MTS Centre Upgrades - Part III

[cbcwpg]

How about the servers? Are they getting in the way during play?

Seems to be a big difference over game 1. They must have received a few complaints. The servers are doing their best to duck down if they have to spend any time in the loge, which is appreciated.

 

[KingBogo]

I was joking about the trough.

Holy Hannah though does it ever suck in there at a regular season game. Again, maybe it's my end but we left our seats in the first intermission to get a beer and take a leak, so to speak.

The congestion in the concourse is atrocious now down by 112. The Tim's may have moved but there are so many more people in line for beer down there now it's crazy. Why? Because they've figured out that in an effort to deliver a higher quality of food (rather than off the rack) at the other kiosks they now have wait times for food. So you get a bunch of people standing around waiting for their food order and not moving out of the serving area. And I don't blame them, I'm not walking 20 feet away while waiting for food either. But it completely clogs up the beer sales at the regular windows where you used to buy a ready made hot dog, popcorn or slice of pizza.

No word of a lie, we left our seats as soon as the first period ended. Exited section 112 and saw the beer lineup there. Headed through the somewhat obscene congestion to a hole in the wall around section 116 and got in line. Got our beer and went to the washroom line which still existed with five minutes left in intermission. By the time we got back to our seats there were three minutes gone in the second period. It quite literally took us 23 minutes to get out of our seats, get a beer, go to the washroom and get back to our seats.

I'm certain there are faster lines and at the "drinks only line" I'm sure the service moves much more quickly than we experienced. Even still, spending most of the time accomplishing to relatively simple tasks is not groovy by any stretch of the imagination. If they thought locking me in would generate more sales at concessions they are sadly mistaken. While I'll try to find a sweet spot for timing it's unlikely it will happen. Keep in mind I sit smack in the middle of a 24 seat row so getting up during a television break isn't really feasible.

I wonder if I can move to the upper deck where the fan experience seems to be of some level of consideration, not the case in the lower bowl.

[/salty]

When I hear stuff like this it makes me never want to upgrade from the 300's. During the 1st intermission last night did the bathroom and beer run and was back in my seat with 11+ mins left in the intermission. During the 2nd intermission did the same run with 9+ mins left in the intermission. The 2 mins difference was my wife wanting me to wait for her outside the women's washrooms before going back to our seats.

 

[nobody important]

Well I'm not sure why my side sucks so much and so badly either. But I'm at the game on Tuesday and I'm swinging a hard left out of 112 and coming to your side now.

Well... west side sucks. That's been known for decades.

 

[ps241]

When I hear stuff like this it makes me never want to upgrade from the 300's. During the 1st intermission last night did the bathroom and beer run and was back in my seat with 11+ mins left in the intermission. During the 2nd intermission did the same run with 9+ mins left in the intermission. The 2 mins difference was my wife wanting me to wait for her outside the women's washrooms before going back to our seats.

As long as you enjoy your experience I wouldn’t bother upgrading, its all about value. I sat in some P3’s in section 109 with a friend a few years back and the value was great and much better than my P1’s IMO.

 

[Sabadecade]

My experience at the game was good. I tried the in-seat service in the loge. I did notice that the servers are aware that their presence in the loges is an obstruction to the sections above. We are at the end of a 6 seat loge so she had to sneak behind 4 seats to get to us and take our order, which in many cases, by the time she took the first 4 seats' orders, the play has started, so she crouched down. We got our orders fairly quickly too. It was a bit odd to run a tab then settle in the middle of the 3rd period but it prevents payment transactions every time there's an order and keeps their time in the loges shorter, other than the last one. One thing I did notice was that the menu was "trimmed" a little bit from the first game... I couldn't get my Stella... *First world problems* (See attachments)


What I think happened was they just copied the Bud Lounge in-seat service menu and extended it to the loge. It appears that they split it up and made a Loge specific one instead and consolidated where they get their orders from to speed up the process.

Re: the concourse... Because I felt like a Stella, I walked the concourse during the 1st intermission and it didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be, however, it was a short trip to the NE corner and nothing more. During the second intermission, the wife and I decided to walk all the way around like we sometimes do, we always bump into someone we know, so it's a nice little bit of socializing. We did the entire upper concourse, no problem, just like last year. It actually did seem a little less crowded in some sections and I'd go out on a limb and say it was even less crowded overall, in spite of the no re-entry policy in full effect for a regular season game.

 

[nobody important]

One thing I did notice was that the menu was "trimmed" a little bit from the first game...

