My MACNA 2019 Experiece...

[SnookNRedZ]

I really don't have anything better to do or I wouldn't be in this thread right now but I'm not here to troll. I saw this post on Saturday and refrained from responding but you kept on so I decided to respond. I was planning to go to MACNA on Saturday too but I decided against it because I'm on the Florida coast and everyone is acting like idiots here. I'm not going to complain and ask for a refund because of my choices. Step back and realize you made the choice to refuse the parking options available to you, you don't deserve a refund because of your decisions. Next time you are going to attend something as large as MACNA don't show up at 11 and expect to get great parking.

Haha so you just couldn’t refrain huh? Just had the let them fingers loose eh? other ppl commented and I felt like conversing with them on my own thread, no one asked for your opinion on here bud or for you to stop by and insult me. it was meerely a thread showing the transpiration of events that happened on Saturday. Now the point of the thread isn’t me pleading my case for wanting a refund... I woulda made that the title if I was trying to get that sort of attention. Sure, I don’t think I’ll get one, but what’s it gonna hurt to try? Emailing them with insight about the experience is valuable for them no matter how good or bad. Maybe next event they’ll look at parking closer in the future cuz of it? Maybe they’ll offer parking passes in the future to reserve spots... who knows it probably hasn’t even been read yet. Lol idk

I do know that I don’t need the 70 bux back, by any means. Would it be nice, yeah that’s fuel money for the week. Lol If I coulda paid 35 to park my own vehicle in valet, I woulda. (I get that’s not how they work) Like I said no ones driving my car but me, specially not some punk college kid, who’s looking to get tipped and drive my car as “careful” as possible hahahaga. If I could have paid the madussa hair parking lady 35 cash to park my own vehicle.... I woulda “bit the bullet” as someone mentioned afore, and done so. But I will not let someone drive my car without me in it, to a parking lot that I don’t know where it’s located. End of story. I’m not about to be a helpless sheep in a herd of other sheep if anything were to happen out there. God forbid, but in todays world man you can’t be too careful. Anywhere. Call it what you want man. But the way you came on here is my only issue, and the reason I keep responding. You could have stated it in a manner that didn’t try to undermine my intelligence or belittle me by setting me up with a question to aid your backhanded approach.

Look man, I get your point. Like I said I was just telling folks my account of what happened, so that many reefers can get an idea of maybe what to expect in years to come...das it. Not going on crying on my keyboard cuz I missed the show and can’t get my money back. If I can cool, if not, I’m sure MACNA will allocate it towards something useful in the hobby/industry. Or right in the pockets of the ceo. Who knows, who cares any more it’s several days removed now.

And your right about getting there at 11 was late. But like you said yourself hurricane on the coast has ppl crazy... I took 192 instead of toll roads over there( I live in Melbourne but work in Orlando) to avoid any evacuee traffic, my babysitter needed fuel and supplies so I said go for it... ill wait, that’s more important. But you think I’m gonna let that stop me in my effort to at least still go? Negative lol. I went anyway cuz I wanted to go. Better late than chickening out all together I say. If it was last weekend. My money is on i would have been there at 7am, ready to go. I don’t wanna give you any more of my time man. Not on this thread, if you wanna spark a convo when I’m at WWC sometime, you cant miss me. Usually wearing a neon green construction shirt with a backwards ball cap. Like in my icon photo, I’m there quite often.

You’re just gonna keep murmuring the same retoric and not see that this wasn’t a plead for a refund, it was mentioned sure, but I’m merely showing how my Saturday transpired. That’s it. I’m not throwing macna under any bus (pun intended) saying they suck cuz I’m out money. Like I know it’s not their fault directly, but acceptions can be made for acceptional circumstantes, and I’m pretty sure this can be categorized as such. Definitely wasn’t how I seen it happening, I guess RAP had biased my outlook on this event... my fault there. But still not having any parking at 11... when the show is over at 6? yikes... who could have possibly seen that coming without ever being to macna or that hotel before? My crystal ball is packed up in storage. Darn

I heard you, I’m a snowflake. I don’t need refund. 10-4. Gotcha bud. Thanks for your input, find another thread to get lost in.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

