Spring Training Help

[BCVM22]

I'm sure there's a good baker's dozen or so of these threads every year, but I've looked through the first 10 pages of this forum and the Social forum and found nothing, so here goes.

 

I'm considering heading out to Mesa for a few days over spring break and taking in a Cubs game or two. I haven't been out to spring training in 6 years, easily. Can any of the more seasoned travelers recommend hotels, tourist destinations and/or other useful information?

 

Appreciated in advance.

[Guest]

I'm sure there's a good baker's dozen or so of these threads every year, but I've looked through the first 10 pages of this forum and the Social forum and found nothing, so here goes.

 

I'm considering heading out to Mesa for a few days over spring break and taking in a Cubs game or two. I haven't been out to spring training in 6 years, easily. Can any of the more seasoned travelers recommend hotels, tourist destinations and/or other useful information?

 

Appreciated in advance.

 

Don't stay in Mesa. Stay in Scottsdale or Tempe - lots more fun! A trip to Fitch Park is worthwhile. I like sitting on the grass in the outfield myself.

[BCVM22]

Don't stay in Mesa. Stay in Scottsdale or Tempe - lots more fun! A trip to Fitch Park is worthwhile. I like sitting on the grass in the outfield myself.

 

I won't have access to a car of any sort, so my thought was to try and stay as close to HoHoKam as I could manage. You don't recommend that?

[Guest]

Don't stay in Mesa. Stay in Scottsdale or Tempe - lots more fun! A trip to Fitch Park is worthwhile. I like sitting on the grass in the outfield myself.

 

I won't have access to a car of any sort, so my thought was to try and stay as close to HoHoKam as I could manage. You don't recommend that?

 

Phoenix is a tough tough place to be without a car. If you can find a way to pay for it, I highly recpmmend you rent a car. If you do it not at the airport it will be a lot cheaper. You have forgotten that in Phoenix . . . everything is really really far away. Can't say I ever tried the bus system though.

 

I can't really think of any hotels closer than a couple miles to HHK. Plus, going to games at other parks is fun. The better restaurants, bars etc are in Tempe and Scottsdale from my experience.

[BCVM22]

20 years of age and likely traveling alone makes renting a car a bit difficult.

[Guest]

20 years of age and likely traveling alone makes renting a car a bit difficult.

 

indeed it does. although some companies will still rent to you - just charge you more. er, do you have a credit card? I guess bars aren't a great option either . . .

 

given those requirements, you might stay in Mesa. You can take a cab up to Fitch and then walk to HHK from there for a game. The food selection won't be great but you'll survive. Just make sure the hotel is in downtown Mesa and not 15 miles down the road . . .

[BCVM22]

given those requirements, you might stay in Mesa. You can take a cab up to Fitch and then walk to HHK from there for a game. The food selection won't be great but you'll survive. Just make sure the hotel is in downtown Mesa and not 15 miles down the road . . .

 

That's the station my train of thought left from. Can anyone recommend any hotels?

[CubsWin]

given those requirements, you might stay in Mesa. You can take a cab up to Fitch and then walk to HHK from there for a game. The food selection won't be great but you'll survive. Just make sure the hotel is in downtown Mesa and not 15 miles down the road . . .

 

That's the station my train of thought left from. Can anyone recommend any hotels?

Don't know what your budget is, but the two closest hotels to Fitch Park that I know of are The Marriot and The Best Western.

 

Here is a link to a list of Mesa hotels with a map of where they are, their addresses, phone numbers, etc.

[PrimeTime]

20 years old and traveling alone to see the Cubs in Arizona? Thats awsome...Im 21 and I wanna go to Arizona so bad and the Cubs having ST there makes me wanna go even more..Hey if your looking for someone to go with and split the bills..Let me know..Im dieing to go

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Go to http://www.visitmesa.com. From there you can click a Cubs spring training link. We stayed at a Days Inn when we were there. It was too far to walk to the park, but it probably wouldn't be a long cab ride.

