OT-Carrier Dome

[UconnBoston]

I am making my first trip to Cuse this year for the Uconn game. Its something I have been meaning to do forever, and with the ACC move on the horizon, the opportunities are dwindling. I was looking for some advice from people who have been up there on hotels (nicest, closest to the arena, etc.), seating (I assume its worthwhile to pay for great seats in the lower level, but how bad are the seats in the 300's) and also, any advice on where to get tickets would be much appreciated.

Hope to see some of you up there.

 

[Huskies04Life]

I'm doing the same. Will also be there for the first time with my buddy who is a Quse alum. As of right now though, I can't help you with any advice, were in the same boat.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Head over to the Cuse board, some will be hospitable. One piece of advice I can give you, avoid the upper bowl especially if you are trending to the midfield side of the "arena". There are seats they sell for basketball that are actually on the wrong side of the removable stands they place to "corner off" the endzone and round off the makeshift basketball arena. Watching a game from those seats feels like you are hovering outside of the arena all together, its not an enjoyable experience. I'm not sure if you'll be forced all the way up there (I was there for the NCAA's, but its something to keep in mind).

I had fun in Syracuse and its got a quaint little downtown area with a few good bars, but the dome is nothing to get excited about for basketball.

 

[cohenzone]

While I'm not totally familiar with the area, I've been there several times recently because my son and family moved there. He is a prof at SUNY Syracuse which is literally adjacent to the dome next to the SU campus. We usually stay at his house, but recently stayed at the Best Western in Liverpool NY and it's very nice and only 10 minutes by car from the dome. Very convenient to both I-90 and I 81. It was a basketball weekend and almost all of the hotels were booked solid. There is, I think it's a Sheraton, right on campus and a pretty short walk to the dome. My guess is that it's hard to get a room there if you wait until too close to the date to book. The airport area isn't all that close. There are a bunch of hotels around Carrier Circle off I-90 and also in the area called the Fairgrounds, which I don't know at all and I'm guessing is about the same distance by car to the dome as the Best Western in Liverpool. Carrier Circle is slightly farther away, but the highways and beltways all connect once you've figured them out, so none of the drives are that bad. I don't know if any of the hotels run shuttles to the dome. I know there are satellite parking lots for the dome which probably shuttle people over because they are much too far to walk. I don't know the bar scene because we are usually going to family style places with my little grandchildren. Tully's on Erie Blvd, also near lots of other restaurants, is pretty popular it looks like with the young adult crowd. Good luck.

 

[orangehomer]

http://texanmarktailgate.blogspot.com/2011/07/syracuse-tailgate-and-visitors-guide-11.html

 

[NKR1978]

I would strongly recommend the Sheraton, but book it as soon as possible since it does fill up for games, and I would be surprised not to see a 30,000+ crowd for the UConn game. Of course there's Dinosaur BBQ, and really everyone visiting Syracuse has to go there. For pre-game festivities check out Faegan's. It's a short walk from the Sheraton and the Carrier Dome on the SU Hill. It's got a great beer selection and is the 21+ bar on the Hill, so you wont be partying with freshmen girls. I'm also always shocked at how cheap things are in Syracuse. Last time I was there (2 years ago) there was $3 pints of Magic Hat. If drinking with freshmen girls is your scene, any of the other Marshall Street bars will do.

If you have time, I would also strongly recommend Rosalie's in Skaneateles. It's about a 1/2 hour drive from Syracuse, but is worth it.

Armory Square has some good bars and restaurants as well, but it's been almost four years since I've spent any time down there.

Enjoy your trip to Syracuse, it isn't nearly as decrepit a city as people say. The Dome is a really neat place to watch a basketball game, and unlike for football, it offers a pretty fun fan and game day experience.

I'm really looking forward to our games with Connecticut this year. UConn is going to be a great team come February and I hope we can at least take one from you.

 

[Reno]

Worst place on Earth to watch a basketball game. I'll never go back

 

[eao1115]

Worst place on Earth to watch a basketball game. I'll never go back

I guess everything is relative - it's actually my favorite place on Earth to watch a basketball game.

