I posted an extremely lengthy review on the Dolphins site Finheaven last night. This will be less detailed, albeit still quite wordy, per my norm. I prefer to post once in a thread and then do something else, a normal life activity, rather than volley back and forth:
* Much more impressed than I expected to be. The place has a presence now. It feels more like a major event, the place to be. The white roof which extends beyond the old parameter makes the stadium seem 50% larger, viewed from inside or outside. The pointy peaks that enable the rooftop cables are not as awkward as I anticipated and actually provide an interesting look. The rooftop also is not as clunky or awkward as I expected while viewed from inside. I sit low upper deck. It merges decently with the surroundings. The upper deck is now a mixture of very new and quite old
* The loudspeakers attached to the bottom of that white rooftop are overbearing. More than anything else, those loudspeakers change the stadium and the feel of attending an event there. The volume was incredibly loud, no doubt by design and no doubt it will remain. The band plays almost incessantly at college games. That wasn't always noticeable in the old setup. Now the speakers pick it up and the roof retains. Previously obscure events like the introduction of students being honored for something during a timeout are now so loud the crowd has no choice but to pay attention and react. It was so loud I generally had difficulty carrying on conversations with fans in the adjacent seats. That was always my reference point for how loud the Orange Bowl was. This stadium needed an artificial boost in that regard and now has it via that roof and those speakers
* The air circulation is dramatically worse, particularly compared to last season when the open upper corners provided a terrific swirling breeze and the greatest comfort level ever in that venue. Spectators were fanning themselves last night, especially in the lower bowl. The guy immediately behind me left his seat to get air several times. At one point we received a brief breeze and fans launched mock applause. I've never seen that before. One lady said, "Finally."
For reference I kept an eye on the four streamers atop the goal post uprights all night. Without exaggeration, they never moved more than a few inches and any movement was exceptionally rare. The breeze simply doesn't get there any more. In prior seasons those streamers were whipping all over the place, often extended in different directions on one end as opposed to the other side. Kickers no longer have any excuse in this stadium, and passers should find less trouble also. It's not as if it was a windless night. The two large flags -- American and State of Florida -- attached to the upper deck of the west end zone were once pushed absolutely parallel to the field. The streamers perhaps 50 feet below them didn't react at all.
I left to fill my water bottle at a fountain behind the stands and was shocked at how normal it was in terms of breeze. You simply don't feel that inside the structure anymore. There's a reason those roofed stadiums like Seattle have an open side. This is a fully enclosed venue with a forced attachment it was never designed for, so naturally some aspects won't be ideal. The lack of circulation is more of an annoyance than a deal breaker. Maybe they'll think of something to help the situation
* They changed the entrance procedure. Instead of being wanded you now pass through a metal detector and don't have to remove everything from your pockets, merely phones and cameras. They eliminated employees who scan tickets in favor of self scan machines. That's seemingly a good idea but it wasn't ready for prime time last night. Nobody knew what was going on when it was congested since the scanners were low and not obvious. They are maybe 20 feet in front of the metal detectors and there are no ropes or other separating barriers. Once people saw they weren't directly in front of a self scanner there was quite a bit of shoving and bumping to claim a spot. The scanners were overly sensitive. That was the primary issue. I saw one ticket after another rejected, despite assertions of legitimacy by the owner(s). A family of four directly in front of me had their somewhat wet paper tickets all denied. A female supervisor pulled them out of line and said they needed to go to a ticket window for verification. The dad said, "You've got to be kidding!" His kids looked crushed.
I think that aspect can be fixed with minor adjustment. Currently it's probably best to enter the stadium when it isn't particularly crowded, so no shoving match toward the self scanners. I was late and near kickoff when I entered
* Overall it's a good pro stadium, although somewhat the equivalent of a processor upgrade card in a computer. "Like new" only if you are gullible enough to overlook the areas that can't be fixed due to aged realities. Every truly new pro stadium like Minnesota, Atlanta, Los Angeles and any place that follows will leap frog our stadium, by sheer logic and probability.
* The Canes won't look elsewhere but they should. This still isn't remotely close to an on-campus environment. Since we've had such a flurry of uninspired people atop the athletic department, they'll settle.