Last weekend, I got to watch The Meg while floating in the lake at the Orlando Watersports Complex. Yes, that’s right. I paid to watch a shark movie while hanging out on an inner tube. This event was hosted by Interactive Flick/Events Elevated, and it was a blast!
The complex opened two hours before the it was expected to be dark enough to show the movie. Attendees were allowed to bring their own flotation devices, including canoes or stand up paddle boards. You could also bring your own food and drinks, as long as they weren’t alcoholic. Before the movie, attendees could hang out on the beach, grab a bite from the onsite food trucks, or get into the water with their chosen vehicle. If you brought a canoe or stand up paddle board, for instance, you were allowed to paddle all around the Complex.
We arrived at the parking lot around 7:45pm. The Complex isn’t really built to handle such a large influx of people in such a short amount of time, so there was a long line of cars waiting to park. As you might imagine, their parking lot isn’t really built for that many cars either, so cars were parking wherever possible. My group parked in a spot directly across the lake from all the action, so it was a little bit of a walk to get from the car to movie area. It was after 8:15pm when we finally entered the gate.
Once we were inside, we immediately found the food trucks and the beach. We claimed our spot, and I tried to inflate my stand up paddle board. It wouldn’t inflate all the way with just the electric pump that I had brought, so I put it away it and used the extra inner tube I packed just in case the pump did not work properly. My group grabbed a couple drinks and headed to the water.
The water next to the beach area was a little crowded, but if you moved farther out you could find a lot more room. We had a great time hanging out in the water, enjoying our drinks, and chatting. Before long, one of my group got hungry, so she decided to visit the Peru Power food truck. She ended up getting a dish called Salchipapa, which is basically French fries and cut up hot dogs. It was a pretty good size for the price.
Once the movie began, everyone seemed to move into the same part of the lake and it became very crowded. After a few scenes, people spread out a little more. Some people were still paddle boarding around the lake and others went to the beach. I swam with my inner tube into a deeper part of the water for awhile and then returned to the movie area.
Sometimes it was difficult to hear the audio, depending on your location in the lake. I, however, preferred it that way. It was easy for me to avoid the louder sounds, but others could still enjoy the movie at full volume if they so chose. There was one slight technical issue when someone tripped over the cord connecting the laptop to the projector. It was fixed within a few minutes and we enjoyed the rest of the movie without incident.
As promised, watching a shark movie in the water was super creepy. Of course, I knew that a shark would not magically appear in a secluded lake. However, I grew up in Florida. I am fully aware of the dangers of alligators. Now, we were promised there would be no alligators in this lake, but I’m not entirely positive how anyone can promise that a standing body of water in Florida doesn’t have a single alligator in it. They’ve fished alligators out of my neighborhood’s gated pool. If an alligator could do that, it could easily slip into this outdoor lake near the airport. But while it may sound like it, I’m not complaining. That very real and present threat kind of made watching the movie even more awesome. (I might be a little crazy, but I’m not abnormal. Otherwise, who would go to haunted houses?)
When the movie was over, everyone had a few moments to pack up their stuff and go home. While it was a long walk back to the car, leaving the Complex did not take as long as I thought it would. Everyone maintained a descent amount of order, and we were on our way without much trouble.
I had such a great time at this event. I could not confirm whether they have organized these events in Orlando previously, but I sincerely hope they return. While Orlando is close to the beach, it’s not everyday that we have the opportunity to hang out on the water with our friends – unless you happen to live on a lake (which I do not). This was a fun way to spend a Saturday night, and I would totally go to another Interactive Flick event.
