"West Entrance and South Entrance are currently closed. Please utilize the North Entrance and East Entrance when arriving for your event." That line is in bold in Honda Center's Encore guide, last updated September 30. For anyone who has walked into the arena the same way for years, that one closure changes the whole night. It affects where you park, where your rideshare drops you off, and which crosswalk you use.
The arena is open for every scheduled event while the renovation goes on, and the work is set to continue through the end of 2027. So this season, getting in works around the construction. The new district that justifies the construction mostly opens in 2027 or later. A November game takes a different plan than it did a year ago, and the payoff is still a spring away.
The South Entrance Is the Construction Site
The South Entrance isn't closed for upkeep. On March 26, 2026, crews broke ground there on a new glass entrance with a digital display and escalators, part of what the Orange County Register described as a $1 billion arena overhaul. With the south and west sides closed, every guest this season comes through the North or East doors.
The venue suggests one habit that matters more now. Note which entrance is closest to where you parked or got dropped off, and leave through those same doors after the event. Half the building's doors are out of use, so walking out the wrong side can mean a long trip around a construction fence.
The venue's own pages disagree on one point. The parking page, also updated September 30, still tells rideshare guests to exit through the South or East entrance. The Encore guide lists the South Entrance as closed. The East Entrance is the only one both pages agree on, so plan around it if you're arriving by car service.
Parking Got Simpler and Moved Closer
Parking changed in your favor. General parking at the onsite lots and garages, including the Katella Garage and Cerritos Garage, is now included with tickets for events on the Honda Center calendar. There's no separate general parking pass to buy. The Ducks confirmed the policy when they announced their October 4 home opener, the first home game of the 2026-27 season.
Those two garages were the first pieces of OCVIBE to open. According to the Orange County Register, they opened October 14, 2025, and added about 4,500 event parking spaces. A third garage adds an option this season. River Garage premium parking, which connects directly to each level of the arena, is offered for events on or after October 15, 2026. Passes are sold in advance on Ticketmaster only, not at the gate.
| How you arrive | What applies this season |
|---|---|
| Katella or Cerritos Garage | Included with your event ticket |
| River Garage | Premium, advance purchase on Ticketmaster only, events on or after Oct. 15 |
| Rideshare or taxi | Pickup and drop-off at ARTIC, 2626 E. Katella Ave. |
| OCTA bus | Routes 50, 53 and 553 stop at ARTIC |
| Metrolink | Orange County Line stops at ARTIC |
| ART shuttle | No longer running since March 31, 2026 |
Traffic patterns around the site keep changing, so the venue asks guests to arrive at least 60 minutes early, use Waze, and take a photo of where they parked.
ARTIC Became the Arena's Lobby
If you arrive without your own car, you'll go through ARTIC. Rideshare and taxi pickup and drop-off is at 2626 E. Katella Ave., and drivers enter from Douglass Road via Katella Avenue. The street grid on the arena side is changing too. The Register reported last October that, pending ongoing construction, South Douglass Road will no longer run past Katella to ARTIC, and that a new pedestrian bridge over Katella is planned in its place. The City of Anaheim's 2026 project fact sheet schedules that bridge for 2028-29. Follow the on-site signs to the North or East doors rather than the old route to the South Entrance.
One former option is gone for good. The Anaheim Transportation Network, which ran the ART shuttles through the Anaheim Resort for nearly three decades, ended all service on March 31, 2026.
Public transit still reaches ARTIC. OCTA Route 50 runs between Long Beach and Orange along Katella. Route 53 runs between Anaheim and Irvine via Main, and limited-stop Route 553 runs between Anaheim and Costa Mesa via Main and Katella. All three stop at ARTIC on schedules effective August 9, 2026, and Route 553 doesn't run on weekends. Metrolink's Orange County Line stops at the station, but no extra trains are promised for event nights, so check the schedule for your date before planning a ride home. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner sends riders to its booking tool for date-specific departure times.
