If I were to sum up Stampede 2016 in one word it would be "astonishing."
People have their ups and downs when it comes to stampede but hey they're always entitled to their own opinion.
Did you know? With the release of Pokémon Go there are a few Pokéstops on the grounds and a few Pokémon around but if you're planning to play during stampede then I strongly suggest that you do it after Stampede where the grounds are open and free.
Out of the 10 days of Stampede my girlfriend and I went twice, the first and last day. Although she did work at Stampede we actually took the time to work around both our schedule. One thing I like about Stampede is that there is always returning food vendors and new food to try out! Yes Stampede can and will drain your money but if you don't gamble to win it back then you would need to budget yourself. The best place to gamble would be at Over and Under, although there are other places to gamble O&U is the number one hot spot.
If you plan your visit properly you can cover a lot of ground on a half day (starting at 3 or 4pm) from shows to rides to games to food yes there are A LOT of things to do but it's always about the timing and the line ups. My plan for this Stampede was to watch one show but both times that we went we missed it and always arrive when the show was over. One thing I notice was the fireworks display was always starting at 11:05pm, they do one test shot the start doing the actual display. The other thing I noticed is starting at around 10:300m rides do get longer.
We were happy that our visit was a success and we are excited for next year!