May 7 to May 14 will it be crazy?

[PDettorre]

FYI, these after hours cheer events at MK are relatively common: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2019/03/varsity-spirit-after-hours-event-taking.html

Thanks for this! good to know the timing! I k os they planned one for ME summit, summit, world's wor Nationals, but it's a new event so we didn't have much details about it!

 

[ArielSRL]

I will be there May 3-7 for the cheer summit, and from looking at the schedule it seems like Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday the cheerleaders will have a lot going on, so not as many will be at the parks those days. Friday, lot's of teams are meeting to practice and a few teams will be competing, Saturday almost all teams will be compete, and Sunday some teams will be competing as well. From my experience, most people will be leaving Monday night or Tuesday morning, so Monday may be a bit packed in the parks. Also, they are closing down Magic Kingdom on that Sunday for a summit only event, so that is something to keep in mind as well!

Well more availability did end up showing up and we are only doing 1 day at Epcot on Saturday. The other days are outside the parks! I don’t think we will be impacted but thanks for all the info!

 

[TheyCallMeStacey]

Yes, Sunday May 5th. Unfortunately I do not know the time yet, but will let you know when they release it. We just received an informational video last night that said they will be closing the Magic Kingdom for a summit only event on Sunday night after the competition ends. I am not sure if that means they will be closing early in the day, or just an hour or two early! Ill keep you posted though.

This is our first MK day. I'll be on the lookout and maybe reach out to a CM about it. We have all our FPs early, but still would seem a waste to only be able to spend a half day there.
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I would be happy to know of any finalized plans you get for this event.

 

[4doorj]

As I said, I have known to be wrong and the info we got was limited. They just said the park will be closing to allow only athletes and their families. I just wanted to warn people who plan to go there that day. The cheerleaders compete Sunday as well, and have award ceremonies, so some of them will be busy during the day. But the ones who didn't make it to final rounds will have the entire day in the park Sunday.

Sweet thanks!
This is good info!

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

It will be crazy for sure...cause WE'LL be there!!

Same! We arrive at Pop on 5/8

It's been a good long time since I was traveling with the cheerleading competition crowds (not since high school and we just aren't going to be doing that math today).

I'm glad to hear that it's still mostly the resorts that are impacted, we're mostly just there to sleep (and DS2.5 could sleep through a marching band blasting past in a tornado so we'll be just fine).

 

[ticketwm35]

So we will be there from May 6-10 n
Going to parks on Tuesday- Thursday so you guys think it will be busy.We travel to Orlando that time of year cause it isn’t busy. Last 2 years universal this year Disney I hope it isn’t cray busy.We are staying at Broadwalk so not worried about crowds there just the parks.Anyone know the cheer schedule for that week

Leslie

 

[Disneyepcot]

So we will be there from May 6-10 n
Going to parks on Tuesday- Thursday so you guys think it will be busy.We travel to Orlando that time of year cause it isn’t busy. Last 2 years universal this year Disney I hope it isn’t cray busy.We are staying at Broadwalk so not worried about crowds there just the parks.Anyone know the cheer schedule for that week

Leslie

I'm hoping like you that it is not crazy busy. My family is also at Boardwalk May 5-10. Hopefully you have your FP's so that any crowds will not bother us anyway.

 

[PDettorre]

This is our first MK day. I'll be on the lookout and maybe reach out to a CM about it. We have all our FPs early, but still would seem a waste to only be able to spend a half day there.
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I would be happy to know of any finalized plans you get for this event.

