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'College GameDay' to host Week 0 show at Disney World, though fan access will be limited

"College GameDay" will return this fall a week earlier than normal, though it will look quite different than the usual pregame show.
"College GameDay" will return this fall a week earlier than normal, though it will look quite different than the usual pregame show. (Adam Lacy/Getty Images)

ESPN’s “College GameDay” is an iconic part of the college football season, always visiting the most important matchup in the country for the classic pregame show each week throughout the year.

This season, though, fans will get ESPN’s crew a week early.

“College GameDay” will host a special Week 0 show from the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on Aug. 24, one week before the official kickoff of the college football season, ESPN announced on Tuesday.

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The show marks the first ever held during Week 0, and will be just miles away from Florida’s matchup against Miami at Camping World Stadium in Orlando — the marquee matchup of the weekend. ESPN, which will broadcast the matchup later that night, will also carry the Samford-Youngstown State and Arizona-Hawaii games on Saturday to round out its Week 0 broadcast.

Fans at Disney World only able to catch a ‘glimpse’ of the show

Perhaps the best part of “College GameDay” each week are the fans who attend it — which is almost always held on college campuses. They camp out, arrive early, bring in banners and flags and embrace the show head on.

At the “Happiest Place on Earth,” however, that won’t be the case.

Fans who purchase a regular ticket to the Magic Kingdom Park — there won’t be any special passes for the show — “may catch a glimpse of the live broadcast,” though won’t have any designated access to the stage at the train station on Main Street, U.S.A.

And, according to Walt Disney World Resort Property rules, no flags, banners or signs will be allowed in — meaning fans at home won’t see the iconic Washington State flag waving in the background during the broadcast.

So while the show will kick off a week early this year, it will undoubtedly look different than normal. Instead, expect the traditional “College GameDay” to return for Week 1 of the season when Clemson hosts Georgia Tech the following week in South Carolina.

In lieu of a massive fan presence, however, Mickey Mouse and a slew of other Disney characters are bound to make an appearance on the show. That has to make up for the change at least a little bit, right?

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