Why should adults have to go to meetings in Orlando?
 

I just returned from five excruciating days in Orlando at The Dolphin/Swan for a professional meeting. This is my fourth "adventure" there and I would just like to suggest that professional meeting planners stop sending grownups to this destination.

Of course, I understand that some people like or even need to bring there children on an occasional business trip. But the vast majority of business travelers do not go to meetings as an excuse to be with our children. We go to work, to network, to eat, and perhaps sneak in a little fun. At Disneyworld, these modest goals are impossible.

First, you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and it will cost you $37 flat rate every single time you step into a "cab." In fact, there are no cabs at Disneyworld. They have a contract with Mears Transportation, as does nearly every good hotel in Orlando. If you want a cab, you have to call one and wait, because I'm sure Disney gets a benefit of some kind from Mears for keeping their cars always on the property, and no metered cabs anywhere in sight. If you try to rent a car to avoid the extortion, you will discover that there are no cars available or that the price to rent a car spontaneously is 2-3 times the Internet rate.

Second, the food is just terrible: Corporate, homogenized, pre-prepared, dumbed down and outrageously expensive. We started with sushi at Kimono, which has a reputation as a "good" restaurant in Orlando. The choices were extremely limited, and we paid $100 for two for a meal that would have been $40 (and much better) back home. The Italian restaurant served us bad pizza, a limp salad, and gnocchi with a sauce straight out of Chef Boyardee. Again, it was hard not to sputter when we got the check. Breakfast buffets with fixed prices were like a scavenger hunt for fresh, ripe fruit among the overly sweet pastries and greasy meats, to say nothing of the joy of having some guy costumed as Goofy take my newspaper (which was not the Times, since the hotel never, ever ordered enough for the demand.) Even the fudge at the ice cream shop was bad. If Disney can't find good candy, then what IS their culinary strong suit??

My biggest complaint is the fatal overdose of Disneyness. Here we were, trapped, but we couldn't even go shopping for anything but wildly overpriced Disney clothes and kitsch. Even the elevator music included nothing but songs from its movies!

Please, planners, spare professionals the expense and agony of being stuck in this plastic homogenized surreality and send us to Miami, or Naples, or even Tampa!

Good grief, I meant "their children" not "there children." It must be the after-effects of ingesting all that plastic.

A huge +1 to this post, though the OP's alternatives of Naples, Tampa and Miami aren't high on my list either.

If I'm cooped up all day in the conference hotel, do I really care that I'm in Florida and it's 80 and sunny outside? And if I do get a break from my meetings, I'd rather the hotel be "in the middle of it all" so there's someplace-- cute stores, galleries or a museum, good restaurants, a coffee or wine bar-- within walking distance, not cab ride away.

Your post title is a little unfair to Orlando!

It sounds like your complaint is not with meetings in Orlando per se but with meetings at Walt Disney World. Those are two completely different things.

I think it's a general complaint about Orlando. Even off-Disney property, it's a pretty miserable place for a professional conference. Cars are almost mandatory, hotels are swarming with families, most of the hotels are a distance from downtown Orlando. Dreadful

Agreed. Our company did our annual conference in Vegas for years...then moved to Orlando. Your post summarizes the feelings from those in our group.

Nice place for kids, not so appropriate for business conferences.

Hubby recently attended a conference in Orlando (not at WDW) and came back with similar complaints to those above. His conference had been in Miami for years but moved to Orlando because it's cheaper.

Couldn't agree more. Have been stuck at numerous meetings in Orlando over the years - since it's inexpensive for a convention venue - and there are generally reasonable airfares from around the US. It's not so bad if you do one of the non-Disney resorts - I've done 2 smaller meeting at the Hyatt Grand Cypress - and it has way fewer kids. but you still end up taking the client for at least an evening at Disney - and sometimes a whole day.

I finally worked a compromise - I would take a group to Epcot and let some of the junior staff escort clients to the kids places.

But - I do agree Vegas is almost as bad. (I much prefer the meetings in London, Paris etc - and luckily now have to go to many fewer congresses.)

