Advice for first-time Sun 'n Fun attendee

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning to attend Sun 'n Fun this spring and I am looking for advice. I won't be flying in. My main reason for attending is to test-fly some aircraft and visit exhibitors and seminars. I'm also looking forward to hanging out with other pilots and homebuilders. My plan is to come for the opening and stay for 2-3 days. Here are my questions:

I'm not a camper, so where's the best place to stay from a convenience perspective? I'll be flying into either Tampa or Orlando and renting a car. I would prefer not to have to park my car each day at the event if I'm staying in a hotel. Are there any shuttles to and from the event for hotel guests?

One alternative I'm considering is to rent an RV in Orlando and take space in the RV area. Is this within walking distance of the event festivities?

And this is sort of an open-ended question: What's the best way to do the show?

Thanks,

Peter Hansen
EAA 1111634
AOPA 06616847

Hi, Peter;

I'm not the be-all end-all authority on SnF, so others will probably give better information.

We usually fly into Orlando and stay at one of the hotels about (?) 1/2 way between Lakeland and Orlando on US 27. It's about a 1/2 hr drive from the hotel to the site; not a bad drive. I don't know of any hotels that provide a shuttle service to Lakeland Linder airport.

We usually just hit SnF on a lark; we spend about 2/3rds of a day there and call it a wrap. If you have business there, as in, a schedule, and have some pre-arranged activities like test flights, etc., you should be able to fill your time sufficiently.

It's a BIG difference from Oshkosh, yet similar. Same activities, just on a smaller scale. We like to attend to get the juices flowing for the upcoming flying / fly-in / Young Eagles season. We have free air travel, so it's easy for us to spend just a day there.

We usually enter the gates, then head for homebuilt aircraft parking. We'll walk around there seeing if I find anyone I know, then head to the exhibit barns, then wander around the outside exhibits. From there we'll walk down to warbirds and maybe general aviation parking if I'm looking for someone in particular. Grab some lunch, maybe attend a forum or two if I can find one of interest, then head for the parking lot.

I'm not putting it down; most of my friends attend Oshkosh, so there's really no one to hang with at SnF. I spend 9 days at Oshkosh and usually spend a few days volunteering as well as attending type-specific events. I really enjoy SnF, but like I said, we breeze through and that's good enough for us.

So last spring my wife and I hopped a ride south to Titus County and for the first time rented a car and drove into Sun-N-Fun. We had been there many times previously as a fly-in arrival.

What we did was rent an inexpensive car and found a hotel just west of Orlando close to I-4. Extended Stay America has good rates there and was comfortable. Disney etc is west of Orlando so the rates go up as you get closer to Disney. The rates go down west of Disney but the accommodations get somewhat fewer and farther between. From where we were and the show was 45 minutes. Easy drive and they have redone a lot of roads around Lakeland airport to make it easy to get into. No problems getting in or out on the weekdays that we were at the show.

That said, we missed camping right at the show and waking up to the sound of airplane engines starting. The Sun-N-Fun volunteer staff makes it really easy to camp.

On the way down I-4 you go by Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight. A good stop if you are Sun-N-Fun-ed out. And if you bring non-aviation family members, and you stay near Orlando, there is lots of stuff around Orlando for them to do while you are at the show.

As noted above, there are fewer exhibit halls than at OSH, but almost all of the vendors are aviation centric. At OSH you see folks displaying non-aviation stuff. But like OSH, at the Sun-N-Fun you can find almost any aviation part of tool you need. Once upon a time, long ago, my airplane broke on the way to the Sun-N-Fun. Patched it and made it to the show. In less than 30 minutes after walking through the gate from Antique Classic parking I had purchased the parts and tools that I needed to do a full repair. An hour later and the airplane was all set.

If you are coming by airline, you can also go to Tampa and drive up I-4 the other way. Florida is not that wide.

Sun-N-Fun is a good place to go after a few months of northeast US winter.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

There are a number of hotels in Lakeland, but they fill up quickly. It is likely not too early or too late to find a room. There are others in several towns near, but of course requires more driving. I am not sure if they is any shuttle for in town hotels.

Thanks everyone, that's what I wanted to know.