Soldier Field upper tier (home, pharmacy, prices)

[Jimmy1961]

Hi all - We are from Australia and my wife and I are fulfilling a life long passion to attend a Bears game on Sept 15 v Vikings.
We bought tickets through Stubhub and from what I understand they should be all good.
We have booked the upper terrace - seats are in the 400 range on 50m line.
It's tough to get good seats without paying big bucks - question is are these seats OK or will we need binoculars - we are in the front end....
From our perspective it is what it is but I'm hoping for some positive feedback.
Plan is to meet mix with some tailgaiting parties so either way we can't go wrong - unless the Vikings win...

[chicagohunter]

Those seats are fine - you can see all the action. Binoculars aren't necessary as they have big screen monitors for that unless you want to look at things away from the action or get a close-up on players.

The only things I will warn you about are:

a) Do not, under any circumstances, wear a Vikings jersey or you will be heckled constantly.

b) Do not drink too much @ tailgating before the game because the stairs are steep and you can almost feel a sense of vertigo.

Other than that enjoy the game - they are a blast.

[chet everett]

The interior sight lines at Soldier Field are first rate from basically any seat in the place. If your seats truly are near the 50 YARDLINE {mate... } then you ought not have any worries about visibility.

The facility itself is, as you probably know, a bit controversial -- the old historic facility basically had a new "spaceship" facility built in / on top. Parking lots are not particularly close nor well-connected to the facility. Expect to walk quite a long way and/or use shuttle buses. It could be HOT in September so you very well might need to wear a tee shirt and shorts or we could have rain -- stadium has preciuous little cover in the upper deck, bring a poncho. It is not likely to be bitter cold, might need a warm-up jacket or fleece pullover. Souvenir prices are insane, you can buys Bears gear online or even at local pharmacy like Walgreens for a fraction of the cost...

I have main level season tickets and have no complaints about the view, I've also been in the upper level(s) with friends and in general the layout does put you pretty close to the action. If you want to see the anguished look on the coaches' faces binoculars come in handy but the actual game play is very easily seen. I have never, in 45+ years of going to Bears games back to to Wrigley Field days, had to deal with home team fans instigating any heckling -- you do get an occasional inebraited idiot that necessitates a call to security and the fans for Philadelpia are absolutely the most beligernt and unsportsmenlike folks to walk the planet, but for most part there is nothing to fear if you do cheer for Vikings or the Packers or any other division "rival". Honestly the crowd is tame as lambs compared to the fans in Australia!

The Bears organization is notorious for spending as little as possible on even the most basic of things -- on game day they have like FOUR gates staffed to minimize the number of people they pay to check for "contraband". Apparent even the CASES for binoculars are now banned as you could carry in a bomb or outside booze. Getting worse than TSA! Literally the other day I got a clear plastic tote bag in the mail to allegedly speed this up -- WHY NOT HIRE MORE SECURITY PEOPLE AND OPEN MORE GATES?!?

The team is a big question mark. They might perform mediocre. Do not expect much enthusiasm from an early season crowd -- despite nice weather the high cost of parking tends to make for a much more upscale / tame crowd.

[Drover]

Consider hiring a Sherpa to help you get to your seats. The incline is steep up there.

[chet everett]

It is worse at da' Cell, but then so is the team on the field. Can somebody please help the Sox??

But seriously, having been in many US football facilities it is well within the range of safe and acceptable. The pitch of the old stadium was like the old Olympic track and field stadims where people would bring a picnic basket and spend 10 hours laying about. The seating is much better for views and more than safe enough to stand up and cheer for a big play / see all the action of big defensive goal line stand (rare as those might be...). The other big plus of the angle is that you do look DOWN on the action as oppose to "over it" so you really do see the plays develop on the line of scrimmage. It is one of the few places where the SkyCam is not adding to the "in stadium" experience on the big screen.

[MassVt]

My God , the Cell is STEEP. If you miss one step in the upper levels, it might be all over for you.

[Ace Rothstein]

I'd say they are close to the same in terms of steepness but SF has more rows than the Cell which makes it just as bad.

[Jimmy1961]

Thanks heaps to all who responded - there's some good information here and I knew that's what I'd get on this Forum.
Not sure that I didn't make it clear I am a die hard BEARS FAN!!!!
That game is early in the season so I'm going in real positive - toughest NFC division these days though.- IMO.