We came down to the Ripken Experience for a baseball tournament. Difference of night and day if you are comparing these fields to the ones from your neighborhood public park, especially their main baseball field which feels like a miniature little league stadium. The rest of the fields however are on par with the better "public" artificial baseball fields that are popping up all over the suburbs. For example, you would think "Citi Field" is either a mini replica of NY's Citi Field or at the very least, have an Apple or bricks as a homage, but the only thing that makes you think Citi Field is the sign and the color of the fence. If you are playing on the main field, definitely something to remember. If you are playing on any of the other fields, it will be a challenge to remember anything. read more

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What an exciting place for kids to play ball. The parks all mirrored the MLB parks and all of the team was excited to play at Fenway. My son was fortunate enough to be named Player of the Game for one of the games and received a Ripken MVP pin that he's proud of. Then, the next day we received an awesome email congratulatory letter "signed" by Cal and Bill about being a good sport and leader. Good stuff. My son was so excited to read the email. Nice place to play a tournament. Take your team to Ripken. read more

We went back to the camp in 2017. They do player skill assessment and divide the camp between groups with the more experienced players in one group and everyone else in the other. The camp was very well run, with excellent drills focusing on fun and improving. Cal Ripken spoke with all the campers and Billy Ripken spent time explaining key drills also. They kids got to play a lot of practice games a lot also. read more

Not a real "experience" but in another sense was a true learning experience. Ballfields were nice and well maintained. no issues with umpiring on on field activities. Parking lots can be a hike from fields. Was told that golf carts circulated and would help you but they were few and far between and pretty much reserved for moving umpires. I didn't manage to get one in 3 days and temperatures were high nineties. As for food and beverages, extremely poor. Long lines to order and then you had to wait for the food. Ordered from a Greek food truck (not cheap) and waited 40 minutes to get our food. There was no place to sit while waiting and high ninety temps. Food was fair and they kept saying they were running out of chicken and in fact did. Better to pack crackers and a jar of peanut butter. Restrooms were adequate but not many available requiring long walks so bring your walkers folks Players had a good time but this is coming from a grandparent perspective read more

Worst fields, worst parents, and absolutely HORRIFIC umpires. If you schedule a tournament for 15,16 U, DONT. This place is terrible and the umpires pick sides and don't do anything about kids talking trash and even parents. Umpires are the worst though. Save your money and go somewhere nicer. read more

Baseball tournament land. Parents bring wagons to carry stuff from cars as fields are a walk away. If you can lug your own chair and tent / cover do so as sunny days are blazing hot. Concession stand not much to offer, cold drinks are good (water and Gatorade). Marriot next door has a Starbucks. Playground for siblings. Friendly family environment and good fields to play ball on. Bathrooms are clean. Bring snacks for family as not much here to hold you over. read more

This review is not so much about the Ripken Baseball Experience as it is the grounds themselves. My friend and I stopped by while driving through Aberdeen last summer a day after one of the many tournaments that takes place here. Which may have been better since we could walk around and explore each individual field without the crowds and fly balls. We had a great time and took advantage of the many photo opportunities while learning about the fields the ones here are modeled after. My favorite, obviously, was Cal Sr's Yard, modeled after Camden Yards. Even the hotel was built to look like the B&O Warehouse. Pretty cool. Definitely worth exploring if you're a fan of the game. And even if you don't stay there, check out the Courtyard Marriott for some more baseball memories. read more

This hotel has bathrooms that need updated. When you turn the the shower on it smells like something is burning. Don't even get me started on the pool!!!! It was so disturbing It had like algae growing on the side of the pool and someone actually wrote clean me on the side of the pool. This was so disgusting I almost puked. Long story short do not go into the bathrooms or swim at this hotel!! The pillows are way to squishy like you may as well not even have them because you go so far in the pillows that your literally sleeping flat just as you would without the pillow. I thought a couple of the fields were quite shabby and I was expecting way more. There should NOT be construction while games are being played as it is distracting. The pitcher was being distracted by the moving crane witch should not have happened and is completely ridiculous. read more

Have played three tournaments here. It's overpriced for what you get for sure. The umpiring is brutal. I agree with another reviewer who said they officiate the games to get them over as quickly as possible. Right handed hitters get punched out on pitches well into the left handed batter's box. Sometimes the players are announced, sometimes they aren't. I think they didn't pay their electric bill because the scoreboard on Cal Sr's Yard was off the entire weekend. Are you kidding me? $1300 for 3 games and they can't even turn the scoreboard on? The money grabbing is non stop with photographers charging a fortune for action shots, $30 t-shirts, etc. One of the fields we played on had a ripped 3rd base. Bottom line is it's not nearly worth the entry fee. read more

