All-Star Disney Do's And Don'ts For Uca , Worlds, Summit

[stuntjumptumble]

A few of our team members did both and yes stayed the week. Worlds end Monday and then to have to b back Friday AM was not worth it to go home. If u have to, find a house to rent, much cheaper as u can cook your own food. Windsor palms and Indian creek are less than 10 min away. VRBO is a great website!


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Thanks so much ill look into it!


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[Emily]

Found one of the old Disney threads:
Here is a summary of tips and tricks (some were already mentioned):

• If you can stay/eat off property you will save money.
• when you pay for parking into 1 park you can use that tix for all other parks you visit the same day... Parking at WWOS is free.
  
• If you decide to partake at the McDonalds at Disney, please note prices are 20% higher than any local McDonalds and there is no dollar menu
• The meals are huge at the majority of the burger/pizza type places in the park. We always split meals and have food left over. Snack/protein bars are great for breakfast and snacks in the park.
• Bring an entire suitcase of food! We brought chips, bagels, beef jerky and bottled water in an extra suitcase and ate it so we didn't have to spend money on food. Normally we would purchase one meal a day at Disney, and buying at All Star (if that is where you are staying) is cheaper than Epcot or anything like that. We went to Epcot for pizza and it was $18 for individual sized. At the hotel, the meals were about $10 and I thought the food was good and had a good variety.
• If you get to Florida early, remember you are there for a competition, not a vacation! There is nothing worse than when some parents/athletes put the vacation part first and show up to the comp or practices late, sunburnt and tired from all of the fun activities they did they day or two before. It is always best to plan your fun time after the competition is over and stay a day or two later than to come a day or two earlier (it may be too late for this piece of advice!) And if you are staying off-site plan for traffic. Depending on where you are competing (Disney itself of WWOS) venues are dramatically different. You will not be able to bring food or drink in to the parks (unless you get creative) [you cannot bring coolers] and the venues can be difficult to compete in if it is cold/rainy or hot/sunny (we had a solar glare issue at Indiana Jones). If it is at WWOS bring in all the food and drink if you want! The arenas are small but really nice for competitions. The Field House has stadium seating and the Jostens has floor and some bleacher type seats. Good luck!!
• You can freeze bottles of water and use insulated collapsible coolers to keep drinks cold during the day.
• WWS can be a cellphone nightmare depending on your carrier. Be sure to bring your charger and/or charging case (mophie, etc).
• If you are driving your own car to WWS allow ample time to park and walk to your meet spot. If there are other large events at the same time (i.e. Braves spring training during UCA) you will wait to get in the lots.
• Bring a rain poncho with hood & flip flops for CP. Wet uniform & shoes = unhappy CP. Even if you utilize the bus or car drop off lanes you still have a long walk to the venues.
• Oh, internet at the All-Star resorts sucked, so if you don't have a data plan, wi-fi was harder to come by.
• Wifi on property is ehh at best so bring a phone charger if you plan to be uploading a lot, it will suck your battery down.
• We do this all the time, we get subway and buy a cheap ice chest to keep in the car so we always have cold drinks
• Some rooms have a mini-fridge, some rooms don't.
• If you're an athlete and you get those meal voucher tickets then split them with a friend. You'll get twice as many meals and you won't have to worry about not finishing it. Splitting gives you a good, normal size portion and you won't be crazy full if you finish it!
• Oh and if you bring down food (like Ramen or microwavable food), make sure to ask for a microwave! All Star sports doesn't have them but if you ask they will bring you one. Caribbean Beach usually has them.
• If eating at the parks order off of the kids menu. It's a little cheaper and is typically enough food.
• If you're purchasing apparel go to the tents early! Stuff will sell out, go ahead and buy what you want, just to have a better chance of getting it!
• Once you're in the arena, if you need to use the restroom, go in shifts. Lol, sounds nuts, but people will move bags in chairs and say they "didn't see them". So make sure someone's there to guard your stuff..because bathroom lines are always INCREDIBLY long.
• Buy apparel on the first day.
• it rains like everyday around noon in Orlando. Not an exaggeration. Plan for rain and bring clothes/uniform cover ups/shoe protectors etc, because it WILL rain!!
  
