Uca Nationals

[stretch]

Worth the cost?

 

[cupieqt]

Not for us. We charge $750-800 for comp fees. Last time we went to Disney it was $500. For us that would put us competing only about 3 times for the year. I'd rather do 7-8 comps for the year.

Now we have some great comps locally so that's awesome for us. If you don't have any really good comps to choose from then it may be worth it. It IS a lot of fun.

 

[Travis_702]

I don't think so it is too expensive. You should check out NCA

 

[flcheermom]

It depends on where you are traveling from.

 

[12stepCheermom]

My CPs are going to UCA this year (our gym took only our lv 5 last year and this year is taking lv 4 and 5) I'm excited about it, but have a question from UCA veterans....I'm assuming you have to buy park hopper passes in order to get to the venue. If its me, my DH and my two CPs am I buying 4 park hopper passes for three days? That's pretty Daggum steep from what I was looking at last night or is there some deal, or do the CPs not have to have park hoppers or what?

I booked a hotel from reward points just off property with shuttle service to Disney so the hotel is free (intending to fly down on a regional airline that is cheaper) I'm just trying to figure out the rest of the cost. I'm thinking these Disney tickets are going to kill me.

Any UCA vets out there that can explain how the rest of the money will work. We paid competition fees already.

 

[flcheermom]

My CPs are going to UCA this year (our gym took only our lv 5 last year and this year is taking lv 4 and 5) I'm excited about it, but have a question from UCA veterans....I'm assuming you have to buy park hopper passes in order to get to the venue. If its me, my DH and my two CPs am I buying 4 park hopper passes for three days? That's pretty Daggum steep from what I was looking at last night or is there some deal, or do the CPs not have to have park hoppers or what?

I booked a hotel from reward points just off property with shuttle service to Disney so the hotel is free (intending to fly down on a regional airline that is cheaper) I'm just trying to figure out the rest of the cost. I'm thinking these Disney tickets are going to kill me.

Any UCA vets out there that can explain how the rest of the money will work. We paid competition fees already.

You do not need park hopper passes to get into Wide World of Sports - which is where most of the competition is held. That fee is $25.00 per person. I do not know what kind of package deal you bought, but most of the time, WWOS entry is not included in any type of park hopper passes. Sometimes, the Indiana Jones Venue has been used at Hollywood Studios - and therefore the park hopper pass would come in handy to get you in that park. This past UCA comp I believe all the levels competed at WWOS venue. If you look online at the UCA website it may be able to tell you where the levels will compete - although that info may not come out until the competition schedule is released. The cheerleaders will get a pass for the weekend (3 days I think) that includes their admission into WWOS and a park hopper pass as part of the their competition fee.

 

[flcheermom]

The 25.00 is per day.

 

[SheCheers]

My CPs are going to UCA this year (our gym took only our lv 5 last year and this year is taking lv 4 and 5) I'm excited about it, but have a question from UCA veterans....I'm assuming you have to buy park hopper passes in order to get to the venue. If its me, my DH and my two CPs am I buying 4 park hopper passes for three days? That's pretty Daggum steep from what I was looking at last night or is there some deal, or do the CPs not have to have park hoppers or what?

I booked a hotel from reward points just off property with shuttle service to Disney so the hotel is free (intending to fly down on a regional airline that is cheaper) I'm just trying to figure out the rest of the cost. I'm thinking these Disney tickets are going to kill me.

Any UCA vets out there that can explain how the rest of the money will work. We paid competition fees already.

We've gone every year for 4 years and thankfully are taking a year off this year.
Most likely you'll only be at WWoS, but some teams do compete at Indiana Jones (cp has competed at IJ as a level 1, 2 and 3), so you'd need to get at least a one day pass to enter there if that is where cp is competing, but you won't know that until the schedule comes out.
Park hoppers do not include entry into WWoS unless you purchase them through UCA (can be done at the tent at All Star Resort). Entry into WWoS is $25 per person per day. Which for a family becomes ridiculously expensive...LOL but your cp's entry will be covered in their comp fees.

If you travel through the UCA package, transportation to and from the airport is included as well as a parkhopper and entrance into WWoS. If you book separately, transportation is on you (which it seems you have taken care of) and there is a "commuter fee" charged by UCA.

However, you may want to figure out the shuttle from your hotel to Disney, and see if it goes to WWorS or where ever your team is meeting.

 

[12stepCheermom]

Yay! Thanks for the info. That makes it MUCH cheaper. We are the type that stay at the competition all day anyway so "doing Disney" wasn't on our list. If we have any spare time, it's universal my kids want to go to anyway. When we were there before my son wasn't tall enough to ride The Hulk and now (just barely 14) he's 5-11 so I'm pretty sure he qualifies :) I'll check into the packages. I have the hotel reserved just in case. I can always cancel it later if there's some other deal the gym gets.

Thanks again fierce peeps!

 

[Sophie4C]

It's absolutely worth the cost. Yes, it's expensive, but cheer is an expensive sport. I had the best time last year, and you get a 4-day (I believe) park hopper pass, so you don't have to pay to get into parks. You also get very good competition. Well worth it, especially when you come home wearing satin (if ya know what I mean (; )

 

[WCmom]

We are going again this year. What kills me is it's the weekend right after NCA. March is a very expensive month in our house :)

 

[cheerstalker2]

My CPs are going to UCA this year (our gym took only our lv 5 last year and this year is taking lv 4 and 5) I'm excited about it, but have a question from UCA veterans....I'm assuming you have to buy park hopper passes in order to get to the venue. If its me, my DH and my two CPs am I buying 4 park hopper passes for three days? That's pretty Daggum steep from what I was looking at last night or is there some deal, or do the CPs not have to have park hoppers or what?

I booked a hotel from reward points just off property with shuttle service to Disney so the hotel is free (intending to fly down on a regional airline that is cheaper) I'm just trying to figure out the rest of the cost. I'm thinking these Disney tickets are going to kill me.

Any UCA vets out there that can explain how the rest of the money will work. We paid competition fees already.

Hi ,
We go to UCA every year. I really love this competition however it is expensive. We always stay at the sports hotel which is through the package UCA offers. This includes your park hopper passes, hotel and entrance into the comp. If your CP is just competing at the sports center you do not need passes just pay $25.00 entrance feel to the espn zone. UCA does hold a special night at mgm studios sunday night and that is also through the package and I am sure they will want to attend that. If you dont care about the parks this is your best way to go. Unfortunately, UCA does not tell you which venue you are competing at till just before the comp. You can also get discounted park hopper passes through UCA. Good luck and I am sure you will enjoy this comp as it is alot of fun. :)

 

[KikiD22]

IMHO, UCA was not worth the money that I had to spend to go there this past March. Don't get me wrong, it was a good experience for my CP, but I personally could have done without. Being there with a 7-year-old meant the parks were pretty much unavoidable, and total cost for me and my CP alone (also splitting the cost of 3 nights at the hotel with another mom and CP) was close to $2100 for the trip. That included airfare from Chicago, 1/2 the cost of the hotel room at the Dolphin Hotel (checked in Friday, checked out Monday, got a great deal from our gym), transportation to and from the airport, park hopper pass/entry fee from UCA for CP, park hopper through UCA for me, food, and incidentals. It is true what others mentioned above, that you don't find out what venue you are competing at until about a week before the actual competition, and there is a possibility of teams competing at Hollywood Studios, which does require a park ticket to enter. This past season, both level 2 and 3 teams competed at Hollywood studios.

Aside from the finances, I just found it wasn't a very enjoyable competition to attend. I understood going into it that there would be a good amount of running from place to place, but some of the scheduling left much to be desired.