How bad are the AS w/ cheerleaders there?

[JLDSMD]

We are looking at going to WDW the first weekend in February. We usually stay in Moderates, but were looking at going Value to save about $250 for the weekend (4 nights).

I see that there is some national high school cheerleading championship that weekend in the All-Stars (as well as Caribbean Beach).

How bad is it at the All-Stars when they are in? Is in constant noise? What about late night noise? How is transportation and parking effected?

We were looking at booking AS-Music, but are now thinking we should just go like we usually do and stay at PO-R.

TIA.

 

[only1alexa]

I stayed at CBR once while there was a cheerleading thing going on and NEVER AGAIN. This is only MY ONE experience, but it was awful! The girls kept trying to sneak a guy into one of their rooms all night, they were loud, the guys coming by were obnoxious ( I had to embarass the heck out of a guy trying to urinate out in the open!) and I can tell that some of the people in that area had been drinking even though none of them were old enough. (Maybe why the "shortchanged" guy had to pee so bad?? )

Anyway, I hated it. All the darn cheering and all the girls thinking they were so cool because they dress alike and jump around together (all over the resort! Not a knock on cheerleading in general) would've made me sick if I didn't feel bad for them after witnesssing their pathetic attempts for attention from anybody! The chaperones were apparently there in name only because I rarely saw anyone resembling a responsible adult around the packs of girls. I DID HEAR ONE responsible person scolding them after they finally got caught late at night trying to play "hide the male".

BUT, like I said, this is ONE trip, ONE group of people I was unfortunately assigned a room near, and my comments shouldn't bear too much weight on your decision. I should've complained to the hotel when I was there and should've talked to the chaperone when she got done with them that night but I didn't. I spent most of the time in the parks enjoying my trip and avoiding any packs of similarly dressed vocally amplified teens. I just turned the TV up at night after the kids fell asleep (they'll sleep through anything).

I can't tell you about transportation because we always rent a car, but the park effect was minimal.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Just to provide an alternative viewpoint..

I was at All Star Sports earlier this month when the Pop Warner kids were there. (Yes the dreaded Pop Warner kids). There were lots of cheer groups staying there as well as football teams. At the same resort !

That said - my experience was a pleasant one. Yes there was some cheering after 9am in the courtyard.. But quiet hours signs were posted from 10pm to 9am and for the most part the kids seemed to obey it.

I had no trouble sleeping when I wanted to and I didn't directly experience any bad behavior.

In fact, the biggest complaint I had was that the kids twice offered me seats on the bus... made me feel really old! (I'm only 38)

Despite the fact that this was the year where some PW kids were ejected from the resort, I didn't find any real troubles with their behavior.

Knox

 

[ducklite]

Expect the cheerleaders to be practicing anywhere and everywhere from 5:00 am until after midnight. Expect them to cut into every line possible. Expect to have doors slamming all horus of the day or night. Expect to have them cheering in the food court, the lobby, the bus stop, on the bus, non-stop.

We did it once, and would either cancel the trip, spend the money to stay elsewhere, or even go off-site before we'd go through that again.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I've already been flamed on another thread because of my comments on the cheerleaders and how they were at POR when we were there a few years ago. They were constantly practicing everywhere & anywhere there's a spot available. Cheering in the stores, in the bars, in the food court, in the lobby - in the case of POR everywhere around the mansions. On the boats to DTD. I don't think they ever quit - don't know how they had any voices left. Yes, there were chaperones with them but maybe they just tuned them out. I know I wish I could have. My daughter was a competitive baton twirler and competitive H.S. and collegiate bowler and they never got away with what those girls got away with. It's just one reason we now check the different web sites to see when things are going on with WWS.

 

[Zuzu03]

I have to agree, we've been there at AS with the masses of cheerleaders and they were EXTREMELY annoying, rude, pushy, loud etc., etc. My daughter was only 7 when we were there at the same time and several times I was literally worried for her safety as they seemed to push right over the top of her - it was pretty horrible. Definately, I would stay somewhere else and try to avoid them when they are en masse. Good luck!

 

[momofsarah]

Does anyone know the dates the cheerleaders are there? I cannot locate the list of when they have the cheerleaders at WDW.

Do they stay at Pop also?

 

[becca011906]

I'm wondering the same thing... are they there in March????

 

[CanadianGuy]

Twirl Mania is at the WWoS February 15th to 18th and I think there is a separate cheering thing just before that....

Knox

 

[BarleyJack]

I'd hate to see what happens if one of them drops the spirit stick! Ready? OK!! I said BRRRR!! its cold in here!! There must be some Toros in the atmosphere! Cheerleaders bug me...always have, always will. Some people get college scholarships based on academic achievement while others get them based on how well they put a ball through a hoop or how good they look in a mini skirt. Sheesh. Flame away, I know its coming.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Not doubting the other posters, but we spent 3 days with the cheerleaders Feb.'06 at Sports and didn't have any problems. They did practice a lot on the football field so I would definitely avoid staying in Touchdown if you stay at Sports. My daughter (3 at the time) got a great kick out of watching them practice. We never once heard them at night. They seemed to do a nice job keeping the groups and families separate and there did not appear to be any teen groups staying in Homerun Hotel with us. There was also a football group there and we didn't have any problems with them either.