• this is just a tip for the Orlando area in general...if you see a steakhouse, connected to a..I dunno a, Japanese or Mexican restaurant, don't go there. I repeat, don't do it. There's something shady about those places...and they're all over. Pretty sure half our house got food poisoning from the Mexican buffet. Might want to stick to familiar, chain restaurants while in Orlando!
• The milkhouse is cold...bring a sweatshirt.
• I always go to a grocery store and buy a case of waters, some Gatorade and fruit my cp had a fridge so I also bought milk and those one serving cereal cups and granola bars. If you are staying somewhere other than the allstar, but go ther for some practice time take some cold drinks for you and the kids it's hot and humid. The Jostens center is hot!
• Definitely take shirts to trade!
• the rooms are TINY. what we always do is push all the beds against the far wall into one giant 4 person bed and that way there is room for our luggage at the front of the room (where the table and the window are).
• If you get the airport ("Disney magical express") service to take care of your luggage it sometimes takes 2-3 hours before you get your suitcase to your room! So plan ahead by including what you need for those first few hours.
• Order groceries online from a supermarket near the Allstar resort and schedule delivery to the day you arrive.
• If you go to Magic Kingdom during the late hours, eat before because not many food places are open.
• We always use garden grocer in Disney. Delivery is free on orders over $75 (unless that has changed). You can always combine with other people to get that total. They deliver to the resort, and resort personnel will deliver to your room. You shop online before you go and schedule your date and time. Prices are slightly higher than a local grocery store, but less than a cab if you don't have a vehicle. If you want to order alcohol, you have to place your online order then call them. They will add it to your order, but aren't allowed to "sell" it online.
• Drink LOTS OF Water. Start a day or 2 before you leave. Dehydration is easy as no one is use to the heat and humidity.
• As of May 2012 ALL of the all star resort rooms should have the mini fridge in them. If I'm wrong you can still rent one from Disney for $10 a day.
• Go to the dollar store and get plastic ponchos
• if you're competing at UCA and/or worlds, make sure your CP attends the orientation, its the only way to get the UCA/worlds drawstring bag. Found this out the hard way this year.
• I don't think anyone has mentioned, sunscreen. Not just for days at the pool
• Be aware that getting to and from anywhere using Disney transportation is easy but takes time. Assume you will need to change busses at least twice And budget 20 minutes waiting time to catch each bus. In other words leave tons of time to get places to reduce your stress.

 

[FierceIsTheName]

I'm not sure if this is the same for Disney World, but at Disneyland you can buy this photo pass (pricey $100) where the photographer will take pictures of you, and they're saved to your card, AND when you ride on rides, they are also saved on your card for free. I'm not sure if this is something to get while you're at UCA/Summit/Worlds because how little time you have to actually ride rides, BUT it was well worth it when my family bought it! (my family took my bff with us to disney, and we rode tower of terror about 31 times, and we always did a silly pose and it was nice to have them all saved for free!) Oh and then when you get home from Disney, you can look at them on the computer and print as many as you want!

I'm going to UCA this year for the first time i'm so excited! Last time i went to Disney World i was 7, I'm nearly 15 now...

 

[Cheerleaders21]

@stuntjumptumble I stayed the week last year and I would definitely recommend renting a house. Around Wednesday I was tired of Disney. Being able to cook your own food is a huge plus. I don't think Disney has the best food options most of the time you really have to plan ahead and make reservations if you want to eat anywhere besides the cafeteria.

 

[cheerforeverever]

I'm not sure if this is the same for Disney World, but at Disneyland you can buy this photo pass (pricey $100) where the photographer will take pictures of you, and they're saved to your card, AND when you ride on rides, they are also saved on your card for free. I'm not sure if this is something to get while you're at UCA/Summit/Worlds because how little time you have to actually ride rides, BUT it was well worth it when my family bought it! (my family took my bff with us to disney, and we rode tower of terror about 31 times, and we always did a silly pose and it was nice to have them all saved for free!) Oh and then when you get home from Disney, you can look at them on the computer and print as many as you want!

I'm going to UCA this year for the first time i'm so excited! Last time i went to Disney World i was 7, I'm nearly 15 now...

They do have photopass packages at WDW (same as Disneyland), but I don't think it would be worth your money unless you stay extra days and spend those days at the parks all day long to really take advantage of it. It would probably just be cheaper to buy 1-2 individual photos unless you are into getting your photos with a lot of characters, character buffets/dinner shows, photopass spots and photo rides.

 

[alexamarysouza]

If you get a chance, go to Wetzel pretzel. I think it's just part of the ESPN WWoS experience. And also, at allstar sports resort, they normally sell competition merchandise in a booth right outside. It's a way to get it before the savages get it all at the venue.
Oh and bring blankets. Gone to WWoS twice now and you'd think I would've done it by now...but I've regretted not doing it both times. The rumors are true...it's absolutely freezing in there.
ETA: I would also recommend staying in a house. It costed soooo much less for us, and our house was huge. We've stayed in this development about 10 times because my little brother plays travel baseball and he plays at WWoS when he plays in the area. It's only 10 minutes to the venue. We stayed (my mom and myself) with three other families, each with 3 people. And we had a bedroom that was unused, and a pool, as well as a laundry room. You think you won't need it...but when it rains in Disney and your entire team is in the park in cheer clothes, dryers are awesome. Nobody likes wet cheer shoes...but if anyone needs info on this development, DM me.

