I want to recommend anyone thinking of an interesting evening's entertainment to consider going to watch the Manchester Phoenix ice hockey team. I went with my friend H last night, who is a wheelchair user and the club were FANTASTIC. Nice viewing area at ice level, a steward who's ONLY job of the night was to help the customers using that area, and general friendliness from everyone we encountered, from booking and collecting tickets to some of the players signing stuff for us :)
BUT, and there's always one, I have only experienced this from one POV, and can see some issues.
- It's not ASD friendly unfortunately. Lots of noise, especially during the warm up, when pucks are hitting the glass right in front of you quite a bit. We were jumping because it is LOUD. The music can be loud as well, as well as the crowd noise.
- The w/c spaces have to booked in advance, and a lot of them are reserved for season ticket holders, which might cause a problem. I was able to stay with my friend but was told had all the other people arrived I'd have had to go into the stands. I think they'd make an exception for a parent though tbh, they seem really helpful.
- I wanted my friend to be the other participant in one of the interval games on the ice. They said SHE could go on but not her wheelchair! So that was a no go and I had to go alone. Bit annoying but I think my mate was relieved! Apparently it's health and safety, but we've been skating on that rink when it's been really busy with no issue with taking the chair onto the ice. That was the RINK though, not the club, i'd just like to make that clear :)
- The disabled loos are locked and need a RADAR key, and that can be difficult to track down at times.
For us, it was a great success, hopefully some of you might find this a useful bit of info :) If not, just ignore me lol :)