Pop Warner Madness

[Gantu]

All right, how bad is it?

I've read a few negative posts about the Pop Warner PeeWees and Cheerlittles taking over the parks the first week of December. How bad could it be?

I'm hoping for limited lines, since that is supposed to be the season formerly known as "slow." But now I'm concerned about pint-sized punks throwing elbows to cut in line at the Haunted Mansion, and the spirit squeek sqauds gulping down all the hot chocolate. I don't mind kids ... but a whole mess of kids with limited supervision gives me the willies.

I'm thinking it won't be that bad, since the kids are supposed to be focused on their competitions ... but what have ya'll seen?

Anyone stayed the week of Pop Warner before?

 

[disneymojo]

We went last year the first week of December and had no problems with the kids. We did see some of them throughout the day, but we were not overwhelmed by them. We stayed at CBR and it was pretty quiet. The only time we saw bunches of them was during the extra magic hours. MK was PACKED and we gave up trying to get on any rides and went back to swim at the resort. During the day most rides were around 15 minute waits or less (except Soarin' and Test Track at Epcot). The resorts were all booked up last year too during that time, so hopefully you will have the same results we did. Have Fun!

 

[Gantu]

Thanks for the input!

Ok, the feedback has been mostly encouraging. I think we'll be good to go. We're staying at AKL, so that should be out of the way of the wee ones. Also, our plan is to hit MVMCP on Tuesday night, then turnaround and go back to MK the next day for a (hopefully) more relaxed pace ... plus, we can't miss Spectromagic.

Thanks for all the replies!

Also, Philharmagician now has 999 POSTS! If that's not by design, I suggest you hold off on any more posts until the irony sinks in.

 

[GatorDi]

Don't forget that the cheerleaders will be there over Thanksgiving this year too.

 

[dvcnut39]

You can read through all of my posts and not find a negative one in the bunch, but.....last year will unfortunately be the last time we go during the 1st week of December. I very much regret this because it was our favorite time to go, plus we like to be in the parks for Walt's birthday. We actually sing Happy Birthday to him. Now we are forced to go one week later. This may not sound like a big deal to some, but it makes us feel as though we have to rush getting ready for Christmas when we get home.

I understand that these kids are excited and have been looking forward to their WDW trip all year, but so are we. I, like many of the readers on WDWMAGIC, am in the constant state of planning our next WDW trip. We felt that their cheers, bumping into us, and foul language, while appropriate on a football field, have no place while we're in line for Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I am by no way a prude, but my children don't need to hear unsupervised teenagers dropping the "F" bomb in WDW just to show off to their friends.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Also, Philharmagician now has 999 POSTS! If that's not by design, I suggest you hold off on any more posts until the irony sinks in.

Finally now over 1000 happy haunted posts after 3 years.

Don't forget that the cheerleaders will be there over Thanksgiving this year too.

I hope you kidding! :fork:

This will not make me very happy. I hope if they are there they will be drowned out by the crowds.

 

[dazzer68]

not sure im on the right track...
we were there in feb with the cheerleader thing going on staying at the all star movies, the only problem we had was the buses were al ways full of bloody singing schoolgirls! (nasty!)
my 13 y old daughter thought they were great! but after a long day at the park the last thing you want is to be stood up in a middle of a bus being sung to! the rest of the holiday was fine no problems at resort hotel, just the buses were always ful and not enuff of them

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

Also, our plan is to hit MVMCP on Tuesday night

We plan on being there on Tuesday night also. I hope you have a good time!

 

[Loretta]

We stayed at POR the 1st week of Dec. 2004. They took over everything!! I did complain once about the noise and was told by the front desk, "They have a right to enjoy the resort as much as you do". There was no use complaining to the manager on duty because he was falling all over them to make sure that all their needs were met.
The busses were packed, they would literally push you out of line to get on in front of you. I had my parents with me and they were pushed several times. The food court was packed. We were happy when we saw the busses there in the morning to take them to their competition. On the days there was not a competition, the impact was felt in the parks, especially MK.
I will never go the first week of December again!

