Elite Event @ The Orlando Magic Game

As someone who has lived in Orlando for approx. 13 years and never managed to see a Magic game, I couldn’t have asked for a better event to say farewell to a city I love so much. I, of course, will be back often and will make it a point to see a game at this awesome venue.
Now to get into the event. Just when I think I’ve decided on my very favorite Elite event, Colleen manages to do something even more amazing. The opportunity to see the Amway Center like I’ve never seen it before really was spectacular. We got to learn so much more than we ever would have known had it not been for this event. The staff were all very helpful and full of information. Letting us sit court-​side to watch the players warm up really set this apart.
Then there was the food! We were escorted to a back room of Jernigans where we were treated to tacos, desserts, hot dog paninis and other fab treats. I look forward to going back when im in town next. Which should be often :)
Way to knock it out of the park, er, arena Colleen! Thanks for putting this together!

I have a confession. I have lived in Orlando for 5 years, and have never seen a Magic game.. .until this awesome event. If you are from a small town like me, it feels pretty awesome to live in a city with a professional sports team. In fact, this is the first city I have lived in which a professional sports team exists.
So, it was super to get a tour of the Amway center, along with sections I have never had access to before. The court side warm up, seeing up close all the tall men – just freaking fantastic. The game itself, although we lost, was pretty close and exciting.
The most intriguing part for me, I have to say, was the Orlando Magic Dancers. Freaking hot and amazing. They really brought it. I was impressed. Am I too old to audition? Is it too late for me? (I could be wrong, but I think Kristen P. might want an audition as well). Freaking Phenomenal.
As always, meeting up with fellow Unilocalers, especially the ones I have never met before, who claim I do not look like myself in my Unilocal pictures – what to say? Great to meet you IRL.
Thanks again to the awesome Colleen that organized this spectacular event, and for sparking an interest in our hometown team!
Just so you know, the Magic is the white team with blue stripes. The green dragon is stuff.

One of the things I love about being Elite are events like this! First off thank you to Colleen for setting this event up. It has to be one of the best ones I have attended! I have been to the Amway Center a number of times for the circus or shows but never for a sporting event. Okay… I am going to admit it… I am not a sports fan but to have the opportunity to check out the Amway Center and finally see a sports game fascinated me!
We all met outside and everyone was decked out in there best Magic attire. I don’t own anything Magic but lucky for me, I do have a blue shock of hair right now so I fit right in! Our tour guide Jess was super nice and knew everything about the Amway. He gave us a great tour of the club levels. Areas that i will never have access to because i don’t know anybody… except Colleen! Jess showed us many of the club rooms and meeting areas as well as many of the food areas, bars and Jernigan’s restaurant.
After our tour, Jess brought us down to the court side to watch many of the players warming up. Now since I don’t know who any of these people are, I just saw a lot of tall people throwing basket balls around. I do have to say, for the amount of money people must pay to sit that close, the seats were small. I am not that large a person but while sitting with my fellow Unilocalers, we were banging elbows… I would want larger seats.
We then were brought to our own meeting room up in Jernigans and they have a wonderful spread of food and booze for us! Cheeses, hot dog sandwiches, Wings, Short Rib Quesadillas, Shrimps on a stick, Sliders… etc. Plus wine and beer! The serving staff was so nice and smiling all the time and could not do enough for us!
We soon all heading down to our seats for the game. They were good seats just a sept down from the club level but we still access to all the great food venues to enjoy on our own… which I did! My seat was away from the main group and right next to some fans who were shall we say very loud… I decided to do a bit of standing to watch the game from the table area behind our seats and avoid the large yelling fans…
The game was fun to watch but decided to head home around half time and avoid the parking rush to get to my car. It was a wonderful afternoon and again, one of the best events I have been on! Thank you again to all my fellow Unilocalers both old and new that i hung out with. Colleen… you continue to amaze me with your skills at arranging these events! If you ever get the chance to visit the club level… do it! Enjoy!

Ah-​maze-​ing! Got to have a tour of the Amway Center and hear some interesting facts about the facility. We got to walk by the locker room doors only to go sit court side and watch the Magic and Dallas practice… no big deal. And then we were off to try some of the food from Jernigan’s. Quite some tasty options — never would I have thought to put a hot dog in a panini, but I was pleasantly surprised!
And while the Magic didn’t get a win, it was an amazing game and to watch it from the club level was pretty sweet!
Thanks to the Amway Center, Orlando Magic and Unilocal!And a HUGE thanks to Colleen for getting this all put together!
Quite a way to start the 2013 Elite events :)

