Favorite new thing/ what did you not like? at TRF 2012

[PollyPoPo]

I actually signed up to win the car on my way out. I know, I know, I'm blaming the beer!
Here's what the car thing is about; Right after you sign up they give you a pitch about vacation rentals, then about a week later you get a letter telling you you've won a prize that you need to go to their property in Conroe to collect. If you ignore the letter they are kind enough to remind you by ringing your cell phone,(I know, beer again )  twice a day, every day, till you set up an appointment.

So be sure and avoid ye olde timeshare scam on your way in or out!

Try playing them right back.  Agree to show up for meeting but you cant afford to go over there could they comp you a free room and a $50 gift card for you gas.  You would be surprised how often it works, just pay attention to when they tell you how long the sales pitch is and dont let them convince you to sit there longer and wait.  When you hit that point just say nah im not buying have a good day and get up and leave.

I started to play with them years back, but when setting appointment on phone they askd about income (you know, $10,000 to $20,000; $20,000 to xxxxx).  I gave them a figure below $20,000 - voila, sorry, you do not qualify.  So, not only is the contest limited to people who can make it to the sales pitch, it is limited to people with a certain amount of income (I'm guessing you have to be able to afford the time-share or whatever they are selling).

[Zardoz]

I actually signed up to win the car on my way out. I know, I know, I'm blaming the beer!
Here's what the car thing is about; Right after you sign up they give you a pitch about vacation rentals, then about a week later you get a letter telling you you've won a prize that you need to go to their property in Conroe to collect. If you ignore the letter they are kind enough to remind you by ringing your cell phone,(I know, beer again )  twice a day, every day, till you set up an appointment.

So be sure and avoid ye olde timeshare scam on your way in or out!

Question for you, Zardoz.  Did you notice anything on the sign-up paper, signs, anything at all to indicate it was a time-share solicitation?  

Edited: Never mind.  I did some Googling and found that this is a time-share solicitation, with info in small print on back of the entry card filled out. 

People are questioning the contest on the TRF FB page.

According to management, "The Texas Renaissance Festival No, no scam! We are giving away that Fiat 500! I am not sure if that is what you won...but the contest is legit.
~The King" as was posted on the TRF FB page.  Sounds like a car will be given away to someone entering contest there.  Might come back to bite 'em.

Unfortunately, the contest has an association with AVC Travel aka Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. which has a history of complaints to BBB and multiple web sites. 

Personally, I find it a questionable association for TRF. 

No I did not notice anything obvious to indicate it was a time-share scam.  The guy produced a flyer about it after I turned in the form. As far as the Fiat 500, interestingly, it was never mentioned in the letter or phone conversation I had with the Dallas call center, the pitch is for $49000 cash, or a new Mercedes, BMW, or Porsche . Or a $1500 shopping spree, or a $806 value 5-Day/4 night 'Island Adventure'  (which based on their flyer likely means Galveston)  Based on prior encounters with these guys,if you actually 'win' any of this stuff it's gonna be the 'Island Adventure'.

[PollyPoPo]

Edit Oct 23, 2012:  Management has posted that the car drawing in December will go to an entrant who is a TRF fan, indicating that the drawing itself is just for entries submitted at TRF. 

[Autumn Blaize]

I got to catch the Brazilian show on Sunday. The dancers are very pretty, and yes they can ummmmm dance. But I am SOOOOOOO disappointed!!!! TRF had a chance to make a really great new place and instead did this.
My friend looked at me and asked are we in little Brazil or the Brazilian hood? THAT WAS DUBSTEP! I am a DJ, have been for 10 years and that was club music! Can't believe this is Ren Fest.
I would have enjoyed a Viking pub or something more themed to that time frame.
TRF will forever be in my heart, and I have so many faire friends...but I am really looking forward to a faire that is not sooooo MODERN.....

[PollyPoPo]

I got to catch the Brazilian show on Sunday. The dancers are very pretty, and yes they can ummmmm dance. But I am SOOOOOOO disappointed!!!! TRF had a chance to make a really great new place and instead did this.
My friend looked at me and asked are we in little Brazil or the Brazilian hood? THAT WAS DUBSTEP! I am a DJ, have been for 10 years and that was club music! Can't believe this is Ren Fest.
I would have enjoyed a Viking pub or something more themed to that time frame.
TRF will forever be in my heart, and I have so many faire friends...but I am really looking forward to a faire that is not sooooo MODERN.....

Sherwood.

[Fenster]

I got to catch the Brazilian show on Sunday. The dancers are very pretty, and yes they can ummmmm dance. But I am SOOOOOOO disappointed!!!! TRF had a chance to make a really great new place and instead did this.
My friend looked at me and asked are we in little Brazil or the Brazilian hood? THAT WAS DUBSTEP! I am a DJ, have been for 10 years and that was club music! Can't believe this is Ren Fest.
I would have enjoyed a Viking pub or something more themed to that time frame.
TRF will forever be in my heart, and I have so many faire friends...but I am really looking forward to a faire that is not sooooo MODERN.....