 

[eao1115]

Head over to the Cuse board, some will be hospitable. One piece of advice I can give you, avoid the upper bowl especially if you are trending to the midfield side of the "arena". There are seats they sell for basketball that are actually on the wrong side of the removable stands they place to "corner off" the endzone and round off the makeshift basketball arena. Watching a game from those seats feels like you are hovering outside of the arena all together, its not an enjoyable experience. I'm not sure if you'll be forced all the way up there (I was there for the NCAA's, but its something to keep in mind).

I had fun in Syracuse and its got a quaint little downtown area with a few good bars, but the dome is nothing to get excited about for basketball.

You're correct in that you want to avoid sections 319-322 and then 301, 334-336. You'll have a very lousy view of the court. I wouldn't be surprised if our game against UConn this year drew a HUGE crowd (33Kish). Upper deck seats are fine as long as you aren't in those no-man's land sections.

 

[businesslawyer]

I sat in these "restricted view" seats -- the seats where you're outside the curtain. You can see the court fine, and I've sat further from the court in the top level of MSG. And I wouldn't have traded seeing Caron trying to beat Maryland single handedlyin the second half for anything.

 

[whaler11]

Yeah my only trip to Carrier Dome was for Maryland. Sat behind the basket in the upper deck and it was fine, but I'm not as sensitive to quality of seats as many are.

 

[Reno]

I guess everything is relative - it's actually my favorite place on Earth to watch a basketball game.

The place being half empty and having that curtain thing is just terrible. Most of the sight lines are awful. It's just like the football stadiums that they used to use as baseball stadiums. It doesn't work.

 

[huskyjawz]

Yeah my only trip to Carrier Dome was for Maryland. Sat behind the basket in the upper deck and it was fine, but I'm not as sensitive to quality of seats as many are.

My only time there, as well. I had great seats, lower behind basket. Caron was a warrior indeed.

 

[grnmtnhusky]

I am making my first trip to Cuse this year for the Uconn game. Its something I have been meaning to do forever, and with the ACC move on the horizon, the opportunities are dwindling. I was looking for some advice from people who have been up there on hotels (nicest, closest to the arena, etc.), seating (I assume its worthwhile to pay for great seats in the lower level, but how bad are the seats in the 300's) and also, any advice on where to get tickets would be much appreciated.

Hope to see some of you up there.

15-18 years ago I asked same question. Here's what I learned having gone every year they play at the Dome since then.
Get your tickets now. Its a saturday game meaning easy for Albany and other out of town people to go, both teams will be highly ranked, may be last game for a while there, etc. Its more than seeing the game-its something to see 33,000 plus watch at the largest on court BBall arena in the country. Go to the Cuse website. Avoid if possible those limited view seats. Pay a little more on Hub Stub etc to get better view seats. The top tier still gives a great view of the arena almost better than back of the middle tier. I bring binoculars but rarely use them. Spent a weekend in cuse when Uconn(Caron) almost beat Maryland but watched the Friday night game. We stayed at chearper econo lodge but Sheraton is best but pricey. Just off campus. Met at bar then walked up to the Dome with 30,000 others. Get there early. You will have to walk and to get to seats etc takes time. Dinosour is great food but we ended up drinking as wait time was long. Tulleys is family place and singles but there are some games there eg pool and many TVs to watch later games. Bars around Sheraton are more local. Historic Armory Square does have some pubs but a drive. Imax is there also-saw a Michael Jordan Imax show. That sea of orange is fantastic to see. There is an Erie Canal museum. I go from Vermont to Albany(Jilliams) then take 90 to the cuse. The Team sometimes stays out at the Carrier dome. You might check where any uconn booster club buses are staying for a more balanced feeling at the bar. In 2004 saw Uconn lose to Cuse last day(Okafor injured) but never lost again.
Hope this helps. Always a fun trip. Forgot to mention Wegmans super market. You can eat there open 24 hours fun coffee. When you are in Syracuse for a weekend you make your fun.