That just seems stupid. And more annoying is the loss of two burger options. What could possibly be the rationale behind that? Just to print it in a smaller format?

Also, may I suggest Mill St Organic as a replacement for your departed Stella? Better malt profile, and it's organic, so you know it will be healthier than a regular beer.

Anyway, thanks for the report and the pics.

 

[Tombsy]

As long as you enjoy your experience I wouldn’t bother upgrading, its all about value. I sat in some P3’s in section 109 with a friend a few years back and the value was great and much better than my P1’s IMO.

Our group got offered an upgrade from 322 to 109 last year. No Brainer. Just based on leg/elbow room the move was worth it.

 

[buggs]

That just seems stupid. And more annoying is the loss of two burger options. What could possibly be the rationale behind that? Just to print it in a smaller format?

Also, may I suggest Mill St Organic as a replacement for your departed Stella? Better malt profile, and it's organic, so you know it will be healthier than a regular beer.

Anyway, thanks for the report and the pics.

You did that on purpose. Must resist...

 

[TheDeuce]

That just seems stupid. And more annoying is the loss of two burger options. What could possibly be the rationale behind that? Just to print it in a smaller format?

Also, may I suggest Mill St Organic as a replacement for your departed Stella? Better malt profile, and it's organic, so you know it will be healthier than a regular beer.

Anyway, thanks for the report and the pics.

We should all bear in mind that any beer is healthier than a sugar laden soda; and it's much healther than an aspartame laden diet soda. #BroScience



m.

 

[Sabadecade]

 

[t3k]

Did they do away with the Budweiser bottom fill stations? Used to love the one on the north end upper bowl concourse as it was the coldest and fastest beer however it's no longer there.

 

[buggs]

Did they do away with the Budweiser bottom fill stations? Used to love the one on the north end upper bowl concourse as it was the coldest and fastest beer however it's no longer there.

Yes, bottom fills are gone. I don't know the full rationale unfortunately but we were talking with TNSE staff during the preseason because we actually were given the cups from a standard fill tap. They had about 8000 cups left during the preseason but all are gone now. Part of the reason is losses were greater with the bottom fill system. Make of it what you will.

 

[nobody important]

Did they do away with the Budweiser bottom fill stations? Used to love the one on the north end upper bowl concourse as it was the coldest and fastest beer however it's no longer there.

Never trusted bottom fills. Or maybe a better way of saying it is, never trusted myself with a bottom fill. Somehow, I would find a way to bottom unfill it in my lap.

 

[ajmidd12]

What boggles my mind is why isn't TSNE adapting a coral style of rails at each kiosk with a "line starts here" to keep the line consistent and away from the main thoroughfares?

The bombers use it and it works well.

You could setup one set of corals for every bank of tills, next in line goes to the open till. Would make for quicker service and help alleviate the issues with people in the walking areas lined up straight to a kiosk.

 

[cbcwpg]

One other minor thing they could do is paint "do not stand" lanes on the floor. I've seen this in other facilities. Gives people a place to walk and gets the people who want to socialize at intermissions off to the side.

 

[Gm0ney]

What boggles my mind is why isn't TSNE adapting a coral style of rails at each kiosk with a "line starts here" to keep the line consistent and away from the main thoroughfares?

The bombers use it and it works well.

You could setup one set of corals for every bank of tills, next in line goes to the open till. Would make for quicker service and help alleviate the issues with people in the walking areas lined up straight to a kiosk.

Yeah I'm not sure why they're reluctant to do this. They do it by the washrooms to keep that line away from the foot traffic. Seems like the first thing you should do when dealing with crowds in a limited space - and especially important now that people are unable to re-enter after the game has started. Do what Disney does! Every interaction should be a reinforcement of the good gameday experience you're trying to deliver.

 

[Oilkountry]

I have a solution to the main concourse issues.....moxies. Get rid of it. Lots of square footage there for bathrooms and mini bars. True north has to recognize this by now

 

[Gm0ney]

I have a solution to the main concourse issues.....moxies. Get rid of it. Lots of square footage there for bathrooms and mini bars. True north has to recognize this by now

Maybe when True North Square opens up they can move Moxies over there and free up that space. But I imagine they do quite well where they are...can't see them being enthusiastic about a move.

 

[Oilkountry]

Any guesses as to when they add seating above the 300s? We know that player facilities and the exchange will be upgraded on the off season.

