President Trump supporters line up 40 hours before Orlando rally
Trump to announce re-election bid at Amway Center
ORLANDO, Fla. – More than 40 hours before President Donald Trump will announce his re-election bid in Orlando, supporters started lining up outside the Amway Center.
Eight Trump supporters started camping out Monday morning, with the first one showing up at 2:30 a.m. The rally is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Gary Beck, a Trump supporter from Panama City, was the first in line.
“There’s going to be a bunch of people, and it’s going to be pretty intense,” Beck said. “The electricity is going to be high. It’s time for America to get back on its feet and be made better than it’s ever been before.”
Trump tweeted Monday that the rally “looks to be setting records,” with more than 100,000 ticket requests. The Amway Center seats 20,000.
“We are building large movie screens outside to take care of everybody,” Trump tweeted.
The visit marks Trump’s first campaign event in Orlando since he ended his 2016 presidential campaign with a “Thank You Tour” stop at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.
Trump’s last visit to the Orlando area was in October 2018 when he spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police at the Orange County Convention Center.
Ticket requests for the event have quadrupled the capability of the Amway Center, which holds 20,000 people. The president said in a tweet last week the event will be “the hottest of them all,” with 74,000 ticket requests already made for the event. He upped that number to 100,000 in a tweet Monday morning.
“Orlando rally entry is on a first-come, first-serve basis, so a ticket doesn’t necessarily guarantee entry,” McEnany said in a statement to News 6 partner Florida Today.
Campaign security and U.S. Secret Service will close the entrance once the building reaches capacity, according to Amway Center.
Viewing outside Amway Center
“There will be screens outside the venue to watch the rally once capacity is reached,” McEnany said in her statement, which also noted that a “Trump tailgater” would be held outside starting at 10 a.m.
What not to bring
Leave your laser pointers and air horns at home. There is a list of items attendees are asked not to bring into the venue. Click here for the full list.
Timeline
Doors to the Amway Center open at 4 p.m. and the event starts at 8 p.m.
Parking
Parking around the Amway Center will be extremely limited due to security for the event. Attendees are encouraged to car pool, rideshare and take advantage of public transportation. Find more on that later on in the story.
Parking in city-owned garages will only be available for purchase on site on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the Amway Center.
Sunrail
SunRail will operate its normal service schedule until 10 p.m. Tuesday. After 10 p.m., SunRail will operate three northbound and three southbound trains departing from the Church Street Station.