Utilita Arena Cardiff

I love this venue so much! As an electric wheelchair user I get to skip the queue of people and go up the ramp to the box office to collect my tickets. Once you’re in by the box office you can (if it’s open) go straight through to the ticketing door. Sometimes they search your bags and put a green tag on anything medical you have with you, such as a feed pump. You then check in with the live access team, to the left as you go through the ticketing door, who give you a gold wristband. You then wait by the lift for someone to escort you up in the lift to the live access seating area. I’ve been to this venue many times throughout my life and the access and staff are always amazing! Getting out of the venue is a bit chaotic though because you have to cut diagonally through the crowd to get to the ramp. There’s a car park called Rapport, which is an NCP car park, with 2 disabled bays, with no height restrictions. Usually around £11 for 4 hours.

I agree with all of the previous reviews and this was one of the absolute worst venues to attend gigs or shows anywhere ..... ............ however, since new owners have come in I have been to a good few shows and concerts and I am pleased to report that they have changed their attitudes completely - the access team there have obviously worked very hard with front of house staff and they are now very very aware of a wide variety of needs, both visible & hidden. They have support team members at all of the entrances and at the info desk. They are approachable and, in our experience, will do anything to make sure that you have a good time - do not get stressed by arguing or discussing anything with the regular stewards - some are great, but they are all on minimum wage and employed from show to show & are not invested in the venue, unlike the full-time accessability staff - ask to see the team & they will sort you out. Remember that the staff are a mixture of different roles and not all are equal !! The Sunflower lanyards and cards are very useful to have, especially when there is a lot of noise & movement going on & should be recognised by all of them ...... One of the balconies is reserved for "access" attendees and this is fantastic - it is limited by numbers, but is well worth requesting when you book. It is also wll worthwhile pre-registering any disability cards, needs etc with Ticketmaster and this then automatically comes up with your options at each event - you don't need to go through the hassle each time. The ticket office are spot on with the option of free carers' tickets. The let-down is the disabled toilets - the building is of a certain age and I appreciate that major changes are difficult to existing structures, so the facilities are, at best, ok. There are a number of different facilities in different areas, so the best (or least worst) toilet may not be your closest! Again, don't suffer in silence - ask the staff and they will direct you to the most appropriate facility. Also, there is a massive issue if you are in a large wheelchair - there is a stupidly located narrow 90degree turn at the bottom of the ramp - the stewards are very much aware of this & can escort you to an alternative if this is not accessible for you. They now also have a chillin' area for anyone overwhelmed by the noise. Earplugs are freely available at the info desk. So, overall report summary would be, working hard & very much improved but a little way to go yet.

Enjoyed a concert here. Good view of the stage, if a little far away. Excellent customer service. Disabled toilets not perfect, but OK.