Tell me about Pop Warner week

[TruBlu]

Slightly off topic, but I'm thinking I might be there during Pop Warner week as well. Could someone tell me what week that is in 2010 and is there a site where I can see what groups are at the park during my trip week? Thanks!

I went to the Pop Warner website. They will be there Dec 4-11.

 

[RMulieri]

we went 3 years ago and stayed a por(which they stayed at) and it was no where near a summer crowd and i did not see one drunk parent! they stay at por MOD(not the others) and all star VAlues(not pop)! even in the values considering the size of the values(you wont be bothered)! I HATE TO EVEN WONDER THIS, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE GIVING OPINION'S TO SCARE PEOPLE AWAY DURING THAT WEEK, SO THEY CAN ENJOY THE LOW CROWD WEEK THEMSELVE'S? POP IS NOT NOTHING LIKE YOU ARE HEARING AND PLEASE CONSIDER THE "POSSIBILTY" OF FALSE REPORTS BASED ON ULTERIOR MOTIVE'S BY SOME WHOM WILL GO THAT WEEK AND WOULD RATHER SCARE EVERY1 ELSE AWAY WITH FALSE REPORT'S!

I am sorry to disagree. But I am not trying to scare people off.If you notice I have been here on these boards since 2001, and have no ulterior motive.I used to go then, and now I don't.I had enough of a bad experience during PW and until YOU do you you really can not speak for me or others. I go the week before Christmas or in Sept now.My experience with PW was not good, and I saw plenty bad behavior from adults and their kids..I offered my opinion, which is what the disboards are about.Sharing knowledge ,experience and opinions.There is no reason to take offense, or be snarky here.FYI- the crowds are not all that small those weeks anymore, which is another reason I go at other times.

 

[epd0407]

We are deciding between 6 days in Nov. or 8 days in Dec. But, our Dec. week is Pop Warner week. We've never been during this time before, so I don't really know what to expect. Any info.?

I/We have been there 4 times with PW. My opinion is its one of the best times to go. Every year we have great expirences with a group. They really help pass the time when your waiting in a long night time HM ride.

 

[NCDisfan11]

We visited last year during Pop warner week and had no issues with the teams. We stayed at the Contemporary and only really encountered the cheerleaders once. There was a mass of girls chanting and heading toward mission space in EPCOT as me and my wife were walking out of test track. As I saw the girls we made a B line in the opposite direction of them and never saw or heard them again on our trip. The parade taping made main street a DISaster but no other issues at all during that time. Enjoy the trip in DEC. crowds are small, xmas decor is up and weather is great!

 

[NYTiz]

To the OP: Those of us giving our experiences and opinions about PW week have no ulterior motive other than to answer your question.

With that said, we experienced much of what the other posters have already mentioned including the kids being rowdy all over the resort, knocking on our doors at all hours, trying to use their room cards to get into our room, skateboarding, etc. We complained several times to management but there was really nothing they could do. Remember, these are young kids, away from home, what can we expect from them? Again, it was not a problem whatsoever for us in the parks, but back at the resort was a nightmare. It is even listed on another well known website as a time to avoid "This event can cause crowds at the parks in the evenings (not during the day, since they are busy competing) and there have been some unfortunate incidents, including violent fights between teams.".

As I said previously, if you can stay deluxe, I would say definitely go and have a great time! We stayed at the Poly 2 years ago during a big cheerleading event. I spoke to other guests at the parks who were complaining of the girls being disruptive - (practicing outside in the courtyards early/late, being loud, etc.). We did run into them alot in the parks, but we had no problem at all at the resort bc we were staying deluxe. Good luck!

 

[TruBlu]

To the OP: Those of us giving our experiences and opinions about PW week have no ulterior motive other than to answer your question.

Thank you so much! That is why I asked the question. I wanted to hear from both sides.

We are choosing to go a different week because we don't enjoy being with large groups of unsupervised/or lightly supervised children. We would rather not take a chance, especially since we would be staying in a Mod and could end up in the same resort.

Another reason for changing is that we will get free dining and can stay in a Deluxe.

