great american ballpark guide
Great American Ballpark is my home park. Referred to by locals as “The GABP”, You can grab the specs on Great American Ballpark here. After you are bored with that, I am going to make you aware of the smartest ways to catch a game in Cincinnati.
Parking
When going to the GABP, you will find parking is readily available in both Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. If you are cheap like me, the best place to park is the garage on 6th st. between Broadway and Sycamore. It will set you back a whole $2! The best part is its never crowded (until this site gets popular). The other nice thing is the walk to/from Great American Ballpark is similar distance to the $10 lots. Also this will walk you past the In Between Tavern, which is a popular pregame beer spot.
When going to the GABP, you will find parking is readily available in both Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. If you are cheap like me, the best place to park is the garage on 6th st. between Broadway and Sycamore. It will set you back a whole $2! The best part is its never crowded (until this site gets popular). The other nice thing is the walk to/from Great American Ballpark is similar distance to the $10 lots. Also this will walk you past the In Between Tavern, which is a popular pregame beer spot.
If $2 is out of your budget, you can always park for FREE. In Cincinnati, most parking meters are only in effect 8am – 6pm Monday through Saturday (it will say on the meter).
The best thing to do is to be driving on 3rd street a couple minutes before 6. All the metered parking on the left becomes a free for all about that time. If you score an on-street spot there, you are a parking genius. You will be about a Corey Patterson throws length from Great American Ballpark and it cost you nothing!
If you don’t care to walk awhile to Great American Ballpark, there is much more free parking available in Covington and Newport KY. On street parking in Covington usually isn’t metered at all, but if it is they usually aren’t monitored after 6 either. We used to live in the 600 block of Greenup St. and just walk from our apartment. Your best bets for on street parking are probably Greenup, Scott, and Garrard which all run North to South.
From there you can walk across the blue suspension bridge and enter through the right field gate. If you are walking that way, you want to take the side of the bridge closest to the stadium (right), you will get there quicker. That side gives you stairs down to the street level by the Great American Ballpark right field gate.
Due to the rise in popularity of Newport, free parking is tougher to find. In fact, the last time I was over there, they have added more meters and they are in effect until 9pm or even midnight. I like to eat at Dixie Chili, and leave my car there on the street and walk. The yellow bridge you walk across from Newport will drop you off by the US Bank Arena. Again on that bridge, walk across the side closest to Great American Ballpark for the shorter route (left). It will give you a stairway to the left field gates. The distance from Dixie Chili to GABP is 1.1 miles, so if you think that is comfortably walkable - which I do - go for it. The metering on streets like York and Monmouth starts right about 6th street. So to park un-metered in Newport, you will have about a mile walk. You now have plenty of options so you can stop complaining about expensive parking.
If you are going to a weekday - day game, forget everything that I just told you. You will want to head straight to Kentucky and park and ride the shuttle or walk. Downtown has so many garages that are employees only that it can be tough to find something. Click here to read my full post on daytime parking. I learned the hard way.
Food
If you are cheap like me; ballpark food and your wallet probably don’t get along too well. But I am going to let you in on a secret that very few people take advantage of: You can bring in your own food into Great American Ballpark!
So please never complain again about ballpark prices! You are not a captive audience. There are tons of options around the stadium, so walk around a little.
The best thing to do is to be driving on 3rd street a couple minutes before 6. All the metered parking on the left becomes a free for all about that time. If you score an on-street spot there, you are a parking genius. You will be about a Corey Patterson throws length from Great American Ballpark and it cost you nothing!
If you don’t care to walk awhile to Great American Ballpark, there is much more free parking available in Covington and Newport KY. On street parking in Covington usually isn’t metered at all, but if it is they usually aren’t monitored after 6 either. We used to live in the 600 block of Greenup St. and just walk from our apartment. Your best bets for on street parking are probably Greenup, Scott, and Garrard which all run North to South.
From there you can walk across the blue suspension bridge and enter through the right field gate. If you are walking that way, you want to take the side of the bridge closest to the stadium (right), you will get there quicker. That side gives you stairs down to the street level by the Great American Ballpark right field gate.
Due to the rise in popularity of Newport, free parking is tougher to find. In fact, the last time I was over there, they have added more meters and they are in effect until 9pm or even midnight. I like to eat at Dixie Chili, and leave my car there on the street and walk. The yellow bridge you walk across from Newport will drop you off by the US Bank Arena. Again on that bridge, walk across the side closest to Great American Ballpark for the shorter route (left). It will give you a stairway to the left field gates. The distance from Dixie Chili to GABP is 1.1 miles, so if you think that is comfortably walkable - which I do - go for it. The metering on streets like York and Monmouth starts right about 6th street. So to park un-metered in Newport, you will have about a mile walk. You now have plenty of options so you can stop complaining about expensive parking.