Hurricane or not, show was good. I could tell the attendance was less than previous shows I attended though. I agreed that the parking situation was confusing and very expensive. First the $ 10.00 lot had a "full" sign blocking the entrance on Friday and Saturday but there was obviously empty spots available. The only other option is a $ 35.00 valet per day so I reluctantly paid it with tips. Saturday I saw the sign again and I said f**k it and drove around it and realized how much closer it was to enter the show! I had a weekend ticket so if i valet, my parking fees all three days would've cost more than my weekend MACNA pass or price of nice coral. I also though about parking at Disney Springs and Uber there but I had to walk a mile to get to the designated pick up area in 90 degree heat and humidity. That would've been a lot of walking and I consider myself fit, not to mention the distance from show floor to the speaker rooms. I was blowing up my walk app on my watch for sure those days. I didn't attend Sunday partly because I didn't think I wanted to pay for parking again for shortened program and the weather. Yeah Macna could learn that if they want to increase attendance, don't neglect and negotiate parking fees for the attendees. This hobby is pricey enough and I know there are wealthy people that can afford all the incidentals but it's a bit harder for the rest of us to swallow when all we want is buy some cool corals and maybe learn more about reefing. . Keep venues and speaker rooms near each other and better signs to direct people also.

Well put. I myself am relatively fit. And I walk a lot for my job. Walking on my day off isn’t something that appeals to me. Lol I did also take into consideration how far I already had to walk from the drop off loop in front of the swan hotel. To walk back to the dolphin, up those steps, and over to the banquet hall was far. And like I said I packed a cooler with food drinks and meds that I was now questioning how possible that would be to get back to even if I were to park in that lot that was “full”. I hear you on the cost of parking all 3 says would be craziness! Hence why I was only planning on going one day. Which I know isn’t a true “Macna experience” maybe if it’s in a city I’ve Been wanting to visit, I’ll go for the entire duration and stay on site for once. I’m sure it’s an awesome experience!

I went to macna in a reef a palooza state of mind and that’s my issue here I think. At rap when it was at the renaissance hotel and the caribe royal hotel, I parked like right next to the entrance and could easily come and go all day. No issue. Yeah I got there earlier, but folks who got there “late” still had parking on site. They weren’t obligated to either pay valet, or for a ride share service. It was a giant unforeseen obstacle, and I wasn’t expecting it. At all. I kinda thought that with this hurricane, all the tourists would leave and the hotel would be empty... how wrong I was. Lol. Ppl gotta have their Disney.

 

[Pauley]

I’m local (about 20 min from Disney), and decided to hit up MACNA Sunday. I arrived about 10am, and was able to park at the Dolphin self park lot. I found the registration, which was only $10 at that point. Of course, nobody was checking at the event doors, and vendors were actually making fun of people who paid. I thought the show was about on par with the last couple RAPs in Orlando. Unfortunately, the hurricane threw a wrench in the event. Speakers cancelled, times changed, and about 1/2 of the vendors were gone or in the process of packing up by early Sunday (closing time got shifted to 2pm). Just bad luck with the storm-not much you can do. My only gripe is that I felt like the event organizers did a horrible job of getting info out prior to the event (parking vouchers, registration, updates, etc). Not a big deal for me, but I’d be angry if I was traveling into town to attend.

Also, for what it’s worth, the hotel and parking staff are what Disney refers to as “Operating Participants”. They are non-Disney entities which operate on property. They are still required to obey the Disney cast member code of conduct (name tags, friendly, etc). However, Disney has no direct authority over them, and you might be surprised about how bad some of those Disney/OP relationships actually are. ;)

 

[reefwiser]

Wow it is always interesting to see how people react to the same event that you attend. First MACNA is completely different from a RAP. The attendees at a RAP are generally there for a few hours and don’t stay at the hotel.MACNA. Attendees stay at the hotel and are there for the whole show they attend every year. They spend a ton of time catching up with friends from around the world and enjoy talking at the bar.
Disney park at Labor Day weekend and Star Wars opening was crazy busy.
I don’t think the parking lots at the hotels are designed a lot for drive in guest as I would bet if you took a poll they have more people flying in and staying than drive in an stay at the hotels.
Next year is Phoenix and it will have no distractions like the last two MACNA Vegas and Disney are major distractions from the show. While they are fun they do tend to pull.

