When do the cheerleaders arrive?

[atilley01]

I've been reading a lot of trip reports about the cheerleader takeover in the spring time. When do they usually have their competition and tour the parks? Are they ever a nuisance or do you barely notice them?

 

[robndani]

I've only ever seen them in early February (both of our trips). There are TONS of them, but it's never really been a problem for us. Once a WHOLE group sort of cut us in line at Cosmic Rays, but even then we just scooted over to another line.

 

[kimieko]

I know there are some comps this weekend. A coworkers daughter is competing, but I don't know how large the groups. Will be.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I've only ever been 'blessed' with large groups of cheerleaders during Pop Warner Week in December. Really, although they're everywhere they usually don't cause trouble other than the normal teenage stuff-walking in large groups, sounding off with cheers (sometimes in the queues). The only time I had anything even approaching a problem was when I stayed at All-Star Sports during this time and they were out on the football field thingie practicing their cheers at 6 in the morning.

 

[Katie Dawn]

We are here now (yay!) & when we checked in Saturday were told by the front desk that Pop was at capacity/was totally booked and that there were lots of cheerleaders and High School bands there. The front desk was busy (she was on hold for 10-15 minutes trying to confirm that our room was ready,) but the food court was crazy busy! It had mostly cleared out by Sunday evening though. So this would support the PP who said it's mostly a weekend thing this time of year. Certainly there are still students here, but the vast majority of the left on Sunday. Hope that helps!

 

[pooh2001]

We have seen cheerleaders in April & May
Yes = sometimes annoying - like when they practice their chants on the WDW park buses. They do not stay at deluxe resorts, so we never had any pool issues with them.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

They were here last week/weekend and more will be here again this weekend as well I think beginning today or yesterday. At times, when there are BIG competitions there can be a lot of them in large groups. Nothing more than another version of large tour groups to me. They are both loud, big and self involved. Just as @BlueStarryHat mentioned, nothing more than regular teenage acts in larger groups.

We've never encountered any issues with them at all.

This website usually has a good deal of info on the schedules of cheering/danced competitions hosted by Disney.

https://www.espnwwos.com/sports/cheer/

 

[hpriamson]

Saw several groups of cheerleaders last week. Apart from them trying to block a bridge in AK to film a routine, then sneaking through the single rider line on Everest, no problems.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I saw them last week and they were prevalent especially at Epcot (where their competition was) but their presence was not an issue at all, except for the pub being stuffed to the gills with cheer/dance parents. I was staying at Art of Animation and they were not staying there.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

I saw them last week and they were prevalent especially at Epcot (where their competition was) but their presence was not an issue at all, except for the pub being stuffed to the gills with cheer/dance parents. I was staying at Art of Animation and they were not staying there.

lol ... We were in there on Saturday around noon to around four and found that very thing. It was PACKED with cheer/dance parents. Besides the crowd size, they were really fun to hang out with.

 

[Asc341]

On Saturday, World Showcase was filled to the brim with cheerleaders, and DHS had some band groups. In our experience that day, the teens were well-behaved and happy to be there.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Come on y'all. They're not the plague. It's better than a pack of sophomoric football players. Plus some of their chants are catchy.

 

[Tribe]

Sunday at Hollywood I think the presence of the cheer and band groups had a significant impact on two rides, yes you guessed it, Rock n Roller coaster and Tower of Terror. It was like 2 different parks, Sunset Boulevard crowd level 10, everywhere else crowd level 3 (of course Toy Story had a decent wait still). We waited 30 minutes with a FP+ for RNRC, 85 minute standby. ToT also had an 85 minute standby. Cheer squads everywhere. They certainly were not the only ones in line but you could tell they made a big impact. It was a negative because the chance of a second ride on those two rides was not possible anymore because of the wait times. Even during Fantasmic those two rides had HUGE wait times.

 

[Cheer4Disney]

I've been reading a lot of trip reports about the cheerleader takeover in the spring time. When do they usually have their competition and tour the parks? Are they ever a nuisance or do you barely notice them?

The Summit is this weekend, very large competition. Worlds was last weekend, the largest competition. They should be arriving today through thursday and departing Monday through Tuesday.

 

[NinaBella]

For All Star Cheer, the first competitions around Disney start in December and the last one in May.

 

[popy]

I have been in May when the main competition was going on. The cheerleaders and dance teams was mainly at the value resorts and I was at the All Star Music Resort as well.
So, this is how it was, THEY WAS NOT A PROBLEM, very well behaved, parks not impacted a bit because they was at ESPN cheerleading, Disney plans for them with more buses and more help.
The resort pools was not crowded with them at all, you see them mainly in the morning eating breakfast but always plenty of room. In fact, I thought it was a extra bit of fun that they was there.
They are from all over the world, talk and dress different and some of the costumes was fun to see. If your going look forward to it as added enjoyment.

 

[WEDWDW]

You won't even know the Cheerleaders are there.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We stayed at AS Sports once - it was great until the cheerleaders arrived (April - it was our last night) - that one night was 'lively' and loud and we were glad to check out.

 

[shaneray]

It's the south american tour groups that should be avoided. By far the most annoying people you will ever encounter in the parks.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

It's the south american tour groups that should be avoided. By far the most annoying people you will ever encounter in the parks.

This. We were there during Pop Warner week and both the cheerleaders and football players conducted themselves like some kids enjoying WDW. The SA Tour Groups are awful, no regard for anyone else's park experience.