We just received finalized (for the most part) itinerary and they said that the park will not be closing early on Sunday May 5th for the cheer celebration, they will be holding it after the park closes at 10. With that said though, not all teams will be competing on Sunday, and Sunday is final rounds and you have to qualify. I would say that probably about half of the teams will not be competing, so i would expect Sunday to be pretty busy-especially as the day goes on and it gets closer to the cheer party. Friday most teams either practice or compete, and Saturday most teams are competing except the ones that competed on Friday. If I had to guess, I would say Friday and Saturday won't be horribly busy, but Sunday and possibly Monday will have a lot of cheerleaders in the park. Lots of teams are traveling Thursday, May 2nd to Monday, May 6 or Tuesday, May 7th. I feel like the main issue is going to be kids traveling in "packs" because the kids all want to go on rides with their friends and/or family. The packages offered to cheerleaders and their families included 2, 3, and 4 day park hoppers so i would imagine most people will be traveling to the parks probable Friday-Monday. But, the good news is that Magic Kingdom will not be closing early on Sunday!
Hope this helps plan a bit!

 

[gulliesmom]

We will be there that exact time for DD's cheer competition. The impact on the parks will be minimal, as our weekend is jam packed with practices and competition. We have very limited time at the parks because the schedule is so tight. There WILL be impact on the resort pools and dining though I am sure, as the windows of downtime are not really enough to go to a park, but long enough to hang at the pool for a couple hours. I think the early mornings at the QS for breakfast will be the heaviest since the comps begin at 8 am and the doors open at 7 am. For the D2 Summit which is the competition we will be attending, the hotels are Pop, ***, CSR, and CBR.

 

[gulliesmom]

While the competitions are actually being held - no effect to the parks. When there are no competitions and everyone is now free to go to WDW parks - yes.

We are competing Friday May 10 and there are comps ALL DAY from 8 am to 10:30 PM. Comps again all say Saturday and most of Sunday. MK is hosting a party for all the cheerleaders on Sunday night from 10PM-2am, after park closing.

 

[gulliesmom]

Isn't D2 Summit now just as big as The Summit since D2 fills the entire All-Star Resort as well as parts of Pop Century/Coronado Springs/Caribbean Beach?

https://www.varsity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/VAS_D2_Summit_TravelPackage_19.pdf

It's "big" but not compared to Summit. For example, the block schedule for Summit is several pages long and the block schedule for D2 is only a few pages long- so a LOT fewer competitors. That being said, my DD's team (youth level 1) is competing against 63 other teams on Friday, so that is still "big" in my opinion.

 

[PDettorre]

While the competitions are actually being held - no effect to the parks. When there are no competitions and everyone is now free to go to WDW parks - yes.

Really it depends on who competes at what time. For example, we are there all day Friday with no practice until Friday night, so we will have all day in the park. We also don't compete until late Saturday, so we will have most of the morning and early afternoon in parks as well. If out team makes it to Sunday's round, we will be able to spend the night in the park because we compete early. But, if we don't make it to Sunday, we will have all day in the park. All the teams that compete Friday don't compete Saturday, so they have the whole day free. All the teams that compete Saturday don't compete Friday, so they have all of Friday free. Only about half the teams will make it to Sunday's round, so the teams that don't will be in the parks Sunday. Because it isn't an all day competition and you only have to be there for a few hours surrounding your competition time, i believe lots of people will take advantage of the parks when they aren't competing-especially seeing we get park hoppers. I would expect there to be no impact at all, but i believe the impact will be minimal at least Friday and Saturday. It all depends on the specific teams comp time. Although, Summit is much bigger then D2 summit, so there will be a lot more teams with down time during Summit.

 

[4doorj]

We just received finalized (for the most part) itinerary and they said that the park will not be closing early on Sunday May 5th for the cheer celebration, they will be holding it after the park closes at 10. With that said though, not all teams will be competing on Sunday, and Sunday is final rounds and you have to qualify. I would say that probably about half of the teams will not be competing, so i would expect Sunday to be pretty busy-especially as the day goes on and it gets closer to the cheer party. Friday most teams either practice or compete, and Saturday most teams are competing except the ones that competed on Friday. If I had to guess, I would say Friday and Saturday won't be horribly busy, but Sunday and possibly Monday will have a lot of cheerleaders in the park. Lots of teams are traveling Thursday, May 2nd to Monday, May 6 or Tuesday, May 7th. I feel like the main issue is going to be kids traveling in "packs" because the kids all want to go on rides with their friends and/or family. The packages offered to cheerleaders and their families included 2, 3, and 4 day park hoppers so i would imagine most people will be traveling to the parks probable Friday-Monday. But, the good news is that Magic Kingdom will not be closing early on Sunday!
Hope this helps plan a bit!

