The wife and I will be coming down to Miami for our FIRST EVER Dolphins home game! We will be driving south from Washington DC, on somewhat of a winding path that will take my wife on a few speaking enagements. It will take a couple of days to get down there, but she will be getting paid in the process, so I'm not going to complain. She has her final speaking engagement in Miami on the friday before the San Diego Chargers come to town. I don't off hand remember the name of the place she is speaking at, but looking at the google map, I know it is on the pennisula thingy where Miami Beach is. So my questions are: 1. Any suggestions on where we should look at for hotels? We dont want to go dirt cheap, but not too expensive either. 2. We will have a 9 month old baby, do we need to buy a game ticket for him? I am assuming not, but you never know... 3. Suggestions for good clean family fun on Saturday? 4. Anything else I need to know? thanks for any help
Hotwire is your friend..stay in nothing less than a three and a half star..you can choose the area you would like to stay in.
can´t give you any tips about the hotel and stuff, but i once brought my 4 year old daughter to a soccer game, 80.000 people screaming like lunatics, she didn´t like it to much, i dunno if you wanna do this to a 9 month old
Stay near the beach either in the Miami or Ft Lauderdale area. It may be a bit cheaper inland but as a tourist you'll get a better experience near the water. there are tons of outdoor things to do down here near the beach or further inland with the everglades in our backyard. Also, CHECK THIS OUT. It contains a ton of 2 for 1 deals until September 30 that you and your family can use. It will also give you an idea of some activities in Broward County (Just north of Miami). http://www.sunny.org/ways-to-play/summer/
It will be loud in the stadium, 9 month old MIGHT be ok. But loud music, random PA announcements of "heyyyyyOOOOO" and drunk fans around you may be too much. Is it a 1pm game? It'll be hot as hell. Family fun Saturday? Go to the beach or Miami Seaquarium. Lots of fun stuff for the kid and parents alike. And you shouldnt need to buy a ticket for the baby, he can sit on your lap.
thanks for all the input, its the chargers game November 17th, at 1PM. Is it still hot as hell in Mid November? I was thinking about the baby and the noise level, we will be in the upper prime level and have ear muffs for him.
It depends. Could have a cold front. I lived in West Palm Beach and it was 85 degrees on Christmas morning. So its a crapshoot haha
I love that place but a nine month old wouldnt really get it ya know, the parents would enjoy themselves.. I say you buck up a bit more on the hotel, and spend the day at the pool dunking and swimming the baby, they love the pool..
Wrong. It will be loud for a 9 month old baby. A ****ing car horn will make him jump and cry. The fans, although not loud on your tv, will be loud in person to a 9 month old. Not to mention the PA announcements etc.
Depends on the kid and what they're used to. I have cousins that from birth to 9mos and birth to ~3 yrs old sleep through their older brother (also my cousin, BIG age gap) drumming below their bedrooms. But they grew up around the same drumming, guitar, and an attached garage with powertools going all day. Parents gotta use their best judgement, but its worth pointing out a crowd can be deceptively loud. Just my $0.02 - jealous you guys are making a game either way, hope its a blast for ya!
True....I don't think a stadium to watch a game is the place to bring an infant, but in this guys case it doesn't seem like he has a choice, and if he has to do it, our stadiums noise level in the uppers is about as low as your gonna find anywhere..
And if they have any fly overs, your kid's head will shatter. Seriously when the jets do a fly over I think its the loudest thing I've ever heard.
Ya I'm an ex Navy guy that used to work on a flight deck, jets are loud as hell. My wife is aware she maybe taking the baby for several walks that day in the stadium, I am going to owe her big time. I am learning now that when you add a third kid... most hotels make you get an extra room? What the hell is that? sucks...
Have you ever heard it in the echo chamber of a stadium? I'm curious if its louder like that then right next to them. You may be in the position to answer that soon.
