Local cheerleaders had the chance to visit Walt Disney World Resort this month to be part of a nationally broadcast Christmas celebration from Florida.
Students from Fountain Lake and Hot Springs were joined by more than 800 cheerleaders and dancers from across the country to tape a performance to be included in the "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration." Their scenes were filmed Dec. 6 at Coronado Springs Resort near Orlando.
The 31st annual telecast will be shown on ABC, Resort TV Cable Channel 7, at 9 a.m. on Christmas Day.
Fountain Lake cheerleaders Hannah Blankenship, eighth grade, Sarah Rountree, senior, and Brooke Thomas, junior, were joined by their mothers during their trip to Florida Dec. 4-7. Blankenship is the daughter of Bret and Lisa Blankenship. Rountree is the daughter of Doug and Jayne Ann Rountree. Thomas is the daughter of Dennis and Jill Thomas.
Angela McAtee is the high school cheer coach at Fountain Lake. The junior high coach is Kristen Hedges.
Eight Hot Springs High School cheerleaders also took part in the event. The students from Hot Springs were Cameia Anderson, Anna Claire Butler, Alyssa Clayton, Morgane Fendley, Jasmine Lambert, Kori Scott, Octavia Shaw and Morgan Simmons.
Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America" will host the "re-imagined" television special inspired by the movie, "Frozen." Roberts will lead the telecast from Disney World with support from former Florida Gators and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow is now a contributor to "Good Morning America," as well as an analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network.
They will be joined on the broadcast by Rob Marciano, GMA senior meteorologist, from Disneyworld Resort in Anaheim, Calif. Sarah Hyland, a star of the Emmy award-winning show, "Modern" family will take part from Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai'i. Additional hosts and performers include Ariana Grande, Gavin Degraw, Train, Trey Songz, Trisha Yearwood and Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev.
Fountain Lake hosted a National Cheerleaders Association summer camp this year. Cheerleaders that were nominated by the camp staffers were eligible to take part in the Christmas performance. Rountree and Thomas were among the school's five senior high cheerleaders, as well as one junior high cheerleader, to be named All-American.
More than 830 participants qualified to perform through NCA and National Dance Alliance summer camps. Performers originated from 41 states. Their routine was honed in two extended practices.
"When we got there, we had routine preview, which was like a tryout for where you were going to stand," Rountree said. "We did that, separately. At our bigger practice, we all got different colored stickers that told us which group we were in. But we all practiced together. All 831 practiced together."
Several takes of the performance were shot at Coronado Springs on Dec. 6. None of the broadcast's celebrity guests were present, but the girls did hear that Grande may have been in the area shortly after filming concluded.
They were able to spend the rest of their time at Disney World and the surrounding parks. Two of their favorite rides were the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studios park.
"It sounded like a really fun experience," Blankenship said. "I wanted to try it out. It was pretty awesome."
"It was better than I thought it would be," Thomas said. "I was thinking that we would not have any time in the parks and we would practice, perform and leave."
Rountree, Thomas and Blankenship said they already miss Disney World. Blankenship's family held a yard sale to help cover the expenses of the trip.
A full list of hosts and performers is available at disney.com/disneyparkschristmas. Social media interaction will utilize the hashtag #DisneyParade for the event.
Local on 12/22/2014