Tell me about the Buccaneers Training Camp

[disneyagain]

We'll be in WDW 8/12-8/19 and were thinking of possibly going over to the training camp for a little bit. I have a few questions?

1. Is there an admission fee to get into WWOS? I see that the training camp is free, but do we need to pay to get on the complex? If yes, anyone know how much?

2. Do the players/coaches sign autographs??? If yes, is it better to go in the morning or afternoon for these?

My brother was lucky enough to pick up all the NFL helmets for about $250 a few years back (He knew someone that worked at the factory that makes/reconditions them and these were sample helmets). He has them in his rec room at his house. He's a man living in a girls world...a wife and 3 teenage daughters (14-16). So this is his room, he has them all in a display shelf. He loves to get autographs on them, if he gets the chance, so I thought if it was something we could fit in to our touring plans, we'd bring the helmet along and get some autographs for him.

Anyone ever been?

TIA!

 

[mathgeek]

If you are going to the Bucs training camp, the admission is indeed free. You will need to go to the tent outside of the complex to pick up your free admission tickets, and then you can go in through the turnstiles.

I don't know firsthand about autographs b/c even though DH is a huge Bucs fan and we had planned to stay there a while, it was SO hot sitting there watching that we left pretty early. You sit in seats in what seems like a tin corrugated box that, even with fans above, was sweltering hot. We were sweating more sitting there than walking around the parks.

We'll be going back to WDW this summer while training camp is still going on, and I will not be going back - although DH said he might.

 

[disneyagain]

Can you enter at anytime or do you have to get there at the start of the session? I would assume they do autographs near the end of the sessions. I"m not really interested in staying for a whole morning or afternoon to watch training camp. DH and DS have been to NY Giants camp once, they enjoyed it, but unless you're a fan of the team...once you've seen one camp, you've probably seen them all. (DH and I are Minnesota Viking Fans, DS (I hate to admit it) is a NY Giants fan. Living in Upstate NY, you either LOVE the Giants or you HATE the Giants. There is no in-between. DS became a Giants fan after the training camp...My father was one of Tom Coughlin's highschool football coaches in Waterloo, NY. So Dad took all the boys (son, son-in-laws and the 5 grandsons) up to training camp. My brother talked to his friend and got all the grandsons NY Giant helmets, so they all got those autographed (It's pretty cool ). The boys had a great time and I think my DS would love to go see a little bit of camp and get Uncle Mike some autographs. I"m not sure he's willing to give up a whole morning or afternoon at the parks, though

THANKS!

 

[mathgeek]

We got there after practice started so I assume they let you in at any time, but it was fairly crowded when we got in and we were lucky to get two seats together.

As a side note, we used Disney transportation for this and decided that it was the one place we would have driven if we had a car. It was a long wait for the bus at both MGM and WWoS.