For those of us not in the know, or down in SFL currently, what’s MMW or Ultra?
couple of blocks from Jackson
You bragging about that ?
[QUOTE
Ultra Music Festival - March 28, 29, 30 – 2025
The world's premier electronic music festival, boasting elite DJs and unparalleled production located in the beautiful city of Miami.ultramusicfestival.com
It’s a big deal down here. all kinds of music and parties and events. People from all over the world come here. It’s like Spring break on steroids.
If you want a hint on what it’s like just try renting a hotel room on the beach or anywhere near. Prices are ridiculous and probably impossible to get. Mf’ers paying over 800/night. I know a hotel manager and say people even pay in cash.
Exactly. In the 80's it was Fort Lauderdale, in the 90's it was Daytona. In the 2000s it was Panama City. When the locals get tired of it, they up the police presence and start arresting every single kid under 21 with a beer in his hands. Eventually word gets out that the police aren't having it and the spring break mob goes somewhere else. For a place like Fort Lauderdale or Miami Beach, spring breakers aren't worth the hassle. It's still tourism season and the hotels would rather have adults or families in their rooms than 25 kids packed into one hotel room. For the most part, college kids aren't dropping money in nice restaurants and nightclubs. They're stocking up on cheap beer from the local 7/11 and grabbing fast food.Some level of chaos is expected with any Spring Break but South Beach has been abnormally wild this year. It's never been this bad.
Every spring break destination goes through this process where it simply becomes too much to handle and changes have to be made. When I was in college Daytona was the spot until a guy got shot/killed on the strip. The very next year the city made it real uncomfortable for spring breakers and eventually people stopped coming. That's when Panama City Beach took off. (and now they're going through that same process)
When this happens, the kids find elsewhere to go. This year it appears that South Beach and (believe it or not) Fort Lauderdale have taken steam from PCB and Daytona. I was on Lauderdale Beach recently and it's the busiest Spring Break I've seen in a very long time. South Beach seems to attract more of the thugs though, while Lauderdale has actual college students.
Almost completely OT but do you guys know what event(s) supposedly have the greatest economic impact on South Florida? Even more than Super Bowls?
The boat shows. It's basically why we haven't bothered trying to get the NBA All Star game back too as it's a conflicting date.
I live in Lauderdale and am aware of that industry's strength in the area but was still surprised by that little piece of trivia.
I'll be at the bar getting another pitcher. Let me know when sports trivia or potpourri starts.
I hope I'm wrong and you're right.I'd go the opposite route and say the hundreds of thousands of kids from all over the country on the beaches down here in March only helps recruiting as their high school age siblings hear about partying in Miami.
Sure, some fraud corch could bring up 2 div II players getting randomly shot in the City of Miami to mama but I'll take the former as resonating more with your average teenager.
Yup. Dudes travel from Cali to sell vape oil and edibles. Killing it. Bay Area girls come and do Bay Area things.Hotels are 800/ night, tickets are 400-2k+, and the price of molly goes over 100$...it’s a wet dream for drug dealers, hotel owners, and everyone in between
According to the NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association), recreational boating contributes an estimated $170.3 Billion to the US economy annually with Florida being the top grossing state at $23.3 billion. People with lots of money love boats and boats love lots of money.Almost completely OT but do you guys know what event(s) supposedly have the greatest economic impact on South Florida? Even more than Super Bowls?
The boat shows. It's basically why we haven't bothered trying to get the NBA All Star game back too as it's a conflicting date.
I live in Lauderdale and am aware of that industry's strength in the area but was still surprised by that little piece of trivia.
I'll be at the bar getting another pitcher. Let me know when sports trivia or potpourri starts.
Exactly. In the 80's it was Fort Lauderdale, in the 90's it was Daytona. In the 2000s it was Panama City. When the locals get tired of it, they up the police presence and start arresting every single kid under 21 with a beer in his hands. Eventually word gets out that the police aren't having it and the spring break mob goes somewhere else. For a place like Fort Lauderdale or Miami Beach, spring breakers aren't worth the hassle. It's still tourism season and the hotels would rather have adults or families in their rooms than 25 kids packed into one hotel room. For the most part, college kids aren't dropping money in nice restaurants and nightclubs. They're stocking up on cheap beer from the local 7/11 and grabbing fast food.
It's definitely something that can be almost completely ended. Daytona accomplished it. So did Fort Lauderdale years ago.It's not an "event" that can be ended - it's just a bunch of people who decide to come to the beach at the same time. Pointless to even try. I'm pretty sure the Beach has made it clear it doesn't want this for a number of years, but people keep coming anyway.
Yeah, I don't go to the beach much but I know everything from 17th street to Sunrise is really nice now and a lot of the older, small hotels have been replaced. There's still plenty of Spring Break friendly bars on the beach so I can see why it's become popular again. Plus, I think with the cost of college getting so high, less of the local kids are vacationing in Cabo and they're just staying here.I don't know how familiar you are with the Fort Lauderdale Beach area, but nowadays most of the hotels on the strip are relatively high-priced. Like you said, that usually keeps breakers away. However, this is the first year that I saw Spring Breakers occupying the cheaper hotels north of Sunrise Boulevard. I was surprised to see them that far North of Las Olas. I even saw groups of them walking up and down Sunrise Boulevard by the Galleria Mall.
And there are still actually a couple lower-priced options for eating on the strip. I saw a brand new hole-in-the-wall pizza place right on the strip, then there's still Hooters and Lulu's Bait Shack. (Fat Tuesdays is now closed) And can't forget Primanti Brothers which is open 24 hours.
I was completely blown away by the crowd this weekend. I've never seen Lauderdale beach like this.
For those of us not in the know, or down in SFL currently, what’s MMW or Ultra?
It's definitely something that can be almost completely ended. Daytona accomplished it. So did Fort Lauderdale years ago.
Just like Fort Lauderdale did when I was running corprate yachts in the 90s.
They had that one spring break where balcony jumping between parties was all the rage - I want to say like 6 kids died. The city fathers put a screaching halt to spring break after that - one way beach loop and got the word out the next year, college kids werent welcome. They patrolled the **** out of the beach during that next spring break busting kids dumb enough who showed up like they weren't serious, for anything they could find.
Then Daytona and MTV jumped in.
Some historical perspective of how entrenched Lauderdale was in Spring Break Lore, and they changed in a wink of an eye. Watch this trailer.
People have NEVER seen anything similar to what ultra is gonna be like in key biscayne. Tons of people going on boats and water taxis,jet skis etc. But ur average ultra fan cant do that. 2 lanes each way for hundreds of thousands of people. Gaurentee key biscayne is a one time thing. Residents are already nuts over this. **** near better leave the day before ur pass is.i know my history and im talking about SFL in general. people will continue to visit the entire area regardless esp with MMW and Ultra.
also if you guys are *****ing about the last few weeks, wait until ultra descends upon Key biscayne in a few weeks