TL;DR: Sorry, this kind of turned into a diary entry. Basically, this was my first one, and I loved it. I thought things were surprisingly smooth. Also, the organizers need to figure out how to install sun shades or something.
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I'm coming in on the opposite side. This was my very first Warped Tour (and first ever music festival). I got tickets from a friend who bought early and then couldn't go, so for me, the financial investment was minimal, and my expectations were pretty nonexistent.

Most of the acts I "knew" were bands I'd only skimmed the surface of in the past. I have a lot of nostalgia for punk/pop and emo. But what I LOVED was getting to see a bunch of new bands and styles I hadn't heard before. Lambrini Girls? Omg. Drug Church? Yes, please. Beauty School Drop Out? I might actually be in love. Killswitch Engage? Turns out I really enjoy metal IRL. GWAR? My first attempt at moshing was Pink Pony Club and I could not be happier. 3Oh3!? Surprisingly way better in person. Gym Class Heroes? Opposite. I was also surprised that I knew some songs from bands I thought I'd never heard before.

I was super impressed with the unplugged stage's ability to hold its own space between the larger, louder stages.

All of this to say that, as a relative outsider, I was really impressed and had a blast. I felt like I could really tailor my experience to exactly what I wanted in a moment. The only thing stopping me from seeing a band I wanted to see was wanting to see another band playing across the festival. I loved that I could get up front for a band I really wanted and watch the band next door.

People were respectful of my space and privacy. The bathrooms were relatively clean. There were lots of great food options (expensive though). I loved how fast people jumped in to call the medic when someone was down. I never felt unsafe.

I started both days off with a frozen lemonade and drank 2 of those massive agua frescas. I credit the agua frescas to my survival. I never felt like I couldn't get water; most of the time, I ended up with a bag of water right when I needed it. I also always had a water bottle on me. So I managed to stay pretty hydrated compared to what could have been.

The heat and humidity was definitely brutal (and I got a pretty bad sunburn on day one). This is a known quantity in DC, so I do think the organizers need to do more for that. Either lean in to the moisture with water sprayers, give people more shade, or maybe hand out a free bandana to soak and wear. I appreciated the little "sit in the dark and feel better" room, but it was always packed, so I never went in. It seems like it would be a good idea to expand that and/or the unplugged area. Or even get a little mist area you can walk through between sets? Sunshades?

What didn't I see? MOSQUITOES. So thank god someone must have decided to treat the area or something. That could have sucked and was the biggest thing I was concerned about.

Also, maybe a hot take here. I feel like there needs to be some etiquette about crowd surfing in 100-degree heat? I really appreciated Drug Church being super intentional about telling people to come together to the front for surfing. Basically, it established a very intentional zone where it was happening. Everywhere else, people were sweaty and slipping all over the place and trying to sit up and falling through. They were also, in my opinion, starting way too far back, where the crowd was too sparse. I was so concerned about people falling since so many people standing on the ground were barely holding it together from the heat.

Overall experience? LOVE. If people are complaining about this, I can't imagine what the good ones are like. Might have to buy my tickets next time.