An amazing number of canadians seem to willingly come here though. During the winter one sees almost as many cars with canadian tags as Florida tags...maybe your just weird ;p

You're not biased, at least as far as I'm concerned. I am seriously considering moving from Indiana to Florida in the near future since I like warm better than cold, and I like beaches and the sea, and I recently accepted an early retirement offer from Delphi in Kokomo.

Regarding FIRST, there are a lot of places that could handle the competition, including former Olympic villages and cities with dome stadiums. Is there really a place as good as Disney, though, to keep 15,000 teenagers entertained and out of trouble in their free time. I doubt it. Also, it is a fun place, even for "old people" like myself.

If you stay on site at Disney, like at the not-terribly-expensive All Star Sports/Music/Movies, you have continuous easy to use transportation to anywhere you need to go. That is not likely to be the case in Lake Placid New York. Also, the early spring weather in Orlando is a refreshing change for most northerners.

I agree that Disney is not the cheapest place in the world, but I suspect that it is among the cheapest places in the US to get to by air. Even Indianapolis has, I think, three airlines running non-stop flights to Orlando. Our tickets were $180 round trip, and that was after the prices went up to near-normal after being cheaper for a time after 9-11.

All things considered, I think Disney is the ideal location for something like the FIRST National, as long as it doesn't get too much bigger than it is now.

Hmmm....


But, sooner or later, the choice will have to be made, if FIRST continous to grow, they'll either need:

A. A bigger host place

B. Multiple Nationals

C. a new method of cycling teams into the nats, (powers of 3 ;)) which is a yucky idea

The question will need an answer, eventually. Just something to think about on the long flight down. (which, sniff, i can't make, sniff)

Good luck to everyone down there, hope y'all have fun!

--Ben Mitchell

Heh, we've got the same name.

But anyway, what exactly is in an athelete's village? I think it would be more adult oriented and kinda boring. It just doesn't seem like it would be as much fun, or as safe as a theme park. Because there is still really no way to keep everyone inside the village.

Whenever they have an Olympics, they need to construct what is called an Atheletes' Village to house and entertain all those atheletes!

It is, in effect, a semi-isolated town within a town or city. Perfect for FIRST, and once they're built, someone needs to use em! (like us)


--Ben Mitchell

Is there ongoing entertainment at former Olympic villages?
 

What do these Olympic villages have for recreation and entertainment, after the Olympics are over? Is there ongoing stuff at the villages, or would FIRST have to create or "bring in" after hours entertainment if Nationals were held at such a venue?

Good question. I'm not sure, but something could probably be rigged up, and also the local city would have at least some attractions

Anyone know for sure?

I like Nat's in 1 spot for many reasons but... if you wanted to go out west, there's a small town called Las Vegas that has TONS of hotels, convention centers & attractions. Maybe somebody who live here or has actually visited there could tell me. All I know from what I've been told is LV has cheap flights, cheap hotels, & a ton of cool stuff to do.
Biggest concern, a few thousand kids in a city like that.

Olympic villages are pretty much dead after the olympics, I'm almost sure. They're dorms at Georgia Tech now and also at Georgia State University. There are parks and statues etc. around the area, but nothing of an entertainment aspect from the villages themselves. The rest of Atlanta is fun though.

~Tom Fairchild~

Now THAT is a good idea... though like you said there is still a major question of safety...

I've been to LV three times, most recently about five years ago. There are a lot of hotels and are cheap flights from almost everywhere. There is also a lot to do, but some of it might not be considered appropriate for a school trip.

I am not into gambling, but enjoy walking up and down the strip people watching and going into the hotel/casinos to see what they look like. Many of the places are really cool, with almost Disney-like themes and decor.

That has to be one of the meanest things I have ever heard....being on one of the "performing poorly" teams for some of the years I was in high school, that hurts....Its all about gracious professionalism and helping eachother out.....

As for nationals being held at 2 places...one for each side of the country...i don't like that idea either....its all about making friends and having a good time...I mean my team is from NH and some of my best friends I have made in FIRST are from Arizona (Team 60, Shane, Casey, Joe....hehehe etc) sooooooo keep it in Florida...ITS FUN!

Humm....
 

Well from what I've seen most of the people have been reccomending places because they are a place near there home. I think that there should be ONE national and that place should change or at least try and go away from disney for one year. We may find that Disney is a great place that we sorta take for granted. I agree with what C said by goin to the olympic vilages! Thats a GREAT Idea.

The only problem I see with that is How are we going to rent out the places for first? These are just things we should think about and that we should really consider!

Well...Just my 2 centz! cya


Jason-=- Team 384

Jason, Jason, Jason.

We can't leave Disney. That would be imposible. Dean and Disney are all of one. The Segway was introduced on ABC, a company of Disnney. It is now at Innoventions at Epcot. No matter what we say, we will be at Disney. Don't even try to leave there. Plus, were probably under contract.