T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center)

[Beltonhawk]

Don't tell me I was the only one that broke into one of the luxury suites?

[QueSi2Opie]

Happy, happy, joy, joy...

[NY Jayhawk]

I should clarify, that picture is from the 52nd floor roof deck and obviously facing north.  My actual unit was a few floors below and faced west with views of the Woolworth Building.

WallStHawk,
Your NYC pic looks like the view from the roofdeck of my old apartment building at 2Gold in the Financial Dist! Do you live there? I just moved out of that building at the end of Sept and back to KC. 


Sorry for the off-topic post everyone. The arena looks fantastic. So happy to see downtown KC come back to life!

[ddw334umkc]

These are my favorite pictures of all!

[WallStHawk]

WallStHawk,
Your NYC pic looks like the view from the roofdeck of my old apartment building at 2Gold in the Financial Dist! Do you live there? I just moved out of that building at the end of Sept and back to KC. 


Sorry for the off-topic post everyone. The arena looks fantastic. So happy to see downtown KC come back to life!

That's it...small world.  I don't remember ever seeing anyone in Jayhawk apparel around though I didi meet a girl that had attended Baker with a friend of mine.  Eddie and Chris still working the front desk?

I moved to KC about a year ago but plan on moving back in a couple of years.  I love FiDi.

[KCPowercat]

Here is my "review"....pictures upcoming as soon as I get them formatted and uploaded:

                                                                   
                                                                   
                                                                   
                                           

10:10 - waited while the symphony played too much and too many people patted themselves on the back.

11:00 - fireworks go off and arena is opened

11:15 - mad rush to the door caused a backup

Walking in you are greeted by a huge atrium.  Teamstore to the left, basketball mural in front of you and huge sprint ad with new technology to the right.  Two sets of stairs/elevators lead up to the main concourse to each side of the sprint wall.  On the main concourse you are greeted by a huge panoramic view of the city and views of each level of the arena.  two sets of escalators go up to the upper concourse. 

Walked around counter clockwise snapping pictures...at each "corner" of the arena, ceiling is a bit lower...this is where the stairs and elevators are that access each floor.  Oak entrance also has some LCD signage when you enter.  Bathrooms are located literally everywhere.  People can walk 10-12 people wide even in the narrowest of walkways.  You are greeted on all sides by views of the city...the south end is kind of hard to see out of in the daylight due to the windows needing to reflect southern sunlight.  Get pictures of some of the concession pricing (large beer $7).  No sign of any specialty beers yet (ala blvd). 

Get around towards the main entrance and see the public bar...which opens up where you can see the arena floor.  Huge flat panels all over the bar and no doubt you'll be able to pick up mixed drinks and Blvd. beer here.  Take one of the escalators up....at the top hear people whining about how do they get down....stairs or elevator only if both escalators are going up (ala before an event). 

Once at the top concourse, it's absolutely stunning how the concourse opens right to the arena ...no walls at all.  This is only the case on the north end of the arena...all other ends have walls seperating exterior windows to arena floor (due to lighting I assume).  Find the two worst seats in the arena (highest up and closest to super columns).  There is limited site on the seats closest to the columns that are on the long side of the arena...takes to about seat 5 to see the entire floor.  No biggie.  If you are in the 20 worst seats of the arena, you are probably just happy to be in the place. 

Entire upper concourse still has 360* views of the city....this arena turns it's back to no part of the city.  Concourses are still wide in the upper deck.  Take the stairs down and try to get into one of the suite levels...it opens so look around....all the suite doors were locked so not much to see...security seemed to be chasing people out of this level.  Back to the main level, check out seats closest to the floor.  Amazing how big the arena feels from the floor area....and having the suite decks with the press deck at the very top is impressive....with the north end of the arena open to the windows, it's very cool looking.  Black/grey seats were a great choice. 

Walk into the luxury level (level below the main concourse)...narrow hallway, see entrance to private bar.....it has views of the P&L but it's blocked off as Garth is in there doing a press conference.  Back to main level and stop by the QT.  QT carries things that won't compete with other concession stands....coffee, smoothies, slushies, and looked like pastries and maybe cold sandwiches.  Couldn't help but think it would have been nice to switch the team store location (which has an outside entrance and the QT which does not).  Didn't have time to tour the NABC experience.

Final grades:

Unique arena - A+ (never seen an arena with unlimited views of the city
Seat views - A- (only because of 5 limited view seats on each corner)
Seats - B+ (seats seemed a bit smaller in the upper deck than lower....good news is temporary seats right next to the floor/ice feel just like all the other seats.)
scoreboard - A
concessions - A (lots of choices, QT is awesome)
concession prices - B (didn't see a lot of "cheaper things, lots of what seemed to be meals)
bathrooms - A- (bathrooms everywhere, strange no auto flush and no motion detected sinks, despite motion detecting soap and paper towels.  Also, no air dryers...not environmental friendly)
public spaces - A+ (plenty of room everywhere, public bar is a great idea)
enter/exit - B- (seems only two entrances could cause of problem
traffic flow - C (2 escalators only could cause issues, most exits are from doors which you have to open doors to go down to exit...maybe grand and oak exits will be enough)
technology - A+ (flat screens everywhere, I'm sure sprint will be adding some fun stuff)



Should be going back tonight at some point for more pictures.

[QueSi2Opie]

Happy, happy, joy, joy (PART II)...

Concessions!

[NY Jayhawk]

That's it...small world.  I don't remember ever seeing anyone in Jayhawk apparel around though I didi meet a girl that had attended Baker with a friend of mine.  Eddie and Chris still working the front desk?

I moved to KC about a year ago but plan on moving back in a couple of years.  I love FiDi.

Very small world. I was at 2 Gold only for this last year, so we might not have lived there at the same time. I think both those guys were still working at the front desk. Did one of them wear glasses?

Definitely miss that place!

[LindseyLohan]

How late can we go check it out tonight?

[KCPowercat]

Here we go....sorry for the quality....tried to zip through as much as possible quickly:
























































































Worst seat closest to the column on the short end of the arena


Worst seat closest to the column on the long end of the arena (seems like 5 closest have these obstructed views)

[KCPowercat]

Part 2















































































Done.

[KCKev]

I'm smiling from ear to ear. Thanks for the great pictures and keep them coming.

Can't wait to see the views in the winter time with a fresh powering of white snow.

[QueSi2Opie]

Happy, happy, joy, joy (PART III)...

Basketball Experience!

[KansasCityCraka]

I just can't believe we dont have a tenant for this....maybe now that the pictures of it will be floating around everywhere then we will get more exposure to this gem.

[QueSi2Opie]

Fang, were you wearing a blue Royals cap today? I think I spotted you in the crowd around 10:10 this morning.

Anyhow, I loved Sprint's commercials inside Sprint Center...great advertisement for attractions in the city.

[KCMax]

I just can't believe we dont have a tenant for this....maybe now that the pictures of it will be floating around everywhere then we will get more exposure to this gem.

Yea, I'm wondering what Mario would think now if he toured the facility!

[Tosspot]

View the whole set here:
http://www.valdorephoto.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139

[KCKev]

Ok everyone, how many Forumer's can you spot in these pictures?

[supastudio]

Enjoy!    Please use the scroll slider

[supastudio]

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