I had my first trip to Citi Field last Saturday night and am ready to share my thoughts (and videos) about the Mets' new stadium.

What I Liked

1. It's new.
2. The stadium looks like a nice place as you approach it from the parking lot. Shea looked like a post-apocalyptic nightmare with all the steel and concrete. Citi Field looks pleasantly retro.
3. The markers for the Shea Stadium bases in the parking lot.
4. The Robinson Rotunda is a nice spot to enter the stadium and a good place to wait for friends. See my video.
5. The walkways are wider and open to the field. It's a much more airy feel. During the rain delays at Shea the tunnels would get hot, sticky and you'd feel claustrophopic. I feel better walking around and hanging out in the Citi Field walkways.
6. Lots of new food choices. This is one of the reasons to show up at the ballpark early. You can show up early at Citi Field and not have to hang out in the parking lot. The area behind centerfield has the food and the tables to make the pre-game experience more pleasant.
7. Fun for the kids. I haven't taken my kids to a game yet but when I do I'll visit Mr. Met, the dunk tank, batting cages and wiffle ball field with them.
8. The automatic ticket dispensers. Just swipe your credit card and your tickets purchased online at Mets.com are printed.
9. Bright new scoreboards with lots of information.

What I Didn't Like

1. The Mets memorabilia (which consists of the old apple and a few pennants) is hidden away. See my video for the location.
2. The place is pretty damn noisy. Maybe I've turned the corner somehow but the music behind the scoreboard was blasting.
3. Things are expensive. Ticket prices have gone up and so have the prices for everything else. It's no problem for a single guy but things get a little pricey for a family of four.
4. There are numerous obstructed views. Stick to the seats in the curve of the stadium and you should be fine. Pepsi Porch and the outfield seats can't see some portions of the outfield in the corner and near the fences.
5. Some other frustrating design flaws. My seat had a view of a plexiglass railing partition cutting home plate in half.
6. Way to many advertisements. There's an ad everywhere you look. I thought it was very distracting.

So those are some general thoughts. All in all I'm glad to have a new park. It's better than not having a new one. I just wish that the Wilpons made the stadium with a bit larger capacity and more respect for Mets history. It was only my first trip so I'm sure I'll discover some new things to like the next time around.

Okay the videos. One is embedded below but there are 13 pretty short videos that you can watch in a youtube playlist. Do head over and check them out here.