If you are going to a weekday - day game, forget everything that I just told you. You will want to head straight to Kentucky and park and ride the shuttle or walk. Downtown has so many garages that are employees only that it can be tough to find something. Click here to read my full post on daytime parking. I learned the hard way.
Food
If you are cheap like me; ballpark food and your wallet probably don’t get along too well. But I am going to let you in on a secret that very few people take advantage of: You can bring in your own food into Great American Ballpark!
So please never complain again about ballpark prices! You are not a captive audience. There are tons of options around the stadium, so walk around a little.
They will let you bring anything. I always bring my own peanuts, and I have carried in Skyline, Pot Belly, etc. many times. I have found that the "yellow shirts" of security at Great American Ballpark are pretty friendly.
You can also bring your own non-alcoholic bottled beverages into the stadium. This of course is only plastic bottles, and those bottles have to be unopened.
Sometimes you just need ballpark food. Its the American thing to do. The Reds have also introduced the $1 menu. It includes kids hot dogs, peanuts, candy, ice cream and 12 oz pop. You definitely get what you pay for, as all of that stuff is Honey I Shrunk The Kids small. However, a man can live on 2 of those dogs with a side of peanuts.
The reason I love the $1 idea by the Reds is just the fact that you now have that option. Before if you just wanted a drink the starting price was $4.00, so the $1 booth can really help with the kids that just need "something."
Only 2 stands have this $1 menu, and they are both between first base and right field. The lines so far have been ridiculously long, so get it early.
Here is my favorite "full size" value option; Penn Station. This local east coast sub shop first opened booths in 2007, and they serve only their steak sandwich and fries at the stadium. The restaurant is hugely popular in the area, and the sandwich and fries will cost you about $9.00 at Great American. But the thing is a medium sandwich and fry at the restaurant costs about the same! Places like Skyline and Larosas are good, but their ballpark mark-up is about double. If you are going to spend… spend wisely.
For most thrifty people its not all about saving a buck, but its getting the best bang for it. I think you will see I don’t always recommend the cheapest thing, but I do look for the best value. Nowhere is that more important than tickets.
Tickets
Anybody can look at a team website and find out what the cheap seats are. As I said before; I like a good deal. That doesn’t always mean buying the cheapest seats available. I am going to give you a lesson in value as it pertains to Great American Ballpark seating.The bleacher seats at Great American Ballpark are $7, but at an evening game you are the last people to get shade. For the majority of the season that is not a good thing, you will be baking until about 9:00. Usually seats are available in every section. In most cases you can buy the bleacher seat, and then move over to the upper deck in right field. If you want to move any lower than that, you will probably run into an usher checking your ticket until about the 4th inning. If you are moving down, for some reason the field seats between third base and the left field foul poll are usually pretty empty, that is a good area to shoot for later in the game.
Keys to moving down: - Get a birds eye view and scout empty rows, and usherless sections.
- Wait at least 3 innings, people are always late
- Once you have found the area to invade, WALK CONFIDENTLY.
- Half the battle is looking like you know exactly where you are going.
- If there are ushers around, act like you’re on the phone. They are less likely to stop you.
- In the lower sections, move to the middle of the row. It is preferable if you don’t have to get folks to stand up and let you in. The less you inconvenience people sitting there, the less likely they are to say something.By being the middle you decrease the odds of somebody coming in with those seats, (people like aisle seats) and you give yourself options to move in the same row if somebody does show.
If the game is pretty crowded, or you just don’t want the adventure/hassle of moving around, here are other value options.
View Level Right Field – These are going to set you back about $14 a piece, and personally I think the higher up, the better. I know that is contrary to most ticket logic, but it gives you a better breeze, shade on a day game, and a better view of the river and Mt. Adams. Besides that, the crowd tends to be thinner up there, and less late people walk in front of you.
The Reds have also just announced that they are bringing back the $5 seats at Great American Ballpark for every game in the last 2 sections of the right and left field view level seats. That is now officially the best deal in the stadium in my opinion. These tickets were $14 in 2008, but the Reds brought the price back down because Bob Castellini is a decent man. Right field still trumps left in my opinion because I prefer the shade. You should arrive early on game day to get these tickets, they will go fast on a nice night with high walk up numbers.
