Ask Millie
Melbourne Park can be approached from different directions.
The mistake is choosing food on the wrong side of the event.
Some people will naturally come through the city and river side. Others will use Richmond or nearby rail and tram movement depending on where they start. The best food area depends on that approach. Choosing food on the wrong side creates unnecessary walking, awkward timing and extra pressure before the show or match.
A good Rod Laver Arena plan chooses the approach first, then builds food and timing around it. PlanSorted helps decide whether the day should be quick, social, food-led, rain-safe or built around visitors.
Four event day versions for Rod Laver Arena.
Check what the MCG is doing before you plan the night
Rod Laver Arena sits inside the same Melbourne Park precinct as AAMI Park and shares its approaches with the MCG. Through September that matters more than at any other time of year: an AFL final at the G moves a very large crowd through Jolimont, Richmond and the Yarra Park footbridges, and it will be moving while you are trying to get to a show.
If your event and a final fall on the same day, come in from the CBD side rather than Richmond, eat before you are anywhere near the precinct, and add half an hour to every buffer in this guide.
Friday 25 September 2026 is a Victorian public holiday, the day before the AFL Grand Final. The Grand Final Parade starts at Melbourne Park Oval that morning and runs through Birrarung Marr into Yarra Park, which means the precinct itself is the event for several hours. Trains and trams run a holiday timetable, and some of the smaller food options nearby will be closed.
The fortnight from Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October is the Victorian spring school holidays, so afternoon and early-evening shows draw a heavier family crowd and the queues at the gates are longer than the ticket time suggests.
Come in from the city side when the G is busy. Richmond will not thank you.
The Rod Laver Arena mistakes.
- Do not pick food without deciding the approach.
- Do not leave the meeting point vague.
- Do not make visitors do a full city itinerary before a night event.
- Do not assume the same plan works for tennis, concerts and other events.
- Do not ignore rain for the walk in and out.
- Do not book a tight post-event commitment.
Tell PlanSorted the event time, where you are starting, who is coming and whether food should happen before or after.
It will build the plan around Melbourne Park instead of treating it like a normal CBD booking.
Plan a Rod Laver Arena event day with food, transport, weather backup and crowd timing
