When our family went on vacation last week, we kicked off the fun with a day in Seattle. The main event of that particular Tuesday was a Mariners game later in the evening. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, it was the first time I had watched a Mariners game in-person in nine years (at Camden Yards) and the first time I had caught a game in T-Mobile Park in such a long time that I didn’t even know how many years it had been.

Needless to say, attending an MLB game with children is a little different from the days when I would order numerous beers and stroll around the ballpark at my leisure. For this blog post I thought I would list eight ways that our family maximized the value of our time in T-Mobile Park.

Beau and the rest of us had a fantastic time at the Seattle Mariners game.

Convenient Transportation – We bypassed the headache of finding parking and then forking over an astronomical amount of money to pay for it. Our hotel offered a shuttle that took us to SeaTac. Once there we hopped on the light rail that took us to T-Mobile Park. After the Mariners shut out the Padres, we got back on the light rail and jumped off at SeaTac where our hotel shuttle picked us up. Round trip ride on the light rail for an adult was $3 and kids were free. So…yeah…we paid a total of $6 for transportation to/from the game.

Sidney and Beau ride the Seattle light rail to T-Mobile Park.

Value Seats – For every Tuesday home game, the Mariners offer highly discounted tickets. We were able to score $20 seats in the lower sections. We sat in 114 and had a clear and spectacular view of the action.

A view from our seats. Not bad for $20 each.

Affordable Eats – The Mariners now offer a value food menu (and value beer menu 😎) where you can get items for under $5. We loved the value popcorn.

Beau and Sloan enjoying their stadium food.

Unlimited Soda – Our family loves a good souvenir cup! We purchased a $9 Mariners plastic cup that came with unlimited refills! Self-serve soda kiosks are all over the T-Mobile Park concourse so we had no problem filling up our cup whenever we felt the inclination to do so. Let’s just say this…we definitely got our $9 worth.

Cheap Entertainment – This might come as a surprise to you, but Sloan likes attention. The T-Mobile Park video board provided plenty of entertainment as my daughter would dance her heart out between innings in hopes that the camera would spot her and she would get up on the board. Although Sloan didn’t make it up there, she had fun showing off her moves to those around us. We all enjoyed the sponsored games (i.e. hat trick, boat race, etc) and player features that also appeared on the video board.

Sloan had a blast in (and out of) her seat.

First Game Certificate – Thanks to a tip from my friend Shauna, we knew to take the kids to Guest Services so they could get their own certificate printed out that commemorated their first Mariners game at T-Mobile Park.

Beau and Sloan each got a certificate for attending their first Mariners game.

Play Structure – The Seattle Children’s Hospital sponsors a play area in center field that is FREE for kids to play on. When Beau was getting a little restless in the later innings, we took him over there. He played his heart out while Sloan and I watched the ninth inning from behind the center field wall. Beau didn’t want to leave the play area even well after the game was over!

Beau and Sloan ate Dippin’ Dots by the center field fountain before entering the play structure (you can see some of it if you look in the top right corner).

$5 Beer – As I mentioned above, T-Mobile Park now offers a value beer menu with select 12 oz. cans selling for $5. The popcorn was a bit salty so I needed something to drink so I hit the adult beverage stand. I was all set at the counter with my two cans of beer when the worker asked to see my I.D. Unfortunately I didn’t have it with me as I handed it off to Sid when we checked in at the hotel. Oh well.

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I was pleasantly surprised with the overall value of attending a baseball game as a family at T-Mobile Park. With discounted tickets, affordable food, and many free entertainment options, I would recommend an afternoon or evening at the ballpark with the Seattle Mariners. Just remember to bring your driver’s license. Don’t Blink.