I visited Angels Stadium of Anaheim to see Pittsburgh Pirates @ Los Angeles Angels on Friday 21st of July 2023 @ 6.38pm.
I travelled to Anaheim from Los Angeles via train, on the Pacific Surfliner service operated by Amtrak. I had arrived into Los Angeles International Airport the previous day with Virgin Airlines. As it was an 11 hour flight, I had utilised an Airmiles reward flight combined with a Credit Card spend upgrade voucher to fly Upper Class, might as well use them up.
I took the FlyAway bus from Los Angeles Airport to Union Station and as my trip is taking in a few games in different cities, I chose a hotel, the Metro Plaza Hotel, which was not far from Union Station.
Everything you need travel wise, will leave from Union Station, Amtrak, FlyAway Bus for the airport, the dodgers Shuttle which is free for ticket holders, Greyhound, Flixbus and Megabus services and 3 of the Metro Lines to get to other parts of LA.
I purchased my game ticket via StubHub prior to arriving in the US, however, for most Angels games, this isn’t necessary as you will find plenty available, but occasionally there will be something that affects the availability and price and on this occasion, it was that Shohei Ohtani was pitching for the Angels, and it could be his last game for the Angels before the trade deadline on August 1st. Although i purchased the ticket vis StubHub, as my email associated with StubHub is in my list of emails in my MLB Ballpark app, it appeared in the App.
Gates generally open 90 minutes prior to start of play, however as i wanted to visit the nearby Honda Center and Anaheim Ducks store, as well as take a good look around the ballpark, I arrived into Anaheim around midday.
I caught the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak train from Union Station in Los Angeles for the 38 minute journey to the ARCTIC station in Anaheim, The Honda Center and Angels Stadium can be seen from the Station.
After I had visited the Anaheim Ducks team store, I then made my way towards the Angels Stadium of Anaheim, I stopped in the only Bar i could see between me and the ballpark, JT Schmid’s. It would surprise no one that its a Sports Bar and there were TV’s everywhere showing different sports.
I tried a couple of different IPA’s and had a Meat Lovers Pizza which was absolutely fine. There menu comprises of typical sports bar fayre and can be viewed online.
It was time to go across to the Ballpark, which is a half mile walk from the Bar.
The first thing you see is that the ballpark is completely surrounded by Car Parks which open 2 and a half hours before 1st pitch, which makes circumnavigating it really easy, so i went the long way round so as to end up the Big A. This took me past the Home Plate entrance and the large Baseball Caps that are erected either side of the entrance.
For those that are driving, Baseball Regular Season day-of-game parking prices are $20.00 for general parking; $30.00 for preferred parking, and if using a Ride App/Rideshare service, Drop-offs should enter through Gene Autry Way and after the game the rideshare pick-up zone is located in the parking lot, near Gate 1 towards Left Field, look for the red rideshare light pole in the parking lot for reference.
I then continued round to the Big A which is the only place where Tailgating is permitted. There were a few tailgates up and running, but not to the scale of NFL games, but that might be due to the strict no alcohol policy.
With photos taken, it was time to enter the stadium, you can enter the ballpark by any of the 6 gates that are around the stadium.
As is usual with all stadia in the US, you have to go through airport style security and there is a strict Bag Policy. I didn’t see any bag drop off services that some stadiums have, so bear that in mind when you grab your stuff to go to the game.
On this occasion, my seat was in section 427 Row A, which gave me a good view of the ballpark, but i was never going to get a foul ball. Also there were some escalators dotted round to assist getting up there.
Angel Stadium is a cashless venue, and reverse ATMs that convert cash into prepaid debit cards are located throughout the ballpark. There were a wide variety of food and beverage options. The prices for this game were:
Domestic Beer 24oz $14
Premium Beer 24oz $16
Soda $6
Peanuts $6
Hot Dog $7
Popcorn $4 Small $10 Large
Tenders and Fries $15
Alcohol sales end at the conclusion of the seventh inning or approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes after the first pitch.
Throughout the season, the Angels will do Giveaways or plan an event, the list of which games have Giveaways or an event can be found on the Angels Website. For this game, they gave away Angles themed Bum Bags.
There is free Wi-Fi on offer and if your getting low on juice for your phone, Fuze have installed charging stations where you can rent a charger for a small fee.
The Angeles won the game 8-5 over the Pirates and there were a few home runs for Anaheim which means fireworks being let off from the centerfield rockpile, also known as the “California Spectacular” and the successful batter having to don the Samaria Hat.
Getting away from the stadium was fairly easy, however, with the train only running every 2 hours, I booked the last train which left at 11.10pm, getting back into Los Angeles just before midnight.
