Review: Audi Field Experiences and Updates thread.

Discussion in 'D.C. United' started by morrissey, Jul 12, 2018.

  1. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    You're putting too much thought into this. However, points for the subtle jibe.
     
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  2. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    In the old days in England didn't you just piss where you stood in the terraces? From what I understand, what millennials crave is authenticity and it sounds like Audi Field is offering it. :p
     
  3. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    I began this post a few hours ago, but then work happened...
    The valet has plenty of space because many people (myself included) use other locations around the venue. The valet is near the west corner on the south side away from any entrance gates. It works fine. You give them your number and they text you a code for pickup. They take care of your bike and helmet or anything else. They handle everything well. I've heard them tell people they added air to tires. They haven't for me. I have used traditional bike racks after the fourth or fifth game. I haven't had problems. My lights are still there.
     
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  4. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    #1554 asitis, Oct 15, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2018
    Re PSURoss: With all due respect to you and your family concerns, I'm glad there is no in seat ordering or visiting vendors at AF. My experience is limited to 106 on the East side. Maybe it's different elsewhere, but AF is so much tighter and steeper than RFK. For example, the stair aisles are about 1/3 the width of those at RFK. I sit on the aisle. The folks arriving late who stop to check where they are, obscure almost a quarter of my view of the field. And the folks who stop at the small landing below me to take selfies or just gaze around obscure even more of the field. I shudder to think how much of the game I'd miss due to a parade of vendors and delivery folks.
    Like much of life, we have to find a balance between our convenience and the inconvenience of those around us: another of the many compromises AF forces on us. And if you think I'm just another old coot who doesn't know what it's like to have kids, I vividly remember my wife and I going to RFK in '96 and '97 with 3 kids in tow. We learned we had to arrive early (in addition to our 3 hour trip from C'ville) and we also learned to say "no" (OK, at least most of the time).
    Peace

    asitis
     
  5. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    Enjoy your peace. The delivery drone they are going to deploy will be super irritating.
     
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  6. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    Peace was my wish for PSURoss and his family. I really don't have a great expectation of peace in my lifetime.

    asitis
     
  7. Hedbal

    Hedbal Member+

    Jul 31, 2000
    DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have vowed not to miss a minute of play in order to get food and/or drink. This means that for an evening game I either eat a late lunch and a late night snack after I return or get there super early, and for a day game I just don't eat, period. If I don't think I have time to wait for a craft draft, I may reluctantly buy a can from one of the mobile vendors, but that's it. What this all means is that United is getting much less from me on concessions than they did at RFK. I feel for parents who bring kids, who apparently must eat at the most inconvenient times, causing the parents to miss the crucial, game-winning goal. Let the kids starve and whine, say I, and slip them some chocolate you've secreted in your clothing. Just don't go stand in the endless lines.

    Having to pee is a different story.
     
  8. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I promise to hack the drone so that when it's on its way to delivering a beer and United scores, it will dump the beer form wherever it is flying (don't worry, it'll return for a refill, I'm not a monster) - TRADITION!!!
     
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  9. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    Well, I think we found our balance, your intermittent inconvenience certainly out weighs the 10 minutes or more I or someone who tries to get concessions and/or use the bathrooms might miss.
     
  10. pr0ner

    pr0ner Member+

    Jan 13, 2007
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I had to leave during 2nd half stoppage time Saturday due to a too strong urge to pee. The guy at the end of my row was asking me why I was leaving and I said "nature was telling me to". He got a kick out of that response.
     
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  11. griffin1108

    griffin1108 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 5, 2003
    Virginia
    Why do you think we get to keep the cans and bottles when we buy beverages?
     
  12. griffin1108

    griffin1108 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 5, 2003
    Virginia
    Two solutions -- dark pants or Depends.:D
     
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  13. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    I guess you're being sarcastic. I was actually trying to be conciliatory. Sorry that didn't come across. I was only addressing the desire to get concessions. Pee breaks are a different matter all together. Also, to the "intermittent inconvenience" of one person add the inconvenience to the 20 or so people around you and above you. Balance.

    asitis
     
  14. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    I wasn't being sarcastic and I definitely didn't take it as conciliatory.

    The fact that I can leave my seat almost 10 min before halftime and not get back until almost 10 min after the 2nd half starts is absurd to me. That I can take a child to the bathroom as soon as the whistle blows for halftime and potentially miss the 2nd half kick is a joke, that this is what I've paid for. I've never run into this in other venues. Since everyone else seems to think that we have enough capacity for bathrooms and concessions, the lack of a service to alleviate the issue seems like a failure to me. I've seen the concourses as halftime ends. There are plenty of people on line for concessions and bathrooms as the 2nd half start.