 

[Drea]

This is from an all-day spectator perspective:

DO Bring jackets/blankets. The arena is super air conditioned usually, so it gets very cold (especially when everyone is dressed in shorts for "Florida weather". Just because its 90 outside does not mean that is the case inside!

DO Plan, plan, plan. If you think that you need to get on a bus 20 min early at the hotel, go another 20 min earlier. All 3 events are very fun but can get very busy, especially worlds, and especially to/from allstar resort as that is where most people stay. I stood in line from 7am until they slowly started letting people in the arena for worlds-Sunday (Large senior was at 9am) and did not leave my seat until 10pm. I went with 1 other person and we tag-teamed holding our seats if one of us needed to use the bathroom. We also brought a big backpack with seat cushions, a blanket, and a ton of snacks because we knew we were in it for the long haul.

DO bring your own food. There's really only 1-2 food places open at WWOS, which = long lines during breaks (like every cheer comp) & not a huge selection of great food. It's alright for a snack or some chicken nuggets but that's about it. I recommend at least packing some snacks or sandwiches, so that even if you buy some food, it isn't everything you eat.

DONT wait until 20 min before a division to find a seat. I have seen my fair share of kids sharing a seat/sitting on laps, etc. & we are talking 3 kids to a seat at worlds. Also, DONT try to stand/sit in the aisles. It's a fire hazard and they will make you to move (politely the first time, not so politely after that). Again, @ worlds this was a big problem. A few times they refused to start divisions until people complied with this, because people were clogging up the walkways. I always feel awful for the Disney people that have to constantly deal with this........tough job.

From a competitive aspect:
DONT tire yourself out at the parks before competition weekend. The Disney parks are awesome, but are a lot of walking. Making your legs/feet tired the day before you compete or staying up playing around in Magic Kingdom until 2am is not smart. You are there to compete, so competition = 1st priority, fun time @ the parks = 2nd. There will be plenty of time after you compete to see everything.

DONT go to the pool or parks without sunscreen. Getting burnt on comp weekend = not fun.

DONT try & stunt in the parks. Everyone wants that lib picture in front of the castle or the epcot ball, etc etc etc, but it's a liability for Disney and makes them really nervous. All that path under those landmarks = concrete! When I interned there, they were telling all the photopass cast members every cheer comp weekend to ask people to get down if they were stunting due to safety (not only for themselves but the guests around them....those spots are highly populated usually). People still do it, but its frowned upon.

DO expect to not get much sleep. Lots of cheer competitors all in the same hotel = loudness. Disney tries to keep it managed the best they can, but its a lot of teams and not a lot of people listening usually. I suppose you could always bring earplugs or hope your surrounding teams are quiet/leaving for comp around the same time as you in the morning so they will be asleep at the same times.

From a Disney park perspective:
DO use extra magic hours.
DO leave early before the parks open to make the most of your park days.
DO plan out what you want to do & DO get fastpasses for highly busy rides (Space/Splash/Big Thunder, then Enchanted Tales w/Belle, then Peter Pan or Winnie the Pooh = MK.... SOARIN' then Test Track = EPCOT.....TOY STORY MANIA, then Rockin' Rollercoaster then Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios.....Expedition Everest then Kilamanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom. Underlined ones will be 2 hour waits unless you fast pass or ride right at park open)
DO get in line @ 10:30am to eat lunch at Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom
DO get lots of delicious snacks in the parks (Research on the DFB: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/ I recommend a Dole Whip Float ( Pineapple soft serve in pineapple juice) at MK...... the strawberry shortcake @ Sunshine Seasons, School bread from Norway, Fresh caramel popcorn or a caramel chocolate apple in Germany(ask it to get sliced), a Primavera smoothie in Italy, Kaki Gori (Snow Cone) in Japan, or anything from boulangerie patisserie in France for EPCOT (this is delicious food central. Eat here as much as possible!).....A giant cupcake from Starring Rolls @ Hollywood Studios......A Jalapeno Cheese pretzel from the cart by Kilimanjaro Safaris or the White Elephant or Cotton Top Tamarin Cupcake from Kusafari Bakery @ Animal Kingdom)
DO make reservations WAY in advance for anything special if you want to do them (Sit down restaurants, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, etc.)
DONT wait to buy something until the end of your trip. It might not be there when you come back. Also, some things are park specific and will only be sold at certain stores. Downtown Disney does not sell everything (contrary to many people's beliefs), so don't count on them always having it, especially if it is specific to a ride or the theme park. Save yourself the trouble and just tell them at the register you want to ship it back to your hotel (it's free and will be waiting for you at the allstar resort merchandise shop the next day! Win-Win).
DO have your ID on you if trying to use a credit card & that card is not signed.
DO bring a cheap poncho for everyone in your family. $1 from walmart> $8-12 from the parks & = life saver in random spring showers (or on Kali River Rapids....you're gonna want the poncho for that ride for sure!!). Florida is very rainy in spring time and a 1 hour rain storm will come out of nowhere. Once that passes, the rest of the day it will be perfectly clear again.

