I too miss the days of big shows like the Rochester NY Hamfest. A good friend of mine went to the HamCation years ago and said it was a complete waste of money, and he would never go back.
The eastern half of the Country really only has 3 big festers... The grand daddy Dayton, Shelby, and the Spring and Fall Nearfest..which I guess makes 4.
I second what your friend said about the Orlando Hamcation. I went there a few years back and was disappointed, my take on the fleamarket there was that it was the place where CB linears came to be sold off.
Nearfest is always good especially if the WX is good and the Marlboro convention flea market, although much smaller than Nearfest, is another good one.