to be really angry no access to Olympic park has not been well publicised?

[ChocChipCookieMuncher]

DH and I booked time off work today to take our 2 DD's to Olympic park as they have both got so into the games over last week or so. We didn't apply for tickets originally and know they are like gold dust now so no chance! We thought (wrongly!) we'd look around public areas outside the venues and just see the park and soak up the atmosphere. We've watched and listened to hours and hours of coverage and at no point have we heard it mentioned that the areas which look 'public' on TV (people milling around, watching on screens etc) are ticket only access. We also saw nothing on website flagging that up when we went on to get directions to Olympic Park. Feel completely stupid and gutted we wasted holiday, lots of money on train tickets to London (we live in Leeds) and our kids (and us!) were gutted . Are we the only people to have somehow not picked up on this crucial info in all the Olympic excitement?

I know bogey fucking Beeb moving everything up north. The worlds gone to the dogs!

none of them mentioned big screens? stratford park has big screens and a funfair and is about 2 mins walk if that!!

I am in the midlands you cheeky mare, which I know counts at oop north to your suverners! :o

Yuck, the midlands. One daren't leave Hackney for fear of encountering your northern muck

I joke, although my gran was known to claim (in a Margot Leadbetter meets Cockney voice) "Thee nawwwwth is h'where h'uhglay people go tooo die"

I can understand you must've been disappointed but I think it has been mentioned a lot, including on the web site.

I'm sorry you're disappointed but you were daft to come all that way without checking

Hackney?! Oh dear. When I visit my friends in the smoke atleast they have decency to live in Chelsea!

To be fair, your gran may have a point, and I am born and bred! :o

To the OPs OP though, I have noticed that alot of posts saying that it is widely mentioned seem to be from the SE. It hasnt been mentioned to my recollection up here, so perhaps there was an assumption on the part of the organisers that only locals would make the trip?

Wow. YABU. I haven't even been following the build up that closely and I knew they were selling day tickets to the park only, so that flagged up quite clearly you needed tickets. I can't imagine making a journey that long (and with children!) without doing proper research! Consider it a lesson learned.

I live in Leeds and have seen and heard it mentioned lots of times. BBC news, sky news, papers, BBC coverage etc.
Sorry you are disappointed OP, its rubbish. However you are annoyed that your assumptions were not put right. The website, imo is quite clear. Of course there are lots of people in the Olympic park, lots of people have tickets.

The park tickets were only available until the big stadium was opened, once the athletics started, there were too many people with tickets to actual events. It wasn't particularly well publicized, but was available if you looked about a bit.

If you want to see the Olympic park itself, it's worth trying to pick up Paralympic tickets.

Well I live very far from London, have no plans to go to any Olympic event and I knew the Olympic Park was ticketed. Had I been planning to go I would have done research in advance.

I think YABU, sorry!

It has been very well publicised.

If you had tried to get tickets, you will have noticed that there was an session called "Olympic Park" for £10. Also, a session called "Orbit - need an Olympic park ticket in addition"

The Olympic Park map shows clearly shows the cordon.

You also could have asked on social media, before rather than doing an AIBU afterwards.

Sorry you were disappointed - BUT - I think it's very well publicised that you need a ticket to get into the Olympic Park.

You should have made thorough checks before heading off.

I'm sorry but I have to agree, it has been very well publicised that you either need an event ticket or a park ticket to get into Olympic Park....

Sorry you feel you had a wasted day but you should have checked - if you go into the London 2012 forum here on MN you'll find numerous threads saying "can we just go and turn up..." and all of them say "No, you need a park ticket"

I am from the East Mids and I knew the park was ticketed. I dont know how I know, but I do know :o

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I can understand you are disappointed OP, but I think you should have done a bit of research rather than assume.

I agree, I don't think its been clear. I was very surprised on Sunday when some friends told me they'd been to the Olympic park. I asked if they needed tickets which they had but got the impression they picked them up on the day. I was planning on going tomorrow but having looked on the website decided I couldn't find any, but newnham council website was quite clear by saying they were only available the first week. Damn. I missed it.

Stewards wouldn't necessarily know what is going on where as they are volunteers often from out of area. I asked one the quickest way across Hyde park yesterday as we'd had to come from a diff tube station (Piccadilly line had severe delays). The volunteer hadn't got a clue, they only knew the route they'd been told to tell everyone.

YABU, I wouldn't have assumed it was free access at all.

But how disappointing for you and DC.

To be honest I would not have expected the park to be freely open to all during the games....security issues, crowding, issues with permitted numbers - what if the park got so full of non-ticket holders that ticket holders couldn't get in? It doesn't look public, it looks like a busy sporting venue. When you see an event like Ascot on the TV do you assume that the area outside the stands is open to non-ticket holders? I don't!

Really sorry you had such a disappointment, but it sounds as if over-enthusiasm took over.

There have been lots of messages asking the public not to travel to the park if they don't have tickets. As another poster has said Victoria Park, close to the site is one of the London Live sites and has free, unticketed access to the public, with big screens as well as an observation wheel with a view of the Olympic park.

I only became aware that the Olympic Park was ticket-only just before the Games started and by then it was too late to get tickets as they had sold out. I too had been put off by the opaque ticketing process in the lead-up. I hadn't realised that the park was being treated as a "venue" iyswim, so didn't think to search for park tickets when the tickets went on sale. (Disclaimer - my DD had only just been born when tickets went on sale, so my brain was rather fuzzy).

I am also very confused as to what will happen to the Olympic Park afterwards - whether it'll be open to the public immediately afterwards or not.

I knew. But I am obsessed. I know various people who, in conversation, have said 'oh i think we'll pop up and walk around the park' who have then been surprised when I told them they'd need tickets. So it's not just you.

The park will reopen a year afterwards ie July 2013 once the temporary venues have been dismantled.

According to Gardeners World magazine
..quote.. after the Games, the Park will become an open-access public space for us all to enjoy, so you'll have the chance to explore it at your leisure, without the need for a ticket .
www.gardenersworld.com

I think people are being too hard on OP. After all something similar happened to me when I took time off work, travelled to Disneyland Park in Paris and was stunned when they told me I couldn't get in for a wander. I just assumed that having the word park in the title meant that it was a free for all. I too didn't do any research and had a hissy fit when I didn't get my own way.