 

There was also a Denny's across the street to grab a late meal if you're so inclined. I rented a car when I went and traveled to several parks, and the suggestion about Scotsdale rings true. I think we ended up going out to eat in Scotsdale more than we did in Mesa.

[karenmac]

when we go in a few weeks, we're staying at the Hilton in Mesa - https://secure.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=MESHPHF

 

it's not particularly close - but I would bet that they have a shuttle that could at least take you to the park (even if you had to taxi back)

 

Another option would be staying near another park, depending on where the cubs are playing while you're there. There are 2 or 3 parks that share between 2 teams - so, for instance, the week we're there, they play in Tucson twice, at the same park, once versus the Dbax and the other vs the White Sox.

 

Good luck!

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Some of the hotels even have Cubs packages that include tickets. That's how we went in 2004 and ended up sitting in the third row even with third base. Great seats and a lot of fun!

[badgercub]

Not sure what your budget is but here is a link to a website with all the discount codes for the major rental car companies, and a lot of times if you wait until the week before you go you can get some good last minute deals. http://www.rentalcarmomma.com

[CoolHandLuke]

I am going on March 13th! Staying way on the other side of the valley though (goodyear/avondale) My questions is how hard are tickets to come by? I am guessing that the cubbies tickets are pretty tough to get, but I definately want to go see some other teams play. What are some nice ballparks, and would I have to get tickets ahead of time or are walkup tickets feasible?

[karenmac]

we saw a Brewer/KC game at Surprise last year on St Patty's day and that was a *beautiful* park. The Rangers play there along with KC. The traffic getting there is a pain in the neck (add 1/2 hour to whatever you think it's gonna take to get you there) We got tickets right behind home plate, about 10 rows back in the shade. It was perfect!

 

This year we're going to Maryvale (the Brewers home park) just because my husband wants a good sausage. We'll be at Hohokam for the game on 3/11 and are catching both games at Tucson Electric Park that week - vs the Dbax and the White Sox. We saw the Dbax and White Sox play there last year too. TEP is a nice stadium - the Sidewinders of the PCL play there during the AAA season. The tough part is getting a seat in the shade so my pale IL skin doesn't burn to a crisp in the warmth of AZ!

[abuck1220]

in the six years i've been there, i don't think i've ever eaten in a mesa restaurant. i wouldn't even be able to name one.

[Guest]

in the six years i've been there, i don't think i've ever eaten in a mesa restaurant. i wouldn't even be able to name one.

 

dairy queen. not brazier though.

[goonys evil twin]

What little I saw of it, Mesa isn't worth hanging around. But if you're a (presumably poor) 20 year old college kid, I'd think you could make it worth your while. Although you might want to plan on staying at UofA to try and find a coed to drive you around. There's no way I'd get my wife back there if we were staying in Mesa, but as a younger man, I had no problem slumming it, so to speak. The car issue is huge though. I couldn't imagine trying to get around that area without some sort of auto. I know I rented cars pre-25, forget how much extra it was though. Maybe you can find an independent renter that would be more flexible.

[CoolHandLuke]

This is what I would like to do for the week I am there. Does it look feasible or is it trying to pack in too many games?

 

3/13

White Sox @ Rangers 1:05 Surprise Stadium

Athletics @ Giants 7:05 Scottsdale stadium

 

3/14

Brewers @ White Sox 1:05 Tuscon Electric Park

 

3/15

Mariners @ Cubs 1:05 HoHoKam Park

Giants @ Mariners 7:05 Peoria Sports Complex

 

3/16

Brewers @ Angels 1:05 Tempe Diablo Stadium

Diamondbacks @ Athletics 7:05 Phoenix Municipal Stadium

 

3/17

Diamondbacks @ Royals 1:05 Surprise Stadium

 

is two games in a day something that would be possible?

How easy are tickets to get the day of the game? Would I be better off getting all the tickets ahead of time? I would be staying in avondale, so it looks like it would be fairly easy to get to the rangers/royals park and the mariners park. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[abuck1220]

yeah, i can't imagine doing it w/o a car.

