Strategies for a trip for a child's sporting event

[anricat]

We're going to be back at WDW in February over President's Day weekend. I know. I know. It's not my top choice for a trip - my daughter is competing in a gymnastics competition that weekend (Presidential Classic at ESPN Wide World of Sports). We won't get her actual competition schedule until Dec 20 (so basically she could be competing either Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday - we have no idea). I've booked us to arrive Thursday night and depart Wednesday so at the very least, we could have Thursday evening and all day Tuesday for the parks.

For those of you who have done something like this and have no idea when you'll be tied up, do you just plan as per usual and then cancel stuff when you get the final schedule? Though, I think everything will need to be light and easy before she competes as I don't want to wear her out. Any big tips? (We are Passholders and don't need to do it all, thankfully.)

 

[thegales]

What level is your daughter? If you look at past year's schedules, you may get an idea of when she competes. Optionals have been scheduled to compete Friday-Sunday, and Xcel and Compulsory on Sunday - Monday.

Make sure where ever you book, it can be modified. Let's say she does not compete until Sunday or Monday, will there still be practice at her gym on Thursday, and is it okay if she were to miss that practice? And as you state, you don't want to do anything too crazy the day before she competes. Even a pool day can be too much for some kids. One option is to go to a park, and just do shows, or have very limited activity. You know your family the best if you will actually abide by this rule. Just also make sure to use sunscreen. Nothing worse than competing with a sunburn.

The meet itself is fun. You do want to make sure you make some time to enjoy the trip.

 

[seashoreCM]

They "gotta" give you the schedule far enough in advance so plane tickets can be bought. Otherwise it may be necessary to miss some of the practice days at the school gym if you guess wrong. Better yet, she should travel with the team if that is the norm.

Aside from that, DD should not miss any practices. You may be better off with unscheduled meals at the food court instead of ADRs (reserved times) at sit down restaurants.

With rare exceptions, team or band or school event participants must purchase all of the parts of the Disney package including tickets. These tickets cannot have days added for those who want to arrive early or go home several days after the event.

 

[gatormom2tots]

We just got my daughter's schedule and we will be here too! I was reading on the site that all schedules will be finalized by December 20- so right around the 60 day mark. The do have the prices up on their website for hotel but not for park tickets yet. We are letting our AP expire so anxious to see how much they will charge for the park tickets.

 

[anricat]

We just got my daughter's schedule and we will be here too! I was reading on the site that all schedules will be finalized by December 20- so right around the 60 day mark. The do have the prices up on their website for hotel but not for park tickets yet. We are letting our AP expire so anxious to see how much they will charge for the park tickets.

Oh, you're right, that's nice! At least we'll have an idea by then. I'm just going to make my ADRs as best I can. We do not like QS at all.

 

[anricat]

They "gotta" give you the schedule far enough in advance so plane tickets can be bought. Otherwise it may be necessary to miss some of the practice days at the school gym if you guess wrong. Better yet, she should travel with the team if that is the norm.

Aside from that, DD should not miss any practices. You may be better off with unscheduled meals at the food court instead of ADRs (reserved times) at sit down restaurants.

With rare exceptions, team or band or school event participants must purchase all of the parts of the Disney package including tickets. These tickets cannot have days added for those who want to arrive early or go home several days after the event.

The schedule is given on Dec 20. We will plan fly in on Thursday in case she competes on Friday. She's not required to fly with the team.

She won't be missing any practices the week before the meet. If we're flying Thursday, she may miss a potential practice Thursday, but so will the other girls.

We don't like QS at WDW so we will primarily stick with TS and we will try to make what ADRs we can. With a family of three, it's pretty easy to find things, even last minute.

I think we must be a rare exception. I'm not aware that this even requires that we purchase a Disney package. That seems to border on unethical? What about local people? People with APs? DVC? Well, we've got APs and we already booked using points at AKL and our gym already told us the meet fees amount and when they are due and said nothing else about anything else (besides coaches expenses, but that's usually due later anyway).

