Lots of great suggestions already, but I did want to add about the long wait between the end of the last rotation and the awards. We went to a huge meet this weekend where the meet itself was run very well and the girls moved thru the events very quickly, but it took about 45 minutes to get the awards underway. Had we known it would be more than "just a couple more minutes" we could have given DD something to eat. I also love things in the goodie bags that the girls can use. Scrunchies are nice. At our hosted meet we did T-Shirts and a Lancome lip gloss that my DD absolutley loves and I try to steal from her. This meet we went to this past weekend gave out hoody sweatshirts with a coupon you could use to get their names airbrushed on for only $10.00, what a uniquie idea! My DD wore it TWO days in a row.
As a parent I also have to add the comfortable and available seating. It is so hard to be squeezed in like sardines. Even though we all get up and move around for good pictures, we like to be able to just sit sometimes when the meets get long. I know sometimes you have no choice, you have to use what the venue offers for chairs, LOL
Also, medals are nice at the lower levels. My DD is a L4 and last year almost all meets gave out medals. Being only 6, she never really won any of them. This year as a repeater she was almost always up on the podium finally, but often came off with just ribbons. Maybe awards was everyones big budget cut? Girls love clankity clank!
Shopping! I admit, I like to walk around some and browse thru gifts, leos and pins between rotations while stretching my legs. Especially at the lower levels we are aways looking to buy something for our DD's for a job well done that day.
Food, I am not a big food buyer at meets, unless it is first thing in the morning and a bagel will usually do it for me. But, I can see when you are someplace for a couple hours you want something other than pizza or a hot dog so variety is nice.