Learn me Woodward Ave Dream Cruise

My 15 year old son is into cars and racing.  Awesome.  Not so much into school...sigh.  Took him to the Atlanta Auto Show yesterday and were talking about car shows.  The thought has occurred to me to use a mega size car show as incentive for school.  He wants to go to SEMA, and I can get in.  However he's not old enough to go, so that's out.  Woodward is one I've never been to, but have always had some interest.  There are a variety of reasons why I may not be able to go no matter what, not the least of which is that he'd have to really show hard progress in school, so this may be just pipe dreaming.  However it's worth looking into. 

What's it like?  What is the variety of cars like?  If it's an endless parade of 1967 Mustang/Chevelle/Mopar/blah, blah, blah...forget it.  I like variety and oddball/unusual cars, so does he.  Plus he likes exotics.  Is it family friendly?  Hard to find parking for your rental car?  Good places to sit and watch?  Timing...is there lots to see before really late at night as I struggle to stay up late?
 

My daughter now lives six blocks from Woodward Ave, about half way between the river and eight mile, I have no excuse.  We may need a designated GRM parking lot some year.

There are a lot of muscle cars, but there are also a lot of other cars from european sports cars to wild custom stuff.  It's totally family friendly.  My normal approach is to park a block or two off of Woodward in the residential neighborhoods between 11 Mile and 12 Mile roads.  I've never had a problem finding parking thought it might be a block or two off of Woodward.  I then walk down to 11 mile, cross over and walk to 12 mile.  The road is lined with cars, and there is always something interesting driving by.  On the way out, I'll cruise for a mile or two, but frankly that's not as interesting as walking.

Based on your description, I think you'd both really enjoy it.

I missed your timing question.  I've always gone late morning to early afternoon.  The evening gets more boisterous, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.  

This past August was my first time. Lucky enough that the house I'm renting is ~.5 mile from Woodward, so we just walked. Like pkingham, we did morning-early afternoon - we walked ~2 miles north, and then had to come back to 11 mile to get home. Full day of walking, but saw tons of cars. It's defintiely more American classics than anything else, but that's not to say that's all there is. There's plenty of variety, and even American classics that might be new to you!

Thanks!  Are you better off walking up and down Woodward or hanging out (anywhere to actually sit?) and watch cars go by?  Or both? 

You could do either. We walked, and enjoyed seeing all the cars that were parked around. Some cars looked like they just stayed parked the whole time. Lots of diversity. I think it would be a little tough to find a place to sit if you didn't know someone, the place is super populated

Technically the cruise is Saturday only. People start cruising several days in advance and it's actually nicer in some ways. You can sit by the road and see stuff go by rather than the massive traffic jam that is Saturday. Thursday and Friday nights at Woodward and square lake is a good viewing spot. You can also check out the "back to the bricks" car show in Flint on Saturday morning. It's huge and has a more GRM vibe. Sunday after the cruise is completely dead, don't plan on seeing much of anything.

I've always lived right around Woodward and have gone to the Cruise off and on since I was kid. Now that I've gotten bored of the DSM Shootout (which is usually always the same weekend), I've regularly attended the DreamCruise the past couple of years.

The variety is pretty huge. It's mostly classic American/muscle stuff, but you'll see plenty of modern stuff, Euro/Import, exotics as well as oddball custom stuff, cars acting as political billboards and lots of brodozers rolling coal when they get the opportunity.

I have two spots that I visit that day:

-I get to park at a friend of a friend's business on the Northbound side of the road, just north of the 14 Mile intersection. I usually start my day here. There always seems to be a little less traffic at the spot (as opposed to going south between 11 and 14) and being at an intersection means you get to see a WOT pull every time the light goes green. IIRC, you can also find parking in the garage's in downtown Birmingham just up the road.

-The next spot I go to is what's called "The Loop". The Loop is the northern most point of Woodward, where if you're heading north it turns into a one way road that loops around downtown Pontiac and eventually puts you back going southbound.

The action at the Loop is very different than what goes on further south in places like Royal Oak and Birmingham. In those areas the event is well patrolled with lots of police officers on foot or bicycle ready to hand out infractions for burnouts and such. Pontiac however, can't afford to have it's own police force and relies on the county, which means there isn't as much patrol for the event. And the minimal police presence there also doesn't seem as "engaged" in enforcing what they crack down on further south.

That pretty much makes The Loop an unofficial burnout contest. It's probably not for everybody, but I would imagine your 15YO would get a kick out of it. I'm 32 and I think it's a blast. During the event, the Loop is populated by a real diverse group of locals who are chomping at the bit to step in the road and pour some water on the ground or hold the rear of the vehicle in place so it can to do a brake torque. My GF drives us there in my bare bones bolt ons RWD V8 Dakota and beats the tar out of the thing doing dozens of burnouts as we make passes cruising on the inside lane.

IIRC, as long the weather holds out, the loop stays active for longer since they don't kick the cars off the road at 9PM like they do at the southern part of WW.

The Loop is also just north of the new-ish M1 Concourse track where IIRC they had a bunch of events in the days leading up to and day of the Cruise. One of them was that whole FCA sponsored "Roadkill Nights" where they turned part of Woodward into a dragstrip and held a celebrity race event where Richard Rawlings crashed a Demon or Hellcat during a drag run. However, I think that was the weekend prior to DreamCruise weekend.

As was said in the previous comment. The road is pretty populated with cars on Thursday and Friday nights before the official event as well.

All in all, it's a good time, although I'd say my favorite large scale "classic" car event near that area is Frankenmuth AutoFest in September.

Used to go every year, nkw I avoid it. But that’s because I used to able to DRIVE my classic on Woodward. Now it’s a parking lot of SUVs and minivans. 

But I wholeheartedly recommend going. Check it out during the week, the cars are moving. 

I have the fastest ride on Woodward every year - I bring a bicycle.