Cheerleaders: Respect the Guests! Rah-Rah-Rah!

[MomtoGKC]

We're going in February and I just found out it's during one of the cheerleading competitions. I think it's college so I wonder if they'll be any better? or worse because they'll be over 21?? I can't change my plans because that's my daughter;s birthday weekend. I didn't even want to tell my husband because he hates crowds and isn't that excited to go to Disney in the first place!

 

[Robo]

We're going in February and I just found out it's during one of the cheerleading competitions. I think it's college so I wonder if they'll be any better? or worse because they'll be over 21?? I can't change my plans because that's my daughter;s birthday weekend. I didn't even want to tell my husband because he hates crowds and isn't that excited to go to Disney in the first place!

Very few reports of problems with the older cheer groups.

 

[maddhatir]

The situation came close to being "nasty" and that would have been a shame.
The dad of the cheerleaders actually told the rest of us on the bus (as his wife pulled him away) that we needed to learn to "respect the kids!"

Respect the kids... if they want to cheer on a public bus... let 'em!

Wow!

There is your answer-- how could the little monsters have respect for anyone when their parents are idiots themselves!

ALSO-- I think the chaparones should be more serious about keeping them inline also-- I think most of the women chaparones were cheerleaders themselves-- so how would they know how to "be quiet" they probably encourage the cheering!

Can you tell I am not fond of the "group" ......wasnt in highschool and CERTAINLY AM NOT NOW!

 

[maddhatir]

The groups were extremely aggressive with the characters, disrespectful to them, and had me almost to the point of wanting to call security (especially during EMH with Mickey and Minnie, but that is another story).

oh- please DO tell!

 

[Wendi]

I hope this doesn't affend anyone, but you really have to wonder about the parents. We where there when some cheerleading group was there. They looked to be High School aged or Jr. High. The kids where running like crazy. We where pushing our stroller when a pack of them decided that they had to RUN full tilt to get in a line. Well, they decided that we where in the way and knocked over our stroller (trying to cut in front of us) with our dd in the stroller. My husband yelled in his "NOT HAPPY Big Boy Voice". He got their attention and the one girl told us to "pluck off". You get the choice of words that she used. Well, they got stuck in the Peter Pan line with about 30 people who watched this happen. Word traveled the line and a Supervisor came out and pulled the group asside. While 5 of the girls seemed really unhappy about what happened (2 actually walked up to us and said they where Sorry!) there where 3 that stood there RUNNING their mouths. Well after the one young lady (saying that loosely) told the Supervisor he was full of &$!* and tried to walk off they got a real dose of reality. He called them back, called security and made them call their chaperone. Needless to say, they didn't get on the ride, the 3 where still cursing up a storm when we got off and headed to our next ride. We think they got kicked out of the park, becuase we saw them with their chaperone, 2 security guards and the Supervisor heading towards the gates right after that.
With that being said, we have seen some (SOME) act very good and polite. I completely agree with people about that fact that kids now a days do NOT respect their elders or themselves for that fact. Why some parents give the kids all the power and then wonder why they are in trouble amazes me. If the kids where acting up on a ride and ACTUALLY GOT HURT! Guess who would be in the front of the Park looking so SUE! The kids parents. My favorite thing to hear is JOHNNY DIDN'T DO IT! Standing there with all of the evidence on him..............but Johnny didn't do it. RIGHT! Responsibility will come back to haunt them later in life. Those parents will be saying, "What did we do wrong with little Suzy" when she calls them from Jail looking to be bailed out. When will people realize that we need to take control of our own lives and OUR kids and bring the respect back that has gotten lost along the lines. If they had the same thing happen to them somewhere they would be asking for it to stop. It's only when they are affended that it's a problem. For the rest of us it is too bad, they are there to do their thing. Sorry, your thing is at the Competition..................NOT THE PARKS!
Sorry, had to vent. I have never mentioned this before.

 

[gshanny]

I am sure it would be very hard to enforce, but maybe they should look into this. We were looking into doing an entire school trip somewhere. One place we looked into said that all kids had to be with an adult at ALL times. If any were caught without an adult the entire group would be asked to leave.
I can't imagine trying to enforce it in such a large place.

 

[SweetSpellsSweetie]

Febuary is also a big month for cheerleaders being at Disney. My manager has had to pull some of them aside and ask them to put more clothes on. They walk around the parks with their bikini tops and shorts so short their butt cheeks are hanging out. And most of their parents aren't much better. Their was a group of 15 that has made an ADR at the ESPN Club, and they showed up with over 40 for dinner. They did their best to accompodate them, but the moms were crying and throwing a fit that their whole group couldn't sit together. I too try to avoid them whenever at Disney.

 

[dmk1021]

I used to be a Sales Manager at a Marriott and we often had youth hockey groups in for tournaments in the area. The kids were horrible but the parents/chaperones were worse. No respect for the hotel property, the other guests, etc. They were always drinking, never watching the kids and always so loud, rude and low class in their language. Ugh, I do not miss those days.