 

[TheHarold]

I arrived at Saturday at 10:30, parked in the $10 zone, and paid the $10 registration fee.

I can't imagine getting so upset about simply having to walk a few blocks if you arrive late in the day and refuse to do valet..... Thats life.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

I’m local (about 20 min from Disney), and decided to hit up MACNA Sunday. I arrived about 10am, and was able to park at the Dolphin self park lot. I found the registration, which was only $10 at that point. Of course, nobody was checking at the event doors, and vendors were actually making fun of people who paid. I thought the show was about on par with the last couple RAPs in Orlando. Unfortunately, the hurricane threw a wrench in the event. Speakers cancelled, times changed, and about 1/2 of the vendors were gone or in the process of packing up by early Sunday (closing time got shifted to 2pm). Just bad luck with the storm-not much you can do. My only gripe is that I felt like the event organizers did a horrible job of getting info out prior to the event (parking vouchers, registration, updates, etc). Not a big deal for me, but I’d be angry if I was traveling into town to attend.

Also, for what it’s worth, the hotel and parking staff are what Disney refers to as “Operating Participants”. They are non-Disney entities which operate on property. They are still required to obey the Disney cast member code of conduct (name tags, friendly, etc). However, Disney has no direct authority over them, and you might be surprised about how bad some of those Disney/OP relationships actually are. ;)

interesting. I guess i would be classified as an OP then. My company builds the bleachers for their marathons out at Epcot, and everytime i do have to deal with an actual disney employee, its always a headache. So believe me i know how some of those relationships are first hand! lol

I had a feeling thats how it would be Sunday. a bunch of vendors trying to get out ahead of time.wrapping things up early, whos to blame them. i had the thought of trying to go back out there Sunday, alone cuz the gf would have to stay with her kids, and say i went. (yes taking the shuttle this time, because i would be prepared this time! lol )But i had a feeling that was the case, and im glad i didnt try.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

I arrived at Saturday at 10:30, parked in the $10 zone, and paid the $10 registration fee.

I can't imagine getting so upset about simply having to walk a few blocks if you arrive late in the day and refuse to do valet..... Thats life.

Well arent you lucky?

Well you werent greeted as rudly as i was initially were you? thats my whole gripe here, how rude and just unprofessional it all was. im sure you had a grand ol time slipping in 30 min before me, probably getting the last few spots. you could have easily been in my shoes there bud.

I also walk about 5 miles a day on average and walk 50 flights of steps, so if i didnt wanna walk outside in jeans and nice shirt in 80% hiumity 90 degree florida summer weather, why should i? The walking part isnt what upset me btw, i have perfectly capable legs. My girlfriend who just had an operation couldnt walk that far... but i paid my ticket price, and with no option to buy a seperate parking pass during that process, how am i to know how big or how full a parking lot is when ive never been? so when i was told very rudly i may add to head 30 min back to where i just came, missing a good hour more of the show i wasnt happy, would you be?

Life is also unpredicatble bud, and trying to forsee them running out of parking is impossible. Your comment also is one that just looks to belittle someone.

"I can't imagine getting so upset ... " well you didnt have the same experience or circumstances as me and mine had. did ya? So trying to comapare oranges to apples here isnt really needed. This was a thread explaining MY macna experience. did you not read the title? could care less that you got in 30 min before me. Congrats dude.

 

[Brew12]

I stayed at the Dolphin so I was one of the lucky ones. The hurricane was an unfortunate situation and wasn't expected. The real issue wasn't the Star Wars exhibit being open. In fact, by Saturday, wait times were a fraction of what they were on Thursday because of everyone leaving the park early and/or canceling their reservations.
The issue was storm shelters. The Dolphin has a storm rated basement and on Saturday they began setting up 2,000 cots to prepare to take in people who were stranded in the area. Much of the parking at the hotel was taken up by staff and volunteers doing the setup.
No excuse for being rude, but I don't think anyone predicted parking being that much of an issue.

