Tell me about Phoenix SX

[NM_KDX200]

We're up in NE New Mexico and are considering driving down to Phoenix for the SX. It'll be a 715 mile 1-way drive, but I have relatives in Winslow AZ and we could break the drive up there. If I do this I'll be bringing a 3 yr old, 5 yr old, and 13 yr old. I've taken the 13 yr old to Dallas twice so compare Phoenix to that.

What I need to know is:

1) Safety of area. Dallas was great, no issues whatsoever there. I'm talking about the parking lot, stadium, nearby hotels.

2) Restrooms, food vendors, that sort of thing- small boys are hungry and have to go pee a lot. Again, Dallas was great- LOTS of restrooms, easy access, no lines.

3) Pit passes. How do we get pit passes for Phoenix? Pit passes are critical, esp. if we're going to drive for a day and a half to get there.

4) Traffic access in and out. Are we going to sit in line for 2 hrs. leaving?

5) Volume in stadium. Dallas is closed except for the small opening in the top and it's pretty loud. My daughter and I both wore earplugs, but I'm wondering about the 3 and 5 yr old.

6) Likewise- temperature in stadium. Jackets?

Anything else?

 

[Chili]

Never been to the Phoenix round but I can't imagine taking a 3 year old to a SX, and the 5 year old would be borderline IMO.

 

[NM_KDX200]

I can't imagine taking a 3 year old to a SX, and the 5 year old would be borderline IMO.

Why's that?

We go everywhere together- they've been to the Denver MX twice (that means they were 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 years old), rodeos, hunting (I bought a Double-Bull blind and we all sit inside that), etc. I saw lots of kids at the Dallas SX.

 

[XRpredator]

you got better yard-apes than me, man, if they can spend the whole day sitting with the ol' man at the SX. I take my kids everywhere with me, too, but when I go to the SX it's an all-day affair, with the pit tour and all the day qualifiers/practices. My kid at 10 was just starting to appreciate it last time I went to Seattle.

and I'd bring ear plugs for everyone no matter what

 

[Chili]

I guess it depends on your approach to the race. I'm one of those guys waiting for the doors to open at noon and I'm one of the last out of the stadium at the end of the night. I can't imagine kids that young dealing with that long a day. As far as the noise factor ear plugs are a must at any SX nowadays, especially for the little ones.

 

[NM_KDX200]

I'm one of those guys waiting for the doors to open at noon and I'm one of the last out of the stadium at the end of the night.

So am I, but if I want to give my kids an appreciation of these things then I have to sacrifice my wants for their wants. Someday when I'm 70 and blind and can't even pee for myself, I'll hope I've trained them right and they'll sacrifice their time for me. So, sure, I could go by myself, but what fun is that when I could have my 2 boys, my daughter, and my wife with me to share in the fun? I went to Dallas alone the first time and all I could think was "David would go nuts over this!"

So, what I plan to do is get there about 1 pm, visit the pits, talk to some privateers in the parking lot, walk back to the Suburban in the parking lot, kick out the chairs, cook hotdogs on a portable grill, take a nap in the back of the 'burban if necessary, go back in and watch some qualifiers, walk around and up and down the stadium, go back out to the truck for another nap if necessary, and finally get into our seats in time for the FIREWORKS!!!!

The main reason we don't just go to Dallas again is because RC will be at Phoenix and my 5 year old is a MAJOR Ricky nut. At the Denver MX, every single time RC came around the track, he'd go "Here comes Ricky! There goes Ricky!". For several months, he refused to admit that he was 5 years old because he "wasn't Ricky anymore". "What?", I asked. "One-two-three-RICKY!" was his reply. When we finally got to see RC in the Denver pits, David talked about it for months afterwards. David also has an enlarged spleen and is _severely_ anemic. Every day is a day we don't take for granted and I just would like for him to see Ricky race one more time. Thus, Phoenix.

Then again, it may snow, tickets may sell out, the Suburban may break down before now and then, or who knows what else might happen.

And besides all this, :) I still haven't gotten a single one of my original questions answered.... ;) Information, folks, I need information...tell me about Phoenix.

 

[Okiewan]

The area? No idea.
But you've got to ask yourself... how many stadiums are in the "good part of town" :p And then of course, what's "bad" to some, won't be to others.

 

[Chili]

Pred and I both answered #5. As far as #3 Pit Passes, the pits are open during a certain short period of time in the afternoon and you can purchase tickets at the event. If you're wanting into the pits during closed to the public hours you're going to need to know somebody or win the Asterisk super pass auction.

 

[NM_KDX200]

On the volume thing, what I was getting at is that Dallas is pretty well a closed stadium where sound echos, and I think Bank One or Mountain Dew (or whatever the Phoenix stadium is called this year) is an OPEN stadium. If so, I was hoping it would be a LITTLE bit less loud.