Allyson

Ah, the memories. I used to be a manager at a Hampton Inn, and a drunken hockey dad reached over the counter and tried to grab me by the shoulders. I was only 19 and there was only one other young girl at the time. I had to call the police. It took two weeks before I could go back.

Also, when I was in high school, we played at Epcot during Magic Music Days and we were under strict watch from chaperones. Tape on our doors and everything. We would never have thought to act like some of these cheerleaders do. It's a shame the chaperones are too set on having fun and not chaperoning, which they're there to do! At ASM a few years back, we had drunken cheerleaders (with guys, I assume from a sports team or boys cheer squad) in the "streets" of the hotel at 2am. When my brother told them to be quiet, they smashed beer bottles on our door and made threats.

Gets me upset just thinking about it.

Sometimes I feel like I was just raised differently. I'm 26 now, and I can't believe the difference between myself and teenagers now. Apparently A) I got old somehow (but that's another story) and B) Some parents do not care what their kids do anymore.

It's a shame. But, I refused to let rotten people ruin my trip then and I won't do it now. As a matter of fact, I usually agree with everyone's minor grievances on the DIS and I've decided to formally join the "relaxers," people who just let it slide. I have high blood pressure and get so mad at ignorance in the parks sometimes (thank goodness I don't have to sit through any more cheaters at WWTBAM - that put me over the edge). They're not going to learn, so why bother getting upset?

We'll see how that goes.

 

[pooh2001]

We met up with some cheerleaders on our bus last June.
They did not cheer, were polite, and just sounded like 16 year old giggly girls going to WDW for the first time. Their chaperone and a few girls seemed to have been to WDW before and were explaining rides in a normal voice. It was nice to hear their excite. Not sure where they were from- but I am sending out a good cheer for them and their actions.

I know of a few boys from our school (private - Christian) who went to WDW for Pop Warner football. I hope they were polite and respectful. They are at school. I hope they show what they know and how they act to others at WDW.

 

[HollyJoy]

We experienced a similar situation on two different occasions.. one was at night while in line for Rockin Rollercoaster at MGM.. a huge group of cheerleaders decided to perform for us while in line. Now granted we were still outside, and there was lots of room for their voices to go, and still it gave me a headache. I brushed it off though, they were having fun, and they didn't continue the chanting once we got inside. Second time was in line for Pirates in MK.. now this group was a bit less considerate of everyone around them, for they cheered outside, and continued well into the queue inside.. grrrr...

 

[scrump]

These were our experiences as well. I think at one point we just left MGM because they were everywhere, cheering in lines, on the rides and on the bus. I'm glad someone spoke up!

 

[BubblPopElectrc]

How irritating.

Are they mostly there for the entire month of December?

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

2004 we were there during cheer. $%&$%$#%^&*&*^&%$ kids. it was 3 am at sports when all of a sudden, there are 6 girls practicing by the pool. loudly practicing. i call the front desk and they hear it on the phone and they tell me there is nothing they can do. so i got dressed and walked to the desk(yes in my disney PJ's "age 35") and asked for manager and they tell me that disney caters to kid groups in the allstar resorts. ok i think. so have me and my family more to another resort(yes there are at least 4-5 other dads with me) and they ask why and i pushed a CM towards the door to hear what was keeping up the pool area guests. so next i know they tell us to have stuff ready for packing when we get up and will get moved to Pop. woohoo no more cheers. i dont mind disney filling the rooms, but to fill the rooms and not inforce the rules is a bit pushing it. i have always believed in if you work at a hotel/motel to stay there for a night you need sleep during times of high kid traffic. i bet the rules are inforced then. just my 2 cents worth. i love disney. i have 2 girls that are just now getting it to cheer(yes i have thought them to respect others) and wont send them to WDW without me(boy will all those kids will be quite) hehehe

 

[connie1042]

We encountered a few of them at the ice cream shop on main street. A mom was with them. They started to talk loud, push each other and then started to slap each other. The mom did nothing. I want to say, hey do you know how bad you are acting! I should of told them they were not doing their sport any favors. I agree, alot of them are spoiled little brats, that think they can do and act any way they want! I also think alot of the parents are living there dreams through their kids, and see nothing wrong with the way they act.

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

I want to start off by saying that if I had experienced the things that have been posted in the above threads that I would be upset and disgusted by the behavior.

I was at the All Star Sports from Dec 3rd to the 8th this year and had no problems. I even told the front desk on the 8th that I was impressed with the behavior of the youth staying at the hotel.

We went into the parks every day and I can't remember even seeing a cheerleader. I know they were there because I saw them at our hotel and talked to many of the parents on the bus rides.

The pool was very busy (but I don't use it) and so were the food courts (also don't use it). After we were in our room for the night we never were disturbed by any noise during the entire week. (Maybe a couple of turbo toilet flushings but all in all pretty quiet.)

