Important info. re: Cheerleaders in Feb!

[GEM]

The 2007 National Dance Team and Cheerleading Championships take place in early Feb. this year. Since these events fall during our vacation, I did some research to try and figure out where they might be and how to avoid them. ( I don't hate cheerleaders or anything, but huge crowds of ANY teenagers are generally things to be avoided, wouldn't you agree?)

Anyway, the info. on the official websites for both events list the accomodation choices as Disney All Star Resorts (doesn't specify one) or CBR. (We're staying at Pop, so that perks me up somewhat.)

Here's the schedule for those who are interested:


2007 National Dance Team Championship: Feb. 2nd-6th
* Friday, February 2- Teams arrive in Orlando. Special “UDA Night” at the Magic Kingdom® Park for those team members and families purchasing the NDTC travel package. (Extended hours at the Magic Kingdom® Park with exclusive use of the Magic Kingdom’s® most exciting rides!)
* Saturday, February 3- Preliminary competitions, semi finals and some Varsity Finals at Disney-MGM Studios and Disney’s Wide World of SportsTM Milkhouse.
* Sunday, February 4- Preliminary competitions, semifinals and some Varsity finals at Disney-MGM Studios and Disney’s Wide World of SportsTM Milkhouse. This evening join us for our Championship Celebration Party at Disney-MGM Studios.
* Monday, February 5- Teams visit a Walt Disney World® Resort Theme Park of their choice.
* Tuesday, February 6- Teams depart Orlando.

2007 National Cheerleading Competition: Feb. 9th-13th
-Friday, Feb. 9th
• Squads arrive in Orlando.
• “UCA Night” at Magic Kingdom.
-Saturday, Feb 10th
• Rec./Youth teams, Junior High, Freshman,
Junior Varsity Semi-finals and Finals. Small,
Medium, Large Varsity and Super Varsity
preliminaries and the Small and Large
Varsity Coed preliminaries and finals.
-Sunday, Feb. 11th
• Non-Building finals, Small, Medium, Large
Varsity and Super Varsity semi-finals and
finals. This evening squads will attend the
NHSCC Celebration Block Party at the
Disney-MGM Studios. The celebration
party is a private party with a D.J. and
unlimited rides on Twilight Zone Tower of
Terror™ and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
-Monday, Feb 12th
• Squads visit a Walt Disney World® Theme
Park of their choice for the day.
-Tuesday, Feb 13th
• Squads depart Orlando.

 

[Lancer]

I dont think its that bad to be honest. We go every year around that time, staying at CBR and never thought it was a problem. You are aware of their presence because you see small groups of girls around, but, there are too many other guests to make you feel that you are being over run with cheerleaders. The same with the parks, you may see a couple of say 4 or 5 girl groups but not the whole qeue or all the seating at a show. Having said that, you may see more at the food courts at night socializing, and they do practice their routines in some of the out of the way parking areas at the resorts. Also, I dont think they are loud & wild like maybe if it was a large group of teenage boys.

lancer

 

[Honeymooners1021]

Thanks Gem! We will be at POP Feb 3-10th and we will be having too much fun to notice cheerleaders! See ya at POP!

 

[amylevan]

Keep in mind that the divisions are split between WWoS and MGM. I would try and avoid MGM on the days of the competition because cheerleaders are a bit more in abundance there. In fact, I would stay far from MGM on the 4th and 11th since they have some divisions there during the day and the party at night. Well I would stay far away if I wasn't coaching and required to be there.

And no, we aren't all bad. I hope that my girls know better than to act up, and they know what I expect of them. That being said, these are teenagers, and there will always be some troubles in every group.

Yes, there will be practicing going on in AS and CBR, we are here for a NATIONAL competition after all. The girls get nervous and feel better with practice. And yes, girls will swarm the food courts. Again, they are hungry, socializing teenagers.

 

[jiminyfan]

We have been at WDW a few times when the cheerleaders/dancers are having their contests. WE even stayed at Music with a bunch of them. I have to admit that I was very impressed with these young ladies. They drill and train for hours at a time in the outer regions of the resort. All of the girls I met were very polite and plesant.

Only negative was MGM was packed as that is where their contest was being held, it also closed Indiana Jones Stunt show.

But, overall they didn't negatively affect our vacation one bit.

 

[canron]

we are there every year when some teen group is there and the cheerleaders we have only had 1 thing that got us mad ..it waas at earl of sandwich...1 stood in line and when she got front went to let 6 or 7 friends in with here...that got alot oof people mad..the on duty manager took them aside talked to them but did let them oreder since they only had limited time ..but as far as resort troiuble ...nothing at all

 

[Brian Noble]

I normally go during TwirlMania and/or the Cheer/Dance Natl Championships. I've never even noticed anything out of the ordinary. I wouldn't worry *too* much about changing plans you may have made to avoid them.

 

[disnut8]

We've been there during the cheerleading stuff. Be aware that Indiana Jones Stunt Show will be closed since that's where they hold the MGM competitions. The only things we have ever noticed was at All Star Movies. We were in Mighty Ducks and around 10:00 PM, a group started practicing their cheers in the grassy area near the pool. They stopped well before 11:00 PM. And once while we were walking around all the All Stars in the morning before we left, we saw a group practicing their lifts in front of their building. As someone said, they are serious about the competition. Last weekend, we encountered a group of teenagers doing cheers as they walked through the park. We just waited a bit and then continued on. They are like love bugs - harmless and gone in a minute.