To me its important to be in the shade for summer games. Anything in on the first base side is preferable in that regard.
Sun/Moon deck Right Field - Great value for a night game. In this section you want to be as close to row A as possible, which would have you hanging over the outfield fence. This area of Great American Ballpark is more crowded than the upper deck, but you still get in the shade around game time (night games) and are very close to the field for around $20.
In these seats right field trumps left field again because of the scoreboard view. The seats on the left field wall have no view of the big screen which really takes away from the mid-inning fun. You cannot go wrong in right field.
If you are overweight and tend to feel uncomfortable and cramped in stadium seats, the GABP has you covered. They have a fair amount of seats that are on the aisle and don't have an arm rest, or the arm rest flips up. So you can spread out a bit and not worry about trying to cram into a seat. These are often in the last couple rows of the section, but if you go to the ticket window and just ask about the seats with flip up arm rests - they will know what you are talking about. Sometimes they are considered handicapped rows, but that certainly isn't a requirement. We have had season tickets at Great American Ballpark for years with one of these seats; it's nice for a big man.
Where to buy
For the Reds you can usually buy tickets at the window or online via their website. For tough games (which is rare) I typically go to StubHub but everybody knows that stuff.
What you may not know is you can sometimes find coupon codes for both of these. Last year I found 3 different StubHub codes worth a total of $40 off on 3 separate orders. I just do a simple google search of “stubhub coupon promo code”. You will have to do some sifting through different coupon sites, but its well worth it. I have noticed this is more difficult to find this year, so good luck.
For most thrifty people its not all about saving a buck, but its getting the best bang for it. I think you will see I don’t always recommend the cheapest thing, but I do look for the best value. Nowhere is that more important than tickets.
Tickets
Anybody can look at a team website and find out what the cheap seats are. As I said before; I like a good deal. That doesn’t always mean buying the cheapest seats available. I am going to give you a lesson in value as it pertains to Great American Ballpark seating.The bleacher seats at Great American Ballpark are $7, but at an evening game you are the last people to get shade. For the majority of the season that is not a good thing, you will be baking until about 9:00. Usually seats are available in every section. In most cases you can buy the bleacher seat, and then move over to the upper deck in right field. If you want to move any lower than that, you will probably run into an usher checking your ticket until about the 4th inning. If you are moving down, for some reason the field seats between third base and the left field foul poll are usually pretty empty, that is a good area to shoot for later in the game.
Keys to moving down: - Get a birds eye view and scout empty rows, and usherless sections.
- Wait at least 3 innings, people are always late
- Once you have found the area to invade, WALK CONFIDENTLY.
- Half the battle is looking like you know exactly where you are going.
- If there are ushers around, act like you’re on the phone. They are less likely to stop you.
- In the lower sections, move to the middle of the row. It is preferable if you don’t have to get folks to stand up and let you in. The less you inconvenience people sitting there, the less likely they are to say something.By being the middle you decrease the odds of somebody coming in with those seats, (people like aisle seats) and you give yourself options to move in the same row if somebody does show.
If the game is pretty crowded, or you just don’t want the adventure/hassle of moving around, here are other value options.
View Level Right Field – These are going to set you back about $14 a piece, and personally I think the higher up, the better. I know that is contrary to most ticket logic, but it gives you a better breeze, shade on a day game, and a better view of the river and Mt. Adams. Besides that, the crowd tends to be thinner up there, and less late people walk in front of you.
The Reds have also just announced that they are bringing back the $5 seats at Great American Ballpark for every game in the last 2 sections of the right and left field view level seats. That is now officially the best deal in the stadium in my opinion. These tickets were $14 in 2008, but the Reds brought the price back down because Bob Castellini is a decent man. Right field still trumps left in my opinion because I prefer the shade. You should arrive early on game day to get these tickets, they will go fast on a nice night with high walk up numbers.
To me its important to be in the shade for summer games. Anything in on the first base side is preferable in that regard.
Sun/Moon deck Right Field - Great value for a night game. In this section you want to be as close to row A as possible, which would have you hanging over the outfield fence. This area of Great American Ballpark is more crowded than the upper deck, but you still get in the shade around game time (night games) and are very close to the field for around $20.
In these seats right field trumps left field again because of the scoreboard view. The seats on the left field wall have no view of the big screen which really takes away from the mid-inning fun. You cannot go wrong in right field.
