Monkey Hold.
ECS MONKEY MAIL ORLANDO AWAY OCTOBER 17, 2018
Hello Away Travelers!!
Welcome to our second away trip headed to Orlando, Florida! You are part of the lucky 97 that have purchased tickets to join the Emerald City Supporters on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 to support our boys. You may be nervous because entry will be treated differently than in the past. Don’t worry we have a plan and all we need for you to do is read this email in its entirety and the attached Visiting Supporter Plan thoroughly and then you will know everything you need to know. Oh and obey the monkeys and follow your capo too!
Orlando has decided to suppress supporter culture by expecting us to leave the very limited tifo items we were allowed unattended in their stadium for over two hours. ECS leadership has made the decision to forgo bringing any supporter items as our gear will not be left alone. We will not have poles, flags, two pole banners or any banners. None of these items are allowed at stadium entry either.
Yes, this makes us angry and frustrated that Orlando is not at all being reasonable and are suppressing our supporter culture in their supposedly soccer specific stadium. But what Orlando can not do is silence our voices or our creativity. We encourage you to take your anger and your frustration on this situation and make sure you put it all into your voice for 90+ minutes so the boys can hear you on the pitch, as you spur our boys on toward victory; because everything else is secondary. There are 3 critical points on the line make sure you give everything for 90+ minutes. Our positioning in the standings relies on it!
Tickets:
Your Orlando City vs Seattle Sounders ticket(s), on Wednesday, October 17 at 7pm EDT to stand with the Emerald City Supporters are not attached to this email! Per the email previously sent to all ticket purchasers on 10/07/18 we will have 10 designated travel monkeys who will have your tickets on their phones and in order to expedite the process we are going to distribute wristbands upon check in with the monkeys. You will need to meet us at the prefunc or as a last chance the meeting location to get your wristband.
Parking & Transportation (page 18-22 of attachment):
Downtown Orlando has a free public transportation system named LYMMO. Please see page 21 of the attachment.
There is no designated away supporter parking lot. It is suggested that you use on of the indicated lots including 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 (see page 22) on the attached Supporter Group Plan. Please avoid Wall Street and the west side past the stadium as these are dedicated areas frequented and used by Orlando’s supporter groups.
Prefunc 2:00-5:00 pm:
Avenue Gastrobar
13 South Orange St
Orlando, FL
We will prefunc at Avenue prior to the match. Please arrive at the pre func in order to check in the with monkey and get your wristband. Your wristband= your ticket for this match.
At 5:00 pm we will close our tabs and by 5:20pm we will walk as a group a couple blocks to the required meeting location for us to meet up with Orlando security.
Meeting Location 5:40pm (page 14 of attachment):
Amway Center by the Pro Shop
400 W Churst St
Orlando, FL 32801
We will depart the meeting location at 5:50pm where we will be escorted by Orlando security through some route they determine to our gate entry. There is a diagram on page 15 on the attached Visiting Supporter Plan you can refer to see what may be our routes. But they are not set in stone and may be altered by Orlando security. Just stick with the group and you will be fine. This is your last chance to meet up with the group and get your wristband and gain entry to the stadium, but really please meet the monkeys at the prefunc because they are really already have a lot to do for you on this trip.
Stadium Entry Gate E 6:10 pm (page 13 of attachment- for picture, then pages 7-10 of attachment):
Orlando City Stadium
700 W Churst St
Orlando, FL 32805
At 6:10pm once we reach Gate E. If you have any ADA concerns it is suggested you may want to meet us here. Make sure you check in with the main monkey at this time to get your wristband.
When we arrive at Gate E the 10 designated travel monkeys will have you get in line with them- they will be able to have 9 additional people with wristbands so they can scan your ticket from their phones to get you entered into the stadium.
Please see pages 7-10 of the attached Visiting Supporter Plan to see their clear bag policies, Code of Conduct, Disruptive Behavior and Prohibited Items. There are some differences to entry at Century Link so please read and be prepared. Note the clutch size is a little bit bigger. But if you bring a non-clear bag and not the right size or a clutch that doesn’t fit the sizing you are not going to have time to go back to your car and enter the stadium based on our required system of entry so please make sure to follow the policies.
No bottled water, plastic or metal water bottles or factory sealed water (or any beverage) is allowed to be brought into the stadium. Please also note, no baby bags are allowed.
Once our group all enters we will then be escorted to our section. See page 16 of the attachment. There are no buffer rows between us and Orlando fans. Please leave the front row for our capos. Everyone else is encouraged to find their seat within the specified section- Rows R-W, please pay attention to the specific seats of each row noted on page 16.
Gametime (Important Information):
Emerald City Supporters is a supporters group. That's important to remember. Our reason for being at the match is to spur our boys on toward victory; everything else is secondary.
•Our section is always treated as General Admission, we do not enforce seat assignments. Everyone is invited to stand where they feel most comfortable.
•Keep your scarf tied AT ALLTIMES, inside and outside of the stadium.
•Participation is encouraged. We encourage those who know our songs to help lead others. Song Cards can be downloaded ahead of time from our site: https://www.weareecs.com/multimedia/songs. Don't worry if you don't know all the words, just follow along the best you can and your support will befelt!
•Do not engage in any way with home fans. Security will keep them at bay; there's no need to engage in any wordplay, taunting, threats, etc. If you have an issue, notify ECS travel monkeys or stadium staff.
•You should expect that you will be under surveillance at all times while at Orlando City Stadium and conduct yourselves accordingly. BEHAVE AS THOUGH YOU ARE BEING WATCHED,BECAUSE YOU ARE.
•FRIENDS OR FAMILY INOTHER MLS TEAM GEAR OR COLORS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND WITH US. Our section in the stadium is designated for supporters of Seattle Sounders FC. This match has big implications, and it is very, very important to those who have traveled to be here. Passions will be running high. If you or someone in your group is wearing colors of another MLS team, they will be asked to remove those items. If they refuse, we will try to have your group reseated. If stadium staff cannot accommodate a reseating, then your group will be asked to leave.
Postgame/Egress:
The MLS established procedure for those holding away supporter tickets is to remain in our section for up to 20 minutes while the home fans are cleared from the concourses. When the match ends, we ask that you scoot to the interior of our section as to avoid any contact with home fans. We remain until stadium security gives us the instruction to leave, and then we all leave together. We will be escorted back to our meeting location and at this time by stadium security and probably local PD.
Eternal Blue Forever Green,
ECS Travel Monkey
P.S. For up to the moment happenings follow us on Twitter @ECSTravelMonkey.
Your monkey in charge for this trip is Chris Urquhart
Your vice monkeys are: Brandy Vanderhoof and Shannon Bradshaw
Buy your monkeys and designated monkeys a drink at the prefunc because you don’t even know all the work that they had to do to make this trip possible for you!
Itinerary Recap:
As always, make SURE you check with the travel monkey on the ground for the latest schedule/details.
2:00-5:00 Prefunc at Venture- Check in with Monkeys and get your wristband
5:00 PM Close your tabs
5:20 PM Group walk to meet up location
5:40 PM Meet up location
5:50 PM Walk to Gate E, escorted by security
6:10 PM Arrive at Gate E, stadium entry
6:25 PM Arrive at Section
7:38 PMish Own the place and show “The Wall” how real supporting is done!!
9:30 PM ‘ish Celebrate & Security Hold
9:50 PM ‘ish Security Escort Back to Meeting Location