 

[ntsammy5]

We've been four times during PW and never noticed anything at the parks. Here's a picture of the crowds from 2008:

Unless you stay at the all stars you'll hardly notice anything.

 

[raven69david]

Been there, done that. This is my take on PW. The kids are busy first 2 to 3 days and you don't see them out much. After that, you will start to see them flock in masses to the parks during late afternoon or early evening beginning on Tuesday. By this day it seems teams are being eliminated and then they just spend time at the parks.

Once they're out they travel in whords and you can't miss them. They will primarily be at MK so if you're there early it shouldn't be too much of an issue. By 2:30 they were out in full force and we simply went to another park (epcot) and had fun there.

We hardly ever saw them at other parks for the exception of DHS where they were there early evening for the awards ceremony; I want to say it was around Wednesday or Thursday. They are gone by Sunday morning when they check out the following week.

We now plan around them and are happy, for the exception of this year when FD was extended and now runs right into our supposedly quieter dates (12/17-12/23). So much for the slightly lower crowd levels and we can kiss quieter restaurants goodbye with the massive overcrowding that accompanies FD events.

PW is not a bad thing, however note that if you want FD you'll have to plan around as I believe the PW dates are blacked out for FD. In general, if you arrive during PW week it won't be that bad as long as you get your fix of MK on the first 2 to 3 days of your visit. Once you do that, then you can go early the rest of the week and then park hop.

At the resorts, we did have problems with noise, but we ended up complaining and getting comp'd for that. Ended up getting 2 days free for a 3 day trip then continued to AKL. If you stay away from the Value resorts, then you should be fine. I remember 3 years ago when a whole team got rowdy and Disney ended up kicking out several PW kids and their chapperones on Saturday night right before they left. I was glad to see Disney not take any kind of crap from rowdy kids and especially grown ups who were supposed to be supervising the kids. I was glad that Disney was there looking at the interest of all of the other guests trying to enjoy their family vacations.

 

[kmvand1]

we went 3 years ago and stayed a por(which they stayed at) and it was no where near a summer crowd and i did not see one drunk parent! they stay at por MOD(not the others) and all star VAlues(not pop)! even in the values considering the size of the values(you wont be bothered)! I HATE TO EVEN WONDER THIS, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE GIVING OPINION'S TO SCARE PEOPLE AWAY DURING THAT WEEK, SO THEY CAN ENJOY THE LOW CROWD WEEK THEMSELVE'S? POP IS NOT NOTHING LIKE YOU ARE HEARING AND PLEASE CONSIDER THE "POSSIBILTY" OF FALSE REPORTS BASED ON ULTERIOR MOTIVE'S BY SOME WHOM WILL GO THAT WEEK AND WOULD RATHER SCARE EVERY1 ELSE AWAY WITH FALSE REPORT'S!

Um yes, they DO stay at others. As I said before, we were at Coronado this past December, and there were PLENTY of Pop Warner as well as the national dance/cheer competition teams. I have not been at Pop during their week, but you can best believe, if there is a room available, they will be staying there as well.

 

[pixidustmom]

We were at POR this past Dec. and we arrived half way through their stay. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But I wouldn't really want to have my dates the same again. There were crowed by the hotel entrance a few times. Many were in our building but not that loud really. Never saw the pool full or drunken parents. The down side was the food court in the morning was busy, and the buses were crazy busy. Once they left it wasn't bad. The weather was not good though cold and rainy so maybe this effected it some?

 

[LBollengier]

Been there, done that. This is my take on PW.
note that if you want FD you'll have to plan around as I believe the PW dates are blacked out for FD..

THis is not entirely true, we got FD and we just had to move our arrival date to the 2nd, we are at the AKL the whole time PW is there and are enjoying FD for the entire stay. We booked through DU and are saving over $1800 because we moved our arrival date from the 3rd to the 2nd...

We are very excited about our vacation and cannot move it later as I have a kennel which is booked solid starting around the 15th of December...

I would like advice on a way to keep my family away from the PW frenzy!! For instance: Are they spread out at the different parks or at one? Is there a way to know which days they are at a particular park, or which day the parade is at MK assuming they are at it/in it from previous posts??

