Effect of Pop Warner week last December

[44disney]

We were thinking of a WDW trip Dec. 3-10 of this year. Only today did I learn that the Pop Warner competition (cheerleaders and football players) will be that same week. I know that the All-Star and Pop resorts will be crowded but that won't affect us.

But... how does this affect the crowd levels at the parks? Our main reason for picking this week was because of the minimal crowds. Thanks for the help!

 

[MinnieM21]

No, it doesn't affect the crowd levels. Early December is a perfect time to go and the crowds are light.

 

[ccgegg]

So by "Pop Warner", I'm assuming these are younger football players and cheerleaders-- not high school?? What are the dates they'll be there... Dec 3-10?? And they all stay at the All-Star and Pop?

 

[dolphindan1]

We stay at the All Stars every year and have yet to have any issues with POP.....we just request a quiet room and it works out fine....Planning our next trip for Pop Week.....Crowd leverls are great but to answer the OP question this past Dec was more crowded than the previous 2....I attribute alot of that to Hurricane reschedules and a rise in Tourism....But still mast waits were 10-15...longest was like 25-30 for TT....But its always slow

 

[kimwim8]

We'll be in WDW Dec 4-11th, so I've been reading up on the Pop Warner threads. Do a search & you'll see a lot of different opinions. We'll still be there, I'm not worried about it. Can't be worse than summer!

 

[kupperman]

We were there last Dec. 5-12. We stayed at the All Star Movies and the only time we noticed the Pop Warner kids were in the food court. The crowds at the parks were light. The longest we waited all week was about an hour for Test Track. Next time we go for a week we are definitely going in early December.

 

[DebbieB]

So by "Pop Warner", I'm assuming these are younger football players and cheerleaders-- not high school?? What are the dates they'll be there... Dec 3-10?? And they all stay at the All-Star and Pop?

They are age 5 to 16. The teenage girls can get on your nerves. They break into spontaneous cheers. I had a group behind me on ToT last December and the one girl constantly screamed at the top of her lungs as soon as the doors closed. Even one of her friends said "nothing happened yet!" They travel in small groups and really don't affect overall park attendance. We stayed at BWV so we didn't have a problem at the resort.

http://www.popwarner.com/aboutus/pop.asp

 

[ccgegg]

Here's what I don't understand.... Pop Warner runs Dec 4-10. Everything I've read is true in that this doesn't affect crowds all that much. Len/UOG's scale shows a 1 for all those days except a 3 on Dec 4th. Yet the Monday-Saturday after Thanksgiving (the week prior to Pop Warner), UOG shows mostly 3s and one 4. What's going on that week? I think I'd rather go Dec 4-10 and have the 1s and deal with an occasional cheerleader instead of doing the 3s the week after Thanksgiving. Thoughts?

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I remember reading on another thread like a couple months ago that was saying that this year (2005), they will be sending some of the groups to CBR to cover the amount of people who will be done there for pop warner.

 

[WaltD4Me]

And they all stay at the All-Star and Pop?

Not true, overflow went into the moderates in 2004. Riverside was full of Pop Warner teams and there were a few teams at POFQ too.

I remember reading on another thread like a couple months ago that was saying that this year (2005), they will be sending some of the groups to CBR to cover the amount of people who will be done there for pop warner.

I think I heard this too. Also that Pop Warner 2004 was 35% larger over 2003 and 2005 it's supposed to be 50% larger.

We were there in December 2004 and while Pop was definately manageable, I think I'll be planning around their week in the future.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Everyone would be well advised to plan "around" Pop Warner and Cheerleader week.

 

[Kallison]

More like moderately busy. I would say years and years ago it used to be light but so many tour guide books tout it as the least busy week that many people go at that time. If you are expecting light I think you will be dissapointed.

 

[F1Julie]

I was there 12/8- 12/12 last year and the parks were way more than a 1 as the UOG predicted. The lines weren't bad, but the parks just felt crowded. I found lighter crowds in both October and May. As for Pop Warner, I think it did impact the parks. There were many groups of Pop Warner kids roaming the parks, especially at night. I chose to stay at Pop Century after reading that it was not equipped to handle large groups. That did not turn out to be true. There were plenty of Pop Warner kids there. I'd stay at CSR or a deluxe during Pop Warner week.

 

[n2mm]

We were at WDW December 10-13 last year and the PW were there. We were mostly unaffected by them, except finding it difficult to book a room. We did end up at the BWI at the last minute, so was glad. The parks were packed that weekend. You could barely move at EPCOT and on that Saturday evening, MGM reached capacity. I have been in June and July many times and never saw the parks the way they were this past December. Since we were only there during the weekend, I'm sure the week days were probably not as bad...We had PS for every place we ate and was glad because twice the CMs announced to the crowds that they were not accepting walk-ins, esp. at the 50s PT the night MGM reached capacity. Most folks say this was because of the hurricanes, I don't know. We were in WDW in December in 2000 and it was nice and quiet. We MIGHT try again for another weekend, but I'm a bit leary. I have booked rooms at the AKL for the weekend of December 1 for this year just in case I plan to go. We get the CM rate and there is very little available for the second weekend of December already at our discount rate.

 

[MinnieM21]

I was there from the 6th to the 16th and the crowds weren't bad at all. The crowds were light on both the weekdays and weekends and I felt it was the perfect time to go. I never saw them in the parks or I definately didn't notice them. I would recommend going during that time. I never once had to wait in a long line for a ride.

You just need to pick which parks are right for certain days and you'll be fine. Have a plan and use fastpass. There will always be crowds are WDW. I highly recommend going in early December. It was our first trip to WDW and we had a fantastic time. We noticed that the crowds were WAY lighter than at Disneyland for that time of year. Go and have a fun time!