Geezer12
Registered: March 2009
Location: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Mon March 16, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Crowds low, lots of atheletes to see.
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Cons:
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no autograph or photo sessions available
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I go every year to this event. It's done well and the crowds are low which makes it great to get close to some of the stars. I do wish that they would set up autograph booths for signings as well as opportunities for photos with the atheletes. They are always whisked away quickly right after their appearance by a handler with no real opportunity for any interaction with them. I took my wife to the Super Soap Weekend there and she was able to meet all the stars, talk to them for a few minutes and get an autograph and photo taken with each one.This would be a nice touch if they added this feature for the ESPN The Weekend as well. Overall, I would go again. Great weekend.
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cgessner
Registered: March 2009
Location: Claremont, NH
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Tue March 10, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Plenty of opportunities to meet athletes and ESPN personalities
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Cons:
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Longer lines for rides at Hollywood Studios during this weekend
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If you love sports, and I mean sports of all sorts, this weekend event can't be beat. Between the ability to meet and greet athletes, participate in the ESPN Sportszone, and be a part of various meet/greets (Mike & Mike in the morning, Baseball Tonight, etc...) you simply won't have a better time. I also took part in the ESPN 5K inaugural event at Hollywood Studios and it was fantastic! If you're in the area, it can't be beat, and outside of the 5K road race, everything is included in the price of admission.
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weheartdisney
Registered: March 2008
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Sat March 7, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Live shows and accessibility
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Cons:
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Autograph seekers for profit
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This was our second year attending the ESPN Weekend; my husband attended all 3 days last year, and we both went all 3 days this year.
Lots of positives about this event. The majority of the athletes and ESPN personalities were accessible to the fans for photos and autographs. You had opportunities to hear the athletes' honest perspectives on various topics (HGH and steriod use being high up there). For the most part, the events my husband wanted to attend were spaced out well. There were a couple of times where we found ourselves racing from one show to the next, but we usually made it in time.
There were a few sour notes, however. One in particular was the apparent autograph seeker for profit. These people were clearly there to get autographs from some big-name athletes with the intention of selling them later. Another disappointment was one particular athlete who did not seem like he wanted to be there at all; his body language during Stump the Schwab spoke volumes. On the contrary, Mike Greenberg could not be more accommodating. He willingly posed for pictures when out in the crowds and said that this weekend was for the fans. The highlight for my husband was having his picture taken with Jim Palmer; he wants to e-mail it to all of his friends!
Overall, this weekend was great fun. We are already planning for next year, and we might even try the 5k race. If you go, try not to have the expectation that you will get an autograph or photo with a particular athlete; go for the shows and interviews.
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killnme
Registered: March 2009
Location: FL
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Fri March 6, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Low crowds
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Cons:
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Same stars as the past 4 years
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I have gone every year WDW has had ESPN the Weekend. This year it seems like they just redid 2008. Come on how many times can you see Donnie Edwards or Maurcie Jones Drew. WDW and ESPN need to try and get the heavy hitters in there. Atleast bring the ESPN heavy hitters like the PTI guys. It is the down season for college football why not get the gameday crew down there.
The interactive area was fun, but I will swear on my new Nike driver the golf computer is off on the distance.
I hope next year they have new and better guests.
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dcdeb
Registered: October 2005
Posts: 51
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Review Date: Tue March 25, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Lots to see and do
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Cons:
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Lots of people
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We had a better-than-expected time at ESPN the Weekend, considering that our nearly 16-year-old son is really the only sports fan in the family. The athletes were fairly accessible -- son was able to get autographs from most of the stars he wanted to get. There were some fairly big names (Cal Ripken, Martina Navratilova) and lots of ESPN on-air personalities as well. Wish women had been better represented, but that's my own bias... Several of the shows allowed for real interaction with the athletes -- especially the Dream Job Experience, which our son was chosen for and won! (See his blog about it here:
http://allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2008/03/a_different_disney_experience_1.html)
Overall, I'd probably visit this event again -- it was a good time.
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BodylikeHercules
Registered: April 2007
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great atmosphere for the sports fan, Mel Kiper Jr. not there
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Cons:
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The most disorganized special event of the year, Mercury Morris was there!!!
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This is the second year in a row I have attended this event. Last year we took advantage of the extra magic hour to beat the locals, this year there was no EMH in the AM during the ESPN Weekend. We attended Friday early morning & made a bee line for the interactive area just beyond the Rock N Roller Coaster. Despite having to get a wristband to participate which created a line when we were eager to get started, this made it easier as we didn't have to keep signing releases throughout the morning. The NBA Jam Van has some new things this year which is great since last years we had seen the previous year at a Six Flags park. I was looking forward to the IRL game which was not back this year, but my wife & I had lots of fun playing tennis. The Stump the Schwab show was great & as an added bonus my wife & I took a picture with Mike Greenberg after the show. I have to admit that the last minute cancellations from sports figures without notice & the lack of autograph sessions can be disappointing. It was humorous watching NFL players taking pictures next to Handy Manny & Jojo & Goliath near the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage entrance. The best part of the event is that with the NFL Combine taking place during the same weekend as the ESPN Weekend there was no Mel Kiper Jr. this year!!! Hopefully they will never bring Mel Kiper Jr. as I would hate to skip this event because of one annoying character. The worst part was Mercury Morris was at the event & I could NOT bring myself to sit through the NFL Live Show if he was a guest so I missed it. Hopefully they will NOT bring him back next year!
