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The Tundra Tailgate Zone Packers Experience

Just as I promised in my Wednesday trainin camp report, I am now going to tell address the new Packer feature the Tundra Tailgate Zone. The Tundra Tailgate Zone is nothing flashy. It is actually three tents set up in the parking lot next to the fneced off area where the players park. When the idea was first announced I thought it was kind of a side attraction and wouldn’t be much. I was actually a little surprised though. While some kinks need to be worked out, I see a future for the Tundra Tailgate Zone.

As I have already mentioned there are three tents. The first tent holds the Packers Experience. For those who don’t know the Packers Experience is a bunch of games and activities that let kids and adults brave enough to actually try the activities the ability to see what it is like to be a Packer. Obviously it is meant for children but there are some adults that aren’t afraid to try it themselves (I wasn’t one of these adults). The kids that were entering and exiting the tent seemed pretty happy so kids probably will enjoy the tent quite a bit.

Tundra Tailgate Zone Food Tent

The tent farthest from the stadium is the food tent. This tent is supposed to give you the feeling of tailgating at Lambeau Field if you aren’t actually able to Tailgate. I personally was a little disappointed by this tent. I thought they could have done quite a bit more with this tent. I could be wrong with this but it looked like it was essentially just one of the food stands that are open inside the stadium during gamedays. The prices are also essentially the same as the food during games (which isn’t cheap). Hopefully the Packers work on this tent more in the future since I think there is a real future with it.

The middle tent is easily the best tent in my opinion. It is the entertainment tent. This tent features different events each day of training camp. This tent is supposedly going to be used throughout the season and here is a list of the upcomming events scheduled for the entertainment tent. The events scheduled for the tent on the day I went included a jersey giveaway (Scott Wells and Atari Bigby were given away the day I went), the Future Lambeau Leapers (a place for kids to get autographs which appears to have improved since Hawk and Jennings signed the day I went), a Q&A with Bob Harlan, and finally an alumni autograph session (easily the best of all the events).

Tundra Tailgate Zone Entertainment Tent

The alumni that were there the day I went were  Bill Schroeder, Bryce Paup, Lynn Dickey, and Eric Torkleson (I didn’t know he was before I got his autograph). I thought it was a great way to get to know some of the older players (I wasn’t even alive when Dickey and Torkleson played). Everyone is allowed to have one autograph signed by each player. The players also pose for pictures if you are interested in a picture with the players. What I really like was that the lines moved quite fast and you had to wait around 15 minutes to get your autographs. Also if you bring a unique item to get signed you are almost guarenteed to get an interesting story from the player. For example I actually found a Torkelson car (Torkelson only has two cards). Torkelson was surprised I found one of his cards and he claims he doesn’t even know where his copies are.I actually liked the alumni autographs so much that I hope they expand it and they could even possibly use it so adults can get autographs from current Packer players.

So that is what you can expect out of the Tundra Tailgate Zone. While the tents could use some work (none of them are that great to look at) I think there is a future for the Tundra Tailgate Zone.