Pro Football Hall of Fame

Reviews 3

FR

Frantz Excellent

Saturday, August 27th, 2016, I took a SPECIAL, 6.5 hours, 400 mile road trip with my brother and a friend to the National Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We paid over $80 dollars in tolls just to get there. Boy-oh-boy....It was not what I had expected. I am not saying I wasnt glad to have been there, I was simply expecting a much higher level of organization, pomp and circumstance; surely, it was not that at all. I am not much of a football fan to a great respect. The trip was primarily a belated birthday surprise for my brother who turned 45 this past June. He is a huge Dolphins fan and a hardcore sports fanatic. It was either take him down South Florida to a game or go for a road trip to Canton and have him experience some fun times surrounded by memorabilia and other enthusiastic sports fans. I just wanted my brother to have a full Dolphins experience. I did not care how much it cost, I wanted the experience for him to be memorable. Needless to say, he didnt get that. I imagined that because this is The National Football Hall of Fame, sanctioned by the NFL, established by the association since 1920, born and built on the grounds of historic Canton since 1952, that these folks would KNOW EXACTLY what football fans wanted to experience---the chance to celebrate their home team, their favorite American pastime and to worship their beloved heroes of the gridiron. My brother was excited at the anticipation of seeing everything Dolphins. What he got was bits of random images and artifacts that didnt leave him with the full scope of FOOTBALL, nevertheless his cherished team. I imagined there would be designated rooms specifically highlighting the super achievements of each team. Their stories would be told in historic, chronological images and anecdotes that would stir up immense pride and renewed fervor in every fan that took the time to converge and pay homage to the shrine they call football. I was expecting the same flow and energetic enthusiasm that one experiences at Comic-con, but alas, it wasnt the same. The place had no flow. The set-up and exhibits were random. The upper floor that immortalizes the hall of fame players in bust forms was dark and poorly lit. I did not feel a sense of history or pride or excitement or enthusiasm to see more, to know more. Everything was just plain random.... Never mind the exorbitant cost of admission plus parking plus the special tour (I am not even gonna go into that). Did I mentioned the round-trip TOLL cost from PA to OH was over $80?!! I kept asking my brother if he was having a good time. He said yes. I wanted to believe him. I know my brother. When it comes to football or the Dolphins, he gets very excited. He was more excited over his dinner at Bob Evans Restaurant. Like I said, I wanted to believe that my brother enjoyed himself. Would I recommend die-hard Eagles or Dolphins fans to make the trip to Ohio to visit the shrine? Sure. Why not. Just dont expect the experience to be what youd think it would be. All in all, if I had to rate the National Football Hall of Fame from a scale of 1-5, Id give it a 2.5. Frantz T

ME

Melissa Summitt

This was our second time visiting the HoF. Ill break down my review by sections as some parts of the HoF are 5-star, others not so much. 0 stars - Parking - $10 to park on a Sunday?!?! Overflow lot required stairs and a walk in direct sunlight. At least cover the walkway.... 2 stars - Fan Photo - Weve been to other places where you stand in front of a green screen and then get to pick the photo(s) and your background(s) from a screen before they print. Here they print on a few different backgrounds and have you choose. Bad angle and only 1 pic made it difficult to buy. Also a waste of photo paper. 0 stars - The cafe - I really wouldnt use that term for it but thats what they call it. Closed at 3 on Sunday....not mentioned anywhere but on the door. 5 stars - Trading Card area - This is new since our last visit and very cool. I liked reading the history of trading cards and seeing some of our favorite players rookie cards. Also enjoyed reading bits of trivia along the way through the section. 4 stars - The first floor displays - Some of these were new since our last visit. There was a bit of a crowd which made walking around and interacting with the displays difficult. Also, some of the videos werent working. 5 stars - The Lombardi Trophy room (2nd floor) - Next years trophy already on display. Its in a case but you get to stand next to it and take photos. That is super cool. 5 stars - The Hall of Fame itself - Walking around and seeing all those who have been enshrined and interacting with the video display to watch clips, read stats, read profiles and favorite moments of the players was neat. It wouldve been great if they had the same for the coaches. 5 stars - The Game of Life theater - 3D Joe Namath and some of the best quotes from famous coaches and players via clips. Lombardi and Halas in 3D at the end as well. 5 stars - Super Bowl theater - Im a Carolina Panthers fan, so watching the replay of Super Bowl 50 was painful. Peyton Manning shows himself to be a class act even under pressure, making the Panthers QB look like a kid by comparison. Luke was the Panthers star in this film - LUUUUUUUKE! 5 stars - The Rings - Looking at the different rings and reading the stats on who created them, how many carats and the designs - awesome. 2 stars - The Gift Shop - Again, Im a Panthers fan and as a woman, there were almost no items for women - no jewelry, no bags, not even an infinity scarf - BOO! Of course, we still managed to spend plenty of money (Hubby is a Cowboys fan) All in all, we spent almost 5 hours wandering around the HoF. Well be back again. If you love the game and have a favorite team, one visit isnt enough.

DA

David Walker

The entire experience was absolutely exceptional, incredible, from the ticket counter and all the floor staff, the lady taking the souvenir pictures, to the two floors of amazing exhibits. And this from someone not particularly a pro football fan. I spent three hours here, bought the Bronze Membership, and took over 250 pictures myself. The exception to my absolutely exceptional, incredible experience being the girls at the pick-up counter where you get your souvenir pictures, who are completely void - and I do mean ZERO - of any customer service. Brandi all but snapped my ticket from my hand, no greeting, no eye contact, never even looked up at me, as she sat there on her stool feet bundled up under her like she was polishing her toes or something, and handed it off to another staff, who apologizes to Brandi! It was like I was interrupting something they were all already doing. And I was the only customer standing there at the moment. Brandi then walked off and eventually one of the girls finally asked how I was doing, to which I replied that I as doing fine "...up until about 60 seconds ago." I filed a formal complaint against Brandi with the supervisor of the PFHoF. Turns out Brandi was the Supervisor of the girls in the photo shop. If Brandi is the last point of contact guests have at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, maybe the Pro Football Hall of Fame needs to have a chat with Brandi.

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