Going to Disney for sports

[sam_gordon]

Yes, this probably belongs in another area, but I don't frequent other areas much and figure the CB might be a broader reach. DS's soccer team is probably going to the College Showcase at Disney (Dec. 27-30). If anyone has gone to a Disney sporting tournament, any advice you can give? I specifically have questions about the following...

1) Did you find room rates at a discount through their travel agency (which we have to use, I know, but it would be good to have an idea of if the cost is high or low)?
2) Were park tickets offered at a discount?
3) How did you handle transportation between the resort and WWoS?
4) Did you go to parks on competition days (I want DS to rest, not walk for miles)?
5) Did you get a choice of resorts?

Any other tips you can think of?

TIA

 

[RunningGirl]

We went for years. I was team manager, so I got all the info. This past year was the first year we didn't go, but here's what our experience was:

1) Yes, decent, but we never stayed on property. We typically stayed at a Marriott property. If you want specifics, I can probably go back and let you know where we stayed.

2) Yes, and it was a very good price.

3) Everyone drove themselves. Also note - not all (in fact, maybe most) of your matches will NOT be at WWoS.

4) No, we did not. We always either went early or stayed after if we wanted to do the parks.

5) There's a good list, but make your reservations ASAP to get your choice.

Other tips - traffic is absolutely insane. Waze is a necessity; make sure your team knows to allow extra time to get to matches. Restaurants are crazy - we found the easiest thing to do was cater in to our hotel, using someplace like Macaroni Grill and getting a bunch of pasta, salad, etc. Make sure you have a pamplet/booklet to hand out to college coaches who come to watch your games featuring each of your players, with photos. It should look professional. Assign someone to hand those out at each game.

Good luck! If you have any other questions, let me know!