. Orlando | Northstar Meetings Group

Orlando

Learn why you should host your next meeting, conference or convention in Orlando.

Why Orlando for Your Next Meeting or Event?

Orlando's legendary appeal to meetings and incentive groups of all ages is due to its magical blend of resorts, venues, dining, air accessibility, activities and -- naturally -- its theme parks and attractions.

Transportation in & Around the Area

Orlando International Airport, about 13 miles southeast of downtown Orlando and 14 miles east of the Orange County Convention Center/International Drive. Transfer: 

Event Venues, Additions & Renovations

 • The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando is expanding its 7 million-square-foot campus with a $605 million project. Among the additions will be new meeting and exhibit space for the North and South concourses. The enclosed Convention Way Grand Concourse will be built to connect the North and South buildings. The new concourse will feature an 80,000-square-foot ballroom, while a new 200,000-square-foot, column-free multipurpose venue will provide seating for 18,000 to 20,000 people.

Currently, the OCCC welcomes more than 200 conventions and events each year for 1.4 million attendees. In the past five years, walkability and connectivity have been enhanced throughout the facility and its surrounding district. Four pedestrian skybridges now connect more than 5,200 guest rooms to the convention center.

In addition, the OCCC is upgrading its digital signage. It has formed a partnership with etech, a provider of digital signage solutions for the events industry. The new signage is intended to engage, inform and inspire attendees. It’s designed to elevate the attendee experience and help the convention center’s clients connect to their audiences. The new signage will employ integrated and centrally controlled digital branding and motion graphics. 
 

Swing Here
Topgolf Orlando debuted last fall near the Orange County Convention Center. The venue offers more than 100 climate-controlled hitting bays using technology that tracks the accuracy and distance of players' shots. The facility has a full-service restaurant and five rooms for private events; full buyouts are available.

 

  • Just opened is the 184-room Margaritaville Resort Orlando. The 300-acre property features a wide range of amenities, including 30,000 square feet of meeting and function space, 200,000 square feet of retail space, a dining and entertainment district, a 12-acre waterpark, a wellness center, wooded fitness trails, bike trails, a water-taxi system and a three-acre swimming area.

• The 2,267-room Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, which recently completed a three-year, $150 million renovation, is adding a new 349-room, 14-story tower that will offer features and amenities designed for groups. The groundbreaking for the new structure, which will be built next to the Swan Resort, is set for this fall, to be completed in fall 2020.

Among the new tower's offerings will be more than 22,000 square feet of meeting space, including two ballrooms, 12 meeting rooms and a rooftop reception space that will provide views of the nightly Walt Disney World fireworks. Once the new tower opens, the resort will feature more than 2,600 guest rooms and 350,000 square feet of meeting space. The new guest-room inventory will include 151 suites with separate working and private spaces, a built-in A/V system and large conference tables. A landscaped 16,800-square-foot elevated deck with a fire pit and pool will be built; a 90-seat restaurant and a 50-seat lounge will serve refreshments; and guests will have access to a health club, a business center, a grab-and-go market and an upscale craft cocktail lobby bar.

Disney Star Wars Galaxys Edge
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

• It's out of this world! Climb in the cockpit of a brand-new attraction, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It transports guests to a never-before-seen planet. Disney debuts the next generation of all-electric, life-like animatronics, called A1000s, here. 

• The 516-room JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort will open during the first quarter of 2020 at Bonnet Creek, a 482-acre mixed-use resort community near the city's famed theme parks. Eighty guest rooms will be suites, including 16 two-bedroom units with optional connections to create four-bedroom family suites. The hotel will have 50,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 23,000-square-foot ballroom. Other property offerings include an indoor/outdoor restaurant; a rooftop bar that will provide panoramic views of local evening fireworks; two pools; a spa with 10 treatment rooms; a fitness center; and an amenity deck where guests can play tennis, basketball and shuffleboard.

• One of Central Florida's most beloved symbols has a new name: The Coca-Cola Eye is now known as the The Wheel at Icon Park. New this summer is a nightly light show, synchronized with the Icon's plaza fountains.
 
• More TSA security officers, bomb-detection dogs and screening lanes are popping up at Orlando International Airport. Still to be resolved is the airport's preliminary push to replace TSA screening officers with a private workforce. In other news, the facility will complete the $2.1 billion construction of a south terminal -- said to be one of the most expensive public-works projects ever in Central Florida -- in the fall of 2020.
 
• A 28,000-square-foot expansion of the convention center has been completed at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort. The new convention area includes a 16,000-square-foot ballroom that can be divided into eight breakout spaces, as well as three prefunction areas and two gathering rotundas designed to promote networking.
 
• Two new properties are set to open at Walt Disney World:

  • Disney Lakeside Lodge
    • A 900-room, nature-inspired resort
  • Disney's Riviera Resort 
    • “Inspired by the European grandeur Walt Disney experienced in his travels along the Mediterranean coastline.”

No opening dates have been set for the hotels.

