Bucket-List Worthy Event
by Marina on 2024-04-13Centre Bell - MontrealGoing to the Worlds was my long-time dream, and this event exceeded all my expectations. Bell Center really is a great venue. I had tickets in the first row of the balcony, and while I had been worried that it might be too far from the ice, in reality, these seats turned out to be amazing. The view of the rink was perfect. The staff at the venue was very polite, helpful, and efficient. The competitions themselves (from my perspective as an audience member) were organized very well and ran smoothly. The only thing I'd like to see improved is the long lines leading to the merch stands, food kiosks, and washrooms. There were only 2 merch kiosks, both of which were on the ground floor, and while the staff operated as quickly as possible, the lines still were quite long, which is not surprising considering the scale of the event. As for the food kiosks, only one was open on the balcony level, if I remember correctly. There were some kiosks that stayed closed throughout the whole event. Surely opening an additional merch stand and another food kiosk would benefit everyone by reducing the waiting times and allowing more people to be served. As for the washrooms, there were only a couple of women's washrooms on the balcony level, and the lines were huge. Maybe introducing gender-neutral washrooms would help rectify this issue. I don't mind waiting, but with the events being stacked so close to each other, getting in a long line could mean missing a part of the competitions, and that's definitely not something any competition-goer would want.