They way I see it. The vlt tax refund deal that true north stuck is worth (6.5 per season average )160M+ over the next 25 years, they are in so far for around 45M which reflects quite well on the renovations to MTSC thus far. But what happens when they stop? The argument they can use is that in 10-15-20 years all these renovations will have to be done again so they are saving it for those renos. But I don't think they should bank this money as much as they can possibly avoid it because that's when the city is going to question it. Keep the foot on the gas and make MTSC the most polished arena in North america. Add clubs on the roof that open up to the arena bowl directly over the 300's behind the net on both sides (see organ room, completely possible) add 300-500 loge seats that wrap around the ceiling and build sort of a club level in the rafters(see MSG completely possible), Do as much as possible on the public's dime to avoid a new arena on the public's dime and then stretch that building out as long as you can. I wonder what the joint could look like in 5 years from today.

 

[Briscodog]

The new game intro video is absolutely brutal...
Sucks the energy right out of the arena. The fans walking out of the hangar is totally unmotivational and corny in a very bad way. Most years I have been very impressed by how they have a created an intro video to pump up the rink just before the players hit the ice. Whoever put this garbage together should get walking papers. This whole #RiseTogether crap is so misplaced.

You are completely correct. It's like that one they had a few years ago with the families smiling into the camera. Play some rocking' music showing highlights of people scoring and hitting. Even that one last year wasn't bad with the player running thru the city. It's like Chipman wants to be as bland as possible.

 

[nobody important]

Any guesses as to when they add seating above the 300s? We know that player facilities and the exchange will be upgraded on the off season.

They way I see it. The vlt tax refund deal that true north stuck is worth (6.5 per season average )160M+ over the next 25 years, they are in so far for around 45M which reflects quite well on the renovations to MTSC thus far. But what happens when they stop? The argument they can use is that in 10-15-20 years all these renovations will have to be done again so they are saving it for those renos. But I don't think they should bank this money as much as they can possibly avoid it because that's when the city is going to question it. Keep the foot on the gas and make MTSC the most polished arena in North america. Add clubs on the roof that open up to the arena bowl directly over the 300's behind the net on both sides (see organ room, completely possible) add 300-500 loge seats that wrap around the ceiling and build sort of a club level in the rafters(see MSG completely possible), Do as much as possible on the public's dime to avoid a new arena on the public's dime and then stretch that building out as long as you can. I wonder what the joint could look like in 5 years from today.

Not sure how much depth you could get with the organ room scenario. But hey, some one-way mirror glass and you could have some cozy saunas around the top for the Finns at heart.

I like the idea of MSG Skybridges or those cool "sonic rings" that were proposed for Seattle's Arena That Will Never Be Built. The trend is certainly toward communal areas where young people can stand around and chat instead of watching the game they paid 100's of dollars to attend. Yeah, I know. Kids. Lawn. Get off.

 

[ps241]

Our group got offered an upgrade from 322 to 109 last year. No Brainer. Just based on leg/elbow room the move was worth it.

Glad you are enjoying 109 I really liked it the game I sat there.

 

[blues10]

109 is a great section. Love my seats there. Great view of #29 on the PP as long as the coach puts him on the ice.

Has anyone paid for anything using the $10 the Jets loaded on to the STH card? Where is the reloadable Jets pass accepted? I wouldn't mind loading some $$$$ on the card if it is accepted by the people selling canned beer, 50/50 tickets etc... but don't want to have to line up at concession stands to use it. I see if you don't use the $10 by the end of November that you lose your $10.

 

[SCP Guy]

109 is a great section. Love my seats there. Great view of #29 on the PP as long as the coach puts him on the ice.

Has anyone paid for anything using the $10 the Jets loaded on to the STH card? Where is the reloadable Jets pass accepted? I wouldn't mind loading some $$$$ on the card if it is accepted by the people selling canned beer, 50/50 tickets etc... but don't want to have to line up at concession stands to use it. I see if you don't use the $10 by the end of November that you lose your $10.

I haven’t been able to find out any info on the $10 credits on the ST holder card?

 

[nobody important]

109 is a great section. Love my seats there. Great view of #29 on the PP as long as the coach puts him on the ice.

Has anyone paid for anything using the $10 the Jets loaded on to the STH card? Where is the reloadable Jets pass accepted? I wouldn't mind loading some $$$$ on the card if it is accepted by the people selling canned beer, 50/50 tickets etc... but don't want to have to line up at concession stands to use it. I see if you don't use the $10 by the end of November that you lose your $10.

Just like Jets "Rewards". True North giveth, True North taketh away. I thought there was a law that gift cards couldn't expire.