Orlando Travel Essentials

Convention Center: Orange County Convention Center; exhibit space, 2.1 million square feet; number of meeting rooms, 74; (407) 685-9800 or (800) 345-984

Taxes: Orlando/Orange County: room tax, 6%; sales tax, 6.50%; total taxes on hotel rooms, 12.5%

Walt Disney World Resort hotels in Orange County: room tax, 6%; sales tax, 6.5%; total tax on hotel rooms, 12.5%

Disney properties in Osceola County: room tax, 6%; sales tax, 7%; total tax on hotel rooms, 13

Contact: Visit Orlando, (800) 643-0482

Universal Happenings

Rides, new hotels and more are on tap at the resort.

The ever-expanding Universal Orlando Resort has new accommodations and exciting theme-park attractions set to open in the coming months. Among them are the following:

• Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is an epic new addition to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. Guests fly deep into the wilds of the Forbidden Forest, beyond the grounds of Hogwarts™ castle. Anything can happen here. 

• The sleek Universal's Aventura Hotel debuted last August with 600 guest rooms and a rooftop pool.  Also on-site are a lobby bar, the rooftop Bar 17 Bistro, a game room and a "food hall" with other dining options.
 
• Also rolling out in Universal are the 2,025-room Endless Summer Resort comprising two properties: the Surfside Inn and Suites, which debuted in summer 2019, and the Dockside Inn and Suites, opening in 2020.
 
• An outpost of hip Voodoo Doughnuts has opened at Universal CityWalk. Among the delightfully weird and delectable offerings is the iconic Voodoo Doll doughnut, which comes with its own pretzel stake.

Whole New Worlds

The spotlight's on Toy Story, Star Wars and more at WDW Resort

Two beloved franchises in the Disney family -- Toy Story and Star Wars – began to take center stage at Walt Disney World Resort in 2018

• Toy Story Land, the 11-acre park at Disney's Hollywood Studios, is populated with favorite characters (Jessie, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, platoons of toy soldiers) and familiar scenes (Andy's backyard) from the Disney Pixar films. Highlights include the Alien Swirling Saucers ride, the adorable Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster and a kid-friendly dining outlet.
 
• Earlier this year, the highly-anticipated Star Wars-themed land opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios, complete with its own resort. The out-of-this-galaxy property modestly promises to give guests a "one-of-a-kind experience, where a luxury resort meets a multi-day adventure in a galaxy far, far away."

Building at Legoland Florida

• The Legoland Florida Resort is perfect for small family-friendly meetings; a new hotel being built there will feature in-room treasure hunts and Lego games for the kids when it debuts next spring. The 150-room Pirate Island Hotel, the  resort's third lodging option, will offer a heated pool, hundreds of Lego models, the Shipwreck Restaurant, the Smuggler's Bar, pirate-themed entertainment and Lego play areas. The  "wreckage" of a pirate ship will sit outside of  the hotel’s entrance. 

Hot Spots to Eat Around Orlando

Three talented chefs showcase their culinary prowess in Orlando.

Mickey and Pluto can be forgiven if real-life characters with names like Wolfgang are stealing the show in Orlando -- at least when it comes to eating. Here's the savory details of local eateries headed by these talented toque-topped denizens of fine dining.

• Rick Bayless: Frontera Cocina at Disney Springs
Eight-time James Beard Award-winner Bayless is a master of modern Mexican fare as amply demonstrated here. Try his version of ribeye steak, with ancho chile, crispy onion strings, Cotija mashed potatoes, caramelized plantains and other south-of-the-border ingredients for un comida mas excelente.

• Wolfgang Puck: Wolfgang Puck Express at Disney Springs
Superstar Puck serves up Italian favorites like rigatoni Bolognese, chicken alfredo and penne primavera. Opening this summer is the new Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, also in Disney Springs, which will offer a Mediterranean-influenced menu with an ambience "inspired by California." Okay, we'll bite!

• Melissa Kelly: Primo at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes
Melissa Kelly, who rose to fame with her original Primo in Maine, crafts dishes here using ingredients from the resort's on-site organic garden. Try the sautéed scaloppini of pork saltimbocca with garlic mashed potatoes, prosciutto, spinach and sage-infused mushroom madeira jus.

Partners' Properties and Venues

 

Always Something Happening at SeaWorld Orlando

These are busy days for SeaWorld Orlando®. Looking ahead to 2020, the park is anticipating the opening of Ice Breaker, SeaWorld's first launched coaster. Ice Breaker will feature four airtime filled launches, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida — a 93 feet tall spike with 100 degree angle. A walk down memory lane is in store at the recently opened Sesame Street Land™ at SeaWorld Orlando. Your group can explore Sesame Street, reminiscing about the fun and learning of the world-famous street. How's that for a unique experience? Your group can visit Sesame Street for the very first time at SeaWorld Orlando. Get more info on SeaWorld here.

 

2019 Stella Award Winners

2018 Stella Award Winners