The last morning at around 7:30 am we did sit for a half hour in the food court talking and there were a group of 9 or so cheerleaders sitting at tables and it looked like they were all doing their homework.

I guess the point of my post is that although there are bad experiences there are also good experiences. I would go again in early December. If I had the experiences listed by above posters I would have second thoughts.

 

[marivaid]

Sometimes I feel like I was just raised differently. I'm 26 now, and I can't believe the difference between myself and teenagers now. Apparently A) I got old somehow (but that's another story) and B) Some parents do not care what their kids do anymore.

I totally agree with you! I'm 28, and my teenage years were not too long ago, I can not believe how some of these kids are acting. They are taught that they are "special" therefore they think they are allowed to do anything and everything.

I've been in hotels all over the US and I'm a magnet for that kind of stuff : cheerleaders competitions, dance competitions, pageants (gah! on top of being loud and annoying these just creep me out!!! ), you name it.. At first I would just suck it up & try to sleep with my headphones on.. Now, I complain. A lot.

It's not only the kids, but the parents too. We went all over Europe with my family when my sister & I were young kids (my first trip to the UK I was 3 months old) and we never, ever acted this way. Of course, being kids, we were noisy at times but our parents knew how to shut us up. And if it didnt work.. well, here's a little story.
I was 18 months old on the ferry on our way to the UK, overnight, back when it took several hours to get there. Every time my mom would stop the stroller, I would start crying and yelling. So what my mom did, was walk around in the boat with the stroller ALL NIGHT (42 round trips,she says), so that other people could get a decent night's sleep.

Nowadays it's like the "kids" (I use the term loosely - most of the time the most annoying are not kids, but 13-16 year olds who should know better) own the world, and we're just lucky they let us live in it.

 

[CinderellasSister]

Wow! I've read all these posts, and now I'm really nervous for our upcoming trip in April. I know the Dance and Cheerleading competitions will be there the same weekend we arrive. Hopefully, none of them will be staying past the competition for an extended vacation. I hope I don't run into the same horror stories.
I agree with some of the other posts. Parents just aren't teaching their kids respect anymore. I see it already with some of the kids in the daycare I send my children to. I spend all night trying to undo the bad habits they learn there during the day!!

 

[angey77]

If you're looking for a Pop Warner cheerleader-free zone, head to BCV. Luckily for us, no run-in with them there.
HOWEVER, going during this time again next year or any future year is not in the picture for us, even if it is our anniversary. Mostly, the girls we saw were nice and goofed around in their own group, which is fine with me. Kids will be kids.
But, you do have the "shout fests" you would normally not encounter at any other time of year. Two years ago, we had a guy use his "big boy voice" in the face of one of the girls as they kept cheering and getting louder and louder in the queue for Peter Pan (and you know how loud that could be with the enclosure). He did this after a few shouts of "shutup," and then everyone else cheered after he did it. The chaperone got in his face and said "Don't yell at my kid" in which he responded, "Well, tell her not to yell at us!"
Last week, our boat of adults gave a nice "shutup" to a group of them INSIDE Splash Mountain cheering in unison. We also sang "the love log" to the theme of "Love Boat" to the face-suckers in the back row of the log in front of us (more teenagers).
On Soarin', moms and chaperones encouraged their girls to take their shoes off ... their LACED UP shoes. Needless to say, they were still sitting there trying to get their shoes back on as everyone was exiting the ride.
I think if these kids had some GUIDANCE on how to act in public while having fun, they end up having a great time while also minding their Ps and Qs. Unfortunately, as my husband pointed out, it seems some of these chaperones are trying to live vicariously through 13-year-olds and just let them "be cute."
Believe me, I'm writing WDW a letter this week of what I loved about our vacation (the CMs, BCV, treatment at CG and Boma) and what we will not be doing again (MVMCP and going again during Pop Warner). I think they need to do for Pop Warner what they do for major conventions ... open the parks specifically for them AFTER hours. That might lower the number of packs running through the parks.

 

[marivaid]

i call the front desk and they hear it on the phone and they tell me there is nothing they can do

Oh that's great. So, that means that if I want to, I can go to the pool at 3am, bring my friends Bon & Jovi, and give everyone a little concert? That would be ok right. OOPS sorry, no can do, don't have pompoms.
Unbelievable ! I'm glad you got moved to POP.

 

[matlock42373]

I have been to wdw in dec and it was horrible at times. These girls are horribly disrespectful. When I planned my next trip it was my honeymoon and I made sure we weren't there at the same time. We did however go during Gay Days. Let me tell you I had a great time, was concerned at first b/c I had seen some negative posts but Gay Days was almost un-noticable. And there were more pre-teens and teens making out in line (IMO poor tatse no matter what your preference is) Than there were LBGT folks doing it. MOST Cheerleaders are not leaders at all, most are followers.