I think Princess Haya thought it went well. She got all teary after quoting “My Old Kentucky Home” and saying how reluctantly she was closing the games.
The ticket prices dropping, lack of sponsors, lowering of budgets etc., were not the fault of the location but of the economy. First our economy collapsed and then Europe’s. All of their plans were designed in a different world then the one we are currently in.
I hope at some point it will come back here. I think Alltech and KY did a wonderful job under the current circumstances.
not entirely
The ticket prices dropping, lack of sponsors, lowering of budgets etc., were not the fault of the location but of the economy.
Perhaps to some extent but not entirely. They overestimated what both sponsors and attendees were willing (and able) to shell out. I would have bought both sections of the Grand Prix Special had the price been a little bit lower. Also don’t think the price for both halves should have been the same when the top horses were in the second half.
[QUOTE=M. O’Connor;5155907]
Rather backwards was the way in which tickets were sold, charging top dollar for early offers, then discounting the seats as they failed to sell out. Hotels anticipated a bonanza, and likewise discounted heavily, leaving those who had committed early feeling rightly that they had gotten a raw deal. [/QUOTE]
Yes, myself and eleven friends bought tickets the minute they became available of Ticketmaster. I bought eight full sets of tickets for dressage, requesting “best available seats” (and because Ticketmaster and limit of eight sets ~ my buddy bought the other four sets we needed). So the result was, not only were we penalized for being early birds, by paying full price, but we did not even get to sit together as a group. But probably what irrated me the most, was that our Freestyle seats were up in the nose bleed section.
Now I was on Ticketmaster one minute after 12 noon when tickets became available. I booked the F/S tickets first. So, at one minute into ticket sales, the best and most expensive tickets for the F/S were up in the nose bleed section. Now that really p**sed me off. What did you have to do to get “good” tickets for the F/S???
Other than the ticket problems, the games were fantastic and Kentucky folk the best. Thank you, Y’All 
One would expect that ticket prices in the future would be more reasonable, and that budgeting would be easier, since the stadiums and facilities are now built.
All I can say is that I hope DH does not hear about this … I told him this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the games have never been here before and probably will never be here again. Which was why we pulled every rabbit out of every hat we had to get our hineys down there.
Now, if I tell him, “Hey! Here they are again!” well … :lol:
[QUOTE=poltroon;5160090]
One would expect that ticket prices in the future would be more reasonable, and that budgeting would be easier, since the stadiums and facilities are now built.[/QUOTE]
The construction of stadiums and facilities was funded by Kentucky taxpayers, and had no effect on WEG budgets.
[QUOTE=MelantheLLC;5155955]
How about that Meydan place in Dubai, or wherever it is? ;)[/QUOTE]
Hope not. UAE has restrictions on who can enter the country.
The same thing happened to us (we had a group of 6, though, so were at least all sat together). And, in fact, where Ticketmaster had the seats on their little map was NOT where the seats were in the end (they were right horizontally speaking, but not vertically).
Given how much I hate Ticketmaster, though, I’m happy to blame this on them, not on the Games in general. :lol:
I still want to know why they didn’t cantilever the roof on the main stadium. The number of seats with obstructed views because of the massive iron columns is outrageous.
