PIR is over, they will assist you back out with the wheelchair.One word of advice, the handicapped seating is on the drill hall floor level, and the view for picture taking is terrible. If she can get up a few rows in the bleachers, you will all have a great view of your Sailor. Have fun!

[Suzanhship2div944]

When you go to the meet and greet, look for Sarge. He will pick you up at the hotel and drop you right at the gate. Only 3 dollars and he by passes all the traffic. He is great.

[avasmooch]

@ Dodie(EM3 Power School 1106)

@Rebecca

Okay, when I went to the PIR 9/1, I was sooooo glad that I had rented a car and drove myself. Personally, there is nothing better than coming and going at your own convenience. Especially in this situation for the following reasons:

• If you get there early enough, you will be fine the deck walks right into the building and if handicapped, parking is conveniently located close by. They also had wheel chairs I believe.
• When the PIR ceremony was completed, my sailor had duty, so we had to wait until he was done, so we just walked around and browsed the NEX.
• IDK if your sailor will have duty, be moving to onsite A school or whatever his/her personal circumstance may be, but only your sailor will know for sure, but it will sure make things easier.
• Also, if you plan on staying at a hotel, you will be able to pickup and drop off your sailor over your period of stay.

I hope I have not rambled too much. I have a poor habit of doing that.

Anyway, with a taxi,I know of one family that had a taxi waiting for over an hour and did not have any idea what to do.

With the shuttle, I do not know how many times they will run and if the sailor can ride with you. (Like I said, I do not know how the shuttle works)

Good Luck!

[Rebecca]

I will agree that renting the car gave us much more flexibility than the shuttle/taxi's seemed to offer. But here's a HUGE piece of advice...make sure that if you rent, that you have the rental agreement and a copy of you own auto insurance to present on the base.We forgot to bring our insurance card along (ugh!) and while they let us rent the car just fine, we were freaked out that without it we would not get onto the base. Turns out they check randomly but it would have killed me to have that lousy piece of paper stop me form seeing my son's PIR. (We had our ins. company email a copy to us then had to go to a library to print off the copy...I did not need that kind of stress but so glad we got is worked out.)

 

If you choose to rent a car, I do not recommend that you pay for the toll pass. We rented from Enterprise and the fee was $7.oo a day. We would have spent about $3 the entire 4 days we were there. Also, the GPS rental ($12 a day) is unnecessary if you can read a map. Pick up a free Lake County map, take a few minutes to get your bearings and you would be amazed at how easy it is to navigate that area...the city of Chicago is a completely different story! Our best source of directions in the city was a local cab driver. We puled up beside him, asked for directions to where we wanted to go (Navy Pier) and he gave us perfect, and free, directions.

 

As far as the shuttles go. a friend that stayed at a hotel in Waukegan said it was great for getting to the base, but not so great for getting back. As you mentioned, there is a long wait after PIR for your Sailor, and the shuttles are on a schedule.

 

I think all of you reasons are spot-on! If at all possible, I suggest renting a car.

 

Good luck to all, enjoy this special moment!