 

[TheHarold]

Well arent you lucky?

Well you werent greeted as rudly as i was initially were you? thats my whole gripe here, how rude and just unprofessional it all was.

[Cut text]

"I can't imagine getting so upset ... " well you didnt have the same experience or circumstances as me and mine had. So trying to comapare oranges to apples here isnt really needed. This was a thread explaining MY macna experience. did you not read the title? could care less that you got in 30 min before me. Congrats dude.

Ahh, so you were offended by being greeted rudely by someone at an event so went home.

Sorry, I went there for the corals. I must not be as sensitive.

I honestly don't understand you at all. Ill just leave this thread,.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

Ahh, so you were offended by being greeted rudely by someone at an event so went home.

Sorry, I went there for the corals. I must not be as sensitive.

I honestly don't understand you at all. Ill just leave this thread,.

Please do. shoulda never stopped by with that , i had a good time sorry for your luck attitude. I went to learn and get out of the house. I have the corals i need.

Im sure youre sensative in certain areas of your life. Maybe youre okay with being disrespected and mislead. im not.

i went home because i wasnt okay with leaving my car with a valet service to be parked somehwere i didnt know. I had things i needed to access in the vehicle, and that was the deciding factor alone. the girly needs her medication, and i need my route out in case something were to happen. Idc that you dont understand me. Wasnt my goal here i didnt make this thread with the intentions on making TheHarold understand me . lol

 

[doodledreads]

I agree with OP, all planning by us aside, the event planners should ensure enough parking for the event. I don't get the bashing and grumpy replies from other posters here. Giving MASNA the benefit of doubt due to the Hurricane, it was still poor planning on their part.

OP, if you paid with your CC, you can charge back.

 

[doodledreads]

Reposted

 

[siggy]

From what I have seen from the few YouTube clips You diddent miss much other than corals, and you live in Florida coral capital.
Its hard to enjoy something when things start out like ****

 

[SnookNRedZ]

I agree with OP, all planning by us aside, the event planners should ensure enough parking for the event. I don't get the bashing and grumpy replies from other posters here. Giving MASNA the benefit of doubt due to the Hurricane, it was still poor planning on their part.

OP, if you paid with your CC, you can charge back.

finally someone whos picking up what im putting down.

I did, actually though pay pal, via my cc. Thats why i emailed them saturday night, politely i may add, in hopes they could get to it in time before the event ends.

What would have happened if everyone showed up early at the same time? the lot would have filled up just the same... just quicker. would that justify having to park off site now? the time when i showed is kind of irrelavent to all this, albeit i know the early bird gets the worm. but when i prepaid for my worm ahead of time, at least a good portion, i should have a say in the worm given to me, no? They should have plenty of parking for such a large event. My comapny would never sign off on an event location if the parking for my Semi trucks wasnt possible, or if the venue is too small, The Barrett Jackson i built years back in CT was twice the turn out, but parking was CLEARLY planned ahead. Take the Mohegan Sun's shuttle bus. Parked my truck in the Broadcasting lot next to the satelitte feed truck and had to... get this shuttle in... no issues because,... it was planned for! You have to cater to the people, not the folks working the event im sorry. The staff should have parked off site and shuttled in to allow more guests to occupy the spots on site. Its what we do a lot for the PGA tour events. Our compounds sometimes are the clubhouse parking lot. I have to make sure that the rich guy in his Astin Martin has plenty of room to park as close as he wants, cuz hes a paying guest to the venue im working for. This is why my opinion is biased. I work major events all over the country. Indy 500, Daytona 500, Presidential rallys, FL vs GA game in jacksonville... like i have a deep insight on how parking should go for large scale venues which dwarf macna in comparison.

btw, im usually never the kind of person to reply so deeply and frequently on forums or social media. But the hurricane has work cancelled so i have nothing else to do. Water changes are done... the towns all boarded up... so here i am. lol gotta love the internet.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

From what I have seen from the few YouTube clips You diddent miss much other than corals, and you live in Florida coral capital.
Its hard to enjoy something when things start out like ****

Exactly. & This is true. WWC is my lfs store. well not so local any more after my move a year ago, but my warehouse is on the same road as they are. so on my lunch break im usually in there talkin with the guys. Wont be for long tho, once they move ill have to make one whole extra right hand turn on CFL pkwy from OBT. lol terrible i know.

