We are going to Disney April 21-26, and there will be Worlds cheer competition happening that week.
What is that experience like in the parks? Will the crowd levels still be manageable? I am traveling with a child and grandparents.
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Yes
For the most part, the cheerleaders are not in the parks a ton because they canNOT go in until they have fallen off the bracket. This is my understanding via a podcast with a host whose daughter has long participated in cheer weekends. So as the week progresses you may see them more and more, as teams fall off their respective brackets. But even still I don’t expect that you would see a huge bump in crowds from them anyway.
DS may be different - I saw loads of cheerleaders there on what appeared to be their arrival day (loads of luggage at security screening and being dragged around by the cheerleaders).
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I would be concerned about crowds in general that week. It is the week after Easter and many NE states are off that week for school vacation (always that week).
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Oh well that’s true for sure! 100% agree on that point!
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I went that week in 2023 and was also slightly worried, but most advice online says that the cheerleaders are only really visible in the hotels they stay at. Since we weren’t at any of those hotels, we didn’t notice any cheerleaders.
Now regarding Easter, I would assume the parks would be packed at the beginning of your trip, and hopefully taper down a little at the end (but I wouldn’t count on it).
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That is scheduled to possibly be a busy week due to Easter being on 4/20. I’d be more worried about those crowds than the cheerleaders. We are going the following week and there are cheer comps happening that first weekend in May as well. I’d just avoid staying at the same resort as the cheer groups.
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This is the general rule of the coaches but definitely not across the board.
This would probably be a bigger factor.
Cheer Worlds are normally over the weekend. Girls will start arriving around Thursday and take off by Monday. But having some out of school may have parents getting there earlier in the week.
This is usually the All Stars and some Moderates. They do also get blocks of rooms at Swan and Dolphin.
Comp days are the weekend. So Friday you may see cheerleaders in the parks. And don’t worry. You won’t need them to be in uniform to spot them. Saturday will have the least impacts and as all compete. Even the ones that get knocked out early are tied up at least half the day at Sports Complex. Sunday is the day you may see the biggest impact ( from Cheerleaders). But not as many as you think. If a team has a squad still competing, they generally go to cheer the on. Sunday evening they have historically closed a park. It was HS more times than not through all our cheerleading years. Monday you may see a lot of cheerleaders in the park but many go back home because of missing school. For Sat and Monday, I would say Epcot is the safest park to go to but with Moana, GotG and Remy who knows (all new since my cheer experience years). AK is also a good option. But I feel like that park feels busier with just a little increase in crowds.
Hope this helps. But keep in mind those Easter crowds will impact the days before the comp greatly.
Last year we unknowingly went during a cheer week. Really didn’t notice anything, I think it will depend on if they are staying at your hotel maybe.
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