[goonys evil twin]

This is what I would like to do for the week I am there. Does it look feasible or is it trying to pack in too many games?

 

is two games in a day something that would be possible?

 

I'm not a ST expert, but I'd suggest not doing 2-a-days. Driving from stadium to stadium would be really tough. I would suggest no more than 1 a day, and even then, I'd take a day or two to do something else.

[badgercub]

When I went (almost 10 years ago) we stayed in Tempe. Nice college town, lots of ASU co-eds. Spent a lot of time in Scottsdale too, going out to eat and to the clubs. Great time!! A trick I use to get discounted hotel rooms is to call a hotel and tell them you are in town for a conference but you can't remember the name of the company sponsoring said conference. They usually will name any companies holding events at the hotel and then you magically remember the name and say "that's it" and score your room at the conference rate. Has worked many times. We stayed at some hotel near the football stadium at the base of "sundevil mountain" or whatever they call it. Just so happens the Ok. St. womens track team was also staying there at the same time. Lot's of eye candy around the pool.

[abuck1220]

This is what I would like to do for the week I am there. Does it look feasible or is it trying to pack in too many games?

 

is two games in a day something that would be possible?

 

I'm not a ST expert, but I'd suggest not doing 2-a-days. Driving from stadium to stadium would be really tough. I would suggest no more than 1 a day, and even then, I'd take a day or two to do something else.

 

wuss. we usually do one two-game day while we're there.

 

all those two game days are doable. none of those stadiums are too far apart. phoenix and tempe diablo are especially close. surprise is NW of everything...maybe a 30-45 minute drive (depending on what time of day you're doing it) from the phoenix/tempe area.

 

though i just noticed you're sandwiching a tucson game in between two two-game days. that might be a little exhausting b/c tucson is a couple of hours from the phoenix/tempe area. those are going to be three long days, that's for sure.

[Guest]

This is what I would like to do for the week I am there. Does it look feasible or is it trying to pack in too many games?

 

is two games in a day something that would be possible?

 

I'm not a ST expert, but I'd suggest not doing 2-a-days. Driving from stadium to stadium would be really tough. I would suggest no more than 1 a day, and even then, I'd take a day or two to do something else.

 

wuss. we usually do one two-game day while we're there.

 

all those two game days are doable. none of those stadiums are too far apart. phoenix and tempe diablo are especially close. surprise is NW of everything...maybe a 30-45 minute drive (depending on what time of day you're doing it) from the phoenix/tempe area.

 

though i just noticed you're sandwiching a tucson game in between two two-game days. that might be a little exhausting b/c tucson is a couple of hours from the phoenix/tempe area. those are going to be three long days, that's for sure.

 

definitely doable. depends how you want to spend your time I guess. Goony isn't a "real" baseball fan obviously. :D

[goonys evil twin]

This is what I would like to do for the week I am there. Does it look feasible or is it trying to pack in too many games?

 

is two games in a day something that would be possible?

 

I'm not a ST expert, but I'd suggest not doing 2-a-days. Driving from stadium to stadium would be really tough. I would suggest no more than 1 a day, and even then, I'd take a day or two to do something else.

 

wuss. we usually do one two-game day while we're there.

 

all those two game days are doable. none of those stadiums are too far apart. phoenix and tempe diablo are especially close. surprise is NW of everything...maybe a 30-45 minute drive (depending on what time of day you're doing it) from the phoenix/tempe area.

 

though i just noticed you're sandwiching a tucson game in between two two-game days. that might be a little exhausting b/c tucson is a couple of hours from the phoenix/tempe area. those are going to be three long days, that's for sure.

 

definitely doable. depends how you want to spend your time I guess. Goony isn't a "real" baseball fan obviously. :D

 

This is true. I go for the beer.

 

Last year I went to 2 games, plus a Blackhawks/Coyotes game, over 4 days. I also golfed. I definitely enjoyed the time lounging by the pool and not on the roads of Phoenix. I would never even try that with the wife, and I probably couldn't get any of my friends to try it either (2adays).