On the pit passes, I just want to get in w/ everyone else. At Dallas, I've always bought my tickets ahead of time. If you read the Supercross.cc website for Dallas, it says "pit passes at select Yamaha dealers" and never says a WORD about them being available on-site. Since I've always had prepaid tickets, I never needed to go to the ticket window and therefore I never even knew pit-passes were available onsite! I take it that's the SOP?

 

[oldguy]

Some pits at SXs are closed due to local regulations. Sorry I can not help with the Phoenix situation.

 

[Solid State]

By all means take the whole family if you are comfortable with it! I've taken my kids at that age and there were no problems. Dress properly and wear earplugs and for the smaller kids include ear muffs or pull down hat over the ears as well. Also bring water. We don't go to indoor events anymore - I call them the "buzz and choke" events. Your kid sure is a Ricky fan!

Good luck.

 

[alanp]

ill give some general info, i havent been to a sx event there but im familiar with phoenix. the stadium is brand new. its in glendale/avondale area which is on the west side of phoenix. there are plenty of hotels within a short commute. the area itself is very safe. i imagine the stadium will be open during the day. temps in the winter here are in the upper 60s to lower 70s. they may close the roof at night as temps get into the 40s. the stadium is right off of the interstate. i drove thru phoenix to mx practice when the nascar event was here and traffic delays probably cost me 15 minutes. this event is much smaller than nascar so traffic shouldnt be to bad. good luck maybe ill see you there

 

[TWright43]

#1 the area is pretty safe, if you get to far away from the stadium it deteriorates in a hurry.

#2 plenty of food and restrooms, the lines just depend on when you go.

#3 check with the local bike shops, if no luck they normally sell them at the stadium.

#4 there is actually not a lot of parking right @ the stadium, they dont have the traditional parking lot, if you park a couple blocks away and huff it to the car afterwards there are plenty of ways outta there with next to no traffic.

#5 it depends on the weather, if it is cold they may keep the roof closed and it would be louder, if it is warm opening the roof lets some of the noise out, it is loud regardless so earplugs would be a good idea for the little ones.

#6 same as 5 it is a temperature controlled stadium because it has a retractable roof. i would bring light sweatshirts just in case though...

anything else just email me TWright43@hotmail.com

 

[nitropimp]

ill give some general info, i havent been to a sx event there but im familiar with phoenix. the stadium is brand new. its in glendale/avondale area which is on the west side of phoenix. there are plenty of hotels within a short commute. the area itself is very safe. i imagine the stadium will be open during the day. temps in the winter here are in the upper 60s to lower 70s. they may close the roof at night as temps get into the 40s. the stadium is right off of the interstate. i drove thru phoenix to mx practice when the nascar event was here and traffic delays probably cost me 15 minutes. this event is much smaller than nascar so traffic shouldnt be to bad. good luck maybe ill see you there

The SX is not at the new stadium, it is at Chase field (downtown area).

 

[Yz250FinAZ]

ya, since ive gone the past 3 yrs with my friends, figured i should post~

The location where the stadium is in downtown phoenix isnt really "bad". Granted i woudlnt stray "too" far from the stadium aroudn 11 or so when we leave the sx, but its a real clean, nice stadium.

The pit passes have been sold with the tickets at the little box office things,"at the door". i think i remmber the pit passes being like $10 last year??

As far as food/restrooms, there everywhere. There are bar/grills/restaurants around, and lots of vendors in the pits/portopottys everywhere. There will be big lines for getting your ticket, kind of crowded in the pits as well, sicne there are a ton of people that go to sx in phoenix.

The traffic isnt to bad, if you stay in a nearby parking garage which takes like 5 mins to walk to the stadium, its gonna be around $10.

On the noise factor, id bring some earplugs for the little kids, youl be fine/13 yr old be fine as well, i dont remember it beign overly loud.

The high for saturday is supposed to be aroudn 50F and the low around 30F, with light showers possibly...so id bring a hoodie/jacket at least.

If it is raining, theyll close the top.

if you decide to come out, it shoudl be worth your time, ive had a blast the past 3 years that ive gone!

any questions, feel free to ask in this thread/pm me, hopefully i can answer em

 

[NM_KDX200]

Well, fortunately (it's good moisture) and unfortunately (causes problems) we've got another big snow storm coming this weekend so I'd better stay here. If I leave the ranch and it snows, there's a very good possibility I won't get back IN for several days/week and we've got animals to be fed and all that. If you've watched the previous storm, NE New Mexico = SE Colorado. We were snowed in for almost a week and I had to use my front-end loader to uncover the garage, get to the gas tanks, and open up the propane tank. Snow collapsed the deck and several animal pens (chicken coop, etc.) were totally filled with drifted snow but most of the animals made a little snow cave and were okay. If we're going to get more of the same, though, I'd better stay here.

Maybe we can make Dallas in March. We'll miss RC but that's the way it goes.