Agreed!

They've stopped people from marching in parade because of glasses or no head covering, but allow modern Brazilian dancers and music?  They give shop owners a tough time if employees show tattoos or don't speak the king's english, but allow dubstep dancing? Whoever owns that restaurant must have some real pull with Terre or George.  And remember to nt just make complaints here, flood their official inboxes to get attention.

They could have just moved the Shunyata dancers over there.

[Breandan]

I am going to get a ton of photos of the immersion-breaking stuff they have added in, and see if I can get some polls going so that the Powers That Be, get it through their thick skulls (made thicker by all of the butt-kissing they get on Facebook) that they really ARE screwing up with some of their "improvements". If they listen and remedy it, YAY! If not, meh, they're neither the only faire in Texas nor are they the cheapest, plenty of other places to spend our money at.

[FaeHollow]

Favorite:
Deck at the sea devil. I have found a perch and will be using it every weekend. I also LOVE that some of the proclamations are being held at the Globe... I think it attracts more of the audience the performers deserve to have and their dances aren't lost in the dark.

Least Favorite:
This isn't a in the gates thing as much of an advertising thing , but WHO THE HECK makes all the posts for the Facebook? They should be fired. I am not a grammar nazi by any stretch of the imagination, but I would think the people put in charge of marketing the faire through the LARGEST social networking site could at least string a coherent sentence together. They also need to learn the difference between The King's English and Broken Redneck. Education, revision and a little bit of care would go miles. The marketing team is the last place to house your honey badgers.

Brazilian Restaurant- While I have heard the food is great and the girls are definitely pretty and can DANCE.... it is just not period. I have a certain level of suspension of disbelief, but I walk in there and I am transported completely away from the festival. I say you want to do something awesome with dancing Latin women.... Think Aztecs, sacrifices and all that. I'd love to see girls in tribal feathers, doing the same dances, sliding through a huge sacrificial volcano just to walk out of  a door in the bottom to start their dances. If you are going to drop the cash on a restaurant like that, make it more tribal than carnival, same girls, same dances, same food, same beauty, more period.

[Bonny Pearl]

We visited the upstairs area of the Barbarian Inn since we were kid free.  It was fun and I hope things pick up there.

We also visited and dined at the Brazilian place:

While the food was decent and the show was good I am not sure I will go out of my way to go there again.  It was kind of odd, like we had stepped out of an elevator and each floor was a time warp....faire, not so much faire and then faire again.  I agree with Fae, if the ladies were less Carnival and more in line with the period of faire as far as tribal styles/natural color feathers, etc., it would blend better with the faire experience, even with modern music.  Hubby liked the ladies apparel lol! 

Oh and more fans or redirection of the fans is needed in the full service dining area.  It was very hot and made eating there a bit unpleasant.

The new deck at the Sea Devil is great!  We really are enjoying that.

Loving the little things I am seeing, the new tree rings, spruced up areas and so on.

[PollyPoPo]

Re:  Brazilian restaurant

We very much enjoyed the food, but, yes, it was a time-warp feeling. 

Still, I like the idea of sitting down for one meal a weekend to be served.  Price was high, but not unexceptional for the setting.  We always figure a 25%-50% increase over a restaurant in town.

Saw the dance girls (it was cold, opening weekend Sunday, but the girls were in their dance attire) at the doorway, waving to people, but we did not get to see the show, although we were there about two hours in the dining area.

But, for now, that will be a must-do for our family members when they are at TRF.

[Autumn Blaize]

I got to catch the Brazilian show on Sunday. The dancers are very pretty, and yes they can ummmmm dance. But I am SOOOOOOO disappointed!!!! TRF had a chance to make a really great new place and instead did this.
My friend looked at me and asked are we in little Brazil or the Brazilian hood? THAT WAS DUBSTEP! I am a DJ, have been for 10 years and that was club music! Can't believe this is Ren Fest.
I would have enjoyed a Viking pub or something more themed to that time frame.
TRF will forever be in my heart, and I have so many faire friends...but I am really looking forward to a faire that is not sooooo MODERN.....

Sherwood.

We have already made plans and have started saving! Will be their this year!

[mrsmccunn]

I like the cast proclamations at the Globe at noon and 6 pm. The lighting and sound add to the show! Am not convinced patrons passing by understood what was going on though.
The Health to the Company song ending is touching as is the procession to firwirks with bagpipes and drums. Nice way to close down a fun day!

[DancingDogDairy]

I love the new parade route. I feel so special each time it processes down Mockingbird Lane.

For some reason, I can not STAND the shiny chrome clothes racks with plastic hangers pushed out on the sidewalk where I can not avoid seeing them.

It would be very inexpensive to cut strips of burlap to cover them.

[Breandan]

I think a lot of people don't have a problem with the new parade route so much as the surprise they got Opening when it never came by PoW

[DancingDogDairy]

Yes, that would be a shock!