ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - It was the annual media tour day at Busch Stadium and we wanted to highlight the new foods, changes to the ballpark and information fans will need to know before the St. Louis Cardinals home opener on April 4.

Food

Located in the right-field Bud Terrace on the stadium's fourth level, the Budweiser Burger Bar is the biggest food addition to Busch Stadium in 2019. Open to every fan who has a ticket to the game, there are five new burger options, plus sides of tater tots and french fries.

One option is the "Taste of the Hill Burger," which includes two, 4-ounce patties with provel cheese, marinara sauce and garlic aioli. Then the bun is topped with two toasted beef ravioli (photo above).

There's also the option to go vegetarian on any of the burgers. You can see some photos of the other burgers in the slideshow above.

And there's new food on the menus across the street, at Cardinals Nation Restaurant inside Ballpark Village. They've added 20 new items for the season, which are all currently available.

Those include desserts like vanilla crème brûlée and dark chocolate pot de crème and burgers like the half-pound Stuffed Burger which has provel cheese and bacon bits stuffed inside the meat, and chicken and waffle sliders. There are some "healthy" options which would be one of the number of different salads to choose from or a California Wrap with turkey and avacado.

Photos of some of those new options are also included in the slide show above.

Ticketing

The Cardinals are making a move towards digital ticketing in 2019 and no will longer offer a "print at home" option for tickets. They have moved to a mobile ticket delivery option through the MLB Ballpark app that fans can download to their smartphones.

Fans will still be able to get into games via the traditional ticket stub, which can be mailed to you or available for pickup at the box office. But you will not be able to print tickets off at home through Cardinals.com or on StubHub.

Head to Cardinals.com/ballparkapp for more information on how to purchase, scan and forward your Cardinals tickets this season.

Cardinals Opening Day Schedule

The St. Louis holiday of Opening Day falls on Thursday, April 4 when the San Diego Padres come to town for a 3:15 p.m. first pitch. But any Cardinals fan knows you've got to get there early for the pregame ceremony.

This year, the on-field celebration starts at 2:30 p.m. with the Budweiser Clydesdales trotting around the outfield, followed by the Cardinals "Red Jacket Club" Hall of Famers and current players in the Ford caravan parade.

And you'll have plenty of time to get to your seat because the gates will open at noon. During the rest of the season the gates at Busch Stadium won't open until one and a half hours before first pitch on Monday through Thursday games, except on holidays. Then weekend games will be open to fans two hours before first pitch.

New LED stadium lighting

Each one of the new 680 individual light fixtures that were installed at Busch Stadium this offseason can flicker on and off at the blink of eye. And the St. Louis Cardinals are still experimenting with how to put that power to use this season.

Free promotional giveaways

In 2019 there will be more than 50 promotional giveaways at Cardinals home games. For a majority of those giveaway games, the first 30,000 fans through the gates will receive the giveaway.

Everything you see here is a free giveaway that will be available first come, first serve at a select #STLCards game this season pic.twitter.com/prbkMpQJkw — KMOX St. Louis News (@kmoxnews) March 27, 2019

There are five bobbleheads, seven replica jerseys, two replica rings, a number of hats, socks, a doggy bowl and more this season. Check them all out at Cardinals.com/promotions.

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