Hello,
Im going to booking my trip to florida for ESPN the weekend. :sohappy: I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to do or see? I plan to be at Hollywood Studios for 1 day and Mk for 1 day and some other stuff in between....
So does anyone have any suggestions? :shrug:
I've been there for ESPN The Weekend 4 times (2004, 2005, 2007, & 2009). I watch a lot of ESPN, but I was at Disney for a week to experience the parks and attractions and shows and restaurants and resorts. Our family vacations at WDW just happen to fall during ESPN The Weekend some years. Our purpose for going isn't for ESPN The Weekend.
So, your millage may vary if you're going there just for this event, but here are my impressions (as someone who goes often during ESPN The Weekend by happenstance):
- ESPN The Weekend is pretty much isolated to The Studios, and almost all of the activity is centered in front of The Sorcerer's Hat where the ESPN stage is. There may be some random events/autograph sessions at the ESPN Club on the Boardwalk or other stuff going on at the Wide World of Sports. Best bet is to check the WDW/ESPN The Weekend website. I was at the Beach Club last year for ESPN The Weekend and don't recall a single event being held at the ESPN Club, and we walked by numerous times since our resort was so close. But there may been something going on there and our group missed it.
- I don't recall any of specific "athlete autograph sessions" but I'll admit I never looked for them.
- The area around the hat is obviously much more congested. What "spontaneous" autograph opportunities do seem to exist are on the rope line around the stage. When the athletes and TV personalities are done filming an interview, many of them shake hands and wave to people and sign autographs at the rope lines/crowd barriers.
- There's a good chance you might have some random athlete/ESPN personality encounters at the Studios and elsewhere on property. Last year, my son and I were a maybe 10-15 feet behind ________ Vitale and what looked like his grandaughters in the Fastpass return line at Toy Story Mania.
- In years past, some of the attractions/shows at the Studios changed for ESPN The Weekend to fit the theme-ing. For instance, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Play It! show changed to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Play It! - Sports Edition or something like that, and instead of asking general knowledge questions, the game was centered around sports trivia, and the Schwab guy from Stump the Schwab was the "friend" for the Phone-A-Friend contestant lifelines. As that show's building has been taken over by TSM, I don't think any of the attractions adapt for ESPN The Weekend now.
- I think they have special ESPN The Weekend merchandise near the Sorcerer's Hat if you're looking for that kind of stuff.
- A lot of the featured athletes and TV personalities appear in the afternoon parade at the Studios.
- Here's my biggest takeaway from the 4 times I've been at WDW during the ESPN Weekend: it's really more of a "made for TV" event -- an opportunity for Disney to promote WDW in front of the ESPN audience rather than an event for park guests to enjoy. In that sense, it's pretty underwhelming for park guests. I don't really have any "suggestions" for what to do during the weekend because unfortunately, there's not much "to do" besides stand around and watch them film shows, which may be exactly what you're after. So my suggestion is hang around by The Sorcerer's Hat at the Studios and watch all the action.