We arrived at the Amway Center several hours before game time, with a little time to catch up with friends… then the Magic time began.
We began our tour of the Amway Center, and as others have described, we had quite liberal access to many areas. The Arena itself is modern, clean and beautiful. The club level and suites are well laid out and inviting. The common areas all full of artwork and flatscreen televisions.
Next we headed for courtside. We watched players from both teams, the Orlando Magic and the Dallas Mavericks as they warmed up. There was a brief issue with someone losing a cell phone that slid under the actual wooden court (you know who you are lol). The security guard said we could not disassemble the court side seating or the court floor to retrive it hahaha… Fortunately, Jay and the security guard finally fished it out.
After the warm up session, it was back to club level. On the way, we encountered 6 NBA mascots, who were there to celebrate Stuff’s birthday (the Orlando Magic mascot). There were high fives… and Jay was goosed by a giant green fuzzy Stuff lol.
We saw a lovely spread, complete with chef carving stations in the spacious Jernigans restaurant and were escorted into a private party room. They had a great layout of eats and a complimentary bar just for us.
The food was better than expected. I did not get to try it all, as we spent too much time socializing, but most items, including the fruit and cheese, the steak tacos and the deserts were quite good.
The game itself was so much fun. The franchise goes out of the way to keep the action going. There was so much crowd participation, and so much better to be at a live game… instead of watching on TV. The Unilocal team was very involved, with Mike S. doing his best dancing to try to get our section on the jumbotron.
Overall, hanging with our Unilocal friends was great. The venue was beautiful and all of the staff that we encountered were friendly, professional and acted like they liked their jobs. Thanks to the Orlando Magic and Colleen, our beloved Unilocal CM, and all our fellow Unilocalers for such a memorable first Elite event for 2013.

First and foremost, thank you Colleen for coordinating such an awesome event!
This was truly an awesome event! Getting a tour of the Amway Arena was a great way to kick off the event! The arenas/​stadiums of today are certainly not built like the arenas of yesterday. A lot of the small details are really taken into account for the visitors. The hallways /​concourses are nice and wide which flows really nicely. Plenty of concession stands spaced throughout to access. And being the dorky engineer that I am … the facility is a «green» certified facility, so it really is nice to notice things like all the natural light to flow in.
It was awesome to sit court-​side and watch the players warm up! One of these days I will be able to afford court-​side tickets, but for now, I will need to rely on Unilocal :)
Overall it was an awesome experience! Two thumbs up to Colleen and Unilocal,and once again thanks!

Colleen, you’ve ruined every other Elite Event to follow because there is no way they can top this! This was my first visit to the Amway Center, let alone my first Magic game. I think I can officially declare myself a Magic fan after all of the fun I had at the game. Of course, I will have to sit amongst the common folk from now on, but I guess we all have our life struggles.
The best part was the great group of Unilocalers that attended. I met some new people and hung out with old favorites. You can’t ask for anything more.
Thanks to the Orlando Magic organization for being so generous and showing us such a good time! And of course thanks to Colleen for being Colleen. :)

I’m going to TRY and keep this short and sweet as many of the wonderful Unilocalers have already masterfully summarized this event in previous reviews. What can I say? Other than this was another MAGICAL elite Unilocal event! ALL PUNS INTENDED. My goal for all Unilocal events are listed below:
1. Have fun… um, duh. But for some people this isn’t always easy, for Orlando elite, I don’t think we EVER have an issue here.
2. Get my drank on. And yes. I did.
3. Eat some great bites that I normally wouldn’t have eaten or known to try at an establishment. (Braised beef quasadillas and hot dog panini, I’m staring at you two. I normally don’t like quasadillas and hot dogs)
4. Meet at least 1 new Unilocaler. I met at least 4! Great Success!
5. Ruin at least one group Unilocal photo. Haven’t seen the pics, pretty sure I ruined a couple.
6. Walk buck naked while ordering a beer or entering the food line. Ok, so obviously I didn’t do this, but I’m putting it here now as a pre-​curser in case one day, in the future, you DO see me ordering a wheat beer naked, you’ll just think, «oh, that’s just Mike finally checking that off his to do list.) This will avoid any awkwardness in the future.
Ok, this review is starting to get long, and really ramblin man, so I’ll just say… thank goodness for Colleen as our ruthless general, leading the Orlando Unilocal Troops into another Battle of fun and ridiculousness.

This was a fantastic event. Jess with the Magic gave us our private tour around Amway which was so awesome. He gave us a ton of information about Amway and the Magic. We got to see all the different levels, for the public and private, as well as sit court side to watch some basketball players warm up.
Once we were done with the tour, we got to induldge in some good eats. Anything from sliders to hot dog panini’s, to desserts. There was open bar for beer and wine, and a great selection too. They gave us some great swag bags with a new shirt, information about Amway, coupons, and a Magic magnet. Sweet!
After eating, we ventured to our seats on the club level to watch the game. Aside from a great game, we had a great group of people to share the experience and we had so much fun. Huge thank you to Colleen B., and all those involved from the Magic for making the first elite event of the year one to remember!

