Orlando pitches pow wow without Disney. (Orlando-Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureua; Walt Disney Co.)

The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau and most of its major members are pitching to bring the largest annual gathering of international travel and tour operators to Orlando in 1996.

But Disney has left the tribe to fend for itself in the pitch for Pow Wow '96.

"Disney opted not to participate," says William C. Peeper, executive director of the bureau. "They were a part of the discussions from the get-go, and they had everything offered to them that everyone else was offered, but they opted out."

Although Peeper won't say what led Disney to pull out of the bid, other area tourism leaders say Disney would not play by the rules the bureau set regarding attraction-hosted evening events during Pow Wow, and that the bureau's executive committee rejected Disney's counterproposal.

Pow Wow typically includes three evening events, each of which is hosted by an area attraction on its property, according to Shawn Flaherty of the Travel Industry Association, the …