Travel Costs Detail

Greetings and Happy New Year!

The event at Walt Disney World in Orlando is a sort of "VEX Olympics" for programs using the VEX Control System and other VEX products. RECF (Robotics Education and Competition Foundation) is producing this Olympics and BEST has been invited to host our World Championship as part of that event. Hosting that event is expensive and to help offset their expenses, RECF is charging teams a registration fee to participate. HOWEVER, BEST Robotics, Inc. (BRI) will be covering this fee for BEST teams. As with all our competitions, BEST teams will not pay an entry fee.

There will be thousands of students participating in this event from all over the world. Knowing that this event is going to create an unusually high population surge (especially between the ESPN Sports Complex and Disney hotels), RECF, VEX, and GetTravel have worked together to create a "package" that includes several elements.

• Rooms at one of the listed Disney resorts
• Special buses running at 5-minute intervals between the Disney Resorts and the ESPN Sports Complex
• ESPN Sports Complex entry tickets
• Theme park ticket discounts available
• Access to discount meal plans

The total cost of this package is included in the "room rate", which means that if you compare room rates for this package against normal tourist rates, this package costs more. Be careful in getting information about costs from GetTravel because they are not familiar with BEST teams, only VEX teams.

Each team must decide what will provide the best value in terms of cost and convenience for their logistics and make their arrangements accordingly. Some additional information to consider when deciding between the GetTravel package and other arrangements:

• There is no requirement for BEST teams to use GetTravel or even to stay on Disney property.
• A regular bus runs between the Disney resort hotels and the ESPN Sports Complex every half hour. This bus holds at most 40 persons. Based on this, we recommend that teams not rely on this as their primary means of transportation to ESPN.
• If you decide to not book through GetTravel, you will not have access to the special buses. Therefore, you will need to make alternate travel arrangements for your team for timely travel between venues.
• ESPN Sports Complex tickets are $10 per person per day. There will only be a fee for anyone associated with the team (team member, teacher, mentor, parent, or other supportor) that does not sign and return the Disney waiver. The waiver will give each person free entry into the venue; without it, the cost is $12 per day.
• There is a fee to park a vehicle on Disney property. Consult Disney for more information as rates depend upon the vehicle(s) you plan to park. There will be no fee to park at the venue.