Koolina and Pro Bowl

[jmatias]

Anyone been at Koolina before during Pro Bowl Week?

Wondering if you see a lot of football players around and its worth grabbing a last minute exchange.

Thanks,
Jen

 

[pharmgirl]

Anyone been at Koolina before during Pro Bowl Week?

Wondering if you see a lot of football players around and its worth grabbing a last minute exchange.

Thanks,
Jen

yes lots of players, coaches, etc
see them walking around path, sometimes eating at restaurants, etc

 

[davidvel]

Do they stay around there?

 

[Aviator621]

There are also several Pro Bowl 'pre-events' that are open to the public. It's been a couple of years since we lived there, but you used to be able to view the practice sessions at Aloha Stadium, and there were several autograph sessions. There was even a NFL Players Skills challenge that was held in Ko Olina where the new DVC resort is being built. To sample, the link below has last year's calendar of events:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Feb/04/br/br5169408732.html

Bottom line: You would probably have a great time if you go especially since this is the last year it will be in Hawaii! Hope this helps

Davidvel--don't know if they still do, but used to stay at the JW Marriott there at Ko Olina

 

[ricoba]

We were at the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the Pro-Bowl a couple of years ago. I don't know if that was their main hotel, but they had lots of Pro-Bowl activities and players there at the time. ESPN had its broadcast booth set up at the beach in front of the Hilton.

 

[pharmgirl]

Do they stay around there?

JW MArriott Ihilani Hotel at KoOlina is the official hotel for the people involved (players, coaches, etc) in ProBowl. The hotel is at one end and timeshares at other end of a walkway (about half mile long) along the lagoons and in the same gated complex

 

[davidvel]

Wow great. Looks like you can rent Ko Olina directly from Marriott for less (with MOD) than what owner's are asking for. Very tempting. Maybe if Favre with the 81 passer rating drops out and P. Rivers with the 105.5 PR decides to go then I'll go!

 

[Clemson Fan]

The NFL rents out the entire JW Marriott at Ko'Olina for players, coaches, family and whomever else is attached to the NFL for the game. By doing this, they actually cordon off all of the hotel to the public and have high security. I learned that first hand last year when I went there with my 3 year old son to walk around the outdoor aquarium at the hotel. My son likes seeing the stingrays and sharks. We were stopped and not allowed on the hotel property b/c we did not have any NFL credentials. My son actually started to cry and was asking me why they didn't like us.

The security guard did give me a little tidbit of advice. He said that you can get into the hotel if you have reservations to eat at one of their restauraunts. So, I made reservations for lunch on one of those days and we went in there and security verified we had reservations and they let us in. We walked around and saw a ton of NFL players and coaches. We even hung out at the poolside bar for 5 minutes and we were about 5 feet away from Peyton Manning. I got the feeling that security wouldn't tolerate asking them for pictures or autographs so I didn't really try.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Its my understanding that next year's Pro Bowl is going to be in Florida, the week before the Superbowl, with none of the SB players participating. I think they are going back to Hawaii in 2011, but I'm not sure that has been finalized/

 

[Michigan Czar]

We stayed at Ko Olina in 2007 and we "snuck in" the JW. We went late in the evening and went in by the pool and up the steps to the bar on the second floor. We met Tiki Barber and saw a few other players, New Orleans coach, I forget his name, etc. Ko Olina is the place to stay, we even walked over and watched the skills competition at the JW.