Travel & Lodging
JETC 2024 will be held in Kissimmee (Orlando), Florida, at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, FL. All conference activities, including the Society Ball and Awards Gala, will take place at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center.
Getting There
Airport:
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
The airport is approximately 19 miles from the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. Uber, Lyft, and taxi transportation options are available.
Lodging
JETC Housing opens in January 2024. Connections Housing is the official housing partner of SAME and all rooms should be booked directly with Connections Housing to take advantage of negotiated rates and benefits. Do NOT book a room directly through the hotel's website or by phoning them. The hotel reserves the right not to extend the group rate for reservations made directly with the hotel.Reservations in the SAME blocks are reserved for registered conference attendees only. Attendees must register for the conference within five working days of making hotel reservations (government employees excepted). Any reservation made by an unregistered attendee will be canceled seven days after the reservation was made.
Room rates are listed below; add taxes of 12.5% to the rates listed.
| Hotel | Industry Rate |
| Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center | $289 |
| Caribe Royale Orlando (shuttle service provided to Gaylord) | $249 |
Uniformed Service/Government Rate: Rooms will be available at the prevailing per diem of $140 plus applicable taxes, per night. To qualify for the per diem rate, one must be employed directly by a federal, state, or local government agency. Contractors and retirees are not eligible for the government rate. Those who book a room at the government rate and do not qualify will be transferred to the industry rate (may vary by hotel).
Local Attractions and Things to Do
With world-famous theme parks practically on your doorstep and memorable experiences at every turn, Kissimmee makes it easy to find your kind of fun. Go big with thrilling roller coaster rides and wild adventures in Central Florida’s great outdoors. Or kick back and relax with great golf, delicious dining, some of Florida’s best shopping, and lively entertainment day or night. Kissimmee is calling with fun things to do for all ages, all year long. Learn all about the things you can do before or after JETC!
To purchase specially priced Walt Disney World® Meeting/Convention Theme Park tickets, CLICK HERE or call 407-566-5600 and provide group code G0835782.
Tickets are valid 7 days before, during, and 7 days after the meeting dates. To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid ticket on the same day are required. To make park reservations, you will need to sign-in to an existing Disney® Account or create a new one and link each ticket. Park reservations are subject to availability – please check the Park Availability Calendar. For details on making a park reservation, please visit Disney Park Pass Experience Updates.
Whether it’s your first visit or your 100th, we recommend reviewing the Walt Disney World® Resort Experience Updates.
WARNING: Housing “Pirates” and “Poachers” Scam
SAME works with Connections Housing to create room blocks for our attendees at the SAME contracted hotels. Please be vigilant if contacted by any company or service that implies or claims to be an official housing provider for the SAME or the Joint Engineer Training Conference (JETC). The ONLY way to book your rooms for JETC is through our housing site or by calling 702-476-6976 or 855-476-6976. If you are contacted by one of these poacher companies, please notify SAME immediately.
Room poaching is a practice carried out by third-party companies that act as travel agencies, wholesalers, or destination management companies to solicit registrants for room reservations. Poachers often represent themselves as being affiliated with SAME. The poacher might inform registrants that the hotel room block is “sold out,” and that if you do not book with them immediately, you may not get a room. Additional deceptive tactics may include distributing forms or promotional materials that appear to be issued by SAME.
- Room poachers make it more difficult for us to meet our room block commitments and expose us to penalties and increased room rates for our events.
- Room poachers often don’t deliver on promises to customers. When customers arrive, reservations do not exist or the hotels are not conveniently located. Sometimes the rooms have been canceled and hefty cancelation fees have been placed on the customer’s credit card.
