Atlanta Symphony Hall — Attraction in Atlanta

First time visiting. Went to see Shen Yun with my husband, mother in law and my mother. Upon arrival, I expected something spectacular. The statue in front of the building is very nice. Good to know there are scanners upon entrance for safety. Once inside the main area, there was nothing too spectacular to speak on. No fancy chandeliers, statues/ pictures, no fancy wall moldings, etc. We went to the restroom at the bottom level which was surprisingly small. Even the hand soap was average, could've been the nice scented kind that's lotion based. This soap immediately left your hands dry and unfortunately, I had left my hand cream in the car, thus left us all dealing with super dry hands throughout our stay. Once we were ready to get in line to enter the auditorium, there was nothing organized about the lines and we basically stood where we thought we should stay. When the ushers opened the door to let us in, instead of having a microphone where they can be heard throughout the crowd, they had to yell out directions. With all the noise from so many people, we could not hear, my husband had to step out of line to go up front to find out what was said. We found out we were in the wrong line and should be upstairs due to having balcony seats. Once upstairs, we got in line and was able to scan in our tickets and the usher directed which side we should go. When we entered the auditorium, I was immediately disappointed of how the floors looked and worse, the seats were small and super close together. There are armrests on the seats but they're not usable, more like it's there as a divider, you basically have to sit with your arms to your side, hands in lap, because there is no room from the person sitting next to you. The isles leading to the seats were very narrow and there's only one way to get to your seat, either from the right/ left. With this in mind, imagine if your seat is in the middle of the row, you'll have to squeeze by many bodies to get to your seat as well as standing up to allow others to get by. Our show started promptly at 2. The show itself was wonderful and amazing! What ruined things were the folks that arrived late throughout the show. The constant standing to allow others to get by you to get to their seats. The phone lights they had to use to see how to get to their seats, the not seeing in front of you due to folks in the row in front of you having to stand up to let others by. These things were very annoying and took away from experiencing the show. Another thing, it is said to dress nicely for the show. I did not like the fact of seeing folks in jeans, crocs or what have entering the building/ show as if they're just going to the grocery store or something. Is it that impossible to dress up once in awhile? Look nice/ decent? Don't get me wrong, there were many who did dress correctly for the occasion but those who did not, definitely stood out. The seating is not thought out for larger people. In the row in front of me were 3 larger people all sitting next to each other and they looked very uncomfortable. The one in the middle was unable to sit with her back against the seat. Two of them were dressed straight off the streets and one nicely dressed in a suit. Am I being too picky, I think not. Going to certain places, you expect certain things and guidelines to be followed. The show did have a 15 min intermission and thank goodness, it was not that bad when folks returned to the seats. To wrap this up, this was my first time there and based on this experience alone, I most likely will not return. I highly stress for a better seating accommodations. And please, decorate the auditorium. Nothing but white walls. Nothing much to look at. Not even plants. This is my take on my experience here. Sorry for the long read but thank you...

Saw the Impractical Jokers here in June 2024, and of course had an amazing time, but the venue experience itself could have been better.

This venue has tiny skinny people chairs with divider rails that dig into your hips so bad if you're "gifted" in the butt, like me. The people next to you are so close, I had to practically keep my arms crossed over my lap the entire show because one slight movement would elbow the person next to me.

It's also Continental seating which means there's no center aisle, so anytime someone new came in every person in the row would have to stand up to let them through, because you can only enter from one end of the rows. The divider rails were so tight on my hips I couldn't even stand up till the end of the show when the people around me had moved, so I just let them walk all over me to get to their seats.

I was hurting and uncomfortable and thinking how does anyone bigger than me enjoy a show here? Do you have to arrange accommodating seating just for being thick? It was very disappointing!

Also the seat numbering was confusing everybody, to the point I didn't even know if the ushers knew which side was right and which side was left. There's one long row, but in the very middle the numbering starts over. So it's like 1-13 stage right, and 1-13 stage left, again with NO center aisle nor labels on the chairs that said whether you were stage right or left. Tons of people kept having to move because others would show up saying they had the same seats as them. The ushers were friendly, but needed to be more clear in telling people if they were on the closer end or the further end of the row.

I did give it three stars because the staff were very friendly, from the security guard when you walk in to the ticket scanners to the concessions. They have a candy bar outside with snacks and popcorn and after the show we just sat in the lobby waiting for the merch line to die down, eating our snacks!

There's also a great valet/ride share entrance outside, which was a huge perk to be dropped off and picked up off the main road but still right in front...

Ok. Here goes.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Performance gets 5 stars as always. They are magnificent. Watching a movie on a big screen while having a full orchestra play the score live is something that should be on your bucket list.

Here is why the 2 star deduction.

1- They pack the house and sell all the seats. This forms massive lines because now you are required to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative covid test to get in, as well as where a face mask. This policy hasn't changed in light of recent CDC data showing that none of those methods are effective against the omicron variant and is further relaxing mask recommendations as of February 2022. It creates mass chaos as people line up to get it.

2- There is always confusion about the seating. Attendants sat people in the wrong seats (orchestra left versus orchestra right) and we watched/participated in a full 30 minutes of musical chairs as late guests came in and found their seats occupied by someone else. Given that these tickets are over 100 dollars, it would be good to see a little more organization and staff support.

3- refreshments are served in the lobby and the lines are huge and slow moving. Furthermore, i watched at least a hundred people get stopped on the way to the theater and be told they couldn't take their refreshments into the movie. So what happened? They ALL chugged their alcoholic drinks on their way to their seats, resulting in massive lines to the bathrooms at intermission.

I can't say enough nice things about the performance, however, being herded like cattle through Gustappo-like covid-scrutiny checks and being crammed into a theater with a bunch of people who have been led to the wrong seats and have just been encouraged to chug their wine really took away from the magic of...