I have never been to Woodward. (Or Detroit for that matter...)
Thinking about doing a road trip from New York.
Is anyone going and is it worth it?
If so, where does the Mustang crowd usually gather? I know MustangAlley.com is setting up special events. I would see this trip as my tribute to Ford and the automotive traditions of Detroit.
All tips/ideas welcome!

 

My wife and I are going

 

I live nearby so I'll be there but it's like an epic traffic jam of pacific rim proportions in suburbia with no parking, overcrowded bars and hyperactive police. never in life will you see so many hot cars in one place but it sounds better than what it actually is.

what you'll find is many bizarre folk who for a few days retreat from their living room couches to lawn chairs on the street while not caring about the gt500 spoiler you just installed. many locals despise it. its fun but can get old pretty quickly.

it was insane when it first started but after a few years the police got more involved and corporate sponsors sucked the life out of the event. Mustang Alley is awesome though and Michigan is fantastic in the summer. Hit up some good restaurants/bars in Detroit and Royal Oak, do some wine tasting on the west side of the state or go up north to traverse city or sleeping bear dunes. i wouldn't make the trip just for the cruise.

 

I have actually been hitting Woodward on the weekends since 2003.
Many locals from the area gather out there on the weekends starting in April. The scene progressively gets better as the Dream Cruise gets closer. The week before the cruise or Cruise week as we call it is off the hook. The street and parking lots are filled with locals and cruisers from all over the world. Each night gets better as the quality of cars gets better. Plus each of the Big 3 usually bring out something special towards the end of the week. As said before the day of the cruise gets real jammed up, most of us locals don't even bother driving thru except in the early AM.
It's not called the worlds largest one day automotive event for nothing.

 

This man speaks the truth. Being a local myself and also working close to woodward. The weekends at night have been crazy. Saturday saw a 13' gt500 racing some sort of older camaro. stupid but whatever. Young guy who thought he was a BA. But its sweet and come cruise time its intense. Usually takes me 20 mins to get down the stretch of woodward i take and that turns into 3 hours come cruise day.

 

Me and my wife went a couple years ago. Cool to see the cars but EPIC traffic jam is an understatement. We got tired of the traffic so we went to Dearborn to see the Henry Ford Museum which was absolutley awesome. I think I got goosebumps just walking in the door.

 

The first cruise my wife and I were sitting in NY bagel when we saw all these nice old car's . We shot home grabbed our supercharged 91 t-bird 5.0 and a great time . Now all the car's are parked ( they over heat in the traffic) and people drive by in there minivans. Still there are some very nice car's there .

 

a bunch of us are leaving from pittsburgh on friday that weekend

what route will you be taking to get there?

i have been there a few times, it is pretty cool

 

This sounds interesting. Wifey and I are always looking for car events and we have never been to a big one yet.

Does anybody have website or something to make reservation for place to stay nearby? It might be 8=10 hours drive from Northern Virginia.

 

Steeda will be around that weekend representing with some of our serialized vehicles. Keep an eye out for us several weeks leading up to the event.

It will be a great time and hopefully we have great weather!!

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Just jump on one of the travel sites. Some of the better areas to stay in are Troy, Plymouth, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Dearborn.

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Forget Plymouth and Dearborn IMHO .

 

Usually takes me about ~9 hours to get up to Detroit from NoVA. Depends on how fast you drive and how often you stop.

When I go up there, I like staying in Downtown Detroit. Book Cadillac or one of the casino hotels are very nice (MGM Grand, Greektown, Motor City). Not sure what the availability will be around the dream cruise though.

If you want to stay outside of Downtown and closer to where the action is, like Steeda says there are plenty of areas close to the route that are nice. I grew up in Troy and like the area. Royal Oak is another cool area. Rochester Hills / Auburn Hills would be my 2nd option outside of Downtown Detroit.

 

I said Dearborn because of the Henry Hotel and the Double Tree. Both nice places and near the HQ.

Plymouth is just a cool place and there is a Hampton Inn right near there.

Lots of nice places to say ... just let us know where you are looking and we can give you a heads up or a red flag ...

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Will be there this year. Went last year with my wife and kids and the two previous with just my wife. May be on my own this year but wouldn't miss it. Great time.

 

I do love the Henry Ford museum , anybody from out of town should plan to go .

 

Cool. We will probably stay near the HQ so that we can just walk around and consume copious amounts of spirited beverages.

We will probably visit some car museums before heading back home.

 

Guys, if you're in town, look at the Adoba in Dearborn. It's a nice hotel and not too far from things.

Keep an eye on the thread in the event section. Last year we did go karting after the plant tour and it seemed to be a hit. We may try something similar this year

 

Novi which is about 20 mins out of where the cruise takes place is a great place for hotels. Lots of restaurants in the area, a mall if that suits you. Lake couple miles down the road with a public beach.

 

I'm a local and have been going since 2006. i have to echo the thing about the police. I used to live in Birmingham within a few blocks of woodward. My friends and i used to walk to woodward pulling coolers of beer. We'd sit down there drinking and enjoying the cars. It was very much like a tailgate scene but with MILES of cars. Last year i witnessed multiple cops asking people to open coolers so they could check for alcohol. So if u were thinking its a drinking event for spectators, it certainly is not. The cops write tickets for just about everything. I've never heard of someone actually getting a ticket for j walking, but someone i work with claims they did last year. The police really put a damper on the event. I swear that Saturday has to be the most profitable day of the year for the Royal Oak police dept.

That said, i've been to car shows, races, and cruises all over the country and have never witnessed a car event bigger than this. A guy from work who went last year for the first time compared it (in size) to bike week in Daytona. I've never been to bike week so I don't know how accurate that statement actually is. Wikipedia says, "The Woodward Dream Cruise is the world’s largest one-day automotive event, drawing about 1.5 million people and 40,000 classic cars each year from around the globe."

Also, not sure if you're going to try to park at mustang alley, but parking on or near woodward will be difficult. Parking lots along woodward charge to park and most spots are reserved well in advance of the actual cruise. Expect to park quite a ways away and walk. I usually have to walk over a mile to get to woodward now that i no longer live in b'ham.