We go every year for the memorial day event. It's great, especially if you get there early and snag a spot under the canopy! Family friendly and clean bathrooms are a huge plus! If your not into horse racing, come for the people watching!
On June 2, 2018 a group of us attended the Binny wine tasting. The venue was impressive and the day was great. Included in the price of the ticket was white and red wine pairing. They ran out of red wine pairing food which was supposed to be beef sliders with pickle and onion. They closed the food line till more was replaced but replaced it with dried out burnt hamburgers. They then started to count how many people they would let in because they were running out of the dried meat to serve. Disgusting! Wish I would have remembered to take a picture of it to post. Some people in my group had to leave earlier than 4:30 which was the time the food lines were to end so they didn't get any of the food at all which in the end was a blessing . Tickets weren't cheap and I think we got screwed by their mistake on food preparation.
Arlington is a beautiful and exciting place to be in the summer. I strongly recommend it for groups of friends or company outings.
The building and grounds are very open, clean, and well-kept. That is certainly not the norm for racetracks, so it is very appreciated. The food prices are quite reasonable depending on where you go, though drinks are slightly expensive. Remember, you can pay to bring in a cooler of food and non-alcoholic beverages. That combined with the low entrance cost and $0.25 minimum bets can make for a cheap day!
Metra is the preferred method of getting to the park if the NW line is near you. Otherwise, parking starts at $5.
Although we only go here once a year on Mother's Day, we always have a great time. They have made it easy to place bets not matter where you're at. We like to go to the picnic area so we can spread out. Even when the weather isn't great it's still easy to have a good time. Plenty of kids activities and they let you bring in a cooler with beverages and food. Can't beat that.
This place is great! Sundays are family days with a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting etc And it's all included with the very low price of the ticket! I love that you can bring a cooler with food and drinks for the family to save on that cost while inside. If you want a picnic table, be sure to do that in advance! They also have betting stations all around for your convenience. Love the Arlington University, it's helpful for beginners! Always a good time with the family when we go :-)
Hate to leave a bad review on such a wonderful place but their customer service is non existent. I have been coming here for years and decided to pre order my Derby Day tickets for the Marquee Tents. I had called on March 1st to pre order and to confirm that the "Premium Pricing" was in fact the same as the ticket price on the release date and not as stated "Premium Pricing". I was assured pricing would remain the same and it was in fact LOWER than release date. Well release date comes and tickets are $21 less expensive. I called to confirm their error or possibly receive the difference and was rudely told it was sold out and repeatedly told there is nothing they can do. The event is not sold out.