ARTIC also has the Anaheim Ducks Team Store, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sundays, with different hours on game days. On game days you can also buy merchandise outside the North Entrance.
Inside, the Changes Arrive in Stages
Once you're through the North or East doors, the renovation keeps going inside. New stands, bars and lounges open in stages through 2027. Some existing spots will close or move while that happens, and what's open can vary from event to event. Here's the schedule from the Encore guide:
- Now open: North Lounge on the Columbia Bank Club Level, which the food and drink page calls the North Veranda Lounge in section 321, for club-level ticket holders only
- Expected October 2026: Splitero Club, Columbia Bank Club Level
- Expected December 2026: Sweet Spot in section 228, Coors Cold Zone in section 401, and Draft Picks featuring Pacifico in section 210
- Expected early 2027: The Reserve Club, Columbia Bank Club Level
- Expected March 2027: Classics in section 212
- Expected summer 2027: South Bar in section 208
So a game in early November will look much like October from a general-admission seat. The first new concourse stands for those seats are due in December.
The District Outside Opens a Season From Now
Outside the arena, OCVIBE's public schedule puts the first district phase in 2027. The concert hall opens in March, followed by Katella Commons, The Weave, and the first round of public space and public art. The concert hall holds about 5,000 people and was still waiting on a name and an opening lineup when the Register reported its March date in July. The city's fact sheet lists a capacity of 5,613.
Katella Commons will probably change pregame plans the most. It's a two-story, 50,000-square-foot market hall planned for early 2027, with 21 food kitchens and six bar and lounge concepts. The announced tenants are largely Orange County names: Debbie Lee's Pado and Mokja, MFK | Modern Filipino Kitchen, Burritos La Palma, Evil Cooks, OC Pizza Cult, Wanderfowl, Manaao Thai Comfort Food, Don Churros Gomez, and Gelato Paradiso. Damon Cho's Osen Hospitality Group added Osen Handroll to the market hall in September. OCVIBE says the district's first public plaza opens with the market hall and concert hall in early 2027.
The sit-down restaurants come later. OCVIBE's October 22 announcement of chef Tim Hollingsworth's wood-fire restaurant says standalone restaurants are expected to start opening in late 2027. Roy Choi's Best Friend is targeting fall 2027. The SENA hotel, with a ground-floor restaurant run by José Andrés Group, is slated for 2029. Until Katella Commons opens next year, pregame dinner happens somewhere other than the district.
Dates to Plan Around Through Early December
These are the November and early December dates on the Ducks schedule and the Honda Center calendar:
- Ducks home games: Nov. 1 vs. Ottawa, Nov. 8 vs. Pittsburgh, Nov. 11 vs. Nashville, Nov. 14 vs. NY Islanders, Nov. 15 vs. Calgary, Nov. 19 vs. Colorado, Nov. 21 vs. Utah, Nov. 25 vs. San Jose, Nov. 27 vs. Los Angeles, Dec. 1 vs. Minnesota, Dec. 4 vs. Seattle, Dec. 6 vs. Winnipeg
- Concerts: Dan + Shay on Nov. 6, Brand New on Nov. 7, V-Beyond Concert on Nov. 21, Journey on Nov. 24, Los Gemelos de Sinaloa on Nov. 28, Jonas Brothers on Dec. 2
- College basketball: Gonzaga vs. UCLA on Dec. 5
The schedule doubles up on Nov. 21, a Ducks game and a concert on the same day, and stacks four events from Dec. 2 through Dec. 6. Those are the days the arrival advice matters most. Access rules shift as each phase of construction finishes, so check the venue's event-day instructions before you leave.
If you own a home near the Platinum Triangle and you're wondering how this district fits into your own plans, the team at IMPACT Realty Group is happy to talk it through over a straightforward, no-pressure conversation. Start with a free home valuation and we'll walk you through what we see across Anaheim.