    In your place, I would put the responsibility on the seats I chose. Having sat in the front row of the 200 level at RFK, I often found it annoying that people came back from the half or the start of the game 10 min in, but that was the choice I made for the access to/from my seats, so I understand your issue, but at the same time. And to be frank, as Americans, I think we lack the etiquette of how to attend a game and what to expect. I don't know what its like today, but you'd have been roundly booed and verbally abused at Upton Park going to/from your seat during open play, sitting in the Bobby Moore stand back in the late 90s.
     
  15. Eastern Bear

    Eastern Bear Member+

    Feb 27, 1999
    Great Falls, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    I think I'm going to demand an in-game catheter service so we don't miss any of the match. Either that, or build a mote around the field and let us walk up and pee while watching like they do in many stadiums in Argentina.
     
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  16. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    I wasn't trying to minimize your concerns about the wait for concessions. I think they are very legitimate. What I was saying is that two of your solutions, in seat ordering and more vendors roaming the stands, would create more (or as many) problems as they solved. Whether it was poor planning, the footprint of the stadium, having too many seats for the facilities or a combination are all legitimate questions/concerns. I do know what it's like to bring kids to the matches, at least at RFK. I hope I can stick around long enough to feel comfortable bringing my grandkids to a game or two.
    And wishing you and your family peace was me trying to make nice.
    And if you weren't being sarcastic, were you agreeing with me?

    asitis
     
  17. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    Black jeans. Every game.
     
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  18. asitis

    asitis Member+

    Mar 30, 2005
    Charlottesville
    I had 2 pair of black jeans that I wore to almost every United game for years. Of course only one pair at a time. They finally wore out and my wife convinced me to toss them. I should have gotten some more.

    asitis
     
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  19. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    Fair enough. I was definitely reading into it that you were disagreeing with me. Something has to change some how.

    People need to get to the stadium on time. There are thousands of empty seats at kick off every week.

    People need to be able to take of business (bathroom and concessions) in the space of half time.

    Baseball and hockey game ushers, at least the decent ones, will not let you return to your seat during open play. Soccer doesn’t afford that kind of enforced etiquette.

    Ushers need to be better about getting people moving into their seats and the special snowflakes need to take their selfies at their seats.

    But something has to change. More bathroom/concession capacity or some kind of in seat ordering so that you’re not forced to miss game time to get food and a bio break, combined with better ushering.
     
  20. fairfax4dc

    fairfax4dc Member+

    Dec 5, 2008
    Fairfax, Va
    I think the solution to the lack of vendors and bathrooms is the unused area under the east stands for the power line right of way. It would be easy to set up vendor stands there, and actually easy to set up restroom trailers down there too. Montreal has some of them, and they work fine as overflow (so to speak). It's not absolutely convenient for most fans, but the stadium is so small that it's a five minute walk from anywhere on the west to the east unless you're doing it at the height of halftime. And maybe that area could become the supporters club halftime gathering place, freeing up room on the south end.
     
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  21. fairfax4dc

    fairfax4dc Member+

    Dec 5, 2008
    Fairfax, Va
    Meant north end.
     
  22. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    I had two pairs I wore to almost every United game for years. Of course only one pair at a time. They were worn out and developed holes in places I could not understand. The jeans had become very inappropriate. I was given a new pair as a gift last year and I bought two more pairs so I have a fresh rotation now and can wear them at work again.

    I'm also wearing new underwear this season. I've worn new boxer briefs (also black) for nearly every game.
     
  23. Hedbal

    Hedbal Member+

    Jul 31, 2000
    DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not a bad idea. A better one would allow the stadium to push out onto the 2nd street sidewalk, but that's not going to happen.

    This is a total design failure. Fans want beer; the team wants fans to buy (overpriced) beer; and the team must provide convenient outlets for the eventual product of said beer. The man or woman who can drink and not urinate is severely dehydrated.
     
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  24. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    [​IMG]
     
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  25. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    We had a club upgrade last night, since I had some FAM and we'd left the kids home. It was joke. There was nothing premium about assorted pastas, beef stew, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, hot dogs, nachos, buffalo chicken tenders and green salad with croutons that they called panzanella. The bar was pouring 8oz beers, but I never got one. After standing at the bar for close to 15 minutes trying to catch a bartender, I picked up the fiver I was going to leave as a tip and went to sit in our regular section where the obstructed view seats at the end of the row have been open all but 2-3 times.

    Concession lines were crazy last night and I don't think the stadium was as full as it was for the Atlanta game. The people we ended up sitting next to, went for food at halftime whistle. We didn't see them again until the 77th minute. We figured that they ran into friends and sat elsewhere. Now, I am sure that they must have walked around a bit figuring out what they wanted, but even still, thats a total breakdown.
     
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