'Disney Fit Challenge' brings competitive fitness and CrossFit to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex

Mar 07, 2014 in "Disney Fit Challenge"

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Posted: Friday March 7, 2014 10:25am EST by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has announced that it will be bringing competitive fitness to its ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex later this year.

Collaborating with the 'I AM CrossFit' organization, 'The inaugural 'Disney Fit Challenge' will be a 3 day event, held from September 26 to September 28 2014. The fitness challenges will test competitors speed, strength, skill, endurance, balance and power. Challenges are designed based on age and skill level with more experienced athletes competing in movements such as muscle-ups and double-unders while recreational participants compete in movements that may include box jumps, kettle bell swings, push-ups, squats and broad jumps. Competitors with the highest scores in their division and age group from the first two days advance to the final day of competition.

Also part of the event will be a Health and Fitness Expo, similar to those found at the runDisney events. Visitors will be able to purchase fitness merchandise, products and apparel.

“Competitive fitness is one of the fastest growing sports domestically and internationally with hundreds of thousands of competitors with more and more getting involved every day,” said Mike Millay, Director of Sports Development for Disney Sports. “We have uniquely designed the Disney Fit Challenge so that there are a variety of skill levels and age groups which will allow every competitor to test their true fitness abilities while also having plenty of fun, and then celebrate their achievements with a family vacation at Walt Disney World Resort.”

Registration opens on March 18 2014 with more details and pricing available about 1 week before.

Discuss on the Forums

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GoofyRacer11Mar 29, 2014

Everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinions. Not saying that anyone on here is doing it because we'll all being civil, but I just hate it when people say all these horrible things about CrossFit whenever they get a chance to so they can make fun of people who do it. Most of the time these people haven't even tried CrossFit or couldn't stick with it long enough to get a real sense of what CrossFit is about. One of the things I recently heard was that people who do CrossFit only do it because they aren't dedicated or motivated enough to use a proper workout regiment. I laughed at this because before I started CrossFit, I could only deadlift about 135 lbs., but in a year and 6 months later I'm dead lifting 350 lbs. so obviously it has improved my fitness. I know that CrossFit does have it's risks, but so does every athletic sport. That's why sports have practices and coaches to help teach the fundamentals so that the players/athletes can perform safely. If you have a good coach who is knowledgeable and cares about their people, then they'll make sure you know how to lift the weights safely and prevent injuries. For a months unlimited membership for my box it's $120 a month. However, I help out the owners and trainers take care of the gym so they let me come for free which is pretty cool.

joel_maxwellMar 26, 2014

Some gyms around here are $250 a month for CF. With that said, I have friends that are members of these elite runner gyms and pay about the same for them to track their mileage, show them cross training exercises and push them. So, I save my $250 a month, do a little reading myself, use some common sense and get same or better results. Its a hard thing to gauge though. Ill be honest. It is all individual based, but it hard for me to understand how a person 14 years younger than me, goes to one of these gyms and pays that kind of money to be trained as an elite runner, yet I finish 90 minutes ahead of her in a 50k. Like I said, I guess it is all relative to "your" level of fitness and abilities. Maybe if she didnt go to that gym, she would have finished 120 minutes later or more.

Lord_VaderMar 26, 2014

You bring up a few good points @Disney Dawg88. CrossFit is not for everyone, the boxes need to put an emphesis on technique before speed. My son and I do it together when he is not playing/practicing baseball (High School) and it can be a lot fun, community oriented boxes add to this. I started working out at a box last August, it has been good for me in general. I am a lot stronger, faster, and more fit than I was 9 months ago with a lot of progress to go but we have a hardcore group of trainers and owner that constantly monitor each person in every workout to correct technique issues that creep up. The pricing here swings radically, but what does a trainer led session cost at any gym. Even group sessions with 8-10 members can run $25 a day here so $125/mo for unlimited trainer assisted/led workouts is not a bad deal at least IMO. I can't say whether CrossFit is a fad or will have staying power but I know the box I belong to has tripled their membership in a year, has outgrown their current location and is actively trying to lease the space next door to expand. As far as your back, I had the same issue early on trying to beat the clock so to speak and found that I was not staying on my heels during certain lifts causing the issue.

Disney Dawg88Mar 25, 2014

I'm in this same boat with you thinking that this might start fading. I'll say this, I have no problem with people doing crossfit, if that's what they like and gets them exercising then that's great. Personally crossfit is not for me, much like running is not for some people. I joined a CF gym several years ago for a month or two and stopped going. A year or so later, late 2012, I decided to give it another shot as I thought it would help me train for the Goofy Challenge in 2013. I went for two months, and like many others, hurt my lower back right around Christmas before the race. Looking back on it, I just don't think that it's necessarily the best idea to be doing all of the "WOD" activities as fast as possible. I'm sure there is a science behind it, but to me it just seems there is just too much risk of doing things like that. The other thing that hit me was the monthly fee, I was paying $160 a month here in Atlanta. I know there are other gyms/"boxes" that charge way more. Sorry I didn't mean to continue this as being a "bash CF" thread, just stating a couple thoughts I had.

rob b 922Mar 23, 2014

Scaled, I cant do a muscle up to save my life and they were included in the masters list of movements.

GoofyRacer11Mar 22, 2014

Awesome! What age group/division did you sign up for?

wdwmagicMar 21, 2014

Registration now open for the inaugural 'Disney Fit Challenge' at ESPN Wide World of Sports

rob b 922Mar 20, 2014

I registered. Should be a fun time.

GoofyRacer11Mar 13, 2014

I agree that it's all relative. I know people who don't like to run, but like lifting weights and vice versa. However, I also know people, myself included, who love running long distances and CrossFit/weight lifting.

joel_maxwellMar 12, 2014

That is all relative.

rob b 922Mar 12, 2014

CrossFit is 100% scalable. Form is EVERYTHING, bad form will hurt you. That's why new people start off with unweighted PVC pipes. Once you get proper form down, you can add weight, slowly. I'm really looking forward to this event, i've tried running it's boring, CrossFit is anything but.

joel_maxwellMar 11, 2014

Nice analysis and I bet you are mostly correct. It would be interesting to see some real data on this phenomenon. I think that the loyal people will continue to do this, but I think a lot of people dont really prepare themselves for what they are getting into with any kind of workout program, let alone, one that demand what Crossfit does physically and out of your wallet. It is hard enough for the average joe to stick with the gym routine past February, so it is only logical to think that the same applies to this. As far as Disney working with the gyms as you said, yes, I suppose that is good. I dont think Disney has any interest in competing to take one their own Crossfit brand etc.

GoofyRacer11Mar 11, 2014

I'm definitely competing in this! They may be taking advantage of the popularity of this sport, but at least they are working with actual CrossFit gyms instead of trying to steal people away from them. Personally, I think that CrossFit isn't going to fade away anytime in the near future. Yes there is a possibility of getting injured doing CrossFit, but that's like that for any other sport. A lot of it also has to come down to the use of proper form. I know that some gyms call themselves CrossFit gyms just so they can take advantage of the name, but have no knowledge of anything about it or the movements whatsoever. So they don't teach and emphasize proper form and that's how and why most people get injured.

joel_maxwellMar 10, 2014

They are just riding the wave of popularity on this. I can see the craze for Crossfit fading. Partly due to the amount of injuries I have heard about with these people that required some surgery. Every sport has its downside.