Will nationals ever be back in Disney?

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by Code\\Pilot

But still, even if they dont change it back to Disney, they should rotate the nats to other places, so other teams that didn't have the means to go to nats on a certain city could assist to a closer one on that certain year and whatnot.

It takes months/years to plan and execute a successful regional event. I can only imagine all the things that go into 300 200+ teams at nationals, plus trying to keep it affordable. For this reason, FIRST probably won't rotate the location of the Champs. Yah it sucks for teams that are far away, but, what are ya gonna do.

As far as the difference in venues, I spent a year at each. Houston was my least favorite, though I love the city. WDW was better. Hot-lanta is the best, IMO, especially from the driver walk standpoint. That's where Houston was lacking. If there is a good thing about WDW, during the divisional quals you were very close, most of the time closer than most regionals, but for closing/opening ceremonies if you weren't close you were almost too far away to keep interest. Plus it was outside, and while there never was rain while I was there I'd hate to see what happened when it was. Plus a girl on my team got pooped on by a bird it was funny though.

[Vin211]

I went to Florida for FIRST 4 TIMES! It was the best time I ever had. The costs for putting on an event in Florida is astounding. The competition use to be held in Epcott Parking Lot for those who were lucky enough to be around during those day. The odds of Nationals returning to Disney is very unlikely. From what I understand was, Disney was not tollerating Kamen and revenue from the event was not accumulating the way Eisner wanted. Therefore, Disney wanted to charge FIRST more for hosting the even there.

I foresee in the future there is going to be Two National Events. FIRST is getting way to big for just one. I imagine someday there will be one held in the south (i.e Houston, Atlanta) and another held in the north (i.e Toronto, New Hampshire). Either of those cities will do.

That is my expert opinon and I doubt FIRST will ever be back in Disney. In order to compensate for this, I consider it a personal lost. So, here is what I am proposing. Anyone that went to Florida for a FIRST Robotics Competition lets sit down and hammer out a date to return. Instead of working in the pits, cheering in the stands, or handing out buttons lets all go on vacation. How about we meet there in the summer and have our own FIRST Disney Florida Reunion!


::::Salutes:::::

[Mike Norton]

I went to disney all but the first year when it was inside Epcot.

The early years the pits where small but they got there act together. the last year they held it the pits where great, lots of room. all but one field was inside under the tents AC.


The way it works each park runs itself and has it own budget. Epcot footed the bill without the help of the hotels. So Epcot alone could not put this on without the help of all the parks and hotels.

We did not out grow Disney. they have plenty of room. It was who was going to pay for it and who was getting the profits from it. The hotel made out and the park tickets made out but Epcot needed more help to be able to put it on and they didn't get it.


I think Disney is the best spot. We treat the Florida regional as our Disney National. We go under the YES program at disney and pay very little for Park tickets and rooms.

What we get out of it is a 3 hour class in one of the parks. This is great to teach kids. The other thing is there is so much robotic at disney for the kids to see. We make this a very good education trip for the kids.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Vin211

I foresee in the future there is going to be Two National Events. FIRST is getting way to big for just one. I imagine someday there will be one held in the south (i.e Houston, Atlanta) and another held in the north (i.e Toronto, New Hampshire). Either of those cities will do.

That is my expert opinon and I doubt FIRST will ever be back in Disney. In order to compensate for this, I consider it a personal lost. So, here is what I am proposing. Anyone that went to Florida for a FIRST Robotics Competition lets sit down and hammer out a date to return. Instead of working in the pits, cheering in the stands, or handing out buttons lets all go on vacation. How about we meet there in the summer and have our own FIRST Disney Florida Reunion!


::::Salutes:::::

Boy you confederates never give up, trying to use FIRST to divide the US into two nations!

how can you have two 'nationals' in one nation - besides, its called the championship now. :^) (ok, Im done picking on you for now)

Those of us who have embraced FIRST dont need Disney world to be an official part of it, we can look to successful careers and goto WDW, or anywhere else whenever we want to.

Personally I would like to see SuperRegionals at places like the Kennedy Space center

BTW, Cedar Rapids Iowa is the closest major city to the geographical center of the lower 48 states. I wonder if you ranked the location of each team by size, where the geographical center of all teams would be?

Interesting computer/math problem for some young genius to solve.

[Amanda Aldridge]

Originally Posted by Collin Fultz

Plus it was outside, and while there never was rain while I was there I'd hate to see what happened when it was.

Lucky you. We had monsoon-like rains one year (either 01 or 02) - it rained like heck all day, and the floating floor in the tents was, well, floating. Disney was great, and some of my best FIRST memories happened there, but I think I must concur with the others who say it will probably never come back, for the same reasons everyone else has already mentioned.

[mtaman02]

I went to Epcot in 2002 and it was not only a cool area to have the nationals, but it made a great trip for the seniors who were on the team that graduated that year. Sadly like many posts, Disney is too small for FIRST let alone the discount packages would not be that great. FIRST wants to have everyone participate in the nationals but since there are too many teams FIRST can only have (X) amount of teams to go including the Regional and Certain Award Winners.

Personally what FIRST shoud do is restructure the championship event into 2 smaller championships. A western and eastern championship - that way more teams can play or so I hope. The down fall is it will cost more.

After that the winning teams can go to a main championship with maybe a few more teams or whatever regional winners are left that haven't played, and they all battle it out for the National title.

