Can someone fill me in on what to expect at the Woodward Dream Cruise. Two of us are planning to go for the first time. We coming from the Indianapolis area are bringing a 40 Tudor and a 32 Hiboy. We have rooms. What we need to know is about parking the cars. I have heard places are hard to find.

I'm not from the Detroit area but I've been going for 3 years now. Someone from Detroit can probably answer your questions better than me but I'll tell you what I know. As far as parking goes, I work at Eaton which is the main corporate sponsor and they have an area in Royal Oak for employees and customers, so I have a place to watch cruising from...IF I can find a place to park. They don't provide that. Most of the people in our area will park somewhere else and ride shuttle buses. Those of us that have cars and want to cruise will have to find places to park on our own. I usually pay to park at a church directly behind (west of) the Eaton pavilion in Pioneer Park in Royal Oak. I get there by 9AM and there is plenty of room to park....in fact I don't think they fill up til afternoon. It costs $10 for all day and they give you a pass to get in and out whenever you want. Parking places along Woodward Ave are almost impossible to get. There are some shopping centers that charge the public to park but I'm not sure where they are. If you haven't already checked out the DreamCruise website you should: http://www.dreamcruise.org/ Its a little helpful. My opinion is that the area on this map is one of the more desirable areas to be in. The star on the map is about where that church parking is at. Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some other options. People park just about anywhere they can get away with it.

Be prepared for a madhouse. There are over 1.5 million people and around 40,000 rods, customs, & classics. Many of the locals make plans to be out of town on Saturday. If you're going to cruise, bring a heavy dose of patience. Traffic on Saturday afternoon/evening is 4 lanes in each direction and crawling to stopped...especially in the Royal Oak/Birmingham area.

I know it sounds like one big hassle, but with the right attitude its a LOT of fun.

I forgot to post the map.

George, I'll be parking at the Memorial Park.



Rick
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awsum34

Remember the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

I've been there several times but have never parked and watched for very long. As people come and go spots do open up. Not sure if I'll be driving my 57 Chevy this year or not. You will enjoy the experience. I've got a CRUISE WOODWARD plate on the front of my 96 GMC Sonoma Xtd Cab that's lowered 5/4
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57CHEVYDUDE

Hi there, glad your coming to the Woodward Cruz. There is plenty of free parking along Woodward. You can park in just about any grassy area in front of a fast food place, gas station, bank, doctors office, Art Van Furniture store, etc. My suggestion would be to scope out a few places on Friday night then you'll have a better grasp on things on Sat morning. Get to know your neigbors where your parked and they will keep an eye on your spot if you want to go for a cruz. Cruzn on Sat till around noon isn't too bad. After 12, plan on parking and watching and of course walking is always the fastest way to get around. The slowest is the shuttles. 3 years ago I took the shuttle for exactly 6 miles to get from the car show at 9 Mile in Ferndale to 15 Mile in Birmingham where my rod was parked and I sat on the shuttle for over 3 hours!!!

Get a good detailed map of the area that way if you want to get to the other end you can always go east or west one mile then take that road north. The area is set up pretty easily in a grid pattern. Bring a compass and don't be afraid to make a wrong turn. You can always hollar out the window for someone to point you back in the right direction.

Theres a car show/cruz in at 8 Mile in the State Fairgrounds. I wouldn't waste my time. Theres a car show on 9 Mile in Ferndale. Don't put your car in the show cuz by the time you get out of there at 3 pm you won't find a place to park. The show is worth walking thru though. Around 13 Mile in Royal Oak is the center of the "action". Don't fart wrong in Royal Oak. They have a ZERO tolerance policy there. If you want to "play" alittle make sure your north of 14 Mile Rd. This is Birmingham and their cops are the coolest. In fact my favorite spots are from 14 Mile to 15 Mile.

If your really into Ford products make sure you make it to Shane park in Birmingham. They have a display of Ford cars that will knock your socks off. The cream of the cream have been asked to bring in their cars there for display. This will incompass about6 city blocks. Also in this area is the TBird club, GTO Club, Vette Club, Cobra Club, etc. You get the picture. You could spend all day just in Birmingham and not see everything there.

There's not much north of 15 Mile till you get closer to Pontiac but if you need to cool your car off this is a good direction to head. If you come in on Friday morning or afternoon downtown Pontiac has a nice Cruz-in. Other then Friday afternoon we don't really go that far north on Sat. Too much to do in the other areas. On Friday evening, theres a great car parade on 12 Mile in Berkley. They limit the number of cars to 500 and its a preregister thing but if your in the area its cool to watch. Leaves from the staging area in the cemerty on Woodward at 12 Mile at 7pm and heads West on 12 Mile of a couple of miles. Walking thru the cemerty prior to 7pm is pretty cool too.