 

[kaelarad]

I agree. The cheer leaders are really well behaved. Avoid the areas that other posters have suggested. And Gem I do not agree with you...I think there are plenty of large adult groups that many people would not be around, especially teenagers.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Leave it to me to do a crummy job of planning. We will have Feb. 2 & 3 in the parks. Right now MK is showing that they are closing at 8 PM on Friday Feb. 2. Is that going to change because of the cheerleaders' exclusive event? And what about MGM? Should we go to MGM on Friday and MK on Saturday? Because that will screw up my ADRs. Grr!

 

[GEM]

And Gem I do not agree with you...I think there are plenty of large adult groups that many people would not be around, especially teenagers.

Well, yes. That's kind of the point. If I knew there was a huge crowd drawing event of any kind going on, I would try to work around that schedule. But I'll admit the idea of being in the same park or resort as thousands of high school cheerleaders practicing their cheers, etc. doesn't really sound like my idea of a great time. I'm sure that most of them are great kids, but still, you put a few thousand high school kids together and see what happens. Do a search on the topic and you'll find plenty of posts that agree. You'll see post after post after post about these particular groups being disruptive at the resorts, on the busses, and at the parks, so I just figured if I knew where they were on what days I would try to work around them. If you don't feel the same, then you are free to ignore the information.

 

[GEM]

Right now MK is showing that they are closing at 8 PM on Friday Feb. 2. Is that going to change because of the cheerleaders' exclusive event?

Of course, I don't know for sure, but I would imagine the event starts later, maybe 8pm or midnight or 9pm to 1am or something like that.

 

[Vallie]

On my first trip to WDW like.. 7 years ago we went to MGM on one of those days I guess where spme cheerleading competition was taking place... take my advice avoid it! I was about 15 at the time and I remember it was sooooooooo annoying!!! There were cheerleaders everywhere cheering and some of them even practicing parts of thier routine IN LINE for ToT! Not fun! They were not rude or pushy or anythoing like that just very loud and i found it annoying that there was so many and they were practicing cheers and routines everywhere i went! Just my opinion! pls don't flame me! I would suggest another park for that day!

 

[bicker]

We'll be there in time for the last week of that. Rule of thumb: If you see a large group (of cheeleaders or anyone else for that matter) heading in one direction, just head in another direction!

 

[n2mm]

We go early February for the past couple of years and have to say, these kids have never been any trouble at all. Maybe because they are older than the group that is in WDW in early December....not sure, but after three Feb. trips in a row, we've never encountered any problems. We have been in WDW during the December group of kids and found this group totally out of control, but we've been during Music Days in May (even staying in a value resort) and this competition in February and never encountered any problems of disrepect or rudeness. Of course, the year we stayed at the value resort during college cheerleader competition was really a tough trip because my teen son and husband didn't want to leave the resort when the girls were on the football field (A/S Sports) practicing.

 

[bicker]

I wonder how many schools will adopt the more revealing uniform designs (deeper necklines, that triangular cut-out in the bottom of the skirt over the leg) that the cheerleaders in Heroes sport?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Just a little bump.

We did survive Pop Warner this week, but we came home on Wednesday. We didn't see any Pop Warner kids until Tuesday, and Wednesday we were only in the park for 90 minutes before we had to go catch our plane. The kids we saw weren't rude or loud, they were just in big groups. And they did NOT seem to be at Pop Century.

Now, does anyone know any more info about the cheerleaders in Feb. and how that will impact the park hours? We have decided that MGM is not a full day park for us, so we'll either just go in the morning or skip it entirely. So my dilemma is which day (Feb. 2 or 3) for MK.

 

[Blondie]

I'll tell ya what, we were there from 11/29-12/3 and I considered it to be way more crowded than when we were there this February during a cheerleading competition.

Last week there were strollers EVERYWHERE! We could hardly walk! (no offense to those with young ones in strollers, my kids were little too once but by the time we got to WDW they weren't in strollers anymore even at 3 and 4 y.o.)

Aside from it being the most beautiful time of year to go with the decorations and the holiday spirit in the air, I think I'd rather go during cheerleader season.

Seriously.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, I managed to work through my scheduling issues. MK is only running Spectro on Saturday, so Saturday is now my MK day. We can go to MGM on Friday morning (maybe) and then hop to Epcot Friday PM. If we don't feel like going to MGM we'll do the whole day at Epcot. I changed all of my ADRs with no problems.

 

[scrump]

On my first trip to WDW like.. 7 years ago we went to MGM on one of those days I guess where spme cheerleading competition was taking place... take my advice avoid it! I was about 15 at the time and I remember it was sooooooooo annoying!!! There were cheerleaders everywhere cheering and some of them even practicing parts of thier routine IN LINE for ToT! Not fun! They were not rude or pushy or anythoing like that just very loud and i found it annoying that there was so many and they were practicing cheers and routines everywhere i went! Just my opinion! pls don't flame me! I would suggest another park for that day!

This was my experience, too. I wouldn't care if they were just part of the crowd, but the constant cheering and practicing was painful to the ears and just annoying (in line, on the bus, on the rides, etc). I know not all cheerleaders are like this, just my experience.