Opened on August 15, 2024 is Southern California’s newest, fanciest, $2 billion dollars privately funded arena that has come to life, the Intuit Dome! Home of indoor events and the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, as they used to share Staples Center/Crypto Arena with the Lakers since 2000. Located 31 miles from Disneyland, driving or taking transit to Intuit Dome from Anaheim is not an easy feat since there aren’t any direct transit routes to the arena, and the route via car is through the spaghetti network of freeways, along with parking fees in their huge garages. Intuit Dome also requires nearly all fans to have the “Clippers + Intuit Dome” app for seamless ticketing, and purchases at the concession stands and the merchandise stores that tracks via face & item recognition. In this blog, we will cover the franchise history, all in app fan experience that has an opt in facial recognition to enter Intuit Dome & make purchases, and the interesting travel routes from Anaheim to Intuit Dome, especially if you are going for a concert or a Clippers game & staying in the Anaheim Resort Area. Let’s see if the dome is cracked up to be. Welcome to AntSol Travel!
Table of Travel Itinerary:
- Artificial Intelligence Disclaimer
- History of the Los Angeles Clippers
- Preparing to Head to Intuit Dome with the Clippers + Inuit Dome App
- Driving & Transit Options from Anaheim to Intuit Dome
- My Park & Ride Route: Anaheim to Intuit Dome by Park & Ride via From Norwalk LA Metro C Line to Hawthorne/Lennox and LA Metro Bus 212.
- Welcome to Intuit Dome & the FLAgship Store!
- Inside Intuit Dome
- Heading to Steep Seat
- LA Metro Back to Norwalk
- Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence Disclaimer
At AntSol Travel, we believe that AI can be used as a tool for improving things here & there on articles, but should not be used as solely to produce the creative process. I am using WordPress Jetpack AI plug in to improve a few things in the article like improving the title, wording suggestions, feedback about the article, and art for fun. For pictures, we have these interesting AI renders when given the title of the article as a prompt.
History of the Los Angeles Clippers
According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, the Clippers franchise started in 1970 as an expansion team for the National Basketball League in Buffalo, New York, as the Buffalo Braves, and was owned by John Y. Brown. In 1978, Mr. Brown did a franchise ownership swap to Irv Leven, Los Angeles movie mogul, for the Boston Celtics. Then Mr. Leven moved the team to San Diego in 1978 and changed the team to San Diego Clippers in tribute to the giant clipper ships that sailed through San Diego Bay.
In 1981, the Clippers were sold to Los Angeles real estate developer, Donald Sterling, who attempted to move the team to Los Angeles right after the purchase, however, had push back from the NBA. He was able to move the Clippers to Los Angeles in 1984 after fighting the NBA for the relocation & venue. They started playing at Los Angeles Memorial Stadium at Expo Park in 1984 to 1999. Thereafter, they moved to the brand new Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. However, it had to be shared with the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and Kings hockey team, which both just moved from the Forum Arena. Donald Sterling had still ownership of the team until 2014 when controversies arose, and was forced to sell to Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, which he stepped down from Microsoft to be the chairman & owner of the Clippers ownership. Since then, Mr. Ballmer wanted the Clippers to have their own venue, then SoFi Stadium in Inglewood into the picture.
Hollywood Park horse racetrack held horse races from 1938 to 2013 in Inglewood near the Kia Forum Arena, 34 miles from Disneyland, and 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles, was torn down for a proposed stadium. In 2014, Stan Kroenke, the owner of the St. Louis Rams, which the team left Los Angeles in 1995, wanted to bring back the team to Los Angeles with a new stadium and Hollywood Park would be the perfect location for a new stadium on 60 acres of land. In 2015, Stan got Stockbridge Capital to help fund the new fully privately owned venue. It would feature a 70,000 seat NFL stadium, SoFi Stadium; a 6,000 seat theater, YouTube Theater; and plans for a village development with luxury apartment, west coast office for the NFL, lodging, and retail.
There was some valuable land that Steve Ballmer was able to buy for a new arena that was across the street from SoFi Stadium to make the Intuit Dome! Intuit Dome broke ground in 2021 and opened on August 15, 2024, the dome will give Crypto/Staples Arena and the Kia Forum a run for their money as they will host indoor events such as Bruno Mars on August 15, and be home of the Los Angeles Clippers starting this 2024-25 season.
The Intuit Dome will be on the bleeding edge of the latest & greatest in fan experience as possible with superior acoustics no matter which seat you are at, a huge immersive video screen called the “Halo Board” that can be interactive with fan via phone app, USB C charging ports at each seat with in interactive game panel, 1,200 restroom stalls around the arena, online concession stand ordering with twenty pickup points that has all menu items, two sit down restaurants, and glass framed jerseys from nearly all the high school basketball teams in California.