LOL thats one of the days I chose to go to magic kingdom.
Oh well at least I know so I will be prepared for the crowd.

 

[PDettorre]

LOL thats one of the days I chose to go to magic kingdom.
Oh well at least I know so I will be prepared for the crowd.

It will still be a blast! If you see a large group of kids with bows in their hair, just go the other direction!!

 

[cakebaker]

While my timing of our trip hits right in the competition dates, my park days scheduling should be good to have little impact. We’re at the YC so don’t expect cheerleaders there. ( although it is fully booked). We’ll be at the MK in the evening on the 2nd, all day on the 3rd, but don’t return to the MK until Tues morning where we’ll hit 3 fp’s then head back to our resort to fly home.

I was hoping crowds would be low in early May, but if my resort is any indication, that may not be the case.

 

[Farro]

While my timing of our trip hits right in the competition dates, my park days scheduling should be good to have little impact. We’re at the YC so don’t expect cheerleaders there. ( although it is fully booked). We’ll be at the MK in the evening on the 2nd, all day on the 3rd, but don’t return to the MK until Tues morning where we’ll hit 3 fp’s then head back to our resort to fly home.

I was hoping crowds would be low in early May, but if my resort is any indication, that may not be the case.

I think the resorts are pretty full all the time? Full resorts don't always equate to crowded parks. Huge park crowds often have a huge off-site crowd.

Also, checking on WDW site for available rooms unfortunately never tells the whole story as they often show rooms as unavailable when there are rooms. It's the way you enter dates or something - frustrating.

 

[Amanda999]

OP You've got to search these boards for a photo someone often posts when people ask if the cheer groups impact value resorts. its hilarious - basically a HUGE number of cheer groups practicing in one of the value's outdoor areas. I'll try to find it.

 

[Daisy1940]

Going the same time for a fourth year in a row and it is the BEST time to go. Crowds are relatively low. The cheer competition doesn’t tend to affect parks except in the evening when you may see the groups, but it still isn’t that big of an impact. Enjoy the post-spring break, pre-summer lull in crowds!

 

[4doorj]

Going the same time for a fourth year in a row and it is the BEST time to go. Crowds are relatively low. The cheer competition doesn’t tend to affect parks except in the evening when you may see the groups, but it still isn’t that big of an impact. Enjoy the post-spring break, pre-summer lull in crowds!

Seems like may 7 is taking forever to get here LOL
I haven't been in a loooong time. I can't wait to see pandora.
Plus my kids are finally tall enough to ride everything.
Going to be fun!!!

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

We just received finalized (for the most part) itinerary and they said that the park will not be closing early on Sunday May 5th for the cheer celebration, they will be holding it after the park closes at 10. With that said though, not all teams will be competing on Sunday, and Sunday is final rounds and you have to qualify. I would say that probably about half of the teams will not be competing, so i would expect Sunday to be pretty busy-especially as the day goes on and it gets closer to the cheer party. Friday most teams either practice or compete, and Saturday most teams are competing except the ones that competed on Friday. If I had to guess, I would say Friday and Saturday won't be horribly busy, but Sunday and possibly Monday will have a lot of cheerleaders in the park. Lots of teams are traveling Thursday, May 2nd to Monday, May 6 or Tuesday, May 7th. I feel like the main issue is going to be kids traveling in "packs" because the kids all want to go on rides with their friends and/or family. The packages offered to cheerleaders and their families included 2, 3, and 4 day park hoppers so i would imagine most people will be traveling to the parks probable Friday-Monday. But, the good news is that Magic Kingdom will not be closing early on Sunday!
Hope this helps plan a bit!

Thank you so much for this info! Our trip overlaps with these dates, and 5/5 is our MK day.