During our tenure of three soccer-playing kids and thousands of games and tournaments, until this past weekend I had managed to somehow avoid my little Messi’s participating in any tournament taking place at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida.
My Disney tournament aversion was intentional.
I thought –
Why should my daughter’s team spend all of this cash for a tournament we could find locally?
Are the lavish facilities at Disney reason enough to pay thousands for the team’s admission, and sign families up for a multiple night stay in the shadow of the “happiest place on Earth”?
Over the past weekend, though, my daughter’s experience may have changed my tune (a bit).
Despite my reservations, my daughter played and we paid. And, in the afterglow, I am realizing that my skepticism may have been due to ignorance for what we were in for.
Maybe more awareness would have helped ignorance, like:
The Bad
- The Cost
Speaking from the soccer field, a cost of entering a Disney tournament is about 40% more than any tournament our team might play in locally (the Tampa area). Do not put your wallet away, though, you will be required to purchase a ticket to get into the facility and watch your son or daughter participate. For our group of four, admission to the facilities totaled nearly $130 for the three days ($36 per adult, $26 for kids ages 3-9).
Take heart, spectators did park for FREE and could carry in coolers with food and drinks. If your family did elect to buy food at the facility, expect Disney World pricing – drinks from $5 to $10 apiece and fast food or bar and grill-type entrees for $10 to $20.
- The Walking
If you do not enjoy walking (and sweating profusely in the Florida sun) your experience may get off to a rough start. From parking lot to the closest field has to be 0.5 miles – and likely double that to those fields in the distance. There are golf cart shuttles to help, but not akin to the omnipresent tram services in the other Disney theme parks.
- The Elements
It was hot last weekend – even by Florida standards. My daughter’s team was dropping like flies as the temperatures on the field reached 110 degrees. For spectators, shaded areas are limited.
Good news, though, the buildings that line the entry way are all air conditioned and provide ample space for anyone to take a cool respite. Given the temperatures, I was disappointed with the lack of free, accessible water provided by the tournament. Can Disney not afford several hydration stations for fans to fill up a water bottle?
Pro tip: the building with food and seating on the main drag has Coke machines that can dispense cold water. The staff was completely fine with passersby filling up water bottles in the cafeteria.
The Good
- Facilities
There are very few fields that can stack up to those at Disney. For as far as the eye can see, perfectly flat, perfectly green Bermuda grass welcomes spectators and players. There are grandstands for patrons, benches for players, trainers located around the park, food trucks, and enough space to have your own space in this sporting paradise. After walking into the playing fields, there is a large terrace and hill of grass that can be used for non-participating kids to run, play tag, or just burn off energy. As I expected, the facilities were world class – the best I’ve seen.
- The Competition/Diversity
A typically tournament, has a powerhouse team, a few evenly matched squads, and a team that gets throttled each match. The competition at WWOS was the same, however, the top-end of the bracket was ridiculously good – like an All-Star team. If you plan to play, make sure your team is ready for the competition they might face.
Another cool feature of the tournament was the diversity of teams that participate. Our team played an opponent from South Carolina in addition to two local Orlando competitors. In announcing the winners and runners up, we were introduced to teams from Brampton, Ontario, Canada and Bogota, Columbia. There is no other place for kids to witness such cultural and geographic diversity on a local field of play.
- The Camaraderie
“I want to go back.”
“We had so much fun.”
“I wonder if I’ll get to play here again.”
The above statements are a sampling of things my exhausted daughter, Viviana, said to us on the way home from playing at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. There was no question that her team came back even closer for having spent the weekend bonding over some futbol at Disney.
Should your team pay to play at ESPN WWOS?
Unless every parent on your kids’ team is aligned to spending whatever it takes to provide their athletes with a Disney sports experience, I’d offer a few things to consider before heading to sunny Orlando to compete.
- Question #1: Is your team considered very good locally?
The ratio of team capability and distance you must travel to play at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports must be in line. If you’re traveling from Brampton, Canada, you should have a great team. For my kids, traversing just 1.5 hours, a mid-level team that might lose all of its games while playing does not seem like such an egregious waste of resources. Bottom line: the farther you have to travel (and the more parents must spend), the better your team should be.
- Question #2: Does your team care about competing nationally?
Coaches, parents, and players love to compare themselves to each other. If your team, coach, or organization is okay being the best locally with no regard for how your talent might stack up against broader, national and international competition, I’d vote to save your time and money. Additionally, if competing against very good international squads might destroy the confidence your team has garnered by winning local competitions, I would advocate for saving the money, salvaging your ego, and playing closer to home.
- Question #3: Will your son/daughter (and their team) have other things that they’ll look forward to afterward?
Participating at Disney over the weekend was the highlight of Vivi’s young soccer career. It might be THE thing she’ll remember about participating when she is older. That is really cool and validates the time and money spent to provide her with the opportunity for us.
That said, will the rest of the season pale in comparison to my daughter’s experience over Labor Day weekend at Disney? I believe this to be a particularly important consideration for any pre-high school-aged team.
Providing this grand opportunity for teams of 8 to 11-year-olds, to me, is premature. From my lawn chair, I think that waiting until Vivi was closer to high school was the perfect time for this experience. By holding out, I believe heightened Vivi’s weekend’s experience.
As I type now, I am not sure how I feel. I’m tempted to add up the cost of our weekend playing soccer at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports – that would be depressing.
But, I won’t.
The weekend was, begrudgingly, better than I’d assumed it would be. Vivi’s smile was bigger than it had been after losing a final’s game than ever before. I could feel equal amounts of joy permeating from her teammates.
The expense report, I guess can wait. I just hope that so can my 9 year-old soccer playing son who is itching for his shot at playing on Disney’s amazing fields.
