Hi all, I love HOYS having ridden there myself about 17 years ago and DD (aged 12) will be riding there for the 2nd time on Sunday morning! I don't think we've missed going for 20+ years.
There is a brief schedule on Hoys Website - the key thing to remember is that it starts very early - 6.50am in main arena (Andrews Bowens) and 7am in the showing arena (Caldene) and the afternoon performance finishes about 5.30pm. If you want exact times (and more detail than you could ever want!) click on the Competitor Zone and then click on 2015 Schedule and you'll find everything there down to the last minute.
Your tickets will be for reserved seats in the Andrews Bowens although in reality you can sit pretty much anywhere first thing in the morning because it only gets busy from mid morning onwards.
Your tickets will also allow you to go to the Caldene Arena to watch any of the showing classes and they have free seating in there although it does get very busy. I've never failed to find somewhere to sit though.
You will also be able to access the huge range of shops and other displays (Natural Horsemanship or whatever) in the areas between the two rings.
There are plenty of food outlets which can be expensive but if you take your own drinks and snacks and just by specific items like pizza or whatever you can keep costs down. We just stuff ourselves in the car before we go in and leave things to eat when we get back!
Car parking is fine and they have shuttle buses every 10 minutes - really not an issue. The NEC are used to dealing with massive crowds and everything is very efficient. The only queues you get are straight after the end of the performances but you can always hang around and shop more.
It is very hot and because it's all indoors try not to wear coats etc. We just wear what we'd wear around the house and yes horsey gear (Joules etc) fits in just great. Horsey and bling is usually the order of the day!
The one thing I'd say is that arriving at Noon seems really, really late! Is there anyway you can get there earlier because you'll miss loads of show classes, show jumping competitions, shopping opportunities etc.
I know we have to be there early because DD's class (the 3rd of the day) starts at 8.30am but I'd still try and get there by 10am if going for a fun day.
Check with your DCs in case there is anything they specifically want to watch - it may be on early...
We're going up on Saturday afternoon because DD has to ride her pony in on Saturday evening (her slot is 7.15pm to 8pm in the Caldene) and again at 5am on Sunday morning!!
Have a great time !