North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre — Attraction in Chula Vista

Paid an extra 30 dollars for the fast lane, in which case took longer than if I had just gone in the normal line. Their fast lane broke down as soon as they opened the gates. Five minutes later, all of the other lines were cleared. We were still there. The fast lane was the last to get in the venue. Essentially, we paid an extra 30 dollars to stand in a line and be last in every other line for food, bathroom, merch, drinks, because the people who didn’t pay for fast lane got there first.

Cup holders are in every seat besides the disabled seating. This, plus an excessive amount of cockroaches crawling on the ground. Only in the disabled section. Too bad if you’re in a wheelchair, you can’t move away from it! By the end of the show I counted 8 that had crossed by me (I only noticed them halfway through the show, and my skin crawls thinking that there were more before I noticed them). We had a pile of about 3 dead cockroaches that we had kicked away from our chairs multiple times. Keep in mind this disabled area is the only area with cockroaches and no cup holders. We had to put all our drinks on the floor, with the cockroaches. Such a waste of money, we didn’t want to finish the drinks after that. It’s also very hard to keep your drinks when you have to put them on the floor with other people (often having a hard time with walking) who will accidentally knock over your drinks. I wasted about 2 Pepsis this way before giving up. Every other row also had TRASH CANS. We did not. To throw away trash, you had to leave the section to walk a few steps outside the area (UPHILL), just to have to show the usher your tickets again (even if they just saw you exit). If you don’t, you put your trash on the floor, which attracts more bugs and makes it even harder for disabled people to navigate the walkway. Pretty much the only thing making the row disability friendly was the fact that you could pull out the chairs, and that there was an elevator to get to the row with an usher to help.

Incredibly disorganized. The lines were horrible and nobody could tell where they started and where they ended. Security guards only came in AFTER we figured it out ourselves (what’s gonna work… teamwork…). Parking is horrible. Took an hour to get out of the parking lot.

Also the Danny Elfman opener was horrible to the point where crowds of people were asking for earplugs, something I’ve never seen here before til that opener.

I suggest skipping this venue and going to a smaller one like the North Park Observatory. Just more organized, and actually have security managing the merch line. The only good experience I’ve had here was The Cure because Robert Smith is awesome and doesn’t overprice his merch by a million dollars. If there’s a big band playing here, just skip it and see them somewhere else. It’s not worth the money to go to a show and have to worry about kicking roaches away from my food and merch the entire time instead of enjoying the actual show. Apparently they can overprice tickets, food, and drinks, sell 45 dollar t shirts (that take like one dollar to make) to thousands of people every concert, but cannot afford a few hundred for exterminators.

Shoutout though to the security guard who had somebody bring me earplugs when I was beyond overstimulated with the awful Danny Elfman opener and the shitshow lines. He even came back at some point to check that I had gotten the...

I enjoy the concerts at this facility, but getting in and out of it is a nightmare unless you want to spend more money to pay for parking that helps get you out faster. (As of August 2023, it was $50.) This is the only concert venue where I have to decide if the entertainer and ticket price is worth my time being stuck in traffic. It can easily take an hour to get out of the back parking lots. I have done everything from bring food to eat afterwards while I wait for traffic to disperse, to planning on taking a nap while waiting for traffic. If an event is on a weekday, you need to plan travel time through traffic in order to make the concert on time. Fridays can be even more heavy if you are travelling south down the 805. The other draw back is if you have to wake up early the next day, getting out of there is tough. It is not uncommon for people to miss opening acts while trying to get through traffic, or leaving early to try to avoid traffic. The other tricky part is getting into the gates. Depending on where you park, you might have to do a lot of walking, and some of it is on uneven, dirt areas. Don't bother with those cute shoes if you aren't paying for parking. Then there is a matter of walking to the entrance gates. If you are in the West parking area (near Sesame Place) it can be awkward to walk to the gated parking area and then around to an entrance gate. If attendance is lower, they may only have the main gate open. If attendance is larger, they gate on the south side will be open also. The rows for each section are super long. If you don't do well trying to scoot past a bunch of people, select tickets closer to the aisles. There are bathrooms on both sides of the venue. If the crowd is smaller, use the ones on the left side when looking at the stage. They are shorter during smaller crowds. Always look up rules on what you can bring in on the website! Purses have to be a certain size, or clear. You can only bring in a clear, plastic water bottle and it must be sealed, and only up to a 20oz size. Lawn seating is first come first serve. You can have a towel or small blanket to sit on. (Sometimes your butt gets wet from sitting on the grass, so I highly suggest having one. Even if it is not raining.) You can rent a lawn chair. (You can go online ahead of time and reserve, as well as select other upgrades.) No umbrellas. Depending on the time of year, it can get chilly in there, so think ahead and check temps at night.

All vendors inside use debit and credit cards instead of cash. If you only have cash, go to guest...

All right so this review it's a mixed bag and is one of my lower rated reviews on the site it has been quite some time since I last attended to show here but sadly all of the frustrations that I had over 10 years ago when I last attended a show at this venue nothing's changed so on the good side of things one of my favorite Parts about this venue is the aspect of having the lawn section in the back of the amphitheater that does allow you to go see artists that a lot of people wouldn't be able to afford to see otherwise so as far as affordability goes I'll give this place an A+, but that's where the positives stop for me.

Most of the things I feel that need to be improved on have to do with people management the place did seem rather low staff especially when dealing with the mass exodus that always has and probably always will be a nightmare. When leaving this venue just be aware if you do not leave before the artist encore you're there for a long time no way around it really. However, I definitely think the staff could overall use a decent amount of training when it comes to handling crowds of such sizes. There seemed to be a heavy lack of communication between the different stations controlling the exits, & I understand that procedure is difficult enough as it is, but when you have multiple trains of thought instead of one cohesive thought it makes the exit absolutely unbearable. Sadly that's the last part of the experience so you could have a killer show and the process of leaving it no matter how good the show is can deflate the overall experience.

My other two issues have to do with the lawn seating which is just a free-for-all which is fine and dandy until it's not. There needs to be some sort of aisle system so that people have clear defined roots to be able to make their way to the concessions/bathroom. Then the only other suggestion I have is on those farthest back gigantically tall towers that you have the speakers and whatnot on how about you put a couple of monitors on those things so the people back in the lawn could actually still be able to see the act that they...