Are Cheerleaders in Disney Parks Poison?

Visiting Disney is often portrayed as a significant reward for winning sports teams in media and entertainment. But this “reward” is given out so often to cheerleading teams that some have started to abuse it.

Whether broken rules or broken etiquette, the bad behavior of cheer teams and their parents has frequently disrupted other guests’ vacations and poisoned the atmosphere at Disney Parks.

Why You Frequently See Packs of Cheerleaders At Disney

Cheerleading teams going to Disneyland after winning their “national” competitions has been a tradition since the 1980s. Since then, Disneyland has been a sponsor of the National Cheerleaders Association, and the park provides a special celebration for the winning teams.

This tradition has extended to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and is a popular way for winning cheerleaders to celebrate.

Related: Is The Pandemic To Blame For an Increase In Bad Guest Behavior?

The truth is that “nationals” also aren’t so national. There are 60+ high school cheer “national” competitions every year…and it seems like they ALL either compete or celebrate at Disney.

These Disney Cheerleaders are the Worst of the Worst

In 2023, two cheerleading mothers from Perfect Storm Athletics in Edmonton, Canada, broke Disney’s policy.

Dressed in matching purple shirts for the team Cheerleading Worlds 2023 competition, the women completely immersed themselves in an EPCOT fountain. Not only is this explicitly against Disney rules, but it’s also just really bad form. The guests were really furious.

Related: Cheerleading Team Bullied Online and Reportedly Disqualified After Viral EPCOT Video

Also, in March 2023, a team decided to have a cheer battle while waiting in a busy ride queue. A video shows two groups of girls shouting across the line at each other over the crowd.

Their chaperones film them happily instead of asking their team to be considerate. Disney fans were fed up and called it embarrassing.

Perhaps most unsettling is the story of the Port Neches-Groves Independent School District of Texas, whose drill team performed at Disney World‘s Magic Kingdom park. The girls, called The Indianettes, were dressed in Native American designs and fringe.

Their performance included a chant, “Scalp ’em Indians, scalp ’em,” as well as a stereotypical Native American dance, where they placed one hand over their circled mouths and made “tribal” noises. It was offensive to some Disney Park guests.

Related: Disney Implements Resort Guest “Quiet Hours,” What You Need to Know

Some cheerleaders who refused to stop doing stunts in Hollywood Studios accidentally hit and injured other guests!

Will 2024 Have Repeat Issues?

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is hosting cheerleading competitions in the coming months. Starting April 24 to 26, 2024, the ICU Cheerleading World Championship takes center stage, drawing cheer teams from across the globe to showcase their skills.

While guests may hope this is a one-weekend event, another cheer competition falls shortly behind this one. April 26 to 29 is the US All-Star Federation Cheerleading and Dance Worlds. Then, from May 3 to 5, the spotlight shifts to The Summit-Varsity All-Stars Cheerleading and Dance Championship.

Related: Disney Guests Sneaks in Prohibited Item, Go Viral for Illegal Behavior

One single cheerleading event can easily bring in close to 90,000 Disney Park visitors.

We hope that this year, cheerleaders will show good behavior and respect Disney’s policies and its guests.

Not All Cheerleading Teams Are the Same

Certainly, not all cheerleading teams cause incidents at Disney, but in 2023, the number of issues was relatively high. Guests often dread seeing massive groups of, often unchaperoned, kids in cheerleader uniforms because they don’t trust them to uphold the standards of the Disney Parks experience.

Have you ever experienced issues with cheerleaders in the Parks or at the Resorts? Let us know in the comments. 

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