Not Your Typical Ballpark
Written: Jun 08 '04
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Pros: beautiful field, 20000 less seats than Vet, plenty to see and do
Cons: expensive, long food lines, typical ballpark fare
The Bottom Line: Great first visit but once you've seen it, you've seen it. Plan to spend lots of cash or get smart and bring your own food. Better than the Vet.
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| Ohara1861's Full Review: Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Ballpark |
Now don't get me wrong. The anticipation in Philadelphia of its newest ballpark and the new home of the Phillies was one that thousands of fans waited patiently for and after 2 years of construction, it is a site to behold.
However, I do have some problems with Citizens Bank Park that don't relate to aesthetics but have to do with greediness and I'm not sure who's to blame.
The park sits in South Philadelphia with its neighbors, Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Eagles) and the entire Comcast area (home of the Flyers, Sixers and concerts). Citizens Bank Park is in sharp contrast to the post-apocalyptic Linc and the concrete slabs belonging to Comcast. One look at the outside of this ballpark and you feel like you've time warped back 60 years to the fields of old.
Parking is not too bad considering that the home of the old Vet has still not been fully cleared but you can park across the street and take a short stroll to get to the park. The cost is the standard $10.
Attached to the park is a restaurant/bar called McFadden's which is open all year long, not just during baseball season. It was packed the day we went but we got in and saw an impressive area with a huge bar on the left side which leads out to a patio area with tables and live entertainment. The right side of McFadden's housed another bar plus the majority of tables to sit and have a meal. I ate chicken fingers, which were good and nicely presented. The fare is typical of bar food.
You can enter the park through McFadden's as long as you have tickets or can enter the park through any other their other gates. Lines move quickly, even though your bags are checked. Tickets are fed through a reader that scans your ticket and is given back to you.
The inside of the park is a spectacle in itself. If you've never been here before, I suggest you give yourself an extra hour beforehand to walk around the park and see all the attractions.
One of the best areas is behind the outfield and allows you to see the history of the Phillies and some of their notable players. They also have an area with plaques to see pictures and bios of their best players. A feature I thought was interesting was the brass baseballs set up with finger grooves and indents showing you how to hold the ball for different pitches (curve ball, fast ball, etc.) And in this same area, you can get within 10 feet of the visiting teams bullpen (which has caused much strife and complaints and now hosts a police officer in this same area for all us cranky Philly fans).
There is a section of kids to play in with tubes, tunnels and slides. It's not very big and doesn't have many play options and unfortunately was not opened the day we were there due to rain.
One of the nicest features of this park is that you can walk around the entire perimeter of the field and not miss any of the playing action and it's true.
The park is intimate and cozy and I felt like I was watching a minor league team (not because of the quality of play) but because it is close and our seats are pretty good.
The seats aren't any larger or wider than the Vet's but they did install cup holders so you can place your beverage it front of you and not under your seat.
I like the scoreboards that let you see the scores from other teams around the leagues as well as the pitch speed board. And of course the liberty bell is a huge metal outline of a structure that will ring whenever a Phillie hits a home run.
What really gets me is that this park (or the owners or the Phillies organization or whomever) is really good at squeezing you for every penny. It's not bad enough that our tickets prices increased $14.00 in one year up to $40.00 but if you have any kind of cash on you, then you'll be sure that this park finds a way to get it out of you.
Tickets, parking, beer ($6), hotdog ($3) but that's not enough. You can visit the Build-A-Bear area to make your own Phantic doll or teddy bear dressed up in a uniform. You can get your charicature done (come on-who really needs this) and now you can pay $8 to get a tour of the park. I guess it's fitting that a bank owns this park because you really need a loan to take the family there for a day.
As far as the food goes, it's nothing special. It's the standard fare of hotdogs, pizza, pretzels, peanuts. These stands are everywhere in the park and seems to repeat themselves as you go around and around. The only possible bright spots are Bull's BBQ (which smells great and the food looks good with good portions) but the lines are ridiculously long. The same with Tony Luc's. Never eaten there, would love to but I would spend the entire game just waiting in line as there is only 1 in the park. The one redeeming feature is the hand-cranked onion and relish dispensers. These are everywhere and let you crank out your condiments onto your hotdog but I don't like onions or relish (they're fun to play with though).
And a note on the bathrooms. I did visit them once. The line wasn't long, moved quickly and they had plenty of toilets in there. One feature that is missing is the mirrors above the sinks. I'm told that is so people don't stand there forever and a day primping and preening between innings.
This park is a bright spot (if only for a few years). It's a great place to watch baseball and cheer on the Phils, visit great times and learn about players from the past and heckle a pitcher from the opposing team.
I'm still looking for the Philadelphia skyline however. I guess my $40 tickets don't allow that feature.
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: Busy But Manageable
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Epinions.com ID:
Ohara1861
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Member: Jeanne O'Pella
Location: Haddonfield, NJ
Reviews written: 255
Trusted by: 23 members
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