Avoiding Cheerleaders

[MixedUpRichard]

Hello

We are thinking of going to WDW in late April and early May and have heard it is cheerleading season. While I don't have anything against them, we will be travelling with a young family and have heard that they are noisy late into the evening. We would prefer to avoid them.

So, where do these groups stay on property? Is it just the Values? Or can they be anywhere? Is it just certain resorts? Where should we avoid booking?

We will be travelling with a 4 year old and a 16month old and are looking for any recommendations for where to stay if all the values are a no-go?

 

[JennyDrake]

I have stayed with the cheerleaders twice and other than having them congest walkways, they have been a non issue. I think you are safe with a value, BE SURE to request TOP FLOOR, NOT facing a pool (landscape view).

They can be at moderates as well, but I don't think they frequent deluxes. Again, I think you'd be fine at a value.

 

[SabbyR]

That is the same time as we are going and we are staying at POP. Im concerned but budget is set and flights are booked. Time off has been organized so there is no changing the dates. My eldest dd 17 is bringing her boyfriend and she laughed and said maybe he'd enjoy it!

 

[Coconut8473]

Your subject line made me LOL, but I get it. I feel like every trip we take, no matter what time of year we've gone (May, August, November, February...), we run into multiple groups of cheerleaders and/or South American teenage tour groups in the parks. Every trip! We stay in Moderates and Deluxe usually, and have never actually seen or heard them in the hotels, though.

 

[ellie05]

If you want to avoid the teenager big groups avoid the values. Rarely they are at the moderates.

 

[Newsies]

I think you'll be fine if you stay at a moderate that isn't CSR (As Coronado typically hosts conventions, so uppity cheer groups maybe found there in addition to the values). I like POFQ and POR. Have a fabulous vacation

 

[WEDWDW]

Sometimes a few Cheerleaders stay at All-Star Sports,but you won't even know they are there.

 

[JasonMouse]

It was "fifteen" jailbait week the last few days.

 

[HopperFan]

One of the largest cheer competitions there during your time with competition May 1-3 has various packages being offered with dates April 29 - May 5. "Accommodations will be provided at Disney’s All Star Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach." Family packages are being offered at same resorts.

 

[Savikins]

That is the same time as we are going and we are staying at POP. Im concerned but budget is set and flights are booked. Time off has been organized so there is no changing the dates. My eldest dd 17 is bringing her boyfriend and she laughed and said maybe he'd enjoy it!

If he does enjoy it, maybe you guys should consider leaving him there!

But yeah, the hordes of cheerleaders are fairly awful. If you can manage, I highly recommend a moderate or deluxe.

 

[Cedarmom]

We just left all star music. There were several big groups staying there at the same time. The dance competition over the weekend prompted the kids to practice in the parking lots, but we couldn't hear them from our room. They were very well-behaved and well chaperoned. There was a group singing on a bus ride to the MK and they started a song with a few inappropriate lyrics. The chaperone caught it and shut it down before I even realized it would be inappropriate for my kids to hear. They went with Little Mermaid songs after that. Overall, we were very impressed with the large groups staying at the hotels. It was really quiet by 9 pm every night. The only time I got annoyed was the large group of 13 year old boys doing laundry the same night I was. Even then, they weren't misbehaving. They were just 13 and occupying the same space I was, and I didn't like that.

 

[DCDisney]

April and May are big Disney music competition months where they have school groups every week. I would totally avoid the values. Mods are a better bet and deluxe is safe. We stayed at PO-FQ and there were not groups staying there but they did come on buses to eat at the food court in the evening and totally overwhelmed it since it's so small and normally busy with their own guest load at that time. I'm chaperoning a group in mid April and I know that they have band, orchestra, and chorus competitions going on every week. Our school has 4 groups going the same week and will have 500 kids at WDW and that's just 1 school. Luckily my child is in a small group with only 40 kids and we are staying at Pop and I think the rest are at All Stars.

 

[WEDWDW]

One of the largest cheer competitions there during your time with competition May 1-3 has various packages being offered with dates April 29 - May 5. "Accommodations will be provided at Disney’s All Star Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach." Family packages are being offered at same resorts.

Also,Cheer and Dance Worlds are April 23-28 staying at these same Resorts.

