What are your true thoughts on Angel Stadium?

[Angel Oracle]

Now that Angel Stadium turns 50 in April, what are your opinions on its' future?

It is currently the fourth oldest MLB stadium, with only Fenway, Wrigley, and Latrineville being older. 

 

Is it possible to make the right improvements to get another 20 years from it, as has been the case since the most recent upgrade in 1998? 

 

Or is a new stadium the only hope going forward?

Edited January 11, 2016 by Angel Oracle

[Troll Daddy]

Easy to maneuver around inside the stadium. Easy to get out of the stadium. You can also bring food and drink inside the stadium. Those are my three big pluses.

[laagamer]

Just fine to me.

[Ochocinco!]

Old and out of date but family friendly

[HaloNArizona]

I like the Stadium, I like the renovations to the stadium, the location the looks....I think some upgrades again would be good, keep the stadium for another 20 years or so.

[Jobu]

Needs more urinals.

[mtangelsfan]

absolutely cannot beat the location.  Inside/outside could look a bit more modern but still.............

[Aaronkv]

Can't beat the location and ease of access. Sight lines are some of the best.

 

Always hear about how the infrastructure and interior areas are falling apart. Probably need a decent reno to make it last another 20.

 

Not much is needed in the public areas. Those new giant HD screens are pretty sweet. Petco's new one is insane. Also removing most of the railings along the upper deck and club level replacing them with Plexiglas would give it a lot more modern feel too. Get rid of the rock pile and replace it with a nice restaurant/patio area like a lot of the other ballparks are doing, shoot petco is doing that right now with the sandbox.

[Sully151]

No real charm or character, but it easy to get out of after the game. Wrigley, Fenway and Dodger Stadium (kind of) are from a bygone era while Angel Stadium is from the cookie cutter era and all of the other stadiums built in that time are gone for a reason.

 

A new stadium would be nice. Sadly, I think the area around the stadium is going down hill unless you are inside Disneyland. Will have to see what happens with all the new construction.

[greginpsca]

The last renovation was cosmetic. I feel the cosmetics, the fan experience, ingress/egress are great. My concern is the same as the orgs. Plumbing,electrical, falling concrete, etc, have to be dealt with. it is an aging stadium and reno costs to upgrade the stadiums infrastructure might be nearly as much as building a new stadium. And with the City of Anaheim appearing to not want to spend money on either upgrades or a reno i don't know if the team should do a "Full Press" on finding another city for a new stadium. Especially when you hear rumors that the city would like to use the land for Disney expansion, or just letting developers build more cheap condo's there.

[Capital_Dave]

I have a lot of fond memories there, but at the same time it's impossible to build a real emotional bond with a place that is so blah.  Architecturally, 90% of the other MLB stadiums I've been to (15-20) are more distinctive and interesting.

[eaterfan]

The stadium is fine. It's like the 1998 Honda Civic. It's there, it gets you from place to place, and works fine. If you haven't seen any other cars it's great but it's probably one of the older cars on the road with few modern amenities and conveniences that come standard in newer models. It's also not old enough or charming enough to be a classic car. It's hard to justify buying a new Mercedes when the Civic has been running fine even with 200k miles.

When I was younger I was hoping a new Angels Stadium would reflect some unique characteristics of Orange County like the beach or Disney or something. But honestly the replies in this thread basically show that the current stadium is the best reflection of OC. The best things people have said about the stadium are "easy access, easy parking, and family friendly". The most negative thing said is that it has no character. So maybe it is exactly OC. The single thing that most defines the stadium is an artificial rock pile with water rapids. If that doesn't say OC then what does?

Edited January 11, 2016 by eaterfan

[gotbeer]

As it stands right now.

 

I like the traffic getting into and out of.  Especially the direct route to and off the 5 fwy carpool lane.  Most of the parking is good, although the under the fwy exit does get congested at times.  I've never had a problem on the State Street exit.  And never used the Orangewood exit.

 

Also, exiting the stadium itself before you get to the car is smooth.  With the old style ramps going down, it's very easy to get from seats to car, without too many issues even from the top level.  By far, the easiest of the stadiums I've been to.

 

Field is visually ok to look at.  Ever since they took down the mausoleum and converted to pure baseball, the outfield isn't bad.  That one clear day you can even see the mountains.

 

Seats and the Suites are a bit antiquated.  everything runs parallel to the foul lines.  So the further you get away from the infield, the more you have to strain to watch the game.  As you can see from the pizza throw in even Boston, those outfield seats are facing the infield, for a better view of who you want to throw your pizza at.  I really do not think that this is a simple fix, since it's structural in nature. 

 

Bathrooms.  Never had a problem.  But I hear the plumbing might be the issue.

 

Food and Drinks.  There are plenty of vendors.  It's just that they suck.  I think some have said the inner workings of the concession areas are bad.  Just not sure how much I believe that, because no matter how bad the workings are, you should not get a flat and soggy hot dog. 

 

Advertisements.  Just blinding.  And it's everywhere.  One of the bigger reasons I don't like watching the game live at the stadium.  It's just horrible.  I usually end up with a migrane if I go to a game. 

 

Train.  I do like that the train is right there. 

[Jay]

Agree with what some others have written.  Improve the concessions, get rid of the rock pile.  A few tweaks here and there.

[ABC]

After going to the better parks, Angel Stadium is a dump. It's old but not historic so there's none of that charm either. At least it's not O.co or Dodger Stadium bad.

[Adam]

I don't think anything in this world is more "just okay" than Angel Stadium

[tomsred]

It needs some upgrades, but Arte and the City are both out of money.  Arte said so a couple of months ago while yachting in the Bahamas.

Edited January 11, 2016 by tomsred

[Guest]

Feels like home to me. I can't describe the feelings I get when I'm in that ballpark.

[Chuck]

Meh. Outdated, but it doesn't suck. 

[Jay]

What happens on the field is more important.  I've never attended a game and thought wow my experience sucks because this stadium is old.

[Jobu]

Mehngels Stadium of Anaheim

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

For me the games attended for the last 25 years or so, going on the field as a kid in the late 80's and meeting players, the 2002 WS run and other playoff experiences are what I associate with it and not the architecture.  As various other people pointed out it isn't the prettiest and may seem generic but it gets the job done and most importantly getting in/out is about as easy can be.  For me there's few things worse than leaving a sporting event/game and sitting in traffic for hours just trying to get out of the parking lot which I've experience at the Latrine, at Chargers games and so on.   

[T.G.]

Pros:

Family Friendly

Generally clean

Good parking

Easy access

Generally friendly staff

Pretty good site lines

Cons:

Lack of quality concessions (choices suck)

Generally poor sound system

Amazed how often escalators are not working

Scoreboard is somewhat outdated

Don't always feel safe walking thru parking lot

Team store is mediocre (slow to add new items for new players, lack of historical items - like former player items)

[mrwicked]

meh.

its ok.

the area around it sucks though.

it feels exactly like what it is: an old stadium in the middle of a huge parking lot.

 

the catch is great though.

[ScottT]

It does suck compared to the rest of the stadiums in the league.   

 

Location and access can't be beat, though.  Ideally, they'll build a new stadium in the parking lot (the next owner since Arte is having financial troubles).  Parking wouldn't be as easy, especially during construction/demolition, but when everything is complete, it'll probably still be better than most ballparks.