Hertz Arena — Attraction in San Carlos Park

Every yr we go for our daughter's competition for cheerleading. Every yr has gotten worse by far. If your a smoker or you vape get some nicotine patches bc once your inside they refuse to let you back out, which he'll for the price we pay id enjoy paying less to be held hostage. I'm disabled, so the first yr I could still walk semi ok and was able to make it all the way to the top to push through everyone to get on their balcony to smoke quickly just to fight to get back to our seats, I couldn't move for days after their uncomfortable seats and no where to go. The 2nd yr we went they had some side door on the bottom open a tiny bit for ppl to sneak out to smoke/vape. I had forgotten my pain meds bc your not aloud a LG purse I didn't have anything else so I left them in the car. My husband finally got stern with the guard that I absolutely needed my medicine, just for them to let me out and to search me all over again coming in. It was as I would expect. Again took almost a full week to recover from the walking and the uncomfortable seats and the hours and hours of waiting. To just a couple weeks ago, I recently had my back break on top of very harsh rounds of chemo, I am now stuck in an electric scooter/wheelchair. We finally get into the venue after many cutting us off bc they wanted to get in front of me, while your guards watched it all and didn't do a thing to help. We are told wheelchair access is section 110. We proceed there only too see the entire section (all 8 seats) have been taken over by moms and their strollers. We looked around at the moms, strollers, their husbands kids ECT and no one even tried to move, so we proceeded to just stop in the middle of the pathway up or down the ramp back to the arena. My husband stood behind me. I get that I'm 37 yrs old, but the wheel chair back brace bag of meds didn't make any of you even think wow were being incredibly rude we should move even move over ffs. But no didn't happen. After about 13 minutes of staying there up comes a woman guard and starts to scold my husband and I for being in the way! Can you even believe that!!? I couldn't I was instantly angry. My husband took a calm but stern approach and told her look at all these strollers husbands kids ECT where exactly do you want her to go? She can't climb the stairs! She looks around and decided to tell the first full family they'd had to move things around to accommodate me and my husband to get in there. She takes away 1 seat and looks at me and points.... Now hear me out, the first seat is the mom with the enormous stroller in front her leaving maybe 1ft of space between her stroller and the barrier of the ice rink. The guard lady is just continuingly pointing where she apprently thought I should be by now. My husband then looks at her and goes how does her wheelchair fit through there! She rolls her eyes. Making the mom and stroller move completely out of the way so I can try and squeeze by the husband mom kids etc.... well being new to riding motorized scooters I freak out, there isn't a way for me to get in there turn around back back into the space so I can even see what's going on. So I stand up (which was the worst thing I could have done for just having an open spine surgery! And I let my husband guide the wheelchair in it's place, he does then comes and gets me practically carrying me at this point bc he knows how dangerous this situation just became. All the while the mom with the stroller is yelling in protest that she's 6 weeks postpartum and can't be standing like this!! (I mean she walked inside the building stood in line got food all the things but now that we need 2 minutes she can't handle it anymore. Okay fine we ignore her and let her just vent. I finally get seated and the guard seats the moms mother behind me. Now the mother is complaining about not being able to see and how can they expect her daughter to be in this bc of her predicaments. By this time I'm wiped out, I'm tired I'm hurting and it hasn't even started yet! It's 8 in the morning! Do better! What a horrendous...

Going to a live show should be an experience filled with joy and excitement, not a battle for your vision.

Last week, I went to see Sebastian Maniscalco at the Hertz Arena in Estero, FL. While his comedy was fantastic, the lighting setup was so atrocious it turned what should have been a memorable night into an optical endurance test.

The stage was smack in the center of the arena, with seating all around. A great idea in theory - everyone gets a chance to see the performer from a good angle. I was lucky enough to snag second-row seats, putting me close enough to catch every expression and gesture. Unfortunately, I didn't realize those seats also came with an unexpected hazard: weaponized spotlights.

