Good times at Free Play Florida 2023

[MilitiaMan]

I believe all the MK games are owned by Mike Bowers.

Almost correct. 

All of the MK machines were exhibited by Michael Brower. I am pretty sure they were not for sale as I have tried to buy several pieces (like that Smash TV) from him through the years and the answer is generally NO.  Mike and his family operate coin-op machines around Lakeland and run an arcade called Galaxy Bar Lakeland.

Awesome dude, very knowledgeable. You can find him on Facebook, but I am not sure he is a Village member.

Steve
MM

[Sid]

This was probably the most casual and relaxed Free Play that I've attended.  I had a great time.

The venue was amazing.  Easy to access, easy to park and by far the easiest for loading games.  The quaint downtown area has plenty of small restaurants and bars within walking distance.

I really liked the layout of games this year.  Easy to navigate and move around and flowed really well.

The only negative thing that I could see was a lack of the latest and greatest pins and not being a pinball guy, it wasn't a big deal to me.  I'm sure that scheduling had a lot to do with this.

As always, the highlight is hanging out with all of my arcade friends.  It's sad that a lot of us only get together once a year.

Can't wait to do it again.

[number six]

The game selection this year was very good especially on the video game side. There was a nice mix from classics to later era stuff, I don't think you could have really asked for more.

The pins were also good, obviously missing the new-new 2023 stuff but unless we can find another distributor or work something out timing to get LSOG back I'm not sure anything can be done about that. Still there were plenty of games though so once again I don't think anyone can complain.

Overall thought it was a much better show this year. Obviously the RPC center is great I just hope enough people made the transition from Orlando to Lakeland.. even though I live near here admittedly it's not your #1 vacation destination lol.. but there definitely are a lot of plusses in terms of having more space, less traffic concerns (depending on where you are coming from), etc.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the console section, we tried to bring some weird stuff this year as always mixed in with the classics.

Anyway overall great show (other than me getting a flair and going down midway though) and looking forward to next year.

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

This year I took a small step back and devoted my time to the Retro Computer Area, overall I give the show a solid 10/10 , super easy access off i4, no traffic issues at all, magically the hotel had freed up some rooms during the week coming up to the show.

I would of loved to bring more , but transport was a big issue for me, ( my Trailblazer died and I been hunting for a Larger SUV / Truck for over  a year ( ie, a V8 Toyota or Tahoe ) , but i did manage to PACK my little SUV full and setup a nice display, I did have another collector bring out a few systems, I tried to keep the are spaced out so people were not sitting on each other laps.

[VictorC]

Was great to get back to the show this year,  had been quite awhile since I attended FPF.  The family and I had a great time.

Thanks to all who helped to make FPF so successful.

Kind Regards,

Victor C.

[tufnel1530]

Overall thought it was a much better show this year. Obviously the RPC center is great I just hope enough people made the transition from Orlando to Lakeland.. even though I live near here admittedly it's not your #1 vacation destination lol.. but there definitely are a lot of plusses in terms of having more space, less traffic concerns (depending on where you are coming from), etc.

People were complaining that it wasn't in Orlando?

That seems odd to me since over the years I lived in Fl. I would avoid Orlando like the plague and its probably why I skipped some shows.

I'd be more of the mind of have it anywhere centrally located but Orlando.. people are coming for the show, who wants to deal with all the traffic and Orlando tourism BS.

Orlando and Vegas are like tributes to the low points of all human evolution. 

[RussG]

Only other constructive criticism I can think of is bringing back pinball and arcade vendors like:
Marco
Arcade Shop
Twisted Quarter
Pinball Life
etc.
It would be nice to be able to buy pinball and arcade items at the event like we used to be able to. 

[gt7766c]

I, unfortunately, missed out this year. Sounds like it was a good time. Maybe next year for me. Are there any official photos or anyone know of a good YouTuber walk through? I’d love to see what I missed.

[PinballKraken]

The game selection this year was very good especially on the video game side. There was a nice mix from classics to later era stuff, I don't think you could have really asked for more.

The pins were also good, obviously missing the new-new 2023 stuff but unless we can find another distributor or work something out timing to get LSOG back I'm not sure anything can be done about that. Still there were plenty of games though so once again I don't think anyone can complain.

Overall thought it was a much better show this year. Obviously the RPC center is great I just hope enough people made the transition from Orlando to Lakeland.. even though I live near here admittedly it's not your #1 vacation destination lol.. but there definitely are a lot of plusses in terms of having more space, less traffic concerns (depending on where you are coming from), etc.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the console section, we tried to bring some weird stuff this year as always mixed in with the classics.

Anyway overall great show (other than me getting a flair and going down midway though) and looking forward to next year.

Is the IAAPA going to be a problem again?  No chance of moving the shows date if so to allow for more room to breathe?