Mike Terry

I was under the impression that Old Town in Kissimmee is closed? That is why the NCRS was not holding there Winter Regionals there? Now I read on one of the Threads that Frankie the Fink and Mike C. are still going and parking there Corvettes there on Sat. nights. I am only 1600 miles north and can't be there to check it out myself so Frankie what is going on down there? If they are still open then WHY have they mover the NCRS Winter Regional from there?

VITIV Coupe

I too was wondering if there was still a car show in Oldtown and is it on Saturday night?

Chuck Gongloff

Here's a link to an article explaining the main reason that NCRS moved.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...918-story.html

Old Town had declared bankruptcy back in 2013............. and were supposedly going to close, until they got new financial backers.................... in April of 2014.

I've heard several other reasons, and have spoken with Chapter members, but I don't want to relate second hand info here.

I'm hoping that others with more first hand knowledge will chime in.

Frankie the Fink

The story (and it sounds plausible) is that Old Town, in the throes of some financial issues, lost the right to use the large parking area where NCRS vendors set up. Gone. Done. Then, NCRS signed up to move to Lakeland for the next three years. In the meantime, Old Town got the parking lot back (bought IIRC) and tried to entice the NCRS venue back - too late. Old Town has never closed - the 'kiddie' rides at the end (not far from where you set up Mike) have been pulled out and sold off. The barrier between Fun Spot and Old Town has been removed so there is lots of healthy "cross pollination" of the two crowds on cruise night. Old Town has spent some significant money on infrastructure such as upgrading the bathrooms, etc.

Several of the old vendors have departed and new ones have arrived. The Kool Katz restaurant has been closed for most of a year now - still has booze and condiments sitting at the empty bar.

So, no it hasn't been closed - ever. But I would say its still struggling....

EDIT:

Oh and the grown-up rides have been kept ... the big bungie cord drop tower and the "Vomatron" swing-arm at the front

The ride where you sit around a circular pedestal and it shoots you straight up has been pulled out..it was right at the circle as you enter the brick streets. Doubt many of us old farts went for any of that anyway -- just the kiddie rides are gone. The Haunted Mansion closed and I believe has reopened now...

They expanded Sat cruise night to include some later models (prob a good idea) so cars 1974 or older may attend now...

They put on quite the Halloween extravaganza the last two years as well, including live zombies (boy that's an oxymoron) working the crowd and then the actors did a very passable dance rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller.....worth seeing actually.

mike coletta

Mike,

Old Town is open for business. The main reason for the move was the loss of the large field where the swap meet was held. Not enough room.

The latest is that the original family (Tollman was the developer in 1986) has purchased the the property. Several of the property improvements have been completed. The war is over between the next door neighbor, and the fencing has come down between the two. All of the rides at the south end of the property have been dismantled and sold. Some new curbing has been installed. Two of the restroom areas have been completely refurbished. Several new tenants. The cruises are ongoing with pretty good attendance. The PA/music system has been completely refurbished. General cleanliness has improved, with buildings being painted, and repaired.
The "trophy row" parking area is soon to be repaved, and the "brick streets are going to be raised to sidewalk level, with no islands. The main entrance is also going to be redone, to make the whole place more visible from 192. The go-cart track at the front entrance is supposedly staying in place.

This is the first time that I've seen any real money being put into the property, in the 15 or 16 years that I've been attending. The plan is to bring the property back to it's original development concept (50's and 60's). There is still ongoing talks as to how the "cruisers" are going to park ie., trophy row, brick streets, or south end, once the remodel is completed.

As for the NCRS..... there just wasn't enough space to accommodate the event. There is no bad blood, it just wouldn't work anymore. The new facility is going to be an awesome location going forward. Nobody likes change, but in this case, it was the right thing to do. Old Town was in bankruptcy, and did not "own" the property where the swap meet/car corral was housed. The overall property was very run down, and poorly managed. Going forward, I think that it will survive, but still not capable of handling an event as large as the NCRS Winter Regional.

I still have my "reserved" parking space on the north end of trophy row. I'm there every Saturday. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood.

Mike Coletta

Chuck Gongloff

It takes a year in advance to plan/execute the Regional. After the 2014 Regional, the NCRS learned that Old Town had declared bankruptcy, and had "lost" the large grassy area, the area where the car corral, flea market, etc. was set up.

I don't know if they leased that property or if they owned the property, and defaulted on the mortgage.

Frank indicates that they eventually bought that property. Regardless, without that property, the event couldn't have been held.

Thus, they scrambled to find a new venue after they were told that Old Town would be no more.

Remember, they didn't get new backers till April, according to the article..

Late in 2014, I heard that Old Town did try to entice the NCRS back, since they had new backers, and had gotten their financial house in order, but it was too late.

Frankie the Fink

On an editorial note; I'm looking forward to Lakeland....I think it'll be a nice setup. More of a commute for me at 50 vs 35 minutes but that's fine...

Some complain about the lodging availability but seems most have worked it out....maybe not as cheap as the SeraLago, but, that can't be helped.

Viking427

Timing is everything. Sort of a shame if the new location was locked in for 3 years and then Old Town went under new ownership with fresh influx of badly needed investment capital/infrastructure improvements and got the vendor area back also. As I remember it, there's always vendor spaces left in SE corner for growth. It was/is a very convenient central location with plenty of attractions, restaurants, hotels, Sat night cruise at your doorstep, auction up the road.