Like I said key points are venues, funding, team approval, and after hours things to do.

The only way FIRST will go back to WDW is if either WDW grows or FIRST shrinks. =(

[KenWittlief]

The championship at WDW was one of the phases that FIRST went through as it grew.

Im sure people who attended the original competition in the 1st year of FIRST think it was something special

and the 1st time the championship was held at WDW, that had to be an awesome experience

FIRST is growing and evolving, we cant go back anymore than I can do to my HS prom again, or my freshman year of college again. Some things are a once-in-a-lifetime experience

Im certain FIRST will continue to present outstanding experiences for everyone involved. Remember the 1st regional you attended? does anything compair with that?

We dont need WDW or any other organization to make FIRST special. We ARE FIRST

we make it what it is.

Onward and Upward :^)

[Wetzel]

If FIRST ever goes back to Disney, it will be to goto the Wide World of Sports. WWS is a beautiful facility that would be great to hold the Championship at. However, I think it will be a few years before it becomes possible for FIRST to go there.

There is a bidding process for the location of the championship venue, similar to how the Olympics are figured. Cities and venues are courting FIRST to come to their location, I think that is a good thing.


Wetzel

[dangerousdave]

While our team is happy to have the National's in our area we certainly understand others wanting them near their home. Here is some Georgia Dome news that just appeared in the Atlanta newspaper today.

"Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank plans to invest up to $150 million in the state-owned Georgia Dome. While a big reason is to help the city land the Super Bowl all who use the dome will benefit. Mr. Blank said "But the reality is that if we don't get the bid, this is the right thing to do for Atlanta and our community."

While these improvements will not be immediate they will help the GA Dome stay a state of the art facility to help keep up with the needs of First Robotics. At least 70% of the income for the GA Dome comes from the Falcons so it is very likely that Mr. Blank's needs will be addressed.

Also, late this year Atlanta's new aquarium will open. This should help address the concerns about things to do in downtown Atlanta.
Thanks to a generous gift from Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot, the Georgia Aquarium will be one of the largest and most exciting aquariums in the world, featuring more than 55,000 animals from 500 different species in over 5 million gallons of water. The Georgia Aquarium is located in downtown Atlanta, next to the new World of Coca-Cola, and across the street from CNN Center, the Georgia World Congress Center, Centennial Olympic Park and Imagine It! Atlanta’s Children’s Museum.

Some facts from the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau

Atlanta is 1st in:

Fastest Growing Online City
Source: Nielsen/NetRatings 2003

Airport for non-stop service to United States Destinations
Source: Back Aviation Solutions and OSG, 2003

Airport in Number of Passengers
Source: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 16, 2005

America’s Hottest 50 Cities
Source: Expansion Magazine, January, 2004

Most Affordable Market
Source: Business Week, Jan. 3, 2005

Technology Accessible (2nd)
Source: Popular Science, 2005

Georgia Dome - the largest cable-supported domed stadium in North America

Convention information for 2004

3,041,387 Convention attendance
92,359 hotel rooms at 745 properties
more shopping center space per capita than any other U.S. city except Chicago

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
80 percent of the U.S. population is within a two-hour flight of Atlanta

See everyone at the GA Dome next month!

[Koko Ed]

Personally I would be happy if the championship is NEVER held at Disney again. I love Disney but the event itself had nothing at all to do with FIRST. It was too hot, too spread out and too Disney (I think people were thinking more about going to the parks than the competition). It's better off being played out in large arenas.

[Tytus Gerrish]

Epcot was horrible for nationals. the Field is outside. the turf got wet, the ac Couldn't handle the amount of people in the pits. not to mention Disney has complete control over that area It's not the kind of place made for high school students to hang out Houston was Kay except the air tasted like gasoline. ATL Is The Shiz!!! everything is there and its an awesome stadium and the pits are in the perfect place. for drivers and coaches its a nice underground walk to the Fields. and the omni is the most awesome place to hang. no shortness of things to do in ATL.

[Ryan Albright]

I dont think it will ever make it back to disney but what would be nice if they tried to host it in the Orlando Convention Center. That place is huge, If i am not mistaken its one of the biggest convention centers in the country. Its right in the middle of disney and universal. It would take FIRST a couple of years to grow out of that place and it brings the championship back to orlando so people can enjoy the parks before and after the event

[omutton]

Personally, I liked Atlanta last year. Although I never went to nats when it was at Disney, I have only ever heard that it was too small. A lot of people from my team say they'd love to go to Disney (probably to escape the cold Canadian weather) but I don't think it would be appropriate for a FIRST competition. A lot of people would be drawn away from the competition and want to go to the theme parks. The walk to the pits in Atlanta was a little far, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the walk will be dramatically reduced this year.

[Scott team 48]

Originally Posted by omutton

The walk to the pits in Atlanta was a little far

I take it you didn't go to nationals in Texas, if you did you would think that Atlanta's walk was nothing.
I didn't go to Disney because I wasn't on a team but I would like to go there and experience First there. Texas was fun too though apart from the walking, we all got to go to six flags a day before it opened to the general public.

[tiffany34990]

i remember it at disney!!!

yeah it wasn't the greatest field for einstein being outdoors but it was interesting...i do miss it being way close to us though...but the fields inside were way cramp...not much fun when u were on those fields...and all the tents trying to be ac was hard

i'm not sure it'll ever go back..it seems like it should travel around..lol..cause FIRST is all over..