Republican Convention

[jaugust3]

I was told today by a hotel manager in Tampa that all hotels in the area were booked from August 24 - September 1 due to the national convention. He also stated that the hotels would be running shuttles to Disneyworld. We planned our trip during that week based on the anticipated crowd calendar. Do you feel the convention will have a great impact on our travel plans? Needless to say, I'm a little bummed because I wanted to tour the parks when the crowd levels were low. Now I'm wondering if we should change our plans. What are your thoughts??

[hljoyce]

I was told today by a hotel manager in Tampa that all hotels in the area were booked from August 24 - September 1 due to the national convention. He also stated that the hotels would be running shuttles to Disneyworld. We planned our trip during that week based on the anticipated crowd calendar. Do you feel the convention will have a great impact on our travel plans? Needless to say, I'm a little bummed because I wanted to tour the parks when the crowd levels were low. Now I'm wondering if we should change our plans. What are your thoughts??

We had the Republican convention in St. Paul four years ago, and unless you were right downtown by the convention, it didn't really affect things. Maybe a few hundred more people at MOA, but that place is a zoo this time of year with back to school shoppers, anyway. I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. We'll be at CSR that week.

[hinkey]

It might have an impact, but I don't think it would be big enough to cause you to change your plans. The people going to the convention had to get elected to attend the convention or they will be there for work. Attendees tend to be vey interested in politics and will probably not skip convention activities to go to Disney. They might tack on a day or two at the beginning or end.

I don't think you should change your plans. You'll arrive at rope drop and tour efficiently in the first two hours so no worries!

[utlegaleagle]

I was in the Tennessee delegation at the 2008 RNC. I would not expect much, if any, impact on WDW crowd levels. Almost every minute of our day was planned, and we hardly ever ventured to far from the convention center or the hotel area.

[Canwegosoon]

My Dh has gone to another huge convention that has been in Orlando over President's week(big vacation time for the NE) and it had no impact on crowds. As utlegaleagle mentioned days are packed. Also many people so not bring families to conventions- because one spouse is left managing the kids the whole time.