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| - Just got back from CBR. This was our first outing here, and first time ever to spring training. We are huge Dodgers fans, and I gave a miniplan to my husband for Christmas, so we have been looking forward to the trip for three months! On the whole, CBR is darn nice, but there is definitely room for improvement, as there is with Dodgers Stadium. I know the new regime is working to make it better, so I hope they read these reviews and take it to heart. I also will be penning a letter to CBR directly. Seriously, if you don't tell someone what's wrong, how can they fix it?
First, CBR is easy to get to off the freeway or even on surface streets. Glendale is a lovely area. My husband grew up in Phoenix, and it's a well-planned city, not like LA!
The facility is easy to get into, although it would benefit from more than one entrance/exit, but that can come in time. We showed up Thursday afternoon for the game, and parked so close to the entrance. The stadium holds about 15,000 people, but on a Thursday, there were only 3800, so that would explain the easy parking. We had great seats at a great price, but got there in time to see the game and not walk around the park or see batting practice at the fields.
The stadium is beautiful and easy to walk around and find seats. All the employees were extra nice, and gave us great information, save for some of the parking people, who (on subsequent days) had no idea about where the public could park. I chatted with a lot of the ushers and security people, and even the head of security was nice.
The worst thing about the park is the food and food service. We wanted some Dodger Dogs about the third inning. There are only a handful of food stands in the park, and not all of them are open all the time. We ordered two dogs and nachos...and it seemingly took forever for them to go away and come back. Finally, when the guy came back he said the nacho cheese wasn't ready. Really? Um, you knew there was a game today, right? How about you start the cheese machine BEFORE people arrive so it's ready when we get there. Plus it was the third inning! So we passed on those, and said just get the dogs. That took another two minutes. It seems as if the servers have no idea where the food is, and they all seem to fight with each other and the kitchen. I admit Dodger stadium is not treat, but at the least the dogs are there and ready to sell. Plus when we got the dogs, they were HORRIBLE. They weren't cooked or even warm! For $5 for a dog, even a crappy dodger dog, at least pretend to cook them!
Then Friday night, it was raining and freezing cold. They finally called the game in the 4th inning (we will get a refund because it didn't go 4.5), but everyone was cold. I inquired at the one open stand for coffee or hot chocolate, but they didn't sell it and weren't sure if any of the outlets did. Amazing that they don't sell coffee???!! I don't know who does the concessions, but they need to be fired and start all over with someone who cares about the fans and the good name of the Dodgers. Even on Saturday the food was just as bad. The only good food at the stadium was the Island Noodles. They weren't cheap ($8.50), but hot and tasty.
Okay, enough about the bad food. The rest of the experience was pretty good. Saturday we got to the training fields about 8:45 and they opened the gates at 9 am. After standing around until 10:30, the players finally came out and did batting practice, so we got to see a lot of the regulars, get great photos, and even a handful of autographs. Saturday was crazy busy; we would only come again during the week when it's less nuts. Some people are incredibly rude to the players, so I don't blame them for not signing as much. Ted Lilly, Chris Capuano, and Tim Federowicz signed for me, all nice guys. There's not much general information about where to stand or what to look out for. Because we were waiting for some players, we didn't know that Tommy Lasorda was signing at a table by the pond, so missed that. Wish someone would have said something. We'll get him next time.
So if you're going, plan to go early and see the players, don't be rude, and eat before the game outside the stadium.
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