Can't think of anything else you might need to know. Some of use are planning to meet for breakfast on Sat at 9am. I'll post more info here as soon as a place has been determined. If you have any problems, or need bail for Royal Oaks finest (LOL) call me, my cell phone is always with me and on 734 673 6930. Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Your going to have a blast.
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE

Denise, I be parking in Memorial Park. GM will have some places there for us. As i am told. Where at in Memorial Park is the question. I still havn't got anything in the mail yet, like they said they were going to do. I heard Memorial Park through the grapevine. You would think they would give me a phone # if i had any question.
If it changes i'll let you know

George.. Thanks for posting the map. It was your map that i found Memorial Park.

Rick
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awsum34

Remember the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

This sounds like a lot of fun, but it makes me wonder if we ought to leave our hot rods at home for this first time.

Drive it!! You'll have fun.

George, I got my stuff in the mail. So i'll be up there. I'll be parking in the north end of Memorial Park.


Steve, I'll be staying at the Extd Stay AM Madison Heights, either right up or down the street form you.

Denise, I will be looking for you. since you won't be in one place very long. :)


Rick
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awsum34

Remember the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

Just got back from an evening of cruzn on Woodward. Hundreds of cars out already. The parking lot at the strip mall on the corner of 13 Mile was pack and all the lots for a mile north and 2 miles south, all had cars in them. The traffic was heavy with rods but still moving at posted speeds. The cops were pretty cool till 10pm then they started asking people to leave. By 10:30 the lot was empty and by 11pm or so most had started for home. Saw no racing or burnouts. I did see a couple of trailers in some of the lots and saw 4 cars in all pulled over by police (all in Royal Oak!!) In a nut shell, there were more cars out tonight then last year on Monday. Can't wait for tomorrow night!!!


Rick, just call and I'll come find you.
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE

Boy that cruise sounds so neat. I have figured out that I need to build a rod for the shows up north.Have a great time folks,wish I could make it too....
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Grump

I hope you come up for it one of these days. Got out to Woodward last nite at 6:20pm and it was jammed already. There were THOUSANDS of cars. Talked to a few of the guys that had "front" row parking at 13 Mile. Most of them got there in the 4pm range, one guy had been there since 1. The oldies radio station was broadcasting live already from Duggans, which is in the heart of everything. They were telling commuters to avoid the area cause the cruisers have it all backed up. And it was!!! Traffic was at a standstill from 12 Mile to 14 Mile, 4 lanes wide, moving at around idle speed. At 10pm the cops closed the parking lot at 13Mile and also closed the right 2 lanes of traffic at 14, 13, and 12 Mile roads. They dispersed the traffic from these lanes on to the mile roads. If you stayed in the left lanes you could continue to cruz. Awesome night again. Weather here is blue skies and sunshine. mid 70's, bring a jacket for nitetime. Suppose to rain on Thursday but then nice for the rest of the weekend.
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE

How can you tell when a car event is real popular? When you go to a mail list dedicated to a southern rock band (Molly Hatchet in this case) and they are talking about what a great time Woodward is!
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KY State Dir. For Kustoms Of America

Great time is putting it mildly. Just got home from another awesome night on Woodward. I can honestly saw it was the best time I've ever had down there. Tons of cars. Tons of great people. Did lots of cruzn in the Vette, topless of course, and then parked it and hung out on the second floor of Duggans looking directly down on Woodward, right in the heart of everything. Of course the cops shut everything down at 10pm again but thats ok cuz we already had our parking space and were having an awesome time. Rain is still in the forecast for tomorrow but Friday and Sat look great. High temp on Sat 77!!! Perfect for cruzn and walking around. Again, if any out of towners need anything, don't hesitate to call.
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE

I wouldn't leave them at home if I were you. Maybe just bring one between the 2 of you. Bring the rod that runs the coolest. I think you might regret not having a hot rod there to have some fun with. Last year I had my Vette down there. Me and my girlfriend Lynn would drive for a few blocks then see someone we wanted to talk to so we'd park, hang out for awhile then move on and see someone else and park etc. Had no problem find quite a few places all day long. If you have to go to the bathroom, theres lots of portajohns and all the fast food places will let you use theres. What day are you arriving? We'll plan to hook up.
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE

We are going to leave from around Indy Fri morning. I don't if I mentioned it but we are staying at the Fairfield Inn in Madison Hts. Both cars run cool, so that isn't a problem. My hiboy is a 4spd, but it isn't too hard to drive in traffic. I changed the cam in it this past spring, got rid of the lumpy one, made a big difference.

Your going to be staying about 6 miles from Woodward. It should take you about 5 1/2-6 hours to get here from Indy which puts you on Wodward mid-afternoon. You'll be able to make quite a few passes up and down before things start getting backed up which will happen around 7pm on Friday. Call my cell phone when you get to Woodward on Friday and I will met you whenever you are. If its before 4pm I will be at the Phonix center in Pontiac, the furthest point North on Woodward. After 5pm I'll be in the cemetary at the corner of 12 Mile, staging for the car parade. Both places will have around 500 cars each and in my opinion are don't miss opportunities to see very nice cars up close and personal. I will be out on Woodward every night starting on Monday and will report back here with the goings on. :)))
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YOUR ROD-LESS CRUZN BUDDY, DENISE