Central Florida Fair — Attraction in Orlando

I went to a concert on 6-15-18 that was held here. I didn't expect the parking to be free but if you see that your "parking lot" is a mud bog, you should understand that $20 is way too high. I already bought my tickets and drove there, and it's not like I'm going to just leave my car on a side street in Pine Hills... But maybe I should have.

My first sight on entering the "lot" was a young lady walking away from her car and I can only imagine her disappointment as her once-white tights tights are now polka dotted from the knees of her shapely legs down to her black boots in a color I like to think of as "fecal brown". "Step gingerly" I thought to myself, as I imagined the same look on my own pasty white legs (which are not quite so shapely, regardless of what my girlfriend says to reassure me).

The concert itself was great, as far as the venue was concerned. I can't attest to the food and drink vendors or prices, but the bathrooms were as clean as can be expected in between sets and the sound was great both in the rear of the field and up front in the mosh pit (or whatever they call it at non-metal concerts). I don't know where the other reviewer from last Friday was sitting, but I had no complaints.

So from 5pm to 11pm or so, I had a great time. Got my feet stomped on a bit and took a hard elbow to the ribs, but unfortunately no scars this time. Concert's over and it's time to leave... or so I thought.

As I'm heading back to my car, I noticed vehicles attempting to exit, but no one was moving. Only 6 cars from the pavement, I see three guys being sprayed with mud as the wheels on the car they were futilly trying to push were attempting to dig into the core of the earth. The mud that is now splashing up my calves with each step I take has the added bonus of smelling exactly what it looks like.

I get into the car and pull into the lane to exit, but after 40 (FORTY) minutes of not seeing any cars move, I decided to shut the car off.

To clarify... I started the car at 11:04pm and as of 11:45, NOT ONE car was able to leave the lane.

I pulled back into my spot, called my girlfriend to tell her I wasn't going anywhere any time soon, and sat watching the tow trucks (I counted at least 4) pulling people out of their respective quagmires. It was about 12:40am when I started to see cars moving, and backed out of my spot again.

In short, if you're being dropped off, taking Uber, public transit, or parking on a side street, I'd give the venue 3.5 stars. Nothing to write home about, but pretty decent overall.

If you're driving there, I say NO! DRIVE PAST! AVOID! Go bowling or something. This night was supposed to be one last hoorah for one of my favorite bands, but ended up being all about my horrible, smelly-mud covered shoes and socks and the next morning I wasted...

I am a livestock person that travels to 30-40 fairs and shows per year, from small county fairs in the middle of nowhere up to the state fair and national-level shows. Years ago when I was a youth, this was a great fair to attend as an exhibitor - awesome programs, great well-organized for the most part shows, nice awards and good time of year.

HOWEVER the past few years, the fair has undergone several changes in "leadership," or lack thereof as another review from another livestock person here mentions, other than the owner, who is a greedy, nasty person only concerned for revenue from this "non-profit." Nowadays it seems this fair is run by immature adults, who don't act much better then kids themselves.

Volunteers are the heart of youth programs and events, and many of us like myself who are involved in all kinds of things like this across the state have been run off through this, and our kids' programs have suffered. Today the "shows" at the fair involve a lot of sitting around in the barns, doing nothing, since the fair wants "the barns full," but yet no one who is a regular visitor to the fair comes down to the barns.

Due to volunteers being run off and people who have no experience running these things being in charge, they are also very disorganized. The "Junior Board" is left to run the whole thing since the "adult" in charge is often nowhere to be found, and this "Junior Board" is 16-17 year old kids. Awards have suffered - of course, it's all about the money, and that said, this fair is nearly a month long, especially for exhibitors who are made to be there the weekend before the fair begins for a mandatory event in order to show at the behemoth of the "person" in charge of livestock, because more days = more tickets bought, which actually isn't the case.

This fair can do better, and they should, but unfortunately all they care about is making money and going out for drinks afterwards (and they don't have to even leave the office to do that, many people including myself have observed the staff drinking on...

Went to free Dan Newlin Concert Toby Keith, Eddie Montgomery, and Clay Walker, Trace Atkins didn't make it there, however Toby Keith played Longer, yay!! Everything was well thought out, lots of police, areas sectioned off, clean bathroom, porta potties, in case you needed While waiting in line. It was stated online you were not allowed to bring in drinks or food, but people got thru. They wouldn't let me bring my purse in because they said it had to be clear, I gave permission to thoroughly search my purse, but, no, my friend took my purse back to car. Inside I saw people with backpacks way bigger than my purse, and not clear and see thru. I saw several women inside with big purses, so why was I made to take my purse to car?? Once inside, I went to VIP section. THANK YOU Dan Newlin... Plenty of chairs set up. The show was phenomenal, a salute to our armed forces, Newlin gave a speech, honoring them and the Police, Pam Bondi was there she put her phone on Speaker and it was Donald Trump, with a little speech about our Great Country, and saluting armed forces, Police, and Florida. It was awesome and inspiring! I couldn't believe that there was Also a Spectacular Fireworks display, that topped Cocoa Beach's July 4th display. Omg so nice. The entire evening went off without a hitch, even leaving, police, directed traffic. Thank you Dan Newlin for giving back so generously to...