They spent the budget for additional entry gates obtaining the best "Metro Quality" elevators obtainable in the DC zip code. A stuck elevator already?
Concessions and bathrooms are a disaster. For a game like soccer that has no breaks in the action both are a trainwreck at halftime. While I agree that there is some set of standards architects work from, I have to wonder whether or not they considered how a soccer game works with a running clock and no stoppages unless its really hot. Regular season MLS games finish in about 1:50, which includes the 15 minute half time and 90 min of actual game time. NHL games have an average game time of 2:20 which includes 60 min of game time. NBA games are around 2:15 with only 48 min of game time. NFL games are 3:12 with only an hour of actual time on the clock. The average for MLB is 3:12. Soccer fits more actual play into less time than any of the other major sports in the US. I've been to Caps sellouts where during the 18 min intermission I've hit both the mens room and a concession stand and not missed much if any action on the 100, 200 and 400 levels. CapOne Arena has a capacity of just over 20k, so totally comparable to our new stadium. While I've never counted, I do feel like I recollect that any bathroom I've ever been in on any of the 3 levels there has more urinals and stalls that any west/north side bathroom at a DCU game this year. Getting up from your seat during the run of play to get food/beer or hit the bathroom is going to cost you more of your game time than any other sport. I would surmise that that bathroom and concession capacity is under for a soccer game where plays with a running clock. Other than much less frequent beer vendors, there are no roving food vendors at DCU games now. While roving food vendors were rare at RFK, they are 100% non-existent now.
Interesting - we just go down to S Cap on 695 after the 14th st bridge then to M to New Jersey to H/I - the 395 exit to Wash to E to NJ seems confusing on the map - I'll assume it's easier in real life. Stop by and say hi - we're pretty much always sitting next to my dirty silver Corolla right by the back exit under the tree It does look like D/Wash might be an alternate way out if the ramp up to the Freeway is busy, normally we turn off NJ onto I to get to the S Cap entrance ramp. We hang in the Lot until traffic thins out.
I bring my bike on the car rack, park for free up by Eastern Market and ride in to the bike valet. So far it's worked like a charm for the times I am solo which is most games. But even with my family they didn't mind the walk.
Some things that can be done to improve getting into the stadium. There is additional capacity to open more lines into the stadium and should be opened up. Add season ticket entry areas for people who go regularly and know the drill. Provide more holders for people to put their metal objects while they go through the metal detectors. Create a separate area to handle people who have problems with their ticket. Have them moved off to this area where the problems can be addressed so that people who do not have issues with their tickets and know the drill can move in quickly.
I've found it pretty easy to get in through the NW gate showing up about half hour prior to kick off. Bathroom lines aren't too bad in that area behind the scoreboard as well. Concessions are definitely a different animal, and normally I don't even bother to try because it's so disastrous. Took about 25 minutes to get 2 hot dogs last weekend.
The men's room on the south end is much bigger. Lines move quickly. There is a self serve concession stand at the southwest corner for beers, sodas, candy and chips. I tend not to buy food unless I get to the stadium early.
I agree the route looks tricky on Google Maps, but it's easy and I seem to avoid any hangups (except for the night the DC Police closed the ramp up to 395 -- that was a pain in the ass. I'll try to stop by before Wednesday's game, thanks for the invite.
When I mentioned to my wife that there is a thread on BS to gripe about AF, she started to rant about the ladies rooms. Specifically, there are no dispensers or vending machines for "feminine products." This is pretty shocking to me. Also, there is only one mirror - which seems less important to me, but apparently not for females. Not having good ladies rooms is, ahem, bush league.
I'm thinking of bringing my bike to a garage and then biking from there, but I would like to know how hard it is to store one's bike during a match. Is it free? Does it fill up early? Is it too risky to leave your helmet on the bike?
Yea, but its such a s---show under the south stand at half time. I went looking for coffee or something hot to drink at half time on Saturday and I could barely move let alone find a specific line to be on.
I rarely go out for something at half-time (or any other time during the game) but from what I've seen, the crowd situation is worse at Audi than at any other MLS stadium I've been to.
Outside of the disaster that is trying to leave a game now that they've stupidly closed one of the exit stairwells post game, the East stand sounds more and more like the place to be at AF in terms of convenience and non-existent lines.
It took me longer to navigate the crowd on Saturday, from the self serve place in the SW corner to the stairs than it did to walk the whole rest of the way around the stadium. That space has 2 main concessions, a mens room line on the one side and 4-5 of those temporary concessions on the other side of the concourse along with hundreds of people trying to get someplace. Prior to Saturday, I've avoided that space since the first 2 games. From the 3 times I've gone down that way and the other times I've gone to the self serve place, that area looks way over crowded. I only went that way because I was looking for some kind of hot drink. Normally its Arepa Zone & pizza before the game for the adults & kids and maybe a visit to a beer guy at halftime which is always fast because there are a ton of them. The lack of in seat ordering/delivery is abysmal. Even a shithole like RFK had it. At this point, I don't think I can be convinced that this stadium has sufficient amenities. The clock is running for 81% of a soccer game from kickoff to final whistle, compared to 42% of a hockey game, 35% of a basketball game or 31% of an NFL game. I've never enjoyed watching basketball and the NFL is pretty much unwatchable these days too. I have to wonder how far behind hockey is. I am sure a highly competitive team has driven my interest the last few years.
RFK had a nicer layout for more efficient delivery, you could go in/out from the concourse in many/varied places and get to/from the seats wherever they were - in the current bullshit layout, you have to do all the movement outside the stadium and can only go up one place/narrow-stairway to get to half of each section. It's too inefficient - if I ran a business I would not offer delivery in such an inefficient layout. If you misjudged half a section in RFK, you'd still see each other and it would be easy to fix - in our current layout, the delivery person has to go back out, down stairs, run a section over and then go back up more stairs just to get to your lazy ass . Only the sheer number of beer vendors makes it make any sense for them to come up into the stands - and I imagine if your half-section does not buy a lot of beer, they don't come up your stairs any more.
I am surprised Audi Field's seating is more conducive to watching a game than siphoning money from your wallet.
So with all due respect, I don't think this is a "lazy ass thing". Smiley face or not. The point is it takes too dammed long to get something from the concessions or use the bathrooms. Not even in comparison to RFK, but any venue. It took my wife over half an hour (37 minutes) to get snow cones for the kids last month. And as far as the delivery guy going to the wrong section, I think there are 24 or 25 seats to a row in the midfield area of the new stadium and there were 20 seats in the 200 level, midfield sections at RFK. And yea, its a little hard to deal with going to the wrong section, but if Amazon can develop and app that tells the in store Whole Foods delivery shoppers that an item is a quarter of the way down aisle 9 on the left side, 2 shelves up, than it shouldn't be too hard to get an in stadium delivery person to the right aisle to make your delivery, especially if the app sends a notification that your order is on its way. I am paying way too much for seats to miss part of the game because it takes almost 40 minutes to hit a particular concession stand or if I want to go to the men's room and hit a concession stand on my way back at half time. It doesn't seem to be that much of a problem at CapOne during Caps game intermissions which are only 3 minutes longer than half time of a soccer game in a venue that almost the same size.
I leave my light on my bike and I have seen others leave their helmets as well...but no saddle bags are allowed! For big matches they do overflow on the side of the buidling if I recall. It's free but I leave a donation to the DC bike group that manages the valet.
Maybe someone runs up with a 3-4-sided partition and a bucket in the meantime: With the roof not completed, if it's raining no-one will be able to tell .......