Preparing to Head to Intuit Dome with the Clippers + Inuit Dome App
Checking Intuit Dome’s bag policy, most bags are not allowed except for medical and baby care needs. They don’t allow DSLR cameras with interchangeable lenses and any types of tripods, monopods, & selfie sticks. Phones are needed for ticketing as tickets are only able to load on the “Intuit Dome + Clippers” app. You can bring a USB C charger to top off your phone at each seat. You can bring a reusable bottle up to 32 oz. with filling stations in the arena.
Intuit has two garages, the west garage that is connected to the dome for $68, and the east garage is a couple blocks away for $56.50, hence the price difference. Tickets can be bought online the day of the event.
Each fan going to Intuit Dome must have the “Clippers + Intuit Dome” app in each of their phones as all tickets are only accessible via the app. You can load up your credit card on the app for seamless food & beverage and merchandise transactions. This is done by walking into the concession stand or If you are driving in, you can put your car’s information for quicker entry.
At the Intuit Dome, they have what is called a “seamless experience” that is done via the Intuit Dome + Clippers app, and by facial recognition & that it authorizes the credit card information you put into the app. Optimally, you should have the app setup before arriving at Intuit Dome. You need to take a picture of yourself as your “Gameface ID” to identify you when making food & merchandise purchases, and especially entering the venue as the camera scans your face upon entry so you don’t need to get your phone or app up to enter. It was a surreal experience.
When you open the “Clippers + Intuit Dome” app, you are greeted with logins for the NBA account and user agreements. One of the agreements stating that it is an op in experience and is not fully needed to fully enjoy the venue. However, biometric data that will be used for tracking for purchases and venue entry. You can use an Apple Wallet/Google Pay card that will bill out your card instead, but you will be tracked collecting and purchasing the items via computer software. This can make some people uneasy about the data and being tracked, so it is completely understandable.
Intuit Dome has the “Wall Seats” that are dedicated to “Real Clippers Fans” with the Chuckmark, named after the Clippers mascot, Chuck the Condor, you answer a questionnaire that included following them on Instagram that did, and more. Once approved, I was capable of getting upper level terrace seats for $30 + $6 fees. However, you “should” not wear an opponent’s merchandise, I don’t have any Toronto Raptors merchandise anyways. I’ll get a Clipper hat to show that I am a Clippers “fan”.
Driving & Transit Options from Anaheim to Intuit Dome
Going from Anaheim to Intuit Dome and SoFi Stadium is not an easy feat by car or transit. You have to take the whole spaghetti network of freeways to get there from Anaheim by car, and parking rates are dynamic & not cheap. Transit is hard as well as you can take the once hourly LA Metro 460 bus to Norwalk LA Metro Rail C line along I-105. At Hawthorn/Lennox, take a Intuit Dome shuttle or LA Metro 212 to Intuit. However, the LA Metro 460 takes an hour from Disneyland, so I’m taking out the huge time crunch by driving to Norwalk, a clear 20 minute drive. Then take the C line and then 212 bus. With TAP card transfer is $1.75 for three hours!
My Park & Ride Route: Anaheim to Intuit Dome by Park & Ride via From Norwalk LA Metro C Line to Hawthorne/Lennox and LA Metro Bus 212.
At 5:30 pm, I drove out from Anaheim to Norwalk LA Metro C line light rail station. It takes about twenty five minutes from Anaheim to Norwalk station via I-5, CA 91, I-605, and exit at Imperial Highway. Parking at Norwalk station is free on weekends and holidays, so it was free on the Saturday I went to the Clippers game. Parking on the weekdays is $3.
At the fare gates, I tapped on my Transit Access Pass (TAP) contactless fare card for Los Angeles County transit systems. Tapping on my TAP card for the LA Metro system was $1.75 with free transfers to other LA Metro buses for three hours.
The LA Metro C line opened in 1995 along the median of Interstate 105 from Norwalk to Redondo Beach via southern Los Angeles, paralleling Century Boulevard for most of the journey. Just opened on November 2, 2024 was the Aviation/Century station, which we will see on the way back from the game, the now terminal for the C, and the southern part of the K line to Redondo Beach. However, the K line will connect to the northern section of the K line to Exposition boulevard next year when the LAX people mover station opens.