No smite against Sun N Fun and hats off to the organizers who were left scrambling for sure, just not familiar with what else is in that airport area to draw Corvette guys with families & kids also. Hey, maybe the Hilton down the road from Old Town is still an option - looks like its been empty for the past decade since it sold and the Winter Regional pulled out of there

VeroWing

Is this event for NCRS members only, or can anyone attend to see cars and check out vendors?

gbvette62

The NCRS Winter Regional is open to the public. The swap meet and car show are free, but I think there might be a fee to park?

You only need to be an NCRS member if you want to judge, have a car judged, buy a swap space, or attend Thursday's opening reception.

Chuck Gongloff

If I did the math correctly, the 2015 meet will be the 37th annual event.

To the best of my recollection, for MANY years, the event was held in Cypress Gardens. Then, that venue fell upon hard times, and the event was moved to the Walt Disney Speedway for one year.

After that, it moved to the "twin tower" hotels (Hilton and Ramada?) on Irlo Bronson Hwy in Kissimmee. That was a nice venue, with plenty of visitor parking, indoor parking for judging, and IIRC, the swap meet held in the parking lot between the hotels.

When the Hilton went belly up SUDDENLY, the Chapter had to scramble, and the event moved to Old Town, maybe 10 +/- years ago.

So, change is nothing new.

As a little side note... the Zephyrhills Auto Swap meet has been held in Zephyrhills, FL for decades. It's held twice per year, Spring and Fall.

Carlisle Productions took over that event ~3 years ago, and guess what? In the Fall of 2015, they are moving that event to Sun N Fun.

FWIW, my wife and many of her "buddies" are already planning their shopping trips... to different places this year, but they'll still be shopping.

mark6669

I still go to Old Town with Mike and Frankie about every other week, many improvements have been made in the last 6 mouths but parking is still a problem if you are not a cruiser.
I think the move to Lakeland will be looked upon as a good thing in a couple more weeks when people see how much more space is available. The Sunday all Corvette wash and shine show will be held on Saturday this year for the first time because of the space increase, this has always been a great show but most people had already left for home and missed it. I will be there Thur.- Sat and hope to see you all there.
Mark

toms silver 60

All Corvette and registered members vehicles get free parking. This would include the show/meet cars.
There will be a $5 parking fee for visitors on Saturday only due to the additional extra traffic and having to open up another area due south. Sun&fun people are slated to be handling that part.
Handicapped parking will be up close to the judging hangars; the $5 fee on Saturday would apply.

Frankie the Fink

Yup - here is Corvette row.

I'm gonna quit going as soon as spectators like the one in the second pic stop showing up....

1963GrayGray

I attended the Old Town Car show last Saturday Night and saw very good attendance of cars and spectators. I actually got to meet FTF with his
63 SWC. I will be going back down to Lakeland on Monday for the NCRS
show and the Mecum Auction.
Dave Gray

Mike Terry

Thanks Frankie & Mike for letting all of us who only come down 1 time a year know what was going on. Sorry to say but Brette and I will not be down this year to show odd our creation. We were invited to bring it to the Amelia Island Concoures Event in Marck and they kind of wanted to be the event that we put the Motorama Car out and display it first at. So we will be there in March for that event. Maybe some of you guys who live in FL. Might come and see us and the car when we are there.

Mike Terry

What car?

WICKEDFRC

I went to Old Town back in early 2011 and had a blast!! Regardless of where it is held, I hope it is still "around" to visit again.

63redvette

My wife and I hope to be able to make it to one of these National Events one day soon. Not to be an entrant for NCRS, but just to see the SEA of vettes.

Tyler Townsley

37th Annual NCRS Winter Regional additional Information.

The Saturday events are designed to cater to all Corvettes including C-7s. The CCO wash and shine is open to all years and types, resto stock any year. Not sure how they will break out the categories but they get some really nice cars.

On Saturday there is in essence a 5 ring circus which is open to the public with free corvette only parking, free admission. Since we will have to use the adjacent city controlled parking lot there will be a $5 parking fee for non Corvettes.

In Ring 1 there is the NCRS judging taking place Fri and Saturday
In Ring 2 there is the swap meet open Thurs Morning through Sat PM
In Ring 3 there is the Classic Corvettes of Orlando wash and shine open year show on Saturday only
In Ring 4 there is a NCCC sanctioned display show on Saturday only (hopefully next year this will include a low speed autocross)
In Ring 5 there is a parking lot full of Corvettes of every type and is every bit of a show as the events on the main field, it is on the Sun N Fun property so there will be no charge.

Just to throw in something interesting, people can fly in and park their planes adjacent to the show. We have been promised a couple of vintage airplanes for a display too.

http://thepandatrap.com/tyler/2015%2...directions.pdf


http://thepandatrap.com/tyler/2015%2...connection.jpg

On Display:
http://thepandatrap.com/tyler/2015%2...LSSebring1.JPG


Additional info
http://thepandatrap.com/gallery/2015...un-N-Fun-Event




Of course I will have Tom at the main entrance orchestrating the whole thing but he will NOT be allowed to move/pickup ANYTHING.


Tyler