The fact that the place is right in the middle of the roads, and it spreads out the s2k's to lower the chaos, it's actually perfect.

 

When I was in the registration office, I heard our Mid-A crew pulling out to run the Dragon one more time, and between Kevin & Skip, those pipes were a piping, I said the the lady that was handling my check-out, "sorry for all the noise you put up with this weekend," and she said the best words we could have heard "Gawd, we love you guys, the noise means we have jobs and a better economy, please come back, soon".

I think it was all said there. Great place, great organizer, great time.

 

This only pertains to lodging, I had a hell of alot of fun as a whole for the event.

Well, for me, I can say that other than being close to the dragon, the food Saturday night was the best part of my trip. It was clearly evident that they were not ready for the large group this visit. Thursday evening check-in was greated with the smell of glue, paint, and sounds of working. Friday afternoon, I returned home to my room at the Inn unsecured, and the operator said a maid just called from my room and wanted to make a call, but she had no idea who it was that was rude to her. How can you not know your staff, though they assured me they were very honest people. But I am sure if my camera equipment valued at about $2,000 was stolen, they would not be willing to reimburse me for their error of leaving my room unsecured. Saturday morning, I awoke to a stream of water coming from the bathroom light fixture, and an hour after I called it in, they said they see my work order and would get on it. It appeared to be fixed after an awesome day on the Dragon. And as I said above, the dinner was the best for me of the entire stay. Sorry, it was that great, but the rest of my experience was worse. At checkout, they gladly accepted my full payment and said no word to my inconveniences.

I did not like the layout of the village, everything was so far away from the Inn, you had to nearly drive just to go visit friends, if you could find them. Thank goodness for the huge light saber from the latino cabin. I even was asked why I was at one of the cabins from one of our participants. Never had that happen, thanks alot! I think the village works great for those in a group, but for those of us still new to the group, it doesn't work out. You cannot hang out in the parking lot and listen to stories about mods, stories of electronics, and just plain commoradery (sp). My last two events worked much better in town. I myself, like the boring resturants, and cell coverage. I don't know that I will stay with the group if it is at Fontana again, just wasn't a good deal for me.

Everyone has an opinion, flame me if you want, I just didn't think it worked great, but had an awesome time with those that I did get to chat with. I made a few new friends, missed some of the others, but had a great time. My car was off to the shoulder while I was taking pictures, and you would not believe how many people stopped to make sure nothing was wrong. That to me makes this event so great, people do car even if they don't know you. Thanks for the efforts by the whole TEAM that put this together, and all the others I don't know, for stopping to check. Hopefully I got you in my scope as you drove off.

 

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Your room sounded really really bad. I never tried to eat at the local resturaunt. I cooked. BTW: You are always welcome in my cabin, big boy!

I do agree that the parking lot scene/ car show at the other events was much more conducive to striking up conversations about mods and the car in general. But IMO the rain would've slowed down the parking lot party no matter where we stayed. I still had no problem meeting new people and hanging out with old friends. I did talks to a few people about their mods and cars and everyone seemed friendly.

I always miss out on something, and this year it was the latin club on Saturday night. I partied with them on Friday and had 1:30 AM smores. We were going to meet me at the fire pit and i guess they went to another one because i missed my latino friends. This year i spent 85% of my time driving, and the rest waiting for the rain to stop. I'm sure the rain put a damper on everyone's experience, and had it been sunny there would have been more opportunity to meet in parking lots, play kickball, etc.

One thing i am going to do is put my screen name in vinyl letters across the top of my windshield. I saw this done this year and it was a great way of identifying other members. It would be great if an organizer could provide a box of random vinyl letters so that everyone could be identified easily.

 

The event was definately a great experience. I was driving home and wanted to get there so bad, but when i finally arrived i realized "this place sucks, this house sucks" everything about S florida is an all around bore. Ive never driven my car like that week and ive never had so much fun with strangers.

Everyone was extremely nice and even the guys on bikes were super cool with us and struck up conversation. Like someone said earlier everyone was concerned about everyone else's well-being even if you were just pulled over relaxing.

Ill definately never forget Willie Gee as he was probably a big reason why i enjoyed the trip so much. For being married and having a kid this guy is a riot and left nothing but a good impression on me and a feeling that i was a friend even though we knew nothing of eachother before.

I had the same feeling about a guy called Chiung(sp) great guy who kept us in line and acted like our dad on the trip ;p Dont think we would have gotten anything done without him and his amazing GPS "Nuve".

All in all i had an amazing time, met great people and i hope to see them again at the dragonball run or the next WTD.

 

Thanks to Raul for organizing this event! This is my first WTD event so I have no comparison, but I thought the Fontana Village was pretty good. Sure the place is under renovation and we're the first people to stay in some of the rooms at the Inn. I'd like to think that next year, Fontana Village will be more organized and better equipped to handle our group.

My biggest complaint was just that things closed so early. On thursday when we arrived, the only restaurant closed at 8pm, along with the bar. With it raining out we had to leave the village to go find food... Not something I looked forward to. But maybe it will be fixed by next year.

Overall I had a great time, looking forward to next year!

 

You summed up my experience last year. Chiung did a great job organizing the trip up to my first ever dragon event. I met the infamous Willie Gee and witnessed the famous running on the dragon picture. To think this man is a dad too. I was so envious of the multiple caravan's from Florida I almost drove down to drive up again with them. Though that was the group I missed finding this year, I still had a blast, but hats off to all those Florida crazies.

Next event, there will be an UNO night, because until you have some RAAAANNNCCCCCHHHH, its not a fun night. Look forward to a thread on that soon.

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Hey mang!

I know, i wanted to get home sooo bad... but now that i'm here, i wonder where all the mountaion roads went. I'm having dragon withdrawls.

You guys made the whole trip a laugh riot. I feel like we are old friends. So many comments and laughs. Not to mention a few Vtec'd turns! Had a absolute blast with you guys.

Looking forward to doing it again!

 

This was my 1st official Dragon event. Had a blast. I think cabins are the way to go, especially if the rooms at the Inn are having problems and because cabins have kitchens. Next time I will definitely be prepared to cook rather than try the Fontana restaurant.

Definitely need a way to communicate better since cell phones are out. Perhaps a corkboard for pinning notes ("UNO 4/21 9pm cabin 550", etc).

Also, a map showing who is where would have been nice...could be set up at registration and as you get your room indicate on the map so friends can find you.

 

Those are both excellent ideas. We'll get it done for DragonBall Run this fall.