How was the LA Metro C line? Well, as expected there are a good amount of people taking the metro as usual. There were even people with their luggage coming in from LAX on the way back. However, there are always some shady characters, so you should keep your valuables away at most times when not texting. While going to the game, some random man kept staring at me, and I instantly put away my phone, then he came right up to me saying “Hey bro, you’re selling that phone.” My flight instincts kicked in and exited the train car while it was at a station, and went into the other car. Did I look like I was selling some products on the Metro? Apparently to him, I seemed like I was. Unfortunately, this shows that there are still many interesting people who take transit for more than getting somewhere, and think I am selling stuff. Due to that, I don’t really recommend taking the LA Metro C line route unless you really want to save money on parking and driving.
At Hawthorne/Lennox stop, I exited the train and went up stairs to Hawthorne Boulevard, and then had to wait a few minutes for the LA Metro bus 212 from the layover before going into service to Hollywood & Highland station. When the bus arrived, I tapped on and got a free transfer for the bus. A mile later, the few passengers on the bus, including me, exited at Prairie & 104th street and walked a block to the Intuit Dome. The stop right before getting to Intuit Dome property, so you can see the stark contrast of the older original neighborhood buildings, including this strip mall to the shiny & new Intuit Dome, including the west garage across the street next to a run down commercial property.
Then we arrived at the shiny & new, Intuit Dome! Located across Century Boulevard from Hollywood Park, home of SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, NFL’s west coast headquarters, and luxury apartments.
I wondered about how much the land value has increased in Inglewood with proximity to not only SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and now Intuit Dome. Now, an adjacent home that is only and needs a lot of TLC is now over $1 million for a fixer upper that was built in 1938! No one in Inglewood can afford to live there anymore.
Welcome to Intuit Dome & the FLAgship Store!
Intuit Dome first has a security check to go through, which I had to take my phone, keys, wallet, USB C charger, and the sweater I was carrying, and placed into a box, walked through the metal detector, and then was cleared to get my belongings. In the plaza, there is a huge video board, basketball court for three point contest before the game and then later free play on the court. The plaza also is home of the FLAgship store, the main store for the Clippers.
To enter the store, you need to make sure you set up your GameFace ID and your face is scanned to get into the store. You can browse around the many Clippers jerseys, shirts, hats, pet accessories, water bottles, and more. You are tracked with the item you picked up, such as the hat I bought for $32, walk out the store, and my credit card is billed. Seamless!
Entering Intuit Dome, your face is scanned in relation with your GameFace ID, double checked by staff, and you are good to enter. Seamless! If you haven’t set up your GameFace ID, you can get your ticket scanned manually at a different line. If you are bring the kids 13 years & younger, or bringing someone you are assisting, you can sign them up for a account through the Clippers app.
Inside Intuit Dome
Then I entered the lower level concourse with the many food & beverage options, 1,200 restroom stalls, water fountains, and wall of basketball jerseys of all high school basketball teams. The main food & beverage outlets are called “Pick & Roll” as you first scan your face or Intuit Dome card added to your Apple/Google Wallets, select your items, and then roll out. The main food items were hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken tenders, pizza, and even vegetarian empanadas! The fridge had Open Water water bottles, beef, hard seltzers, and Gatorade. The dry good shelf includes boxed candy, USB C chargers if you forgot yours for $5, and even a refillable soda fountain cup as there are soda fountains around the arena for $12. There is a heated section for pretzels and popcorn. Chuckmark members get discounts on most food & beverage items.
Open Water, Intuit Dome’s bottled water partner at the F&B outlets, will donate to climate nonprofits for every Clipper’s three pointer. The bottles are recycled aluminum so they can be refilled at the water stations.
One problem is that for the hot items like the vegetarian empanadas and LA style hot dogs, it doesn’t tell you what’s in it, which is good to know if you have picky eaters, allergies, or curious to see what it looks like. For example, when I was getting my food, a dad and his three boys were opening boxes as they wanted to see what the LA style hot dogs had as toppings were not listed. As one of the boys was opening the boxes and one of the staff told them to stop opening the boxes, the dad said to the staff “It does not show what’s on the LA style hot dog, my boys are picky.” The staff said that “we don’t have pictures but you can ask us what’s in it, especially if anyone has any allergies.” That was a huge problem that it does not describe what the item looks like without opening the box. I grabbed my chicken tenders for $14 & an Open Water bottle for $5 with my Chuckmark discount. I did not know until when I opened it up that the chicken tenders actually had a sauce, and my card was billed as I left the store.
Heading to Steep Seat
Heading to the terrace level where my seat was at, I took a really long escalator. Why was it so long? The Concourse for the terrace level is on top of the seating section, not in the middle or bottom of the section due to the tight dimensions of the arena. The terrace level concourse also has plenty of Pick & Rolls with a full bar, restrooms, and water stations.