My son (8yrs old when he went) went for a week last year and couldn't stop raving about it. Baseball, baseball, baseball - with a little baseball thrown in for good measure. He's going for 2 weeks this coming summer and is already counting down the days. When I went on the last day to see his team play and watch the awards ceremony, I was really happy with the coaching and the attention the kids got from the counselors. Their administrative team is amazing. My son forgot one of his gloves, which we didn't realize until a day or two after we got home. I called them and they went and hunted it down and got it back to us in time for his team's tournament just a few days later. If your kid(s) love baseball, you should absolutely check this place out. read more

This is our second year feeling that our money was wasted in the experience for our boys.... I will not revisit last year but went into this year hoping for a better time.... Words to the wise if your team is a 13u run away! Not worth the money. The facilities are great for 12 and younger. The 13 yo facilities are laughable. We played multiple games on a high school field that was in such poor condition we witnessed 2 unnecessary injuries. Ripken himself should be embarrassed his name is on this age tournament. read more

Just returned from the Easter Tournament at Ripken's Aberdeen MD location. This was our second tournament at this location. A group of 10 families traveled over six hours to play in the tournament. Two years ago we played in a Labor Day tournament and we were very pleased with the staff and grounds. Unfortunately, this year was not as pleasing. The staff were nonexistent and the grounds were not as well kept up. We had an 8 am game on Saturday. It was raining and had been overnight. According to the website and phone messages the games were on. We sat in the rain for an hour before a Ripken representative showed up at the field to say the game was cancelled. There was NO communication with the teams concerning the rest of the schedule. As of 3:45 pm the games were still showing as being played. We were forced to sit around and wait for word that we would not be playing. Cal Ripken is a first class person and I am sure he is unaware of the way his business is being run. I spoke with his general manager who was condescending and at times sarcastic. Unfortunately he could care less about our team from Upstate NY. Two years ago, the grounds were spotless. This year the upkeep was nonexistent. No attempts were made to clean the dugouts of mud and the picture location with the Ripken symbol was not clean and full of weeds. Two years ago it was clean and decorated with flowers. Mr. Ripken needs to concentrate on customer service. A first class operation would have representatives available to greet the teams and make sure there needs were being met, not hiding in there offices and only talking on their radios. Our team would love to go back but the sour taste left in our mouths after this experience will give us second thoughts on spending that large amount of money and travel that distance only to be left in the rain. read more

Horrible experience, it is about taking your money and giving nothing back. We just returned from Aberdeen. Two of our three games were scheduled not at the complex but rather at Aberdeen HS, which is an old filthy school where the field was completely uncared for and very dry and dusty. We arrived and the grounds were untouched, they weren't raked or lined, and there were no bases, we waited and waited and waited for over an hour. This tournament is the most expensive and we are told they supply water, well the water they supplied was from an old filthy hose lying on the ground, not kidding and there were no cups available. Our mothers went and bought water and cups. It was almost 90 degrees and the boys did drink some of the water and the next day most of them woke up sick. It was bad all around and extremely expensive, and completely unorganized. The conditions at our local home field are 150% better. It would do Cal Ripken people some good to go to Diamond Nation and see how it is done right. We will never waste our teams time and money to play here again. Other teams in the same tournament played on the main field 2x we played at the local HS 2x, that is poor planning. read more

Been going to Ripken with my son since he was 9 years old. Probably played in 20 tournaments. A lot as a guest player and his travel teams. The biggest issue is the lack of good umpires . They are hands down the worst I've ever seen. Watched them send teams home that deserved to win, but bad calls sent them home. (Most had 5-6 hour drives ).They don't care about the games. Just want finish and get payed.They ended my sons 2014 fall season on a ball that was a foot outside and called a strike. It was the championship game of the Veterans day tournament. The fields don't really resemble the MLB fields at all. And of course the prices are ridiculous. $1,295 for 3 games is crazy. Mr. Ripken says it's about the kids. Do you believe him? How about the parents hard earned money,? Sounds a little more reasonable. Broke ground in Tennessee for another pot of gold. Gotta give the man credit. He makes more $ now then when he played. If we want to keep the price down to let our kids play the game they love, then we must speak up or keep digging deeper into our pockets. read more

I can't give it a five star rating because of the cost to register for a tournament. I myself have participated in many Ripken Tournaments. It was always very fun to go to Ripken as a kid. The fields are second to none as they are mini replicas of MLB fields. Very organized,kept the facility clean, and first class fields. What more could you ask for? When I got older I figured out the cost it had on your wallet, yikes. I highly recommend going if you have the money to afford it. read more