 

[CanadianGuy]

As I noted, on my recent Pop Warner signs.. LARGE signs indicating the Quiet Hours were posted in ALL public areas during their stay and there was security roaming the resort grounds to ensure that quiet hours were adhered to...

I suspect this is 'upgraded efforts' on Disney's part to prevent the 5am practices of years past.

 

[JLDSMD]

Fisrt off, thanks everyone for your input. We haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards going to PO-R (have a ressie on hold until the 3rd with the AAA rate). Pop is not available with AAA when we want to go, only AS-Music and AS-Movies, but it looks as if they will be at the WHOLE AS Complex that weekend.

Does anyone know the dates the cheerleaders are there? I cannot locate the list of when they have the cheerleaders at WDW.

Do they stay at Pop also?

I'm wondering the same thing... are they there in March????

Here is what I found regarding the competition. Another website recommended checking http://www.varsity.com/ to see when the competitions were.

Here are the links showing the dates for the HS Competition (Feb 9-10) and the All-Star Competition (Mar 8-9), http://www.varsity.com/nationals/08/dates.htm as well as the travel accomodations for the February event, http://www.varsity.com/nationals/08/uca/nhscc_info_accomodation.pdf.

 

[boomhauer]

Can't speak from current experience (though after 2 teams were ejected for fighting, that's a pretty good indication), we have always stayed at the Values, but won't any longer. I've had enough of the cheerleaders, Pop Warner teams. Flame away all you want - Enough of them (not all) are obnoxious and rude and the parents are equally as annoying, as they sit at the bar or at the pool, ignorning their behavior, getting drunk with the other chaperones.

It's a shame too. We love the Value Resorts. We've just accepted the fact after years of experience, that Disney cares more about the $$ they pull in from these groups than the guests being disrupted by them.

 

[Daxx]

Have not decided which is worse ... cheerleaders or Brazilian Tour Groups. Just when I think I have made up my mind, I remember something about the other group that puts me back to my debate.

 

[Jaymie]

Have not decided which is worse ... cheerleaders or Brazilian Tour Groups. Just when I think I have made up my mind, I remember something about the other group that puts me back to my debate.

I hear you about the Brazilian tour groups. At least the cheerleaders speak english and understand you when you say "excuse me" to get past them. We were at the ASMovies a few years ago and a brazilian tour group decided to sit in front of the doors. They completely blocked the doors out towards the pool and going towards the bus stop. I said "Excuse me" really loud but the wouldn't move. So I barrelled through with my stroller and ran over a few feet, they moved after that.

 

[ninjamama]

I'd hate to see what happens if one of them drops the spirit stick! Ready? OK!! I said BRRRR!! its cold in here!! There must be some Toros in the atmosphere! Cheerleaders bug me...always have, always will. Some people get college scholarships based on academic achievement while others get them based on how well they put a ball through a hoop or how good they look in a mini skirt. Sheesh. Flame away, I know its coming.

Wow! (Since you are expecting the flaming....) I can see that you have never trained for these types of athletics....they can be brutal! The assumption that girls (and guys, too) join these squads for attention, to look cute, etc.... really bugs me! For 7 years I did it for the love of competition, FINALLY pulling off that impossible stunt, and so on. Now as a parent, I can totally understand the disdain for these groups, but NOT because they are cheer squads, for I've seen church groups with far worse behavior! Just depends on the group of kids, regardless of their activity. We were down during some of the competitions last March, and we had nothing but polite girls at Pop. And my DS7 was totally enamored with the glittery teenage girls.....

 

[Zuzu03]

It totally depends on the group and the chaperones. I took 15 kids to France and Spain for 2 weeks this past April and they were phenomenally well-behaved and astonished at the other student groups who were out of control. I must agree about the Brazilians at Disney too I'm afraid. They are REALLY bad. Only occasionally have one or two of them been polite. In a herd they are horrendous. That's the downside to travelling during their break.

 

[bugsbuni70]

We went to the week after Thanksgiving Never again!!! . All Star Music was loud and the cheerleaders and the Moms were rude.

 

[HopperFan]

Some of the competitions include :

College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championships (January 18-20, 2008) Disney Hotel, no commit on which one
National Dance Team Championship (February 1-3, 2008) All Star and CBR
National High School Cheerleading Championship (February 8-10, 2008) All Star and CBR
Twirlmania (February 15-18, 2008) All Star Music, and POP Century (costs alittle more), and offsite
Cheer & Dance National Championships (February 23-24 and February 29-March 2, 2008) All Star
National All Star Cheerleading Championship (March 7-9, 2008). All Star and CBR

Some of these events take place at Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular in Disney-MGM Studios,
so that attraction might be closed on some of the dates listed above.



That said, I stayed with them once at ASMU and it was really bad from a noise perspective until wee hours of night and inability to get into food court. We did not notice them at the parks, except for in MGM where they were performing.