Welcome to planDisney, Christina! Thanks so much for coming to us with your question today. It's always smart to check what events are happening during your vacation window, and I love that you're planning ahead. February is such a great time to visit Walt Disney World, and I'm happy to chat about what you can expect if there's a sports event during your stay.
You're right, there is typically a cheerleading competition around the time of your trip in early February, often taking place at
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. But here's the good news: you probably won't even notice it in the parks! Most of the cheer groups are busy with their competitions during the day, so they're not spending a ton of time in the theme parks when you're likely to be enjoying attractions.
What you might notice is that many of the cheer teams tend to stay at the
Disney Value Resorts, like
Disney's All-Star Sports or
All-Star Movies, so if you're staying at one of those, you may see larger groups around the food courts or pools. But, as for the parks themselves, they should feel pretty normal in terms of crowd levels, especially if you're using
Lightning Lane and arriving early.
That said, sometimes one of the parks may host a private after-hours celebration for the athletes, which means a park could close a bit earlier than usual. I'd recommend keeping an eye on the
park hours calendar as your trip gets closer, just in case any changes pop up. If a park does close early one evening, you could always plan to hop over to another or spend some extra time soaking in the magic at your resort.
So, don't worry, you're in great shape with your dates, and you'll have a wonderful time no matter which park you visit. If you have any more questions about your trip, please let us know, and we'll be happy to help!
Jessica