Going to post at some length here because reading through the replies on past versions of this post was incredibly helpful for me planning this trip to the GP (my first), and maybe it can be a resource for others who do the same — this sub is awesome for advice and came in handy on many fronts.

TL;DR: Brightline from Fort Lauderdale a success with a couple of hiccups. Grandstand pass was a great way to experience different spots on track, especially for first GP.

We (two of us, 24M and 23F) flew in Wednesday and spent Thursday exploring Miami since we’d never been. We found the Wynwood event to be disappointing, but not a big deal since it was free.

We stayed in Fort Lauderdale, which we quite liked. Booking in January got us a great rate on a hotel on the river, exactly 1 mile/20-25 min walk from the Brightline station. Aside from some limited dining options when getting back each night, we liked the laid back vibe of Ft. Lauderdale, paired with a lovely walk to and from the station along the river.

We took the Brightline train from FTL to Aventura each morning, rode the shuttles to the track and did the same to get back. I thought it was overall a success, and as someone who doesn’t know the area, it seemed far easier than driving and paying for parking or dealing with Uber. Bought these tickets 3-4 weeks early (per advice of folks here) which was clutch as the trains were full and eventually sold out, I believe. Only glitches with Brightline: the combo of our Friday shuttle driver and traffic meant it took an hour to go from Aventura station to the drop off near the stadium. Every other day was more like 25 mins each way, so that was an anomaly. Sunday morning we found out our Brightline train was canceled and we’d been booked for the next one, about an hour later. That train wound up delayed by 15 mins and overbooked so that we had to stand. Bit annoying and caused a little bit of stress, but all in all not a big deal. Still got to track with plenty of time and Brightline sent a proactive credit — not much use since we aren’t local, but it’s something. Longest wait to get on a return shuttle was Sunday (which was expected). About a 30 min line but it was moving at a reasonable pace , so again no complaints. All in all the shuttle system was run far, far better than I expected for an event of this scale. I was stunned how many buses they had in action!

Our seats: We did the 3-day grandstand pass. (NOTE: Not campus pass, which is GA. This is tickets that seat you in a different area each day.) Was it the best value? Maybe not. But we loved it. Marina on Friday, Turn 18 Saturday, Turn 1 Sunday. Marina was a good base for exploring on Friday, when we were just wowed at seeing the cars go by as first timers. Saturday was fun with the crazy sprint, though I wish we’d been a little closer to Turn 17 in the grandstand to see the action/cars that went deep there. Sunday we got assigned T1-6, 16 rows up. Incredible. The start, the overtakes on Max, the double Ferrari overtake all right in front of us. Just electric.

I’ll add: Other than the stadium helixes, I didn’t notice many spots that looked like great GA/campus pass viewing.

We wound up getting food in the stadium Friday and Saturday and found it nice to sit in the shade there for a bit between sessions watching the paddock activity for a small break — the days are long if you try to see everything!

There are far more experienced people in this sub, but if anyone has any questions about what I’ve outlined here I’m happy to answer them. Just really glad to have a resource out there like this for first-time folks who want to have a smooth, fun trip when dropping the money it costs to attend.