I have been to WDW many many times for IASC and Worlds and this just made my day reading it - Thanks for all the tips on the food. Be Our Guest is one of the places I can't wait to take my best friend who is coming with me this year but all the other food in Epcot is what I am looking forward to!! Thanks!!

 

[AScheer]

I have been to WDW many many times for IASC and Worlds and this just made my day reading it - Thanks for all the tips on the food. Be Our Guest is one of the places I can't wait to take my best friend who is coming with me this year but all the other food in Epcot is what I am looking forward to!! Thanks!!

Be our guest is awesome!! The inside is spectacular and it is just like you're in the ballroom of the movie. The picture in the beasts room changes for human to beast when the storm comes. And the flower petals drop!! Definitely recommend but make sure you can get in. I believe evening and night is reservations only. You can also use a fast pass for this restaurant.


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

If you read nothing else, know that there is regular time, then there is Disney Time.

Think about regular time, then pull it back like an hour and 30 min. This is Disney Time.

That is what you will need to beat the crowds.

For example, if something starts at 9:00 and I asked what time you needed to be there, in Regular Time, you'd say "Around 8:30."

If something (i.e. a division) starts at 9:00 AM, in Disney Time you need to be there at 6:45 or 7.

Arriving at what you THINK is early in Regular Time = NO SEATS.

 

[Kel Kell]

Throwing away all my Disney mugs from UCAs of years past....yes I saved them and reused them more than once. Not that we are going to any comps there this season but if they cannot be used any longer no need for them to clutter up my cabinet. Damn you Disney for changing things up.

So.... there is an issue with the system that reads the microchips and a lot of the time they just flat out turn it off because it is such a hassle. I would bring one older mug and try to use it anyways. When we were there in January the whole system was out.

They do have photopass packages at WDW (same as Disneyland), but I don't think it would be worth your money unless you stay extra days and spend those days at the parks all day long to really take advantage of it. It would probably just be cheaper to buy 1-2 individual photos unless you are into getting your photos with a lot of characters, character buffets/dinner shows, photopass spots and photo rides.

Now it's called the memory maker and tied to those silly bands... but if you get a standard photopass card you can scan it at all the attractions and input it to your memory maker account (we went for a family vaca with all of my cousins, bought one between the four families and all shared).

Also, when you get those wrist bands to get you into the parks make sure they stay on your arms, mine broke and is currently floating around the parks somewhere.

 

[BuegeSmalls]

I have been to WDW many many times for IASC and Worlds and this just made my day reading it - Thanks for all the tips on the food. Be Our Guest is one of the places I can't wait to take my best friend who is coming with me this year but all the other food in Epcot is what I am looking forward to!! Thanks!!

If you want to make sit down dinner reservations try the Japanese place in Epcot! It's one of those hibachi places, it's lots of fun and the food was great.

 

[AScheer]

Been 3 times now since the new cup and unlucky for me the system has been working. You also can't reactivate one of the new cups, you have to buy a whole new cup.

Also for UCA HS nationals our bands only worked as room keys. We had actual cards and passes to get into parks, wwos, etc. The bands didn't do everything like they do if you're on a vacation. Not sure if it will be the same for worlds.


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Disney Time also applies to DINNER RESERVATIONS.

In Regular Time, you roll up to Applebees/Rainforest Cafe/whatever with your team and no reservations and you have a 3o min wait.

In Disney Time, you roll up to ANY RESTAURANT with your team wanting to eat (no reservations) and you have STARVATION because you will be eating hopes and dreams outside of Be Our Guest.

Should you be smart enough to make reservations, recognize that Disney Time plays into that as well.

For example: You have Reservations at Hometown Restaurant at 6 PM. You leave the house at 5:30. You get there just in time to be seated.

If you have Disney reservations at 6 PM and you leave your hotel at 5:30, you have the SAD FACE AND HUNGER because you are not going to make it.

 

[GForce]

Sometimes it can take a long time to find a Disney Transportation bus that will fit your whole team (if doing a team outing or something. For NHSCC we always traveled as a team). Make sure to put a decent amount of travel time in your schedule.

 

[icheer8796]

is this thread making anyone else extremely depressed because they're not going to Disney?