To light the performer from every angle, they had spotlights beaming from all directions, ensuring he was always visible no matter where he stood or faced. Sounds great for lighting design, right? But here's the issue - when Sebastian moved anywhere near my section, even if he wasn't facing me, the spotlight aimed at him became a searing beam directly in my line of sight. It felt less like I was at an entertainment event and more like I'd wandered into an interrogation room.

Why is this acceptable? Was the goal to make the audience feel like we were being punished for enjoying live entertainment? It's hard to focus on the show when you're squinting through a spotlight-induced headache.

And it's not just comedy shows. I've seen rock concerts set up this way, too - bands in the middle of the arena, surrounded by blinding spotlights. It's hard to enjoy the music or jokes when your eyes are being roasted every time the performer moves into your sightline.

If you're looking at the performance, and there's a low light across the arena in your line of sight behind it, you're just going to be blasted in the face all night.

Here's a simple solution: Keep the spotlights high. Light the performer from above instead of blasting beams directly from low angles that create a direct line of sight between the audience, the performer, and the lights. If Broadway stages, awards shows, and even football stadiums can manage this, so can other live events.

Or better yet, put the stage at one side of the arena with a proper backdrop so the audience doesn't feel like they're under attack from rogue spotlights. I know you can do this - you've done it for other shows. I know you're trying to squeeze in as many seats as possible, but you're alienating the people who pay for the good seats up front.

If you absolutely must sell the seats behind the stage, fine - but make them dirt cheap and slap a warning label on them: "These seats come with free cornea damage."

The folks paying top dollar for the first and second row seats shouldn't have to spend the night staring into lights so bright they're halfway to meeting their ancestors.

Entertainment is supposed to bring joy and connection, not temporary blindness. Let's keep the spotlight where it belongs - on the performer, illuminated beautifully from above, while the rest of us can sit back and enjoy the show without squinting, shielding our eyes, or considering protective eyewear.

If venues can't figure this out, I'll be skipping future events with this setup. Life's too short to suffer through entertainment that feels like...

Since this place first opened and attending a Kenny Chesney concert as a young teen chaperoned by mom and dad to now with a family of my own—I have not had a bad experience inside or outside of this arena. I have gone to numerous concerts as a young daughter, as a college student living 3 minutes away..I have also gone to many concerts with my then future in laws husband. We love the hockey games! Our family has season tickets and thoroughly enjoy attending as often as possible. My sister gifted our 2 young kids hockey tickets for last Christmas. Our whole family had the best time. As an added bonus, it was First Responders Night! This hit home especially hard since most inside that arena had their worlds turned upside down just a few months prior due to Ian—-for us personally, it was our first time out as a family to an event that was just FUN, easy, safe, and so clean! We had not yet begun to recover emotionally, physically or financially from it—-so absolutely, 100% should they be recognized because they all got right to work, homeless or leavinf a family of their own at home before they could even realize what really all just took place. But they went to work when some of us were allowed to be with our loved one(s) and slowly struggle/heal/tend to..in a state of shock. If was heartfelt, genuine, emotional, kind, and compassionate. It reminded us that it didn’t end there, a week or whatever afterwards. It is not talked about enough. It Is not talked about at all, in my opinion—but there at Hertz Arena-were several warm and heartfelt moments that we felt lucky to witness while our kids learned even more than we did. I was humbled that night as it was my mistake too. Thank you for making this such a big deal. I do hope that someday, other positions may begin to be considered when asked to stand so we can acknowledge them. Maybe positions like people who work in the funeral home business. Tonight was Disney on Ice! This whole new experience was even more enjoyable for our 2 kids, my husband and I. The walk in is so convenient. You are in and out of there in seconds time from the doors to entering/leaving their parking lot into the shopping center’s lot and on your way home. This can take less than 5 minutes. The place is immaculate. The staff is efficient, attentive, and kind. There is not a bad place to sit no matter what you are there for. We do not get to go out as a family and enjoy too much for an entire evening-but these experiences as a whole, safety is the biggest one, have brought us joy. We will cherish it through the memories of our kids’ faces lighting up with all their attention towards that ice hockey player and ice skater. Tonight, we had joy. Thank you Hertz, the...