Ever since he was a tiny boy living in New York City, Terrence has always loved the Seattle Mariners. Through thick and thin, he has supported the team, was traveling to the Pacific Northwest for the first time. Since we couldn’t see a game, the next logical step was to take a Safeco Field Tour. The lovely tour manager named Ted presented us with tickets and arranged for us to take a 12:30 tour on our second day in town for the purpose of this review. All opinions shared are our own.
As far as baseball stadiums go, Safeco Field is in a league all its own [haha..get it?] You can see the field from the road, and directions given on the tour website were clear and concise. We had no trouble finding parking for the field, which cost $8. Not too bad when you consider the downtown location.
The Safeco Field Tour started at the on-site team location. The tour guides were friendly and went around talking to everyone. They asked us where we were from and what our favorite baseball team/players were.
Our tour guide let us snag this photo of his jacket but we had to pay him $5 in “imaginary money” for the shot. We obliged.
As creatives ourselves, we always appreciate seeing urban art. The Safeco Field Tour started with a sculpture depicting the Seattle Mariners, first playoff series win against the Yankees. This was the first of many art installations we would come across at Safeco Field.
We caught our first glimpse of the field itself while our tour guide explained various facts about the entrance way and flooring mosaic made to look like a compass. The rich and little-known trivia facts really made the Safeco Field Tour and enjoyable experience. People were eager to grab all sorts of photos, and our tour guide was kind enough to be very lenient in allowing time for shots. Since Terrence has been a lifelong fan of the Mariners, we appreciated this time!
Next up, the Safeco Field Tour was brought up the elevator to the upper levels of Safeco Field. Here, we learned all the ins and outs of the retractable umbrella. It is appropriately named an umbrella, not a roof, because roofs enclose houses, and Safeco is an open air field. When you use an umbrella, you are sheltered from the rain, but not the wind and temperature. See? Easy!
The entire length of the clubhouse level was lined with photography, framed newspaper clippings, and custom art.
We were happy that the tour guide showed us not only the smallest available suite, but also more expensive suites and even the owners suite. Did you know that the man who owned Nintendo also bought Safeco Field? He didn’t like baseball and never attended a game.
Even though employees were working in the press box, we were excited that Safeco was flexible enough to allow us a peek.
We were taken underground and prepped for walking out onto the field. Again, the entire length of the underground hallway was lined with unique artwork. The ability to interact with the press conference room and go up on the stage was a highlight for us and the majority of our fellow tour-mates.
Field access time! Not surprisingly, our favorite part of the tour! While on the field, we were also allowed to access the visitor’s dugout. Our only complaint was the fact that this part of the Safeco Field Tour seemed a bit rushed. Since it was at the end, we felt like the majority of the time was taken elsewhere, and now we had to hurry up and finish. We had a decent amount of time, but since this was a part of the tour everyone was looking forward to, an extra 5 minutes wouldn’t hurt.
To make the Visitor’s Clubhouse have more team spirit, management put the jerseys of ex-Mariners players in the cubbies.
See that flooring? Apparently, when Beyonce was preparing for her concert, she didn’t like the existing carpeting so she had her own shipped in and installed. We were the last tour to see the carpet before it was ripped up and replaced.
Finally, we caught a glimpse of the visitor’s batting cage. We’re sure that, for liablity reasons, we couldn’t be shown any of the Mariner’s team practice area/clubhouse, but it would have been fun to take a peek!
Overall, the experience was wonderful. The group size was manageable and the tour guides knowledgeable. We were allowed plenty of time, and extra if we asked, to take photos and linger in a variety of areas. For a life-long Seattle Mariners fan, this behind the scenes tour of Safeco Field checked all the boxes!
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