Posted by Pamela at 1/3/2001 10:12 PM EST
Student on team #166, Techno Insanity, from Merrimack High School and Texas Instruments.
my team has the distinct pleasure of staying off Disney this year.(j/k) But we are staying off Disney b/c all the rooms reserved for FIRST were sold out in less than half a day…WOW! I was wondering if any teams who have had this wonderful priveledge could fill me in on where are good places to stay and about the schedule the team will need to keep because of our location.
Posted by asher at 1/3/2001 10:32 PM EST
Student on team #31 from jest first.
In Reply to: Staying off Disney
Posted by Pamela on 1/3/2001 10:12 PM EST:
Our team (T31) stayed off property last year and I really enjoyed it, really I’m not kidding. we stayed at the Ramada Plaza Gateway if memory serves me, they ran free transportation all day long, to and from disney, and it was actually quite convenient. They also had a breakfast every morning for 6 or 7 bucks if need and also a convenance type store within the complex. I enjoyed staying off property because after all you can only take so much of a silly little mouse 
asher
also, feel free to email me if you would like more info
Posted by Splash at 1/5/2001 6:16 PM EST
Other on team #53, Team Inferno, from college and NASA GSFC.
In Reply to: Staying off Disney
Posted by Pamela on 1/3/2001 10:12 PM EST:
There’s a place called tropical palms (www.tropicalpalms.com) which looks like a lot of fun.
I stayed at one of the Best Western one time. I really didn’t enjoy it one bit.
Just becuase the FIRST rooms are filled up, I wouldn’t give up on Disney yet. If you have a small team, you could ofcourse just call and try to make a reservation without specificing you’re with FIRST. Also, if your team has the budget, there are many other Disney hotels at which you can stay. I haven’t looked to see which ones were set up for FIRST, but other Disney hotel available within a reasonable price range are the Port Orleans Resort(407-934-5000), Coronado Springs(407-939-1000), Dixie Landings(407-934-6000), and also the Carribean Beach Resort (407-934-3400). All of these I believe will cost you MORE than the All-Star Hotels. Although there would not be as many other teams there, you would have a lot of fun, more than off Disney (in my opinion).
Everyone may end up paying more, but considering that the buses go to Disney hotels much more often than others, there is a food court where you can use your food vouchers, and a great atmosphere, it’s definately worth it.