Disney to expand ESPN wide world of sports

L

lt94

New Member
Original Poster
"Disney announced plans Tuesday to expand the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.

Disney World said additional playing fields are planned, as well as more lights, digital video boards and audio systems. They said the enhancements will provide athletes with a one-of-a-kind ESPN-style sports experience.

The expansion plans involve adding 25 acres to the 270-acre complex.

The project should be completed by early 2012. The new playing fields will be able to be used for football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey"
per wesh news
 
thehowiet

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
Does the WWoS complex generate a lot of revenue for WDW? I never bother to go there when I visit WDW so I guess I just never realized there was such a demand for the complex that it needs an expansion.

I would like to make it down there someday during spring training when the Phillies are playing the Braves.
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
thehowiet said:
Does the WWoS complex generate a lot of revenue for WDW? I never bother to go there when I visit WDW so I guess I just never realized there was such a demand for the complex that it needs an expansion.

I would like to make it down there someday during spring training when the Phillies are playing the Braves.
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It's not a draw for regular family vacationers such as you and I. But for sports teams, little leagues, and travel tournaments for all sorts, it's a huge draw. There is pretty much always some tournament going on at the complex, be it Football, Cheer, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, etc. And of course the Spring Training for baseball and Pre Season Training for the Buccaneers.
 
thehowiet

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
devoy1701 said:
It's not a draw for regular family vacationers such as you and I. But for sports teams, little leagues, and travel tournaments for all sorts, it's a huge draw. There is pretty much always some tournament going on at the complex, be it Football, Cheer, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, etc. And of course the Spring Training for baseball and Pre Season Training for the Buccaneers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! Like I said, I have yet to make a trip to the complex so I know very little about the place. I figured it had to have at least a reasonable draw to be a complex of that size, or else TDO would have just closed it down. :ROFLOL:

It must be very cool to be a youth athlete and get to compete in WDW.
 
MKCP 1985

MKCP 1985

Well-Known Member
I know some people whose girls have played volleyball at the Milk House. What a great experience that would have been for my daughter!

My son played travel baseball from Texas to Florida, but never made it to Central Florida. I would have loved for him to have played on the field there. :king:

It seems like a smart move to me. Travel ball is still a growing market and the expansion means more teams traveling down from all over the place, staying at the value resorts and playing ball while mom and dad bring the rest of the family for a few days of Disney parks. And not only travel ball, but many high schools are scheduling games versus other high schools during spring break, so there's that as well.
 
Mickey_777

Mickey_777

Well-Known Member
MKCP 1985 said:
It seems like a smart move to me. Travel ball is still a growing market and the expansion means more teams traveling down from all over the place, staying at the value resorts and playing ball while mom and dad bring the rest of the family for a few days of Disney parks. And not only travel ball, but many high schools are scheduling games versus other high schools during spring break, so there's that as well.
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And they say TDO never spends any money. HA!!!

I totally agree with this post. More fields = more competitions = more teams = more families spending lots of $$$ at good ol' WDW :)
 
Brian_WDW74

Brian_WDW74

Member
devoy1701 said:
It's not a draw for regular family vacationers such as you and I. But for sports teams, little leagues, and travel tournaments for all sorts, it's a huge draw. There is pretty much always some tournament going on at the complex, be it Football, Cheer, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, etc. And of course the Spring Training for baseball and Pre Season Training for the Buccaneers.
Click to expand...

FYI, the Bucs stopped training at WWoS in 2009. They now stay home in Tampa. But the Atlanta Braves still have their training at WWoS.
 
captainkidd

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
How exciting. The WWOS used to be cool when they had the NFL Experience. That was a great idea. Then, for some unknown ridiculous reason, they got rid of it.
 
M

MSaboCLBR

New Member
This place is amazing. I take a baseball team there every year to play and at the same time there are also soccer and basketball tournaments and cheerleading cometitions going on. The number of athletes and their families that now spend up to a week or more down there is incredible. I know for our tournament they purposely schedule everything in the morning so that you can spend your afternoons and evenings in the parks. They know what they are doing with that complex and they do it very well. It is the highlight of our season every year to play there.
 
captainkidd

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
MSaboCLBR said:
This place is amazing. I take a baseball team there every year to play and at the same time there are also soccer and basketball tournaments and cheerleading cometitions going on. The number of athletes and their families that now spend up to a week or more down there is incredible. I know for our tournament they purposely schedule everything in the morning so that you can spend your afternoons and evenings in the parks. They know what they are doing with that complex and they do it very well. It is the highlight of our season every year to play there.
Click to expand...

We know. Believe me, we know.
 
c-one

c-one

Well-Known Member
I haven't been there since the Rays had a minor-league team there. Which was quite a few years ago, now that I think about it. The baseball stadium is gorgeous, but there can't have been more than 150 people there. Too bad.
 
baymenxpac

baymenxpac

Well-Known Member
the braves do HUGE attendance numbers for spring training there. and it's by far and away the best stadium to watch a game in the entire grapefruit league. food is fairly priced and delicious. it's such a juxtaposition from say...osceola county stadium is kissimmee where the astros train. take a 15 minute drive and you'll see what the disney difference really is.

so between the very profitable spring training and the extremely popular sports tourneys, i'm sure wide world is well worth it for disney.
 
disneyrcks

disneyrcks

Well-Known Member
unkadug said:
Ha...that was the thread for the year 2004 when the WWoS was only 200 acres large.

WWoS is now 270 acres large ...making the old thread outdated and obsolete. :shrug:
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I totally thought I was missing something. I started reading it and something didn't seem to add up. Then I realized it was from 2004 :lol:
 
L

lt94

New Member
Original Poster
Disney announced this week on Tuesday
not an old thread and size is going from 270 to 295 with field improvements
making everything bigger for 2012
 

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