 

[Brew12]

The staff should have parked off site and shuttled in to allow more guests to occupy the spots on site. Its what we do a lot for the PGA tour events. Our compounds sometimes are the clubhouse parking lot.

I completely agree with this. Unfortunately, this is something that wasn't within MASNA's control. The Dolphin blocked off an entire parking lot for setting up the shelters that had been open on Friday. I would have understood them blocking off a smaller area to move supplies in but I do agree that they should have shuttled in the people setting up the shelter. I won't try to justify it, but I'm guessing they felt the lot wouldn't be needed since many MACNA attendees and some vendors canceled their Saturday night rooms and they had a quite a few cancellations from other guests for the weekend. But... turned out to be very poor planning on their part imo.

Having stayed at actual Disney properties and now at the Dolphin I have to say that the level of service and attention to the guest experience isn't even close. The front desk staff were wonderful as were the actual Disney employees who worked out of the hotel. Otherwise, it was hit and miss as to staff interactions.

There was also an issue with the previous weekends conferences at the Dolphin. MACNA was spread out between 3 floors because when they did setup early in the week they couldn't get adjacent rooms. It also meant that a few of the pre-printed signs weren't quite right. Finding the right room was a challenge the first time, but was easy after that. But, combine that with the "up" escalator between the exhibit hall and hotels main level being broken, it made for a lot of walking and stairs. It was easy to get in 20,000 steps and 50 flights of stairs if you were going up and down between the lectures, meeting rooms, and exhibit halls.

I felt that the MASNA folks and all the volunteers did a great job trying to handle a difficult situation.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

I completely agree with this. Unfortunately, this is something that wasn't within MASNA's control. The Dolphin blocked off an entire parking lot for setting up the shelters that had been open on Friday. I would have understood them blocking off a smaller area to move supplies in but I do agree that they should have shuttled in the people setting up the shelter. I won't try to justify it, but I'm guessing they felt the lot wouldn't be needed since many MACNA attendees and some vendors canceled their Saturday night rooms and they had a quite a few cancellations from other guests for the weekend. But... turned out to be very poor planning on their part imo.

Having stayed at actual Disney properties and now at the Dolphin I have to say that the level of service and attention to the guest experience isn't even close. The front desk staff were wonderful as were the actual Disney employees who worked out of the hotel. Otherwise, it was hit and miss as to staff interactions.

There was also an issue with the previous weekends conferences at the Dolphin. MACNA was spread out between 3 floors because when they did setup early in the week they couldn't get adjacent rooms. It also meant that a few of the pre-printed signs weren't quite right. Finding the right room was a challenge the first time, but was easy after that. But, combine that with the "up" escalator between the exhibit hall and hotels main level being broken, it made for a lot of walking and stairs. It was easy to get in 20,000 steps and 50 flights of stairs if you were going up and down between the lectures, meeting rooms, and exhibit halls.

I felt that the MASNA folks and all the volunteers did a great job trying to handle a difficult situation.

I see what you mean Brew. I know MASNA wasnt to blame entirely here. I do. Had no idea about the place being used as a shelter. Say what you will but i think that would only add to my point that a refund or voucher of some sort should at least be thought about... Like it was very unfortunate that things happened the way they did. I wish it went as smoothly as i had envisioned. The only other interaction i had with staff was a guy giving me directions to the dolphin room as i was like walking away still listening, obviosuly in a hurry. I did thank him as i walked back out though. I wasnt trying to be rude lol.