Buff, perhaps you're just venting, but if you want things changed, you should try telling this to whomever planned your meeting.

Orlando, along with Vegas and Branford, is suitable only as a nuclear test site. This will help our country. Really.

"Why should adults have to attend meetings in Orlando?"

I think that question is best answered by your employers and/or professional meeting planners, not by fellow travelers like us.

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

I'm accompanying my husband to Orlando this Friday for his business conference, so this is a timely discussion! While he's in meetings, I'll probably just do a tiny bit of shopping, work out at the hotel fitness center, maybe visit Winter Park and generally relax. When he has time off, we'll try to get in a round of golf. We won't drive ourselves crazy looking for great meals and will avoid the theme parks altogether. I agree with the OP, though, it's a pain to have meetings in a place where transportation is such an expense and a bother. We're just glad to get away from the snow drifts.

It sounds like you a had a bad experience in Orlando. That is a shame, but I have to say not to judge a book by it's cover. I am from the area and would never go to the Swan/Dolphin as a way to experience Orlando. If you had your conference in Winter Park (cobblestone streets, cafes lined down a very upscale street that reminds me of Europe, Gaylord Palms, Ritz Carlton, Champions Gate (fabulous golfing), you would have had a whole different experience. All of these places are in Orlando, but unfortunately your employer picked a tacky place. You can't really stereotype all of Orlando based upon one hotel/area. Yes, you are right about the car thing. Everywhere in Orlando requires a car, unless you can self contain it in a fabulous hotel. It is not really a city (we do have a downtown area of course), but a mecca of different suburbs.

Interesting comment that Orlando "is not really a city (we do have a downtown area of course), but a mecca of different suburbs." This is, for me, the problem. Who wants to be stuck in the suburbs???

(By the way, my last conference in Orlando was at the enormous Marriott with the convention center space attached. In addition to atrocious food options in the hotel and a pricey cab ride to get anywhere else, even if I wanted to enjoy the lovely weather of Orlando during a break from my meetings, I couldn't because there's no wifi on the patios or by the pool. Also, the outdoor bar closed at some ridiculous hour like 8 pm because the noise bothers families staying at the hotel. And, yes, I have complained to the corporate event planners, but I also think Marriott and the tourism board have sold a bill of goods that this space, or any large hotel in Orlando, is appropriate for a professional gathering.)

The problem with the Gaylord and the large resorts off Disney property is that you are so isolated. You are completely stuck, with no mass transit. And Winter Park is nice, for about an hour.

I'll have to say that the food & transportation issues would irritate me as well, but why in the world would you want wifi at the pool?

Because if you are there for work, you need wifi for your phone/computer. So if there is a break and you want to sit by the pool just for a break, you can't get any work done.

flsd, you said,<b>"We won't drive ourselves crazy looking for great meals...."</b> Whatever do you mean? Are you saying there is <u>no</u> good food anywhere in the greater Orlando area? Don't believe it. If you are looking for a good restaurant recommendation <b>ask us!</b> That also includes WDW!

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

ML Times - yep, the Marriott that you went to in my opinion is not very nice either, so I don't blame you for being irritated. Orlando does not really have mass transit (we have a bus system but no one really uses it), so I think if people want to experience a conference for a city feel, they should go to Chicago, New York, etc. I just feel bad for the people at this forum in which their employers sent them to horrible hotels. (Swan, convention Marriott) We have so many beautiful places that are not tacky but so luxurious and you would have just loved your time in Orlando. You could have gotten your golf clubs out, laid out at an upscale pool with WiFi, and ate at all the best restaurants.

Or you could have gotten a glimpse of Tiger Woods getting his coffee at the Starbucks in my town. HAHA. However, no one has spotted him yet. Just a bunch of paparazzi. Let's just say the Bay Hill Golf Invitational didn't set up shop in Orlando for nothing. We have so many celebrities that live in Orlando and have second homes here. So, again I think you went to all the wrong places. Think of it this way - if a tourist went to New York and all they got to see was Staten Island then I think that would be an awful impression of New York!