This is a HUGE competition-the Cheer portion is at ESPN WWoS and the Dance portion is at World ShowPlace.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I would suggest Art of Animation. We just stayed there and were hoping to avoid any tour groups. While posters will say that they had no problems with them, many have said that they did and we didn't want to chance it. The LM rooms price higher than the other Values but for us it was an excellent resort and well worth the extra $$

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They were at CBR last year, they do stay at the larger mods. I'd go with a deluxe, POFQ or Art of Animation.

 

[Vernie822]

Also,Cheer and Dance Worlds are April 23-28 staying at these same Resorts.

This is a HUGE competition-the Cheer portion is at ESPN WWoS and the Dance portion is at World ShowPlace.

Huge cheer nut/cheer coach, so I am jealous of anyone down there during Worlds!

The Summit is also May 1-3. Packages include All Stars, Pop, and CBR.

Americheer and Ameridance International Championships are March 21-22. High school UCA Nationals are this weekend.

I think you'll see more of them during Worlds/The Summit, but they definitely aren't in the Deluxes (at least not as big groups).

From what I understand, they do a lot of practicing outside (specifically at All Stars). During the day and early evening they're probably competing or watching competitions. You'll probably see a lot of traffic near Wide World of Sports, there are multiple performance areas. There's also a party for them at Hollywood Studios on Monday 4/27, I'm not sure what time though.

 

[WEDWDW]

From what I understand, they do a lot of practicing outside (specifically at All Stars).

DEFINITELY at All-Star Sports on the "football field"!!!!

I am at Sports that week every year so I have learned a lot about the Cheer culture having known NOTHING before "living" with them.

They really are amazing to watch and the thing that struck me the first time I experienced them was that everywhere I looked someone was on crutches,had an arm in a sling,etc. and I have even seen some in wheelchairs!

I don't think any of them will be able to walk by the time they hit 40!lol

It is really amazing what they do in their routines and I even have learned some of their "names"-I think Top Guns out of Miami is the most "famous" from what I have gathered.

 

[Sue M]

We just left on 1/31 and the last few days there were loads of Cheer teams around. On the 30th it seemed they were ALL in MK wait times were horrible.

 

[LoveToTravel2001]

Cheer Worlds and Cheer Summit are the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. The resorts that are part of the travel packages are : All Stars, Pop, and CBR. The most impact is at All Star Sports as this is where teams practice, usually on the football field. If it rains, many teams practice at ESPN. The picture above is very accurate of what you will see.
Worlds tends to be athletes that are older though there will be younger athletes (average ages 12-18). Worlds will see a larger mix of male and female athletes.
Summit will be a broader range of ages since it involves a more diverse range of athletes (ages 7-18). You will see male athletes but not in the numbers as during Worlds.
During the day the resorts may be busy and loud, pools crowded, and the food courts often overwhelmed but most, not all, gyms have athlete curfews. I know my daughter's gym has a curfew. Keep in mind that athletes spend a huge amount of the time at ESPN as that is where the competition is. I know some posters have stated things about crank calls, rude individuals... Crank call, unplug the phone. Rude individual, it can happen with any type of person not just a cheerleader - call them out on it. If they are wearing an identifiable gym name, take note of the name and inform them when you get home. Most gym owners want to know when their athletes exhibit poor behavior, especially while representing them.
Hollywood Studios closes to the public on Sunday night (for Summit May 3, not sure what the date is for Worlds) for a private ticketed event.
Long and short - if your plan is to have a lot of resort relax time, I'd avoid thr mentioned resorts. If you spend most of your time in the parks and don't mind some business, you'll probably be fine. The parks will have cheerleaders but again, most are at ESPN to compete at least on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[OceanStateKelly]

Will be there for both Worlds and the Summit (April 23th - April 27th ) and (April 30th - May 4th) I booked Coronado Springs for the Summit because we can stay anywhere but for Worlds we have to stay on property, last year we stayed in All Star Movies.. I never had any problems, I slept like a baby never heard anything and we was on the walkway to the pool.. The food court and the buses were very busy but that can happen when the place is full of non cheerleaders. For the Summit they gaves us a choice of All Stars, CBR or POP and I'm sure that will be the same for Worlds