What if FIRST decided to let all the teams go to the Florida Competition but, put a limit on the number of members from each team that can be in attendance? Wouldn’t that save space? Wouldn’t that save money? Wouldn’t teams be able to book their rooms and tickets now? Its crazy enough to work. All teams get another taste of a big competition.
Teams that don’t choose to go to Florida will increase the number of members from other teams that can go. It sounds confusing but, I think the most technologically advanced organization can figure it out.
Vin,
I applaud the fact that you are trying to think of a solution to this problem. It’s a lot more constructive than many of the other things that have been going on around here this week.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that cutting back the number of team members would significantly impact the costs and logistical problems on the FIRST/Disney end of things. The size of the pit tent, number of fields, number of matches to be run etc. all scale with the mumber of teams at the event. It is true that costs for transportation and the team party would be reduced. But, I would guess though, that the majority of the costs scale with the number of teams and not with the number of people.
I encourage you, and everyone else, to keep thinking though. I have yet to see anyone post an idea about how to make it easier for teams to plan last minute trips to the Championships. To me, this is the biggest problem, and one that almost all of us (even big bad pre-qualified teams like mine 
) will eventually have to face.
Here are a couple of screwy ideas in that direction:
1: What if consortiums of teams were formed to book blocks of rooms. 20 teams book enough rooms for 5 of them to go. As teams in the consortium qualify or are allowed in off of the wait list, reservations are transferred from the consortium to that specific team.
2: Same idea but with plane tickets. 20 teams get together and arrange for the charter of a plane large enough to hold the contingents of 5 teams (I think that Delta charter 727’s and 757’s). Again, as teams qualify, they pay for their tickets and some of the deposit is refunded to the teams that have not yet qualified.
Are these workable solutions? I don’t know, but let’s try and get some other ideas out there. Maybe someone will come up with a good one.
One more thing. Keep in mind that, as corny as it sounds, a bird in hand really is worth two in the bush. If it doesn’t look like the Championships are in the picture this year, go to another regional. It’s a big continent. You have the opportunity to visit a lot of different parts of it by going to a different distant regional each year rather than always returning to Orlando in April.
Good Luck and keep thinking
P.J.