here are my thoughts on the ballpark from last Saturday, if anyone is interested. I won't be in Fayetteville this weekend as the Thursday - Saturday road series are difficult for me to do, plus I wanted to be able to go to the Braves' opener at their new place.
First, I think that this past Saturday was very beneficial in terms of exposing problem areas. More tickets were sold and it was a bigger crowd on Saturday than the Braves had for the exhibition game against the Yankees the weekend before. I'm not optimistic that everything with the Braves' home opener on Friday night will go seamlessly, but I think that this past Saturday will hopefully minimize some of those potential issues.
Pros:
-The ballpark itself is beautiful. The sight lines seem really good and the seats generally seem closer to the field that what you had at Turner. There is a lot more going on in the OF at SunTrust... a lot more places to go beyond just your seat to watch the game or hang out.
-The concourses on the lower level are nice and wide. You could feel a bit claustrophobic at Turner Field entering the concourse on the 100 level near the LF gates (where the "speed of pitch" game was located)... and even further in the concourse, it could crowded in a hurry. I doubt that will be as much of a problem at SunTrust.
-The LED lights are really cool. First stadium I've been to with those instead of conventional stadium lights.
-The brick behind home plate is pretty neat too.
-Getting in and out seemed pretty easy. I got there about 40 minutes before first pitch, which I very rarely do (a few times a year I like to get in early and watch us warmup), so there wasn't a huge line at the entrance, but it looked like they have a lot of scanners and what not on the 3rd base side, which I imagine will draw most of their entrants.
-The scoreboard is nice. It's a very big screen, but doesn't dominate... the resolution is great. About what you'd expect from a brand new board.
-It seems like a good chunk of the stadium will be in the shade after about 4:30pm.
Cons:
-Parking. Driving in on Circle 75, I remember saying "this is going to be an absolute nightmare for weeknight games."... The parking lot numbers don't really seem to be laid out logically, or perhaps I just don't understand the numbering.... even with putting the address for the lot into your GPS, there is still some confusion about what is where. You've got people traveling both directions on Circle 75 needing to make left turns into parking lots... It just seems a bit chaotic. We ended up in Braves 29, which I think is the only lot that allows tailgating. A number of the parking lots are simply lots at nearby office buildings.... I suppose this is why you can't enter those lots on weeknights until 6:00p, but this seems to defeat the whole purpose of "we're building all those great restaurants, so you can come and hang out before the game.".... And I've never in life seen parking sold directly by a team (as is the case with several lots for which you can buy permits on the Braves' site) that have rules like "No loitering in parking lot" ....
-From Braves 29, it took 8 minutes to walk from the lot to the 3rd base gate, and that was walking at something of a leisurely pace. It seemed farther than it was. The pedestrian bridge helped. While I was tailgating on Saturday, I couldn't help but cast my eyes across I-75 to imagine where I'd be parking this Friday....
-Concessions were Sanford Stadium level speed. At the concession stand on main concourse, they had three draft beer options, no bottles (presumably because there is a higher profit margin with draft, even though it takes longer). The options were Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Blue Moon. The prices were $10 for a large domestic and I think $8.00 for a craft beer (only one size for craft). So I ordered a large Miller Lite and the person told me that she could only pour that in a regular sized cup since, and I'm not making this up, "Miller Lite is a craft beer." I argued this point to no avail and wound up with a large Coors Light, which was every bit as disappointing as I imagined. I don't think they're going to sell my beer of choice (Bud Light) anywhere in the place. That really stinks.
-The bathrooms could probably use more than 3 hand driers, but I never had to wait for one there.
-I think I underestimated the extent to which SunTrust Park is a cash grab. On the one hand, I can admire that.... Businesses exist to extract value and I think it's a bit silly that so many feel it necessary to pretend they do everything but that. I've always admired Las Vegas casinos for that reason.... it's all built for separate you for your money and make you want to come back and do it again (and in my case, they're very successful with the latter). I'm not knocking the profit motive here, but as I say, I think I underestimated it. It's going to cost a lot more to go to Braves games now, just with the parking. My tickets didn't increase too terribly much, but I'll pay almost twice as much to park each game now. And the beer selections are more limited, presumably because Miller paid extra for exclusivity (which I guess I wouldn't complain about it Bud had exclusivity).... SunTrust will grow on me, I'm sure. I LOVED Turner Field. Absolutely loved it... and it felt like home. Hopefully SunTrust feels that way to me one day too, but it seems like it's getting off on the wrong foot.
