New York Jets: Leonard Williams says will be ready for opener by Paul A. Esden Jr.

Before watching the New York Jets cruise to a 28-18 victory over the New York Giants in the annual MetLife Bowl, the writers here at The Jets Press had an opportunity to explore MetLife Stadium. In particular, the staff of MetLife Stadium were kind enough to provide us with a guided tour of the new MetLife Central fan experience.

What is MetLife Central, and what do fans need to know in order to take advantage of it? To put it simply, MetLife Central is a variety of activities and sites around the stadium that fans can enjoy prior to game time.

Property of Chris Stephano, photo taken August 29th, 2015 at MetLife Stadium

For instance, there is a prominent statue of beloved cartoon character Snoopy decked out in football gear. The statue rests on the stadium’s actual 50 yard line, which extends beyond the field of play.

Fans can pose with or high five Snoopy while MetLife staff bustle around taking pictures that will then be saved to your profile and accessible at any time after the game. You can save or socially share them easily.

Behind Snoopy is the MetLife Central stage, where fans have the opportunity to watch, meet and interact with sports celebrities. Prior to the start of the Snoopy Bowl, former Giants player George Martin could be found signing autographs for fans.

The fan experience only gets better as one enters the experience.

Property of Chris Stephano, photo taken August 29th, 2015 at MetLife Stadium

Pictured above are members of The Jet Press enjoying the MetLife Central virtual reality experience. Fans can grab a seat, pop on some goggles and be instantly transported into the MetLife blimp hovering above the stadium. The “blimp ride” is impressive, making the attraction more than worth the short wait in line.

Out of all the MetLife Central attractions, this writer’s personal favorite was the fan ticket creation booth. Fans pose for pictures in front of a large backdrop of MetLife Stadium. Fans can then head over to a photo booth to pick up their own personalized fan ticket with their picture and lanyard.

Property of Chris Stephano, photo taken August 29th, 2015 at MetLife Stadium

In addition to the activities described above, MetLife Central has a few other attractions, including a nail painting booth and an opportunity to pose with the actual Snoopy Trophy for pictures.

Throughout the entire MetLife Central experience, fans can continue to have their pictures taken and uploaded to their personalized fan page. Creating a fan page is as simple as providing a name, email address and zip code on any of the interactive tablets scattered throughout MetLife Central.

Taken together, MetLife Central is not a world changing experience. However, it does represent some fun and worthwhile activities for fans to do before the game.

At the very least, it expands fans’ pregame experiences beyond the traditional tailgate. It’s definitely a fun experience, especially for those with children as Snoopy himself will walk around and take selfies two hours before any game starts.