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Pluto941
Registered: February 2008
Location: North Port Florida
Posts: 10
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Review Date: Wed March 5, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Festive atmosphere for sports fans with and non-fans alike with relatively small crowds.
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Cons:
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the area where events take place could be set up better
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Just returned from our trip from the dates 2/29/08 - 3/4/08. This was our 2nd trip in a row to ESPN the Weekend. This becoming one of my favorite times of year to visit DW! I think it improved from last year and its a great DW spin on sports. The biggest plus for me is the low crowd levels at every single park and the chance to see some great sports althetes. Even at DHS the crowds were not too bad. Its fun for kids and adults! I will most likely be back next year.
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BodylikeHercules
Registered: April 2007
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Sun June 17, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Tons of sports activities & Mel Kiper Jr. was not there!!!!
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Cons:
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Interactive area next to Rock N Roller coaster which increased the lines to the thrill rides!
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This was a great weekend event that was perfect for the sports fan without going overboard. We didn't partake in any of the celebrity meet & greets or signings, but we had lots of fun in the interactive area playing for about 3 hours. We enjoyed the Stump the Schwaub show & the Cold Pizza show & I even got a pic with the ever popular Skip Bayless without waiting on a line. Because we were Disney resort guests we got in before the locals & non-Disney resort guests which allowed us to do quite a few things before the lines got out of hand especially the game where you can play in a real IRL race car. The beat part was not seeing the self proclaimed NFL maven Mal Kiper Jr. hopefully they won't have him there next year as I plan on attening again in the future.
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rzeta94
Registered: March 2007
Location: MI
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Sat March 10, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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lots of ESPN personalities and sports stars around - Crowd level not too big
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Cons:
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no autograph sessions - need better mix of sport stars
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This was my first time to WDW! I loved the ESPN weekend. Crowds were not very big and we were able to get a couple of autographs when they were walking off the stage but it would be nice to have something set up elsewhere also. I couldn't believe how lite the crowds were. I thought it would of pulled in a lot more people but as it keeps growing I'm sure more and more people will turn out. I was disappointed in that some of the stars were NO SHOWS! But the people on stage never let us know ahead of time so we waited for over an hour for a specific sport star who was never there...I was very disappointed in that  I was suprised that since NEXTEL CUP was off for the weekend that they didn't tap into that more espically since ESPN is now broadcasting some of the races! I'm hoping in the upcoming years that they really get a more diverse group of stars. And it would be great if they kept you updated if someone has canceled!
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rclecp
Registered: March 2007
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Wed March 7, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Nice Mix of Sports Stars, Crowds not as bad as one would think
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Cons:
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No Set Autograph Booths
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This is my third year of going to "ESPN The Weekend" and it continues to improve as an event for the sports fan to see and possibly talk with his/her sports "heroes", including the ESPN on-air talent. Each year, the accessibility to the "talent" improves and the crowds are not as heavy as one might think, though I wonder as time goes on, whether the event will become too popular, especially among the "professional autograph set".
Overall, this is a wonderful event. A few areas the ESPN folks might want to look at:
1) Like "Star Wars Weekend", have a few scheduled autograph booths (except skip the fast pass tickets the SW Weekend uses- make it first come first serve).
2) The mix of sports stars could use improvement. Where were tennis, IRL/Nascar, golf (other than Ms. Sorenstam), and Olympics (other than Ms. Kwan)?
3) Have more of the shows broadcast down there - PTI? Around the Horn?
Again, this is a wonderful event and maybe ESPN will realize how much better it can be in the years ahead.
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McFlynnTHM
Registered: January 2007
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Thu January 11, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great ESPN/sports-related activites, big names
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Cons:
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Crowds are the worst part, but what do you expect?
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I'm primarily a football fan, with some baseball thrown in for good measure (I'm from Massachusetts! I have to love the Sox!), and with ESPN's The Weekend falling outside of regular season play for those two sports, it's great for someone like me. There are ESPN and sports celebrities all over, and a lot of really cool events and activities to participate in. I'm sad that, with Millionaire closed, there won't be the sports Millionaire this year, but I'm sure they'll make up for it somehow!
I went last year, and it was an absolute blast for someone even casually interested in sports. For the sports fanatics who would do well on Stump the Schwab, you can't miss this!
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davinakb
Registered: October 2006
Posts: 18
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Review Date: Mon October 16, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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lots of ESPN personalities and sports stars around
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Cons:
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weekend crowds = long waits
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Not a diehard sports fan, but had fun last spring at my first ESPN the Weekend. If you wait at the stage area, you can be in the crowd shots for SportsCenter! Sports themed Millionaire was fun (sniff, will miss it). Really enjoyed the groups with different programs (NFL, Baseball Tonight) and those interactions. Wish the schedule of guest athletes was more accurate (we missed a day, not knowing who'd be there).
It did seem that the event was heavy in baseball, with spring training and all; and football athletes. Basketball, hockey were in season and less represented, as was NASCAR. It's a nice event and fun weekend. Casual sports/ESPN would enjoy it; Diehards will have a blast.
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