First, I think that this past Saturday was very beneficial in terms of exposing problem areas. More tickets were sold and it was a bigger crowd on Saturday than the Braves had for the exhibition game against the Yankees the weekend before. I'm not optimistic that everything with the Braves' home opener on Friday night will go seamlessly, but I think that this past Saturday will hopefully minimize some of those potential issues.
Pros:
-The ballpark itself is beautiful. The sight lines seem really good and the seats generally seem closer to the field that what you had at Turner. There is a lot more going on in the OF at SunTrust... a lot more places to go beyond just your seat to watch the game or hang out.
-The concourses on the lower level are nice and wide. You could feel a bit claustrophobic at Turner Field entering the concourse on the 100 level near the LF gates (where the "speed of pitch" game was located)... and even further in the concourse, it could crowded in a hurry. I doubt that will be as much of a problem at SunTrust.
-The LED lights are really cool. First stadium I've been to with those instead of conventional stadium lights.
-The brick behind home plate is pretty neat too.
-Getting in and out seemed pretty easy. I got there about 40 minutes before first pitch, which I very rarely do (a few times a year I like to get in early and watch us warmup), so there wasn't a huge line at the entrance, but it looked like they have a lot of scanners and what not on the 3rd base side, which I imagine will draw most of their entrants.
-The scoreboard is nice. It's a very big screen, but doesn't dominate... the resolution is great. About what you'd expect from a brand new board.
-It seems like a good chunk of the stadium will be in the shade after about 4:30pm.
Cons:
-Parking. Driving in on Circle 75, I remember saying "this is going to be an absolute nightmare for weeknight games."... The parking lot numbers don't really seem to be laid out logically, or perhaps I just don't understand the numbering.... even with putting the address for the lot into your GPS, there is still some confusion about what is where. You've got people traveling both directions on Circle 75 needing to make left turns into parking lots... It just seems a bit chaotic. We ended up in Braves 29, which I think is the only lot that allows tailgating. A number of the parking lots are simply lots at nearby office buildings.... I suppose this is why you can't enter those lots on weeknights until 6:00p, but this seems to defeat the whole purpose of "we're building all those great restaurants, so you can come and hang out before the game.".... And I've never in life seen parking sold directly by a team (as is the case with several lots for which you can buy permits on the Braves' site) that have rules like "No loitering in parking lot" ....
-From Braves 29, it took 8 minutes to walk from the lot to the 3rd base gate, and that was walking at something of a leisurely pace. It seemed farther than it was. The pedestrian bridge helped. While I was tailgating on Saturday, I couldn't help but cast my eyes across I-75 to imagine where I'd be parking this Friday....
-Concessions were Sanford Stadium level speed. At the concession stand on main concourse, they had three draft beer options, no bottles (presumably because there is a higher profit margin with draft, even though it takes longer). The options were Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Blue Moon. The prices were $10 for a large domestic and I think $8.00 for a craft beer (only one size for craft). So I ordered a large Miller Lite and the person told me that she could only pour that in a regular sized cup since, and I'm not making this up, "Miller Lite is a craft beer." I argued this point to no avail and wound up with a large Coors Light, which was every bit as disappointing as I imagined. I don't think they're going to sell my beer of choice (Bud Light) anywhere in the place. That really stinks.
-The bathrooms could probably use more than 3 hand driers, but I never had to wait for one there.
-I think I underestimated the extent to which SunTrust Park is a cash grab. On the one hand, I can admire that.... Businesses exist to extract value and I think it's a bit silly that so many feel it necessary to pretend they do everything but that. I've always admired Las Vegas casinos for that reason.... it's all built for separate you for your money and make you want to come back and do it again (and in my case, they're very successful with the latter). I'm not knocking the profit motive here, but as I say, I think I underestimated it. It's going to cost a lot more to go to Braves games now, just with the parking. My tickets didn't increase too terribly much, but I'll pay almost twice as much to park each game now. And the beer selections are more limited, presumably because Miller paid extra for exclusivity (which I guess I wouldn't complain about it Bud had exclusivity).... SunTrust will grow on me, I'm sure. I LOVED Turner Field. Absolutely loved it... and it felt like home. Hopefully SunTrust feels that way to me one day too, but it seems like it's getting off on the wrong foot.
