How Impacting is Pop Warner

[EuropeanLiam]

How much does Pop Warner really impact crowds? I need to decide on which week today and I am torn.

Edited to add: As they start being cut from the competition do the parks become impacted more throughout the week? I am guessing they all have tickets for the parks since they have no idea how far they are going to make it in the competition. ??

 

[lovethattink]

It impacts food courts and resorts. Imho it doesn't really impact parks. We've stayed twice during Pop Warner where there were cheerleaders and another time at CSR before they started using that resort.

 

[butterfly71076]

We didn't notice much of an impact on crowds and it was mostly in the evenings. We have never stayed at the same resorts as the kids, and I think you can find out on their site which resorts they will be at. So if you want to avoid it, you can.

 

[EuropeanLiam]

So if I am at a Deluxe resort I should not see much of them?

 

[DekrRini]

The Deluxe resorts don't host Pop Warner. It's the values and a couple of the moderates. You should be fine at a Deluxe resort.

 

[EuropeanLiam]

As they start being cut from the competition do the parks become impacted more throughout the week?

 

[Mal6586]

Looking at touring plans' crowd data from last year, it seems the week of Pop Warner and the week after are pretty similar as far as their measurements are concerned. I will say though, that I did not expect WDW to be as crowded as it seemed to be during Pop Warner. We were there this past December from the 4th to the 11th, pretty much for the entirety of Pop Warner, and it felt crowded almost everywhere except Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom was bananas each of the 3 days we were there, twice for regular park days and for our Christmas party. I will say though that we didn't see tons of the Pop Warner kids at the parks, so I think it was just crowded in general. Word has definitely gotten out about early December. We stayed at a Pop Warner host resort, and while the food court was generally pretty busy, we never felt bothered by the kids, and if you're staying deluxe, you won't have to worry about them at all in that regard.

 

[jollygreen]

I didn't even notice them when I was there in 2015. I think I might have seen a couple small groups in the parks once or twice but that's about it. I stayed at POFQ, so I didn't have to deal with them at the resorts, so I'm not sure about that. But if you're staying deluxe, you should be totally fine.

 

[Lothlórien]

We have had experiences on both sides. We have visited while they are there and saw maybe one or two smaller groups of teens in the parks the entire trip...also, we have visited and been in ride queues with big groups of cheerleaders cheering non-stop. This was most likely after they were eliminated.

 

[nkereina]

As they start being cut from the competition do the parks become impacted more throughout the week?

You may see more of them in the park as the week goes on, but not enough to impact crowd levels or wait times. The most bothersome part about them is their traveling in packs, especially in food courts, and the noise level they bring to the resorts they are staying at. Easy to avoid in the parks.

 

[EuropeanLiam]

You may see more of them in the park as the week goes on, but not enough to impact crowd levels or wait times. The most bothersome part about them is their traveling in packs, especially in food courts, and the noise level they bring to the resorts they are staying at. Easy to avoid in the parks.

Thank you. I have read that the worst part of them is the chanting. Maybe staying at beach Club will make a huge difference on the food courts.

 

[Tattylou]

We overlapped with them last year. I didn't notice any impact on crowds. We were actually in line for Pirates with a really fun group of the boys from Pop Warner and they were improve singing all these funny songs about pirates. It was totally fun!

 

[nkereina]

Thank you. I have read that the worst part of them is the chanting. Maybe staying at beach Club will make a huge difference on the food courts.

They do not stay at the deluxe resorts, so you'd be away from them at any of the deluxe resorts.

 

[dreiwhit]

We were there this past December from the 4th to the 11th, pretty much for the entirety of Pop Warner, and it felt crowded almost everywhere except Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom was bananas each of the 3 days we were there, twice for regular park days and for our Christmas party. I will say though that we didn't see tons of the Pop Warner kids at the parks, so I think it was just crowded in general. Word has definitely gotten out about early December.

We were there the week before you (the week after Thanksgiving), and our experience was similar to yours. I don't think that's a good time to go to WDW anymore....

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I was at Caribbean Beach in Dec. 2016 during the Pop Warner timeframe. I was in a pirate room in the last building right before the Cast Member Parking Lot.

The resort was one of the Pop Warner Resorts - my room was surrounded by cheerleaders but I never heard a peep at night. Early in the morning they were up practicing their routines near the building so I heard them then.

The food court was full of them - I was only there for a couple of nights so I bought some fruit and doughnuts in the quick service area and put those in my room to eat instead of fighting the craziness of the morning food court.

In the parks - they were more crowded as the teams were eliminated. Some groups were nice and polite others were annoying like the group at Epcot who thought it was funny to shine their flashlights on their phones right in the face of anyone who walked by. The unlucky chaperone who I saw moments after that one got an earful from me. She went to talk to the kids afterwards so hopefully that stopped.

I wouldn't let Pop Warner stop me from going during that time frame but I'd do my best to avoid them in the parks by going the opposite direction and not staying at the same resort so I can sleep without hearing them practice.