I hope you get to attend And things go well, Jack. This may sound dumb, but perhaps you should start acclimating your baby to sports event noise? You can have him in the room with the TV on a sports event and each time gradually increase the volume a bit. When you think the baby is ready, I'd try going to a cheap local game of some sort (arena league, or soccer) and seeing how that goes too. You stand a far better chance of enjoying that day (as do your baby and wife) if you help the environment be less of a shock to the child. Btw, what topic does your wife give speeches about? I'm curious.
Remember, the league just instituted the policy that you CANNOT bring a diaper bag into the stadium. I was planning on going to the Fins/Steelers game in Pittsburgh with my wife and two year old, but we now cannot. The league is all but banning small kids from games now. As for hotels, my wife and I stayed at the Shula's Hotel & Golf club on our visit in 2007, and it was really nice. Rented a car, and got around the area and to the game easily. Theres a resturant on site thats a nice sportsbar, but otherwise, if you dont like seafood or trust local places (I dont), you may have a hard time finding somewhere to eat. We drove for miles before finding anything.
If it's 1pm, it's going to be hot as hell. I promise you that. It still might be up in the 80s. 9 Month baby...it will be too loud for her/him. I recommend you sit on the home side, won't get hit by the sun. I suggest you arrive to your seats a few minutes after kickoff because of the fly over as FinD mentioned. Overall, wouldn't recommend bringing the kid with you, but if you are, like you said, have your wife walk with it around the stadium when it'll start crying.
A couple good basics already mentioned here... -Make sure to sit on the west/home side of the stadium. It's quite a bit cooler as the game goes on and the sun won't be directly in your face. Secs. 409-419 if you're going upper deck. 419 is a decent view and right off the ramp and a decent trade off for the price. -Pay attn to the new bag restrictions. You can bring diapers and baby items if they're in an approved clear bag. See the following http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/p...or-Fans-/be90be86-9f9d-463e-9cf2-d748845532f5 -Agree on the tip to get a decent hotel on the beach, FLL or Miami Beach are best, and spend the day bouncing between the pool and the beach. Avoid South Beach as its much more about style and nightlife than family fun.
Basically tell the wifey to stay at the hotel with the baby for safety reasons, give her the credit card, and go act like a freakin loony for three hours..
Thanks for all the input, My wife (for those that asked) is the Chief of Trademark and Licensing for the Marine Corp. She does a lot of training and speaking engagements at various bases and trademarking conferences. I normally wouldnt bring my kids to something like this, but it would appear that all of the "moons" are lining up for us to finally come to a Dolphins home game. The fact that they are playing the Chargers is another reason we are going ahead and doing it, we are from San Diego, and have seen 3 or 4 Dolphins games in San Diego. Your typical Chargers fan is very laid back, and we had zero issues wearing our aqua and orange. We went to a Dolphins game in DC (Cam Camerons first game as coach) and OMG, talk about the scum of the earth! Redskins fans are disgusting, I swore I'd never go to a game again, unless it was a dolphins home game. Alas, here we come...
I agree that it is always tough to decide where it is safe to go to a game as a supporter of the visiting team. I'm from outside Indy so I made it to the Colts and Bengals games and I had zero problems, especially in Cincy. Everyone was very respectful there and I even had Bengals fans high-five me a few times after nice plays, and had great football conversations with them. I'm most likely moving back to New Jersey and am wondering what going to a Jets game will be like, not entirely sure I want to find out.
yes, he will have to worry about the noise level up there. lol you swear it's as loud as you hear on tv, dj.. the baby will be bored, but he will be fine up there. there's plenty to see in the stadium to entertain him. november? should be ok weather-wise.......just back and forth from seats to concessions will keep him smilin. you'll be in miami beach which is a bit of a drive to the stadium....plenty of affordable hotels down there. sounds like fun!
Ok..all I can tell the man is from experience, I would not of wanted to take my 1 year old to a game, but I understand his hands are tied, no biggie, I'm sure they'll have a good time.
The Dolphins are favored in the game against the Browns. Not sure I trust it because they have the Jets favored at home against the Bucs by the same slim margin. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/e...-schedule-vegas-releases-week-1-betting-lines
