Yes, they’ve had the US Classic, the huge Opening Gala, and tons of other events. This isn’t their first rodeo. Many of the event people worked on both 2014 Nationals and 2016 Worlds.
I was at the US Classic and Opening Gala. There were lines for food at the arena stand.
For the gala, we arrived there maybe 45-50 min before the start. We were in line on the road to even get into parking, and there appeared to be no parking, and we were directed onto the grass.
There are 3 ice rinks, so with the gala, not sure how many people were there, besides the full house - may have been way more people than a normal event. There was a long line for the food in the arena.
For the US Classic - was there for a few days, and was there early in day, no issue with parking. I would guess only an issue for folks showing up the ladies final?
So even if comp is sold out - I think it should be ok - as long as nothing major in the other rinks?
There is a shopping center about 1.5 miles away that has Panera, Chipotle, Smashburger, etc and within 5 miles - tons of restaurants on Route 1 which is a little over a 1 mile away and it has lots of restaurants, McDs etc.
Also lots of hotels. Rates are not great now. I made a reservation, but I will recheck every few weeks. I find as the date gets closer, rates drop, I make a new reservation and then cancel the old. (For a different trip I originally booked at $170/night and ended up paying $109/night at the same place, probably rebooked about 5 times as price dropped).
I looked up the Patriots schedule - but nothing yet - as not that far from there. If there is a football game that weekend- that could impact hotel rates.
I for one am happy it is in Norwood, and would have been happy with Lake Placid. I live about 2 hours from Norwood, so nice for a long weekend. The facility is beautiful and has lots of ladies rooms. One end has glass - so love seeing the sky while in an arena.