 

[goofy4tink]

Don't be to hard on the girls. They have worked really hard to get to this point. The put in hours upon hours of practice with some difficult routines. They understandably want to let loose with all their excitment. My DD is at the high school level now and American Youth Football and Cheer, which she was part of, is a little more stringent about their behavior. We are more likely to send kids home for bad behavior I think. They hold their national in Orlando also however it is right after pop warner and they usually stay outside of disney.

I'm sure that these kids have all worked very hard in order to get to these competitions. BUT....that just doesn't excuse rudeness....and I have seen some pretty rude kids there...and they are usually in groups, with little supervision.
The worst experience to date has been a bus ride, from AllStar Music to MK with a bunch of cheerleaders. OMG!!!! They never stopped cheering..from the time they got to the bus stop, on the bus, and then off the bus. They continued as they walked up to MK entrance.
I understand excitement and 'letting loose' but it just shouldn't happen to the extent that other's are negatively impacted.

we went 3 years ago and stayed a por(which they stayed at) and it was no where near a summer crowd and i did not see one drunk parent! they stay at por MOD(not the others) and all star VAlues(not pop)! even in the values considering the size of the values(you wont be bothered)! I HATE TO EVEN WONDER THIS, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE GIVING OPINION'S TO SCARE PEOPLE AWAY DURING THAT WEEK, SO THEY CAN ENJOY THE LOW CROWD WEEK THEMSELVE'S? POP IS NOT NOTHING LIKE YOU ARE HEARING AND PLEASE CONSIDER THE "POSSIBILTY" OF FALSE REPORTS BASED ON ULTERIOR MOTIVE'S BY SOME WHOM WILL GO THAT WEEK AND WOULD RATHER SCARE EVERY1 ELSE AWAY WITH FALSE REPORT'S!

Nope...gotta disagree here. I've been at the same time as the PW groups, for about 6-7 years now. I keep going, and tend to be very honest about my experiences. The kids haven't been a huge issue in the parks, during the daytime hours. At night, they tend to come out in groups, but still haven't been hard to be around. Yes, there are instances where some kids act out, but all in all, most of them have been pretty well behaved.

The PW kids can be in any of the All Stars and at least one moderate..and that moderate can, and has, changed year to year. No way of being absolutely sure where they kids will be...at least as far as moderates go.

 

[wendypooh]

We've been multiple times with the PW crowd - I agree, in the parks, early on, it isn't that bad.......... unless you are in line with them when they start a chant and then another team starts a chant to "out do" them, and it gets louder and louder and more annoying - that's when we head to a different park. We have also stayed at an AS with them!!! ONCE and ONLY ONCE was enough for me - it's beyond crowded, they were LOUD - they DID practice out in the grass at 6 AM - the busses were horrific - crowded, loud, and I will say that I never saw any chaperones with the groups - at the hotel or the parks.

Given all that - I will say this - if you don't stay at the same resorts - then you should be fine - and may not really notice them at all. It seems like in recent years the "chanting" in the parks has toned down? I really haven't noticed it as much - but, these things people are saying, that I'm saying are absolutely true - I don't know why anyone would lie........... but, my best advice is to stay at a different resort and you should be just fine!!

 

[EllenM39]

um yes, they do stay at others. As i said before, we were at coronado this past december, and there were plenty of pop warner as well as the national dance/cheer competition teams. I have not been at pop during their week, but you can best believe, if there is a room available, they will be staying there as well.

you claim "if there's a room available, they will be staying there", thats odd indeed, considering port orleans wasn't even half booked(i asked when i was in the lobby once)! I was asking a question not complaining about the "unseen" drunkard parents and the parent's up to no good low life children(that some seem to insinuate)!

 

[RMulieri]

you claim "if there's a room available, they will be staying there", thats odd indeed, considering port orleans wasn't even half booked(i asked when i was in the lobby once)! I was asking a question not complaining about the "unseen" drunkard parents and the parent's up to no good low life children(that some seem to insinuate)!

Actually without getting into an argument , you pretty much assumed that those of us with bad experiences with PW had "ulterior motives" or were lying,because you never saw any of that. I can tell you for some of us , that is not the case. The OP asked a question and we all answered.Not everyone has had such a pleasant experience.