XL Concessions are a disaster | Page 4 | The Boneyard

XL Concessions are a disaster

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Caronimo said:
My walk back from getting food during the nova St. Mary’s game View attachment 41201
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So much for eating in Downtown Hartford restaurants before the game. I don't see the millions pumped into the Hartford economy if they are all in the line at concessions. Stupid buffoons. Stopped at Chimiris bakery in Wethersfield and had the two best slices of pizza anywhere along the way.
 
Not sure who might be open for breakfast downtown before the game, but that looks like an awful crush to get food.
 
firstnline said:
Not sure who might be open for breakfast downtown before the game, but that looks like an awful crush to get food.
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We had no luck getting lunch because the bars were packed. We tried to book dinner at 2 places 3 days ago and both were already booked. This was the busiest I’ve ever seen downtown be. I love all the people drawing their own conclusions even though they weren’t there.
 
Capital Grille bar was full of Nova fans at 6pm. Purdue fans took over the Bears at 6pm. Saw Marquette and Murray fans in the Capital Grille at 8 but not much
 
BFieldHusky said:
Place has been alive for all 3 games. @whaler11 is spot on. The times in between games was so tight you had no chance getting back in quick if you wanted a quick beer or burger across the street. Ncaa did no favors with the schedule.
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They have to implement a minimum time between first and second sessions and if it can't be met, start the second session later. I was at both sessions in Jacksonville and we got out of the first session at 5:30 and next game tipped at 7:10pm and that was more than enough time to go outside, grab a few non-$11 beers and get back in with 15 minutes left before tip. And this is with all the Kentucky fans jamming the lines to get back in.

Very well run in Jacksonville but they weren't hamstrung by unrealistic game times.
 
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firstnline said:
So much for eating in Downtown Hartford restaurants before the game. I don't see the millions pumped into the Hartford economy if they are all in the line at concessions. Stupid buffoons. Stopped at Chimiris bakery in Wethersfield and had the two best slices of pizza anywhere along the way.
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By noon everything near the arena was packed. Walked over to Federal - which was empty - but at least I could get booze. :)

BTW - is there a reason that there was only beer available in XL? Usually you can get mixed drinks. Is that an NCAA rule?
 
J187Money said:
By noon everything near the arena was packed. Walked over to Federal - which was empty - but at least I could get booze. :)

BTW - is there a reason that there was only beer available in XL? Usually you can get mixed drinks. Is that an NCAA rule?
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Yeah before this year you couldnt even get beer.
 
ASweet3781 said:
This is the new UConn fan generation spawned by the Noescalators of the world. Football will be blamed for every problem under the sun. I guess it's football's fault that every Big East team not named VIllanova got their behinds handed to them so far.
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If they don't want any blame, they should stop sucking so much and win a fscking game.
 
firstnline said:
So much for eating in Downtown Hartford restaurants before the game. I don't see the millions pumped into the Hartford economy if they are all in the line at concessions. Stupid buffoons. Stopped at Chimiris bakery in Wethersfield and had the two best slices of pizza anywhere along the way.
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Wow there is so much stupid in this . . . The restaurants were swamped.

Eating before/after the session simply wasn't an option for us. I picked my son up from an early dismissal at school, drove like a bat out of hell to Hartford, parked at Morgan St. garage, took a shuttle to the front door, walked right in 2 minutes after tipoff of VT-FSU. All of this went very smoothly. Had to get the kid back for 7:45 so we left at the 4:00 timeout of the Murray Marquete game, so he needed something from concessions to eat.

The city did a good job putting everything together. As for the concessions, part of the problem was the facility itself, and part is poor planning and execution by Spectra. They had plenty of people, but the equipment and space limited them -- they simply couldn't cook the food fast enough. That was compounded by the fact that they ran out of certain food items repeatedly and had trouble getting replenished, which probably also has to do with the facility since the concourses were so packed you couldn't get supplies to the concession stands easily.
 
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Ask anyone is event planning/management the type of nightmare flipping a venue with that many people would be. The NCAA stuck it to the XL with the scheduling. Also ask yourself why staffing is an issue at every Tourney Venue (save the Final 4) almost every year. Might be a funding issue.....
 
Hurleyman216 said:
Ever been to a game at MSG? It’s at least as bad as this, but probably worse.
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Not since the remodel. Still not great from an entry perspective - but once you are in it is 100 times easier to move around.
 
I got a Ted's burger right before the Murray State Tip- nice addition to available food options. Wait was not long at all.

I wonder if anyone was able to hide out after session 1 and stay for session 2. There had to be people who tried this.
 
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August_West said:
No its not.

Not anymore.
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Well when I went to the UConn Nova game there this year it was awful. Maybe because I was in the upper level? The hallway is about 10 feet wide and it took me 30 minutes to buy food meaning I missed the first part of the 2nd half. Maybe they’ve improved the concourse lower levels, but the upper level at MSG is far worse than the XL
 
Hurleyman216 said:
Well when I went to the UConn Nova game there this year it was awful. Maybe because I was in the upper level? The hallway is about 10 feet wide and it took me 30 minutes to buy food meaning I missed the first part of the 3nd half. Maybe they’ve improved the concourse lower levels, but the upper level at MSG is far worse than the XL
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That could be. I plead ignorance.
 
Hurleyman216 said:
Well when I went to the UConn Nova game there this year it was awful. Maybe because I was in the upper level? The hallway is about 10 feet wide and it took me 30 minutes to buy food meaning I missed the first part of the 2nd half. Maybe they’ve improved the concourse lower levels, but the upper level at MSG is far worse than the XL
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Were you in the 300's behind the basket? That area is cramped. Most of the rest of the arena flows smoothly.
 
Whoever put together the plan for Pratt Street should be commended. Laid out well, great beer prices, lots of TVs. Having been to these types of events in other cities, I thought it was really well done.
 
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Waquoit said:
Big lines at the concession stands. Horrors! At the least the Hartford haters got a thrill.
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You can like Hartford and hate the facility. It's widely considered one of the worst large arenas in the country. If you actually like the city you should be able to point out the flaws and want a fix. The big lines and Hillsborough like crush to get in and out of the arena is going to be the reason events/people stop coming and it turns into a parking lot. Your weird stance is exactly why the building is in the condition it is and will soon cease to exist.
 
Hurleyman216 said:
Well when I went to the UConn Nova game there this year it was awful. Maybe because I was in the upper level? The hallway is about 10 feet wide and it took me 30 minutes to buy food meaning I missed the first part of the 2nd half. Maybe they’ve improved the concourse lower levels, but the upper level at MSG is far worse than the XL
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The upper level at MSG is cramped but thats for one level. The XL has the same size concourse for all levels.
 
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