Stadium seating

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Example of stadium seating.

"Stadium seating" can also be used as a synonym for festival seating.

Stadium seating is a technique used in performing-arts venues and movie theaters to allow more guests to see the event with less blockage than traditional seating. Like seating in a football or baseball stadium, stadium seating in theaters is usually a 30 degree slope stepped upwards from the bottom of the theater, as opposed to the approximately 15 degree gentle slope in traditional theaters. This slope improves sightlines for visitors and reduces the chance that a tall person will block the view of a short person behind them. Sometimes the sloping floor is not stepped, with the disadvantage that items can roll down.

There has been some criticism of stadium seating because it usually isn't possible for disabled people in wheelchairs to climb them. To reduce the problem, theaters with stadium seating generally mark the row at walk-in level for disabled patrons. This row is more open than those above or below it and includes empty spaces for wheelchairs.

Stadium seating on a roller coaster

The trains on some roller coasters are also configured in tiers; this seating configuration is also sometimes called stadium seating. Three prominent examples of roller coasters whose trains use this type of seating are Millennium Force at Cedar Point [1], which opened in 2000, SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa [2], which opened in 2005, and Griffon at Busch Gardens Europe, which opened in 2007 [3].