Dancing at: Grand Wayne Convention Center
120 W. Jefferson Blvd
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802

Host hotel: Courtyard Fort Wayne Downtown
1150 South Harrison Street
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802

Online Hotel Reservations  

Reservations by phone:  1-260-490-3629 or 1-866-704-6163

The AACE block of rooms sells for $119/night plus tax with free Wi-Fi. Pets are allowed for an additional surcharge. The convention center features low-nap carpeted ballrooms. Please plan accordingly.

When making reservations, please notify the hotel that you are with the AACE Convention to get the $119 room rate.

Dance times:

Wednesday (Trail-In): 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Thursday through Saturday: 10:00 AM - 10:30 PM (with lunch/dinner breaks)

• June 20 to 23, 2018 - Grand Wayne Convention Center, 120 W. Jefferson Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46802;
  Host hotel: Courtyard Fort Wayne Downtown, 1150 South Harrison Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, (260)490-3629;
  

• The hotel is 20-30 minutes from the airport and has a free shuttle.
• On-site parking $4/day; ample city parking
• Hotel rooms offer free WiFi, in-room microwaves, mini-fridges & iPod docking stations
• There are plenty of food and beverage places within walking distances
• The Bistro offers breakfast options within the hotel and Champions Restaurant and Sports Bar is the in-house restaurant and bar.
• There is a fitness center and a heated indoor pool.
• There's a business center with computers and printers, as well as copy and fax services.
• The dance halls in the convention center have low pile carpet or cement floors. AACE will provide packing tape for shoes.
• The Fort Wayne Visitor's Center has prepared a special website for us: Visit Fort Wayne, Indiana -- Academy for Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts and an extensive list of Fort Wayne Restaurants. There is also an interactive Map Explorer of the area.

• Airlines which fly into Fort Wayne:
  • Allegiant - direct to Phoenix/Mesa, Orlando/Sanford, Tampa/St.Petersburg, Fort Myers/Punta Gorda, Myrtle Beach, SC (seasonally)
  • American - direct to Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare and Charlotte
  • Delta - direct to Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis
  • United - direct to Chicago O'Hare and New York City/Newark
  • Southwest does not fly into Fort Wayne, but there are several low-cost ways to get from Indianapolis or Chicago Midway to Fort Wayne:
• Shuttles from Indianapolis or Chicago Midway to Fort Wayne:
  • Hoosier Shuttle, 260-469-8747, toll free 1-877-392-2463
  • Hoosier Ride, 1-800-544-2383
  • Greyhound, 1-800-231-2222
  • Wanderu, searches Amtrak, Greyhound, Megabus, and hundreds of other bus and train lines to find the best deals from $1 to 2000+ cities in North America.
  • Baron's Bus, 1-888-378-3823
  • Amtrak, 1-800-872-7245, also serves Indianapolis (but not Fort Wayne). The station is in the same building as the Greyhound station.

In an effort to serve Academy for Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts (AACE) guest driving oversized vehicles or recreational vehicles (RVs) as effectively as possible, representatives from Fort Wayne propose the following:

The Courtyard by Marriott, the headquarters hotel for the 2017 AACE event will reserve a limited number of city-owned, street parking meters, on the streets directly surrounding the Courtyard and the Grand Wayne Convention Center. These meters will be requested from the City, the $35 permit fee will be paid, as well as the daily bagging fee. They will be bagged beginning on Wednesday of the event week, through Saturday.

It is strongly recommended that any person, or groups of people, planning on coming into Fort Wayne with any vehicle that cannot fit into the standard parking provided by the Courtyard (standard parking garage with standard heights and widths) should reserve one or more of the meters being contracted by the Courtyard before the event. For guests staying at the Courtyard, the fee for the parking will be paid in conjuction with their room. For anyone staying elsewhere -- at another hotel, at a campground, or planning on staying in the RV -- they will need to contact the Courtyard as well to make arrangements. All guests will need to contact Kelly Underwood at the Courtyard at 260-579-9211.

When inquiring about the reservation for a spot, the guest will need to let the Courtyard staff know how large is the vehicle they are going to be parking -- anything more than 24 feet long will need additional spots -- and how long they will be staying. If they are not staying at the Courtyard, they will need to provide either a credit card at the time of reservation or a check within 7 days of making the reservation. The rate for all on-street parking will be $9 per spot per day.

The cut-off for all reservations for parking will be Friday, May 26, 2017. At that time, all unused spaces will be released. Anyone who does not make a reservation for one of the reserved spots will need to coordinate their own parking in downtown. It is strongly recommended not to try this.

*NOTE* Most meters in downtown are 2-hour meters. By City ordinance, a vehicle may park at one of these meters for 2-hours, and then must move. They may not "feed the meter" all day. We were allowed special dispensation in 2016, but it would be very reckless to plan on this moving forward. Violators will be ticketed and potentially towed.