I do agree that the MASNA staff there were very top notch on site handling the entirety of this. They saw that i was 1. out of breath from power walking up those steps, even though 30k steps and 50 flights used to be regualr to me as an installer for these events i worked. and 2. little upset about it, mostly the parking. They did their best i suppose. And to no fault of any one person. Were all only human, things happen. Life goes on. Im sure MACNA 2020 will go off without a hitch... and hey, if my insight had any impact, good or bad on the future shows, then i feel i at least got my moneys worth lol. probably a bit of a stretch, but who knows. haha

 

[Brew12]

I see what you mean Brew. I know MASNA wasnt to blame entirely here. I do. Had no idea about the place being used as a shelter. Say what you will but i think that would only add to my point that a refund or voucher of some sort should at least be thought about... Like it was very unfortunate that things happened the way they did. I wish it went as smoothly as i had envisioned. The only other interaction i had with staff was a guy giving me directions to the dolphin room as i was like walking away still listening, obviosuly in a hurry. I did thank him as i walked back out though. I wasnt trying to be rude lol.

I do agree that the staff there were very top notch on site handling the entirety of this. They saw that i was 1. out of breath from power walking up those steps, even though 30k steps and 50 flights used to be regualr to me as an installer for these events i worked. and 2. little upset about it, mostly the parking. They did their best i suppose. And to no fault of any one person. Were all only human, things happen. Life goes on. Im sure MACNA 2020 will go off without a hitch... and hey, if my insight had any impact, good or bad on the future shows, then i feel i at least got my moneys worth lol. probably a bit of a stretch, but who knows. haha

The communication was a mess and I'm not sure anything could have been done to fix it. On Friday night, reports were rolling in that gas stations on the way out of Florida were running out of gas. Since many vendors pulled trailers a few of them planned on leaving Saturday afternoon to try and beat a Sunday rush were the problem would be even worse. It wasn't until after a few left that information started trickling in that the gas stations had all been restocked overnight.

Airlines sent out emails warning that the Orlando Airport was going to be shut down early Monday morning so people tried rebooking to Sunday. When Sunday's flights filled up they started booking on Saturday. I believe this was the cause of 2 speakers having to cancel. Of course, the airport didn't close on Monday since the storm stalled.

It was such a fluid situation that a few exhibitors who packed up Saturday afternoon set back up during the banquet Saturday night so they could still be there on Sunday. Short of the weather guessers doing a better job, I'm not sure how this could have been improved. At least it shouldn't be an issue next year in Arizona!

 

[Opus]

To add on the point I left off on in the previous reply... I haven’t written macna off completely or think anything bad about them. If I could base my vacation around the location of next years (well maybe 2021, sorry Arizona but I’m not interested in visiting) I think it would be an awesome time. Book the hotel for a day or two before the start of the show, go out on the town. See the sights of the local city. Then go enjoy this 4 day long reef show would be sick. I guess my approach of only going one day, and later on at that not my call... lol was wrong. That’s the RAP attack plan. Lol Shoulda maybe got there early as they opened, maybe earlier. I just couldn’t though. But maybe next time. Still hasn’t gotten a response to my email about possibly refunding tickets. Or the possibility of transferring them to a show in the future. Idk.

I would love to do the whole vacation thing but they have never made MACNA a family friendly event. By that I mean they always do it when school is in so there is no way to make a vacation out of it. Now that I have Aquashella locally I really see now need to attend MACNA.

 

[SnookNRedZ]

I would love to do the whole vacation thing but they have never made MACNA a family friendly event. By that I mean they always do it when school is in so there is no way to make a vacation out of it. Now that I have Aquashella locally I really see now need to attend MACNA.

This is true. I know they let kids in free, and from what i seen online, have some activities for kids. I see your point there though, taking some time off the beginning of the school year to base it around this is kind of a stretch for most. im sure someones willing to do it, just not me. I offered to the girly that the kids would be okay there, but she wanted a "date" with me and she got a sitter for us to enjoy the day. It does seem to cater toward that couples/ close friends kind of event. not like a family outing with kids to pay attention to and have yelling and yada yada yada. lol

Aquashella seems pretty neat. id like to go to one of those as well. i just cant with my work schedule and it being so far from FL. Maybe theyll bring one down here too. who knows. I will probably go to a macna in the future. it just wont be one located any where near disney lol. i have a timeshare week in two weeks that i normally use my vacation time for in Lido Key. one year i may let some friends stay there and take off to some MACNA in a future location id want to visit. we shall see