Dodger Stadium Logistics

[Steve of phpBB]

I will be heading to Dodger Stadium.

First question, how is the neighborhood in Chinatown? I tentatively booked a room at the Best Western Dragon Gate Inn, and the area there seems to be mostly skeevy looking but relatively safe based on the Trip Advisor comments. But I wonder if any of you has personal knowledge of the area.

Second, would it be completely insane for me to bring my motor home down there. It's a 700-mile drive each way, and rather than have my teenage son and daughter sitting next to each other in a car the whole way ("Stop it or I'm turning this car around!), I'd rather take the MH. But then I would have to park somewhere and leave it for two days. That might be a bridge too far.

Third, is there any way to get to Dodger Stadium for a game that doesn't suck? In April we drove through downtown LA, and found out first hand why no one gets there until the second inning. I've heard Charley Steiner plugging the Dodger Express from Union Station, but I wondered if anyone here had any experience with that. Or else if anyone knew whether a cab or Uber would work.

Thanks!

[DC47]

It's LA. Only a private copter will do.

But I love the RV idea. Maybe a placard with "S. Koufax - Do Not Disturb" in the window will get you through one night parked right outside the stadium without being towed.

[Johnny Carwash]

Obligatory:

[DSafetyGuy]

Several years ago, when brian was in town for a Tigers-Dodgers series, we did the Union Station thing for the Saturday game. Since I had to drive there and park instead of going to the stadium directly, I was not pleased with the overall experience (I think the cost for parking was similar to the expense at the stadium, which was a large part of my dismay). Brian could speak better to the out-of-towner experience with it, as he was staying downtown.

I think it would be completely insane (your words, but also probably mine) to bring your motor home. While I understand the desire to not murder your children to prevent them from murdering each other, I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell you were to park it other than the list of "The Best 10 RV Parks in Los Angeles, CA" on Yelp. It looks like the closest one of those is at least 20 miles from Chinatown/Dodger Stadium. Google maps shows one a lot closer, but also says it is a trailer park, so.....

I think taxi or Uber would be fine. It's been years since I went, but there were always taxis outside the stadium when the game ended. I'm sure they allow Uber now, as well.

[Steve of phpBB]

Several years ago, when brian was in town for a Tigers-Dodgers series, we did the Union Station thing for the Saturday game. Since I had to drive there and park instead of going to the stadium directly, I was not pleased with the overall experience (I think the cost for parking was similar to the expense at the stadium, which was a large part of my dismay). Brian could speak better to the out-of-towner experience with it, as he was staying downtown.

I think it would be completely insane (your words, but also probably mine) to bring your motor home. While I understand the desire to not murder your children to prevent them from murdering each other, I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell you were to park it other than the list of "The Best 10 RV Parks in Los Angeles, CA" on Yelp. It looks like the closest one of those is at least 20 miles from Chinatown/Dodger Stadium. Google maps shows one a lot closer, but also says it is a trailer park, so.....

I think taxi or Uber would be fine. It's been years since I went, but there were always taxis outside the stadium when the game ended. I'm sure they allow Uber now, as well.

That's good. Thanks.

[brian]

Yeah if I had it all to do over again I would Uber from parking near (but not too near the stadium).

[brian]

Also try not to get stabbed. We had Keg to intimidate any would-be evildoers. Despite him being a Dodger fan he's a good guy. You should gift him a ticket to act as de facto security.

[Keg]

Do not under any circumstances drive into the stadium. You'll be looking at a minimum of two hours just to get out of the lot. Then you'll have to contend with traffic outside of the stadium (which isnt as slow as it is inside but its still a crawl).

They allow Uber/taxi to drive inside of the parking lot to pick up passengers. However, I am not sure if the Ubers get their own dedicated lane to get out of the stadium or if you have to sit in traffic with everyone else - which would suck for both you and the driver. What I would do is go to the Uber pick up spot (Lot 12 - see link below) to check out how fast the folks are getting out of the stadium. If the Ubers are getting stuck in parking lot traffic, I would walk outside of the stadium (at least a couple blocks to get away from road closures) to get picked up. It will be a long walk since the parking lot is so massive but its worth it.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ba ... erservices

I believe the Dodger Express has its own lane to get out of the stadium, so you wont have to deal with traffic inside of the stadium after the game. The only possible drawback I can think of is if there arent enough shuttles to get people out and the shuttles that are in use get stuck in traffic while making their rounds. (This happened to us a few years ago after the LA Coliseum spring training game). The city may have fixed this, however.

If you want to save a few bucks, another option is to park your own vehicle outside of the stadium on Academy Road. The only bad part is that you have to get there at least 2 hours before game time to find a spot but there arent many better places to spend a couple of hours than Dodger Stadium.

Where are your tix? The rowdiest section is typically the LF pavilion, but most troublemakers are priced out of the playoff games.

[Steve of phpBB]

Thanks, Keg.

The plans changed a bit yesterday - my wife was originally going to fly down for Game 5, but now she is flying down for Game 4. So we have to pick her up at Burbank at 4 and then get to the game. With those conditions, do we really have an alternative to driving for that game? I know we'll have the two-hour wait to get out, that's what happened in April. But I can't see any way around it.

We have seats in the Loge section way down the RF line for Game 4, and the upper Reserved section down the LF line for Game 5. My son and I sat in the LF pavilion in April, though, and that was great.

[DSafetyGuy]

Thanks, Keg.

The plans changed a bit yesterday - my wife was originally going to fly down for Game 5, but now she is flying down for Game 4. So we have to pick her up at Burbank at 4 and then get to the game. With those conditions, do we really have an alternative to driving for that game? I know we'll have the two-hour wait to get out, that's what happened in April. But I can't see any way around it.

We have seats in the Loge section way down the RF line for Game 4, and the upper Reserved section down the LF line for Game 5. My son and I sat in the LF pavilion in April, though, and that was great.

Yes, you'll be driving for Game 4.

We always preferred to park in lots 1 or 2 (see here because the traffic flow after the game was going counterclockwise toward the Sunset gate, where we would leave (on Vin Scully Ave). Even though we were going to the Westside, we would turn left onto Sunset and blow through downtown. This would also be a desirable way to get to Chinatown, is you are still following through and staying there.

We also hauled ass as soon as the game was over to get out of the stadium and into the car to get in front of as many people as we could.

[sancarlos]

Man, that's cutting it close on time. Hope her flight isn't delayed!

[Steve of phpBB]

I think we've decided that she will take a cab in from Burbank and meet us there. Otherwise it would be much too crazy.

I really really really wanted the Cubs to win Game 2 tonight. Now I will be spending the next 48 hours sweating out the chance that I will go to all this effort to watch them get bounced in five.