Dance the World at Disney World

[prettypaige]

Hi:

Has anyone ever had a child participate in the program Dance the World? My daughter's dance teacher is thinking of doing this next year 2013 and I just wanted to know what other people thought of the program.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

LOL! I think we go to the same dance studio!

 

[CositaRicaFabulosa]

Hi:

Has anyone ever had a child participate in the program Dance the World? My daughter's dance teacher is thinking of doing this next year 2013 and I just wanted to know what other people thought of the program.

The performance team at my daughter's school did it this year, but she was too young to join the team so we didn't go. However, she made the team for next year, so when the dance season starts again in mid-August, we will be hearing the official recap and I'd be happy to share. The photos and comments that I've seen so far have all been positive - everyone looks like they are having a great time. One of the moms of a girl who did attend this year is very, very picky, and when I spoke to her the week before they left, she was very happy with how everything had been planned, and she was showing off the costume. She's a tough customer, so if she was pleased with all of the preparation and information she received before Dance the World, then I am pretty confident that it was well done.

 

[stm61]

Is this the company that recruits dance studios to perform at WDW? If there's only one, then my niece participated last year. From what I remember, which all came through my sister, is they were assigned a dance by the company. They practiced before leaving home, then again maybe 2x after they got there. They were dressed as Dorothy, I think. I definitely remember the red sparkly shoes, because the genius at the dance studio who placed the order ordered hard shoes with heels, instead of sneakers with sequins. They didn't have a chance to break them in before using them. I remember my sister freaking out over the length of some of the practices and that they would only allow dance studio employees to accompany the kids. (She's extremely overprotective and didn't think there was enough kid:adult ratio. She managed to get herself included by agreeing to be the studio nurse, holding all the assorted epi-pens and medications.) There was also an issue with the kids having to sit on a bus for over an hour, closer to 2 if I'm remembering right, with no bathroom, while waiting to perform. Her group did the MK afternoon parade and someplace else, I think DHS. There was a 3rd performance, but parents were able to sign their kids up ahead of time for the ones they wanted to do and they chose to do only 2. I think the kids had to be a certain age to participate, and I remember them saying that if the child did not know the dances they would not be allowed to participate. They had a 3 day ticket included as part of the performance package, which was not upgradeable. I didn't think most of my sister's issues would have bothered me. My niece, who was 8, only repeated her mother's comments, and I figured if she really wasn't happy she'd have her own complaints. Believe me, she's not shy about complaining about anything lol.

 

[dunnhorn]

Hi there -

We are looking at going for 2013 and we are wondering if the "Gala" is worth it. $75 for dinner and party plus private viewing of Illuminations still seems to be a bit steep for an 8 year old... trying to figure this one out, would love any input!

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

Hello! We did it last year (I'm the director but I also have 2 daughters who participated). It was fun. I'd do it again.

As far as comment about the shoes...it wasn't the studio's that ordered them (heels vs sneakers)...the company planning the event designed the costumes and the shoes. Apparently the ruby heels (character dance shoes) were the tradition. They've always done the Ease On Down the Road dance I guess. I was told that this next year would be a different theme, but that the ruby slippers would remain because it's the tradition. We are told to order them well in advance. We received ours a couple months before so while we didn't- we could have practiced in them more than we did.

The options were this.... dance in the parade (we were in the a.m. one but there were two total). Then the option to add a performance on a stage at DHS. Then for an additional cost, you could add a performance at DTD. We opted not to do that one since I had many people traveling who'd never been and I wanted them to do the parks too.

We did the Gala breakfast, not the dinner. It was about $20 cheaper and we still got our awards, studio picture, photos with the characters, etc. Just no dance party. It was nice. I'd do it again for that price. It was a nice way to end the trip. (We also opted for that because it was the morning of the Friday. If we'd done the Gala, it was the same evening as the DHS show. My plans were to be at MK the entire day we did parade, at DHS the rest of day we were at that show, and then at EPCOT the day of the breakfast. It made for less shuffling around and smoother traveling for all (and less complaints by everyone!)

I would say overall, all the parents would do it again. We had some other drama (normal dance stuff) and we also rode a bus there and back (NEVER again!) so we all started off tired from that! Other than that though the actual event and trip was fun. It was something totally different....we do to WDW alot. And even though it wasn't an "official' parade (it's not like they led off the 3pm parade...this was just a little random thing in the morning), I still got misty eyed! My own princesses all grown up and dancing at MK. It's pretty cool. And then there's the fact that we were at WDW with all their BFFs It's not like we'd ever just plan a family trip with entire families of their friends. This way, they got to be at the parks with 20 of their besties. We did matching outfits and all sorts of fun extras.

We are not doing it in 2013 because I promised my families that I'd give them an every other year trip so they have time to plan/save. Guess not everyone plans to travel to WDW several times a year like us

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

Oh and I forgot to say that the packages were upgradable, but it was the decision of the studios. So maybe the one studio set it up where families couldn't add on more than 3 days- but it was an option with the company. The option is there for pretty much anything that you....upgrade to a better hotel than the All Stars, add on nights to your stay, add on days to the passes (which are regular passes and not linked to your rooms. so like we stayed at our DVC for 4 days after and used the same passes because I just added on days to the passes but not the hotel). The thing is though is that the studios set it all up. We were asked if we wanted to offer any of those options. There were other options too, but all that was more director stuff. We actually stayed 4 nights and had 5 days on the passes- that was what I decided our studio trip would be and they either did it or not. Then anyone that wanted to stay and not ride the bus home just added days. I didn't give the option for less, but I didn't care if they wanted to stay longer on their own.