A clean new park in Filth-adelphia. Just amazing!
Written: Apr 22 '04 (Updated May 26 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Aesthetics: |
 |
|
| Food Selection: |
|
|
|
Pros: large scoreboard and screen, clean, new, homerun bell
Cons: Lines for concessions, seats are still small, little parking.
The Bottom Line: 1st impression – WOW. I’ve never seen something so clean in Filth-adelphia. It’s a great park, but I would think that you could get even more for $458,000,000.
|
|
|
| mike0877's Full Review: Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Ballpark |
I must admit, I grew up in Veteran's stadium and enjoyed it. Even though it wasn't the best park in the world, I had some great memories there. Now, Citizen's Bank Park is built and, man, does it look great! This park is just breathtaking with an old style park feel. I look forward to making new memories with my children here. It feels like you’re in another city, it’s just tough to believe that something this great is in Philly.
TICKETS –
Tickets are tough to come by this first season. Buy them now if you want to go before they're all gone. The sections are set up just how you would expect them. For example, if you have section 305, expect to be in the 3rd tier. Prices range from $15-$40 for single tickets.
SEATING –
There are 43,500 seats. Every seat faces home plate. It looks to me that the bad seats are sections 200-300 in the outfield (can't see wall plays), in left-center field (have to look up and behind at scoreboard), and directly behind the foul line posts.
VIEW –
They say that you get a scenic view of the Philadelphia skyline, but it's not much to look at. You only get the view if your seated somewhere near home plate. With the big buildings being several miles away, you kind of get a foggy version of the skyline, and I'm sure that in poor conditions, you can't see it at all. Philadelphia isn't that great to look at anyway. I liked Pittsburgh's new baseball stadium's view of their building skyline far better.
OTHER FEATURES -
1) The fake astroturf and poor surface at the Vet was a big complaint of most players. Now there's real grass and dirt.
2) The scoreboard is enormous. I heard that it's the biggest in the major leagues. It shows the lineup on both teams with a * next to whoever is at bat. The “jumbotron” was just as big, and both had good quality in comparison. You can easily see the big board from outside the stadium.
3) It seems the big hit for extra sales at the park was the stores, including a “build-your-own-Phanatic” store for kids, where you dress the green guy. I didn’t go into any of the stores because there was a line to get in them. There is also the “Phanatic Phun Zone”, where kids can play a huge version of baseball pinball and compete running the bases.
4) There was a Phillies all-star timeline wall called Memory Lane. I could only peek at it for a second and couldn’t read the print as the crowd was shoving and pushing to get by.
5) The walk around open concourse will let you watch the game without missing a beat.
6) Screens everywhere – The quality is excellent on all stadium screens. There’s the big one I’ve talked about, but there’s also 2 big ones on the right field wall and some skinny ones across from you between the levels.
7) Home run bell – There is a neon liberty bell that swings and rings after Phillies home runs. Pretty cool effect, but I hear that it looks better for night games.
8) Statues – There are a couple 10-foot tall bronze statues that have great detail and are just amazing to look at.
8) Bathrooms – I had to go between innings and there was no line. I was able to walk in and out.
CONS -
1) It's said that there's not a bad seat in the house, and that everything is within clear view. Unfortunately, I didn't have that experience in the 300 level in right field. Every time a ball was hit anywhere near the back wall, I didn't know what was going on.
2) The seats are the same narrow plastic chairs. If you're a large person, you're still going to have a problem fitting. My leg was uncomfortably touching the guy's leg next to me for the entire 5 hour game. This is no change from Veteran's Stadium however. There are also some bad seats (see "seating" above).
3) Lines for food are outrageous, and the prices for food are even worse. I got thirsty, but refused to dish out the $3.50 for bottled water. I had to ask a couple people for directions to a water fountain, and eventually found one. I wanted to try Bull’s BBQ, but the lines were extremely long throughout the whole game. Oh, and don’t plan on drinking alcohol, that’s $5.50-$6 a beer. Despite this, it’s not too far from the Vet prices.
4) Plan to dish out between $10-$20 for parking. Until they clear the nearby demolition and make a new parking lot, it’s tough to get a spot still. However, we showed up 1-1/2 hours early and parked 3 blocks away on the road for free. Plan to wait in traffic when the game is over as 43,000 people attempt to leave the area at the same time.
5) They advertise that you don’t have to deal with those darn ramps anymore. (but for the high levels, they have stairs now instead!)
6) The famous Gino’s steaks is in the park, but we all know that Pat’s cheesesteaks are better.
SUGGESTIONS –
Buy tickets early. Don’t go to the game hungry or thirsty. Plan to be late afterwards with traffic.
My first impression when entering the park was – WOW. I’ve never seen something so clean in Filth-adelphia. It’s a great park, but I would think that you could get even more for $458,000,000.
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: Busy But Manageable
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mike0877
|
|
Location: Swedesboro, NJ, USA
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.