Then I found my seat in section 17, row 9, seat 22, which is an aisle seat! Due to the concourse being at the top row, the row count goes down as you go down in rows. All seat cup holders feature lighting with the game, USB C chargers, and four button lights for selection during in game events. The seat cushion was well padded, has a weaved fabric texture, and all seats are embroidered with Intuit Dome’s motto “Fandom Lives Here” as the venue is there for all aspects of the fandom events for sports and concerts.
Looking at the view, I was looking straight ahead at the huge video board, the 360° “Halo” video board with high resolution video and amazing sound. However, since I was only nine rows down, I had to shift my head down to see the basketball court. Ouch, my neck. The steep slope also had fans tripping up and down the stairs, and fans with a few drinks in them had a bit of an interesting time as well.
It was Filipino Heritage Night, in which the Clippers had singers and a DJ of American Filipino heritage performed before the opening ceremonies.
At 7:18 pm, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Toranto Raptors came onto the court for the initial shoot around. The seat is not bad if I use my iPhone 14 Pro Max’s telephoto lens, which the footage came out well since the arena had great lighting. The DJ that bass heavy music that highlights that great audio system acoustics.
At 7:33 pm, was singing of the Canadian and American national anthems. The Canadian national anthem was sung by Tim Kepler, the go anthem singer for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Since the Ducks play against several Canadian teams, Tim is well versed in singing the Canadian anthem, “Ô Canada”. As part of Filipino Heritage night, they had Filipino Hawaiian singer, Shanny Domingsil, sing the American national anthem. During both performances, the cup holder lights glowed with the show, and they sang amazingly with the great arena acoustics.
Then the CGI footage rolled of the red & blue Clippers spirit flowing from the Pacific Ocean, over the kids playing basketball court, through the neighborhood streets and the freeways to Intuit Dome. Then the Clippers players come out of the water, ready to play! If that doesn’t get you hyped, I don’t know what will. Shortly after that, the players were introduced, and were ready to tip off.
In general, the game was pretty back and forth between the teams. There were plenty of sloppy plays that led the opposing team to rebound the ball and get the basket. Due to that, it was a tight game, but the Clippers won 105-103! You are not going to get any play by play since I was there to observe the venue and semi watch the game. You can watch the NBA game recap here. It was a fun game to watch and Intuit Dome was a great arena.
LA Metro Back to Norwalk
By the end of the third quarter, it was 9 pm, so I planned my bus route to get back to the LA Metro C line. Planning my route during the third quarter, I would’ve missed the LA Metro 212 to Hawthorne/Lennox. The next bus to the Metro C line would have been the 117 bus to the new Aviation/Century Metro Rail station. It was perfect to see the new station and is safer since it is near the hotel & airport operation by Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Exiting Intuit Dome, I crossed Century Boulevard to the LA Metro Bus stop at Century & Prairie bus stop for the LA Metro 117 bus towards Aviation/Century station that ends at the LAX bus terminal. A few fans from the Clippers game and I waited several minutes for the 117 bus. Cars passing through or leaving the Clippers game, and watched the planes arriving at LAX. The bus arrived a few minutes later and we all boarded the bus. The bus ride was quite, and I arrived at Aviation/Century Metro Station.
Aviation/Century is nice, clean, and new since it opened just last Monday, November 4.
In anticipation of the new station and the future LAX people mover, the southern part of the K & C lines were reconfigured to meet at Aviation/Century. When the people mover opens at LAX/Metro Transit Center, it will connect the K line from Westchester to Aviation, and the C line will end at the LAX/Metro Transit Center.
Due to that, the trains will empty out arriving at Aviation/Century, flip around, and then boards. At the stop, there seem to be anyone boarding from LAX, however, plenty of passengers, including a family with large suitcases boarded the C line. After that, the trip was smooth.
While on the light rail, the Clippers just squeezed out a win 105-103 at 10:15 pm. 15 minutes later, we were a couple stations before arriving at Norwalk. The connection bus to Anaheim, LA Metro 460, would not be there for another half hour. It was a good thing I drove to Norwalk, especially taking another hour on the bus to get to Anaheim.
Arriving back in Norwalk, it was a nice clear drive back to Anaheim. I was glad I did the park & ride method so I can take the Metro C line and see what it is like for the transit experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I love the seamless experience of Intuit Dome as you scan your face to the app’s photo, and you are in everything to pay for the card on file for merchandise, food, and arena entry. However, this can cause a lot of hurdles getting to the arena for people who did not know that they need to use the app for going into the event, needing their now Ticketmaster account, and people not want to have their face scanned stored in a private database. What happens if the database gets hacked or leaked with pictures of your face, credit card information, and more. We have to see in the future. For me as a techie & sports fan, I love it!
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