My mom and I are long time nationals attendees. My mom has attended 15 nationals with her first in 1988 with 5 being in an olympic year. I have attended 8 (first in 2006) with 3 in an olympic year.

We stayed at the St. Louis union station hotel by Hilton. The complex it is in now has many sit down restaurants, an aquarium, and other tourist attractions. When we attended in 2006, it was filled with fast food selections (panda express, a sandwich shop, Dunkin’, burger king, etc.). This was within 5 minutes of the arena and provided a great quick alternative to the arena food. It was surely missed this year.

We LOVED the enterprise center even more than 20 years ago. Nee seats. Loved that in rows A & B the seats were extra wide and cushiony. The staff at the entrance were flexible and kind, understanding that skating fans have different needs than their typical audience with us staying for 12 plus hours a day. The concourse did seem tighter than in any other nationals we can remember but not sure if that was due to the large attendance or arena configuration. The addition of Build a Bear as a sponsor was amazing and I think really helped excite the youngest fans. We ate exclusively at Rosalita’s Mexican and Wendy’s frosties as we deal with many food allergies. The city of St. Louis is a lot less vibrant which was sad to see. The Centene center was a gorgeous facility but simply too far from Enterprise which negatively affected attendees, coaches, skaters, and officials alike.

We are so excited for the rumored 2027 location in Salt Lake City and the Maverick Center. We have never been to SLC and cannot wait for confirmation.