Even though we didn’t end up on Shark Tank, this was an awesome event!
It was my first time visiting the Amway Center and going to an NBA game, and I’m thankful I got to go about it in style. After receiving a tour of the Amway Center, including fancy schmancy carpeted areas, the cheese plate and wine at Jernigan’s were well-​received. I particularly enjoyed the blue cheese and honey myself.
The seats for the game were great, though I noticed our whole section was being ignored by the cameras and free things. I guess it’s because once you’re club, you’re too fancy for everything else. No matter, it was still a good time.
The highlight for me was getting to meet so many new people. While I enjoy having a +1 option, the Elites only set up made it impossible for me to not get out of my comfort zone, which I greatly appreciated. Hey, sometimes us quiet folk need a little push to socialize. :)
Overall, superb. As others are saying, the bar is set. Thank you Colleen and Amway for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to the next event already!

Colleen set the bar high for the 2013 elite season.
A staple of Orlando, we got to tour the Amway Center and catch a Magic game. We also got a happy hour of sorts.
The tour was interesting. We were split into two groups to make it easier. We got walk through the whole place. And ended up on the court, watching the warm ups. It was a intense. Also got it with a ball. Not really but we did get to roll one back to the players.
Then we were off to the banquet room where they had food and drinks for us. Gotta love a place that puts hotdogs in a panini (wish they had neglected the onions, but oh well). I really enjoyed the wings and the desserts. They had a good beer selection — I was mostly drinking Widmer.
I liked our seats for the game, the only complaint is that we were not in good sight of a camera. Despite the best efforts of Mike S., we did not make it one the jumbotron. Next time, Amway, next time.
The group was exclusive to elites, we got to hang out more. It was nice. We should try that every now and again. Maybe twice a year.
Such a great event. Too bad we didn’t get to interact with Mark Cuban — next time, Mark, next time.

Before I begin this review, I must say that our CM Colleen is AWESOME! Being a Unilocal Elite has its perks! Keep it up Coleen, you’ve set the bar high!
I’ve been to the Amway Center and seen a lot but never before have I seen the Amway Center like this. The Amway Center itself is beautiful with its layout and construction but the Unilocal Elite event provided another prospective. We were able to see the Mercedes Benz VIP area for the court side guests, private suites, Jernigan;s, Stuff’s Magic Castle, 180 Grey Goose, and other areas that you definitely don’t see with just a regular everyday ticket. The greatest part about this was seeing the Mavericks and Magic players warm up by sitting court side. Sitting courtside definitely puts a nice prospective compared to sitting elsewhere in the arena. Watching the game was also amazing. Club level seats! Great view of the court! Maybe I just like good a lot or maybe Jernigan’s was delicious. Let’s go with the latter. Jernigan
s put on a private banquet with drinks and dessert for the Unilocal Elitist. The food was fantastic. There were hot dog paninis, tequila lime tacos, delectable shrimp, buffalo wings, bbq wings, delicious deserts, beer, wine and several other things to choose from.
Love the gift bags and the hospitality of the Amway Center team. They were very professional and very helpful in showing us where to go when a few of us stayed back at the bar after lunch and caught the end of the 49ers/​Falcons game ;)
All in all, our CM is awesome. The experience was great and even though the Magic lost, it was well worth the trip.

I confess, my game of choice as a fan has always been football and I rarely watched basketball on TV (it’s very squeaky). So I never gave much thought to going to see a game in person. After this event though, I am rethinking this because I had a such a great time at this game!
This is the second time I have been to the new Amway arena. The first time was for a concert and as is often the case I suppose, I was just too busy trying to figure out where I needed to be to really notice the details and appreciate how truly nice the space is. It was a treat to have the time yesterday as our guide toured us around to take it all in — from the interesting artwork on the walls (who knew there would be artwork in an arena) to the fun names of the different food venues.
Everything here is top notch. The food we sampled was certainly a step above what you would expect from a sports arena. I especially enjoyed the quesadilla which actually had a little heat to it. And seriously, the desserts were crazy good.
We were seated on the club level and the seats here are really comfortable — nicely cushioned with a drink holder available so you don’t have to worry about kicking over your beverage when you leap to your feet to cheer. Space between the rows is tight so navigating your way past your fellow fans is tricky. It’s nice that the fan experience is such that places like the bar on this club level is open to all guests, regardless of ticket price. So even if you are sitting further up, you can come down and enjoy a drink on the club level and be able to see the action from there.
One thing that struck me as we made our way around the facility was how friendly and helpful the regular staff members were that we encountered. When we asked questions they were quite willing and able to answer. If I heard it once, I heard it no less than 10 times, to enjoy myself — ushers, vendors, bartenders all. It really added to the experience.
Watching the game was great fun — even though the magic lost — we still had a blast. All the things that happen between plays (when the commercials are playing at home) are so entertaining when you are there in person. It’s a great atmosphere, a really comfortable space and just a plain ‘ol good time. I’m a fan now even though I still think it’s squeaky!

Soooooo much fun! I got to meet a fun and diverse group of people and see an awesome game (ok, they lost but dang! it was close). Everyone at the Amway Center was super nice, especially the dude who was nice enough to let me back in so I could make my way to the team store to get my Magic t-​shirt. I’ve been to various venues for NHL and MLB games and have not found the people at any of the venues to be as friendly and helpful as the employees at the Amway Center. All around, a really great evening!