Wrestlemania 36- Tampa Bay Bay

[Dan]

20 hours ago, Grecian said:

This year's Mania was my first, I booked it all myself as I couldn't be there for the number of days to attend every show for the travel package.

I booked the hotel and flight as soon as I could on Expedia. Probably the most expensive way of doing it, but I didn't want to risk not getting a decent hotel. I got my Mania ticket in the pre-sale using one of the hundreds of codes they announce, got lucky getting a VIP Axxess ticket to meet Daniel Bryan in the general sale after the pre-sale ones sold out in about a minute. I also went to the Hall of Fame as a last minute decision, got a decent ticket on StubHub for about half the price. If you're going to be there for the full week and want to go to everything, go for the travel package. If you're only going to be there for a couple of days or are happy to risk getting individual tickets, booking singly will probably end up much cheaper.

Thanks Grecian, looking at it further I wont be able to fly out until the Friday and will look at staying until the Wednesday so that would rule out travel packages i think. 

[SpiderJason]

On 4/11/2019 at 2:51 PM, Sonny Mustang said:

It’s one year away, but never too early to start planning!

And who better to kick off the topic than the UKFFs Tampa bay resident- me! I moved here from the UK in 2012 so can give any tips on flights, the area, lodging what to do etc.

On paper I think it’s gonna be an amazing location, the arena and convention center are a few blocks apart (and likely wrestlecon hotel) and there’s a cool river walk with bars, restaurants and the like a stumbling distance away for pre/post show festivities. The stadium is a few miles out, but obviously only going there once and it’s very cool with a freakin’ pirate ship.

After the disappointing lack of mania feel in NYC this should be cracking. See you all there! 

Thats the one thing that I was disappointed with this year. After friends went on about the atmosphere of NOLA due to all the events being close together, in NYC it was spread out and I found there was only really a wrestling crowd in the bars around the Barclay Center, and then it was just a few specific bars.

Very tempted to go next year. Wondering the cost if do the main weekend then go check out Miami for a few days and then Bahamas, making it a true once in a lifetime trip.

[Dzeko10]

Done Wrestlemania this year and already want to go back! What's the deal with flights/airports for here? Is it easy and cheap to get to? 

[Sonny Mustang]

Direct flight from gatwick to Tampa. I normally fly from Manchester and then change in philly or Newark. 

Plentiful direct flights to Orlando but it’s a faff so I normally avoid unless the flights are a massive bargain as I loathe the drive over there.

Word on the street is that given that SD live will be Friday, takeover could be Thursday, so your standard mania weekend would be thurs- Monday Raw.

[JohnnyF5]

21 hours ago, Sonny Mustang said:

Direct flight from gatwick to Tampa. I normally fly from Manchester and then change in philly or Newark. 

Plentiful direct flights to Orlando but it’s a faff so I normally avoid unless the flights are a massive bargain as I loathe the drive over there.

Word on the street is that given that SD live will be Friday, takeover could be Thursday, so your standard mania weekend would be thurs- Monday Raw.

Thanks for that think I've made a bit of an error by only booking an Airbnb for Friday to Tuesday I hadn't though that Takeover might not be on Friday this time. 

I've done the Orlando to Tampa drive a few times (to Busch Gardens) and it was ok but the monotony of the I-4 can be tricky particularly at night. The most difficult drives I've had however were from Orlando to Miami (nearer to Miami where it's chaos).    

[MVP RULZ]

As I posted the other day about the potential for making the trip seemed good and my wife is fully on board now

So Booked the Hotel (thanks to Sonny for confirming a few details about the area) booked it with Check in Thursday and check out Wednesday.

Hopefully then we will go on to Orlando which I will look into over the coming days.

Has it been confirmed Smackdown is definitely on the friday yet? Or could they still tape Tuesday or Monday before and just broadcast Friday and do likewise for the week after.

Anyway good to have the hotel sorted at least and the real planning and saving can begin 

[JNLister]

All you really need to know is that Kairi Saine is getting one hell of an entrance in that stadium:

Edited April 18, 2019 by JNLister

[Briefcase]

On 4/17/2019 at 7:33 PM, Sonny Mustang said:

Word on the street is that given that SD live will be Friday, takeover could be Thursday, so your standard mania weekend would be thurs- Monday Raw.

If the Survivor Series packages are anything to go by then Smackdown will be live on Friday, Takeover on Saturday, not sure where it leaves HOF though.

Quote

So the travel packages for Survivor Series have gone up and confirmed that it will be:
Friday: Smackdown
Saturday: Takeover
Sunday: Survivor Series
Monday: Raw

Following the start of the Fox deal.

 

[Sonny Mustang]

Yeah I heard HOF would be Saturday and takeover Thursday. All speculation at this point though of course! 

[simonworden]

On 4/18/2019 at 7:00 PM, JNLister said:

All you really need to know is that Kairi Saine is getting one hell of an entrance in that stadium:

They'll give that entrance to someone else ...probably new "biker pirate" Triple H or even remove the thing altogether. Will be fun watching the online complaining about how Kairi is being buried.

 

Being serious I do expect a much bigger light up pirate ship as part of the entrance next year. I was also thinking recently after watching the fountains in Kuala Lumpur that I'd love to see them use water cannons instead of pyro.

[JohnnyF5]

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 3:36 PM, Sonny Mustang said:

Yeah I heard HOF would be Saturday and takeover Thursday. All speculation at this point though of course! 

Thanks that makes sense, I don't think they'll do HOF on the Thursday night or run Smackdown and Takeover on the same night. I'm already too excited for this given it's a year away!

[The Dart]

I'm excited it's in Tampa.  People loved New Orleans as a host city and I think for the reasons people liked NO, people will like Tampa (not as much though obviously).  From my fairly limited experience of Tampa (been there twice), much like NO, there's 2 main areas where fans are likely to converge in the evenings after/before shows, which I think will make for a really fun party atmosphere, which you didn't get as much in NY for obvious reasons.  Plus the amazing weather we'll most likely have.  The bonus of the arena and the convention center being near each other and right in the centre of downtown Tampa, right on the riverwalk.  It's gonna be great.

I would think they're more likely to do the Hall of Fame on the Thursday and NXT on the Saturday, but who knows.  Gonna be fun going to Smackdown as a pre-Mania show (unless there's a really great indy show on at the same time of course).

[King Pitcos]

Im going again, booked flights today. Gonna spend a week in Orlando, then head to Tampa on the Thursday or Friday.

[Retro Red]

Be prepared, you'll be in Orlando during Spring Break so any parks you visit will be busy as. 2nd week you're into UK school holidays but that shouldn't have as big as impact in Tampa.

[King Pitcos]

1 hour ago, Bicurious Dad said:

Be prepared, you'll be in Orlando during Spring Break so any parks you visit will be busy as. 2nd week you're into UK school holidays but that shouldn't have as big as impact in Tampa.

Was Spring Break not around Mania in 2017? I spent two or three weeks in Orlando then, and never noticed the parks being especially busy - I breezed through everything I wanted to with my fast passes. I think the only times I’ve noticed massive wait times at any Disney park was when Mission Breakout was new. I went a few days later and had to wait about three hours to get on it.