If you’re looking ahead at planning a future Disney World vacation, we’ve got an important heads-up for you!
Grand Slam Pool at All-Star Sports
When it comes to planning a Disney World trip, there are certain times of the year that you may want to avoid if you’re trying to beat the crowds (as much as possible, that is). Some of those ultra-busy times are a little more obvious, like during major holidays, long weekends, or spring break. But sometimes there are other, more under-the-radar events happening around Disney World that can also come with unexpected crowds!
A major example of those sneaky, crowd-drawing events are the athletic competitions that are often held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World. The complex is huge and hosts events that feature thousands of athletes each year from multiple sports, including cheerleading, soccer, baseball, and more.
ESPN Wide World of Sports
And another athletic competition has made it onto the upcoming schedule at ESPN Wide World of Sports! Ripken Baseball, a youth baseball organization, announced plans to host premier youth baseball experiences at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the summers of 2025 and 2026, which will include four week-long tournaments each year.
Baseball Stadium
The Ripken Experience at Walt Disney World Resort will give teams from around the country the chance to compete in world-class tournaments for ages 10U to 16U. The games will take place across 11 ballfields, including six youth-sized fields and five professional-sized fields.
Home Plate
In addition to the competition, the experience includes leisure time for players and their families to explore the Disney parks, which means a bump in crowds could be possible throughout the tournament.
Dugout
Each week-long experience will include a minimum of six games and a maximum of nine games, plus opening day ceremonies and skills competitions. The tournament dates for 2025 are as follows:
- Week 1: June 8th, 2025 to June 13th, 2025
- Week 2: June 15th, 2025 to June 20th, 2025
- Week 3: June 22nd, 2025 to June 27th, 2025
- Week 4: July 6th, 2025 to July 11th, 2025
Specific dates for 2026 will be announced later.
Wide World of Sports
If you’re planning a Disney vacation for the summer of 2025, keep in mind that you could experience some extra crowds from the baseball tournament. In particular, you may want to be mindful of booking a stay at Disney’s All-Star Hotels during those dates, as athletes that are in Disney World for competitions often stay in those hotels due to their proximity to ESPN Wide World of Sports and their value price point.
All-Star Sports
We’ll report back if we spot any other newly scheduled events happening around Disney World that could impact your vacation plans, so stay tuned to DFB for the latest news!
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Have you ever competed at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
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Thank you for the warning!
While we’ve stayed at the All Stars during Pop Warner events and had lots of kids staying there too, the problems were minor, mainly a crowded food court early in the morning before they rushed off to their day’s programs, and more people in the pools. While some people have reported noise issues, we only had a noise problem once, and that was adults smoking and drinking outside their room at 2:00 a.m. I went out and asked for quiet, and they apologized and went inside. Most of the kids were pretty polite at the resort and they are gone in the daytime and often in the evening as well. The resort wasn’t any more crowded than if it were filled with families and couples. Although we did encounter some loud groups of cheerleaders yelling in the parks, we didn’t really notice any big bump in crowds, given they have four parks and a water park to spread out over. Sports is the most popular with the football and baseball groups; we usually stay in Music.