I have to agree with you. For some reason the girls feel they have to scream to be heard. One thing that bothered us is when the girls left the food court they didn't clean up after themselves, making it hard to find a clean table. Didn't seem to bother the adults with them either. We'll never go back at that time.

 

[Hakunamatata]

We were at WDW last year during PW week. We did see some groups in the parks, but the biggest impact was a couple of nights (one in particular at Disney Studios) that the football players were roudy in line for the bus. On a number of occasions, the buses were full and the kids would not get up to let the older riders and moms with infants sit. I personally blame the chaperones and their parents, but we have pretty much decided not to go back during that time if we can help it.

 

[Aurora_25]

We were at WDW last year during PW week. We did see some groups in the parks, but the biggest impact was a couple of nights (one in particular at Disney Studios) that the football players were roudy in line for the bus. On a number of occasions, the buses were full and the kids would not get up to let the older riders and moms with infants sit. I personally blame the chaperones and their parents, but we have pretty much decided not to go back during that time if we can help it.

The bus ride was the only time when we had problems and it wasn't just that they were roudy in line or the seats- the boys would also shove each other while standing on the bus and almost knocked me down a couple of times, but honestly, other than that, we really didn't notice a change in the normal park stuff.

 

[3fordisney]

We were there right before Pop Warner started last year and did not notice them til a day or 2 before we left. We were at All Star Sports and there were quite a few running around, unsupervised. Our son wanted to go into the game room and we had to take him out due to the pushing and shoving done by some of the boys. There were a few who were very polite and mild mannered and there were a few who were very rude, loud and running wild thru the resort. In the park, we didn't notice much, til the Saturday they were filming the Christmas parade. After the filming was done, the kids from the bands were all over MK. They were not bad at all. Being older teens and not tweens without adult supervision, the kids from the parade were great.

My advice would be: stay away from value resorts during Pop Warner and avoid MK the days they are filming the parade!

 

[banimall]

I should know the answer to this but it escapes me right now. Is POR Port Orleans? Also what are the dates for Pop, are you talking about December 4th - and on or do they get there the 1st of December?

 

[ryguy]

Try to Keep this in mind when thinking about groups of kids at WDW. A lot of those kids never get a chance to do neat things like go to Disney World or go anywhere for that matter. They come from all sorts of socio-economic backgrounds and probably don't have the greatest home life. For some of these kids this will be the only time in their life they get to go to Disney World. Thats not an excuse for poor behavior but its a reality. If you see kids acting poorly say something to them, don't let them get away with cursing in front of your kids. Most kids will be embarrased and back off. Use it as a teaching tool to show your kids that sort of behavior is unexceptable. Most of us on this board go frequently and we tend to get frustrated when the parks are busy and we have to wait in line for more than 5 minutes. Next time your peeved because kids are being kids, just think how lucky you are to be able to come back time and again. It could be worse, it could be your only opportunity to enjoy the magic. Hope that puts things in perspective.

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

I should know the answer to this but it escapes me right now. Is POR Port Orleans? Also what are the dates for Pop, are you talking about December 4th - and on or do they get there the 1st of December?

Yep. POR is Port Orleans, Riverside. There is also Port Orleans, French Quarter.

Here are the dates for Pop: Pop Warner Super Bowl. Dec. 3–9. Football players and cheerleaders invade the resort for the pigskin championships (link).

 

[banimall]

Yep. POR is Port Orleans, Riverside. There is also Port Orleans, French Quarter.

Here are the dates for Pop: Pop Warner Super Bowl. Dec. 3–9. Football players and cheerleaders invade the resort for the pigskin championships (link).

Thanks for the reply? How does POR fall into a POP hotel then, I always thought that was a moderate hotel?

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

Thanks for the reply? How does POR fall into a POP hotel then, I always thought that was a moderate hotel?

I guess some of them want to stay there. I'm not sure since I've never been there before during this time. We're staying at POFQ.