Chose a tournament date specifically because we would play Friday night and be guaranteed to play in Cal Ripken Sr's Yard (the main stadium). They send out schedule and that's where we are, as expected and guaranteed. 2 days later we look at it again and they cancelled our Friday game (without telling us!), put us at 12:30 and 5pm Saturday (ruining all of our teams plans) and not even on Cal Ripken Sr.'s Yard. Refused to change it although no other team was guaranteed this field besides us- now we get screwed and lose the field and our team bonding time and have to pay an extra night in a hotel for nothing. The customer service here is pitiful. I will NEVER return. Thank you John at Ripken for ruining what was supposed to be a once in a life time opportunity for our team with barely even an apology. You have lost a customer. This is the second time we have had issues with Ripken, I won't give you chance to get a third. read more

My 16 year old just attended for the first time and the last. The instructional game was NO instruction and come to find out the so called coach was an intern that was just hired. One that had not even played baseball in school. My son seemed to have more knowledge then him. The Aberdeen High School field was a complete mess with grass on the infield and a port o pot that was sitting next to the field that was so rotten it made us sick. The Ripken website Q&A stated not to bring equipment but on the first day they were told to bring it. Well that is fine for the locals but there are many who traveled there and couldn't do that. So these boy were trying to use my sons gear and I don't buy his gear as community gear. They didn't even provide batting helmets. A complete waste of money with an unorganized group..... read more

My 12 year old just returned from the Cal Ripken overnight baseball camp (July 15-20). I cannot say enough great things about it! My son had never gone to an overnight camp. Let's just say that he was raving all the way home about the kids, the coaches, Cal (of course), the activities at night (tour of Ravens Stadium; swimming; MD Science Center, etc.), and the camp counselors. He received a team pic with Cal pictured with them, a signed autograph of Cal, and Cal signed a 2007 Inductee Hall of Fame ball I sent along with my son. The parents had a live online stream of weekday practices, which was really neat. It was worth the price, no doubt, as my son will have an everlasting memory of his experience!!! To add up the value of the autographs & all the free Under Armour gear he received, I would say the camp fee is fair- his gifts & autographs probably have a $600 value. All in all, unbelievable and awesome from a Mom who never played sports, but now is totally into it because I have two boys. Every American boy who loves baseball would find this camp to be a dream come true! read more

Our sons travel team played in a weekend tournament at the Ripken baseball facility. A very nice weekend but without a few minor issues. The good. The fields are maintained very well, very clean, the on site hotel was terrific, the facility is easy to navigate, plenty of free parking, the "team bonding" aspect of the trip was great for our kids and the parents. The negative. The competition is tough. If your a middle or bottom talent team you may want to stay home. We lost our first two games by over 11 runs. Fortunately we we're put in the conciliation round and finished the tournament with a nice win. We were lucky to have all our games played on site at Ripken but I'm told at some tournaments you're only guaranteed one "on site" game! Your other games would be played at local ballfields near Ripken. The concessions stands closed Sunday afternoon around 3:30 while many games were still being played! Why? The merchandise stand also closed around 3:30! I don't get it. Many of us were waiting until after the last game to pick up a hat or t-shirt but no such luck. The on site photo company was weak. They photo all the kids playing and offer photos for sale. The items are way over priced and the booth where they do business was incredibly crowded and under staffed. The photo booth employees wee not very helpful either. I tried to buy a very nice $21 team photo but gave up after I couldn't get any help. Also, the photo booth closes at 4pm on Sunday! Games were still going on. Why close? Overall I enjoyed the Ripken experience and would recommend it if you have reasonable expectations. One last thing. The county and hotel have strict policies concerning alcohol consumption on site so if you want an adult beverage plan on buying it at the hotel bar or drinking it alone in your room. You even have to sign an alcohol policy waiver when you check in. read more

Very disappointing, especially with the umpires. As most have already said, this is a long travel, requires an overnight stay and everything is expensive. My 9U son gets up to bat with 2 outs and bases loaded. Just as my son steps to the plate, the opposing coach calls time-out to switch catchers. Home plate umpire decides catcher should get about a 10 pitch warm up (What????). After the catcher warms up, my son hits a foul ball and takes a strike (two strikes, right?). Well the umpire yells strike 3 your out! What??? there are only two strikes and bases are loaded! We run over to tell his coach and the umpire. (sides have not completely switched at this point). Umpire insists he took a strike before the catcher switch. When we show him the video, he says "oh, sorry" but doesn't send the other team back out. He didn't even bother to confer with the other umpire. As you can imagine, our son was devastated. His team ended up losing. How often do you get to be in position to be at bat with bases loaded at Ripken baseball. This could have been the turning point in the game for him and his team. As far as I'm concerned, Ripken stole a potential memorable moment of glory and instead created a horrible experience. Not exactly the Ripken experience we had hoped for. And yes, I have the whole thing on video! read more