The NADA Show is heading back to Orlando for the first time in 13 years, and the exhibit floor already sold out with a waiting list before registration even fully opened. The welcome reception detail is the one worth sitting with: attendees get the run of Universal's brand-new Epic Universe.
NADA's 2027 show returns to Orlando after a 13-year absence, with the exhibit floor selling out in record time and a waiting list already forming behind it. The welcome reception will give attendees exclusive access to Epic Universe, Universal's newest park, typically packed with hundreds of thousands of visitors on a normal weekend.
By the Numbers
13 years since NADA's last Orlando show
Sold out, plus a waitlist on exhibit floor space, before registration numbers were even in
~20,000 attendees expected to have the run of a park that normally moves hundreds of thousands through on a weekend
The Reaction
Wait, we're renting out Epic Universe? I have been there.
Neither host quite believed it at first. Once it landed, both agreed it's an unusually good bet: fewer than 20,000 people inside a park built for crowds many times that size, with none of the usual wait.
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Why NADA Is Betting on Families, Not Just Foot Traffic
Stanton framed the choice as more than a nice perk. NADA sees it as one of the better opportunities to get dealers' families, kids included, actually excited about the industry, building the kind of early, positive association that turns into the next generation of talent and loyalty. The location itself has changed too. The area around the Orange County Convention Center has grown considerably since NADA's last Orlando show, with more restaurants and entertainment now within walking distance.
A theme park reception is a small detail. The bet behind it isn't.
Sold-out floor space says dealers want to be in the room. A private theme park night says NADA wants dealers to want to be there again next year, and the year after that, with their families along for it. That's a longer game than most trade show perks are playing.
