Parents Presidential Classic @ ESPN/Disney....Who's going?

[blueredzone]

Presidential classic is just a few weeks away. I know I have ran into some that are going. Just wanted to get an idea on how many are going. Also wanted to know if there is any advice you veterans of the meet can give this newbie about it.

 

[Gym proud]

We will be there! It's our first time too!

 

[rgmom]

Blueredzone,
We did that meet in 2013, and still to this day, my daughters say that was their favorite meet ever! Unfortunately, we are not going this year.
My advice is:
If you are staying on property and plan to use the Disney buses to travel to the WW of Sports, leave plenty of extra travel time, the buses do not run frequently. If you are competing during the last session, in the evening, I would book a cab back to take you back to the hotel.
Because it's Presidents Day weekend, the parks are very crowded, take advantage of fast passes, as much as possible.
Pack a warm jacket, it was freezing (for FL) the year we went.
Bring your wallet!! Souvenir sweatshirts were about $70 each! Lol
Enjoy and best of luck to your daughter/son!

 

[munchkin3]

Blueredzone,
We did that meet in 2013, and still to this day, my daughters say that was their favorite meet ever! Unfortunately, we are not going this year.
My advice is:
If you are staying on property and plan to use the Disney buses to travel to the WW of Sports, leave plenty of extra travel time, the buses do not run frequently. If you are competing during the last session, in the evening, I would book a cab back to take you back to the hotel.
Because it's Presidents Day weekend, the parks are very crowded, take advantage of fast passes, as much as possible.
Pack a warm jacket, it was freezing (for FL) the year we went.
Bring your wallet!! Souvenir sweatshirts were about $70 each! Lol
Enjoy and best of luck to your daughter/son!

All of this.......

Last year over 2000 girls only competed. for the boys it must have been around 500.......
SUPER FUN! also, make your dinner reservations early....go to Link Removed

 

[mimi]

We will be at Presidential. We live in FL so we have the luxury of coming to Disney and the other parks often.

It will be very crowded, as others have stated. You can actually fast pass online on your phone before going into the parks, from what I understand. I have not done it yet but I've heard about it. Just be aware I think you are only allowed to fast pass a total of 3 rides so make your choices wisely.

As far as the meet goes, there is ample parking but some of it is a bit of a walk, so just leave yourself plenty of time on the transportation end of things.

Other than that the disney meets are usually a lot of fun and very well run. There will be a ton of gyms there from all over the world!

My daughter has competed at Wide World of Sports at least 3 times that I can remember but I still get goosebumps when we walk in. There is something so stinking cool about getting to compete in a venue like that. Have a great time!

And yes, your wallet will take a beating but more than likely you will get caught up in the "magic" of it all and you won't think about it.

 

[sevenatenine2]

Is this the meet where you have to stay in a certain hotel in order to compete in the meet? I looked into one Disney meet and it was like that and left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Is this the meet where you have to stay in a certain hotel in order to compete in the meet? I looked into one Disney meet and it was like that and left a bad taste in my mouth.

No! Sevenatenine2, if that were true, I'd refuse to go. That's preposterous, to make all those gymnasts and families stay at certain hotels. I and I'm sure everyone else spends how much they want to on hotel.

 

[sevenatenine2]

I'm glad to hear that! I know I saw that at a Disney meet that I was looking at a few years ago, but I can't remember which one. I'm glad that isn't common place in gymnastics.

A good friend of mine whose daughter is a junior in high school plays select volleyball. My daughter may be heading down the same road later on, and we were talking about it and she said that at all these huge volleyball tournaments, 80% of the team is required to stay at the hotel (and pay rack rate, I'm sure). I think it's a terrible racket. We love to travel and we love to stay in nice places, but with Priceline and other tools we hardly ever pay rack rate anywhere.

 

[blueredzone]

I'm glad to hear that! I know I saw that at a Disney meet that I was looking at a few years ago, but I can't remember which one. I'm glad that isn't common place in gymnastics.

A good friend of mine whose daughter is a junior in high school plays select volleyball. My daughter may be heading down the same road later on, and we were talking about it and she said that at all these huge volleyball tournaments, 80% of the team is required to stay at the hotel (and pay rack rate, I'm sure). I think it's a terrible racket. We love to travel and we love to stay in nice places, but with Priceline and other tools we hardly ever pay rack rate anywhere.

If these organizations don't set up deals than there crazy. Which I am assuming they are doing, since your strongly encouraged to stay at the hotel provided. The reasoning behind that is if they don't fill the number of rooms someone has to pay the remaining number of rooms not sold. It sounds though like the price may be to steep for some. They either need a better negotiator or stay at a different hotel.

The parents should get together and sign up for hotel rewards and only stay with that brand. That way you can start using points for free rooms in the future.

 

[mimi]

Is this the meet where you have to stay in a certain hotel in order to compete in the meet? I looked into one Disney meet and it was like that and left a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm not sure about that. We are staying in a Disney hotel but that is only because we got a pretty good rate as a FL resident. We've never been told we had to stay in a Disney hotel though.

 

[blueredzone]

Meet starts on Friday!! Good luck all!

 

[blueredzone]

So how is everyone doing? My DD got 4th AA! Got her highest scores of the season on Vault, Bars, and Beam. She rocked it!

All of you were so right, parks were crowded. I saw a 100 minute wait for peter pans flight. Crazy!

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

My DD competes today. Yesterday, we went to the outlet mall, 40 minutes to find parking.

 

[ladybird]

We are competing right now. Will keep you posted!

 

[ladybird]

Yes, crowds EVERYWHERE!

DD up 1st on bars, 5th on floor and 6th AA. Had a personal best on vault.

All said, this has been a wonderful experience. Going home tomorrow!

 

[blueredzone]

We are leaving tomorrow too. It seems like we just got here. Too short!

 

[meganliz77]

We are heading to WDW this next weekend for vacation... Maybe our next trip there we can plan it to stop in and watch!!