 

[anricat]

What level is your daughter? If you look at past year's schedules, you may get an idea of when she competes. Optionals have been scheduled to compete Friday-Sunday, and Xcel and Compulsory on Sunday - Monday.

She's Compulsory. She's sort of between 4 and 5 right now. She competed 4 last year and she'll probably start the season competing 4, (in August) but I'm not sure where she'll be in February. There's talk of some of the girls (including my DD) knocking out one level 5 meet so they can complete 6 next year. Basically she's just missing her flyaway on bars, otherwise, she'd be level 5.

I did read in the FAQ that's how they normally did it, with Compulsory Sun/Mon, but they also said that they reserve the right to change things up so we shouldn't count on that. *sigh* So we'll plan to fly in Thursday. If she doesn't compete until Sunday or Monday, we'll just have some easy/chill days at the parks or resort and then we won't fly home Wednesday so we can have some fun at her choice of parks on Tuesday. She'll probably choose MK.

 

[gatormom2tots]

In some cheer comps, the team is all required to stay at specific hotels- you have to petition to stay at another hotel or with family or you are not allowed to compete. They call it "stay to play". We did one season of cheer- not our cup of tea. So glad my daughter decided to return to gymnastics! We have never been dictated on travel comps where to stay, packages to buy, etc. in our 6 years of competing.

We will most likely be platinum this season- we will see after summer training!

 

[anricat]

In some cheer comps, the team is all required to stay at specific hotels- you have to petition to stay at another hotel or with family or you are not allowed to compete. They call it "stay to play". We did one season of cheer- not our cup of tea. So glad my daughter decided to return to gymnastics! We have never been dictated on travel comps where to stay, packages to buy, etc. in our 6 years of competing.

We will most likely be platinum this season- we will see after summer training!

Wow, that's crazy!!! I'm going to venture to say borderline unethical.

Good luck to your daughter! I sort of wish mine would go the Xcel route, but it would mean a different gym, different coaches, and different teammates. It's hard to make a switch like that. She just trains so much. The amount she trains now is more than even the Platinum girls train in Xcel. I feel like it's too much, honestly. She's driven. I just go along for the ride (and so does my wallet - ouch).

 

[gatormom2tots]

Good luck to your daughter! I sort of wish mine would go the Xcel route, but it would mean a different gym, different coaches, and different teammates. It's hard to make a switch like that. She just trains so much. The amount she trains now is more than even the Platinum girls train in Xcel. I feel like it's too much, honestly. She's driven. I just go along for the ride (and so does my wallet - ouch).

We were in AAU/USGA for levels 1-4 and then she left for cheer. She came back and did Xcel which she loved- she had been nearly 2 years so they put her into xcel to allow her to regain some skills. I don't know that she even wants to switch back to optionals at this point. She really enjoyed the freedom to show off her skills(beam) and worked around her trouble spots (bars). She was given the option to test out of 5 and move to 6 but decided to stay in the xcel program. She currently trains 12 hours a week. Thankfully they offer both tracks at our gym. Plus, with her going into 7th grade next year it does allow her to spend some time doing other teenage things.

But I hear you about the wallet- I have 2 other daughters that have completed preteam and one was already invited to team but decided against it. I am not sure how our wallet would handle 2 other girls. Her gym costs during comp season with boosters, uniforms, meet fees and travel fees comes close to a mortgage payment a couple of months!

How old is your daughter?

 

[thegales]

With rare exceptions, team or band or school event participants must purchase all of the parts of the Disney package including tickets. These tickets cannot have days added for those who want to arrive early or go home several days after the event.

I think we must be a rare exception. I'm not aware that this even requires that we purchase a Disney package. That seems to border on unethical? What about local people? People with APs? DVC? Well, we've got APs and we already booked using points at AKL and our gym already told us the meet fees amount and when they are due and said nothing else about anything else (besides coaches expenses, but that's usually due later anyway).

anricat is correct. This is not a school event, with teams coming from all over the place. The meet does not require the teams to purchase anything in regards to tickets or staying on property. A couple of years ago, we stayed at an offsite house, and used our AP's. Now some teams may make a request for everyone to stay together, etc., but it is not a requirement of the meet.