If you are overweight and tend to feel uncomfortable and cramped in stadium seats, the GABP has you covered. They have a fair amount of seats that are on the aisle and don't have an arm rest, or the arm rest flips up. So you can spread out a bit and not worry about trying to cram into a seat. These are often in the last couple rows of the section, but if you go to the ticket window and just ask about the seats with flip up arm rests - they will know what you are talking about. Sometimes they are considered handicapped rows, but that certainly isn't a requirement. We have had season tickets at Great American Ballpark for years with one of these seats; it's nice for a big man.
Where to buy
For the Reds you can usually buy tickets at the window or online via their website. For tough games (which is rare) I typically go to StubHub but everybody knows that stuff.
What you may not know is you can sometimes find coupon codes for both of these. Last year I found 3 different StubHub codes worth a total of $40 off on 3 separate orders. I just do a simple google search of “stubhub coupon promo code”. You will have to do some sifting through different coupon sites, but its well worth it. I have noticed this is more difficult to find this year, so good luck.
I also found a promo code for the Reds site for 50% off non premium tickets all season! That again was done by a similar google search. The code was on the Red’s site as apart of some tourism thing. If I find one this year I will let you know.
Update 2010
Cincinnati USA had this offer for 2009 as well, as you may have heard me talk about on the radio. However they have changed it to where you now have to book a hotel through them before you can get the coupon code. If you are coming from out of town this still may be a good deal for you, but it is bad news for us locals. Hopefully you bought tickets in advance while it lasted!
If you want to check one final time, here is a link to the page where the code used to be posted: Cincinnati USA Coupon
When I look at this page now, it seems as though they have really clamped down on this you have to book a hotel to get half price tickets.
Finally, Tickets are always available on eBay as well. Here is my advice for ticket buying on eBay; wait until the last minute. I know that sounds crazy, and you would think that closer to the event the prices would shoot up; but that is not the case. I have bought and sold plenty of tickets on eBay and I have found that when I sell them early I get top dollar because there is less competition. As the event gets closer, everybody in America who is selling tickets begins to list them at auction. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the market is flooded with supply the price is driven down. I don't know if there are any published numbers to back me up, but I have seen it time and time again. So if buying on eBay, buy late. Here are a couple of auctions ending soon with a current bid under $50.
Great American Ballpark seating is full of options, but you shouldn't let it overwhelm you. Know what you are looking for and buy it.
Where to Stay
The Reds have a good regional fan base from Kentucky, Indiana, and other parts of Ohio. If you are coming to Great American Ballpark from out of town, feel free to stay over, I am inviting you. Personally when I go out of town I use Hotwire. I have had nothing but great experiences with them. Some people are scared because it doesn’t give you the name of the hotel until after you have bought it, but I would never use another travel site. Their ratings are trustworthy, and you can get a really good idea of the area you are staying on their map. A couple of personal examples: I got a room at the Intercontinental on Michigan Ave. in Chicago for $79 per night.
I also had a room at the Hilton in St. Louis, with a view of the arch for $89 per night.
In my experience; the hotel you get will have you a room available, but when you check in they ask what kind of room you want. If the person is cool, they give you one of the nicest rooms available. I will use no other travel site for hotels.
As far as safety, I would stay in downtown and be fine with it. There you can walk to Great American Ballpark. If you are not going to stay there, I would next go to Florence, KY or Sharonville, OH. Those are both about 10 miles away, but they have easy interstate access and are very safe areas. Anywhere near downtown that is not in the heart of downtown is a crappy area to stay, and you might die. They won't mention that on the Great American Ballpark A-Z Guide, that's our little secret.
Where to stay for free
Well, you are not staying with me; so don’t ask. If you live the life of a cheapskate, you probably are familiar with couchsurfing. I have a profile on there, but I have never actually stayed with someone. However I would feel comfortable with it if somebody had enough references.
If you are not familiar with it; it’s a network of people that will let you stay in a spare room or a couch for free. If that sounds scary to you, I wouldn’t recommend it. I tend to think things like that are great if you use some common sense.
Another option is home exchange. You will pay $100 to sign up, but then you can offer your home to someone in exchange for staying in theirs, and its free. This site is more for families or couples. Believe it or not, some professional couple will probably not want to stay in your dorm room and let you stay in their condo. This obviously can be used for more than a baseball trip, and I think its pretty cool. They boast an unbelievable safety record, and if you think about it, not too many thugs are signing up for home exchange to plan their family vacation. This is generally upper middle class and higher. So if you are coming to see a weekend series at Great American Ballpark, don't be afraid to explore some different lodging options.
