NEVER again in early Dec!

[tink4ever]

When are the cheerleaders/sports scheduled for next year?

They are always the same time roughly every year. Pop warner is the beginning of Dec, College cheerleading is in the middle of Jan, and High School cheerleading is in the middle of March. I know they also have baseball, soccer, marathons etc. Disney hosts a lot of sporting events. They now offer free dining at different times to draw more people in etc. So I think the year of really "slow" times is over. But there are still "slower" times. Good luck.

 

[tink4ever]

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I am heading down to Florida on Jaunary 16th - to spend the winter with my sister who lives a bit northwest of Orlando.. I was thinking of booking 5 days or so - beginning the day I arrive (the 16th) and having my sister meet me down there.. Any events going on that week?

I can deal with cooler temps - just not downright COLD - and windy.. LOL

The UCA College Cheerleading Competition is Jan 11-15. Last year it was croweded over MLK weekend but then got a little better.

 

[northie]

From what I have been told, the week before Christmas week is best time to go in the month of December. The worst time to go is the first week and the last week of December.

The best time of year where it is least crowded is anytime in September.

I am wondering how next year September will be since the new Pilot Program lets you book a cheaper stay from Aug 5-the end of September with free dining. The CM I booked with at PO RS said she had people who flew in and stayed one night just so they could be there to book. We booked in September, but I sure hope it isn't as busy as it was the first week in December this year, or I will never get my DH to go back...ever. The crowds were unreal, and someone stole my coat on the third day and I had to spend $60 I wasn't planning on spending to replace it with a sweatshirt that is cute but not very warm. We've had better trips. And yes, I know, I was at Disney, so suck it up and have fun, but when you are freezing to death it's hard to be really happy to be there. We even ended up skipping Illuminations just to get inside.

Sara

 

[maddhatir]

I tell you, it's times like that that I wish some big, husky, hairy, transvestite cheerleaders would teach those girls a lesson!

ooo- very creepy and disturbing...but I LIKE it

maybe next year though......

 

[C.Ann]

The UCA College Cheerleading Competition is Jan 11-15. Last year it was croweded over MLK weekend but then got a little better.

--------------------------------------

Thanks! I have to do two things - get a 2007 calendar and start checking the event schedules on the various Disney sites!!

 

[travelbug]

This is terrible. DH and I just decided this past weekend to go next year 12/1 - 12/11. Now, reading this, I don't know when to go. We will not go for Thanksgiving week again and thought early December would be great. Do any of you have experience with "a good time to go"???

I went immediately after Thanksgiving this year (Nov. 26-29) for the first time, and I hated to leave because the crowds were so low. My work schedule will probably never again allow me to travel that week, but if I could I'd go that week again. It was awesome!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sorry you feel that way. The last 2 years we were there for Pop Warner week and did not have any issues and we were staying at the same resort as they were (CBR). We only saw them at the food court in the am but they were finishing up as we got there. They were in the parks but not acting rowdy.

This year we went for the Disney parade taping so we missed them....I would def go again for either weekend in Dec

 

[Mr. Pig]

We were there from 11/30-12/10. I agree it was more crowded than the last time I was there in December but after reading the warnings from last year it was no worse than what I expected. It happened to work out that we had a car rented for Tues. 12/5 - Thur. 12/7 and did things offsite so we probably missed the worst days at Disney. Busch Gardens was REALY slow but there were even a couple of groups there. I did notice EPCOT busy on Sat. 12/9.

We were lucky enough not to have bad encounters with any Pop Warner or Cheerleader groups. I am sorry for those that did. It's great to see kids with spirit but they have to realize that not all adults are into listening to them, especially in a crowded bus. A previous poster said a chaperone told someone to "Respect the kids". Well, how about teaching the kids to respect others first.

We had a good Holiday experience but will probably go back another time of the year.

 

[Jill-in-MN]

Wow, we had a completely different experience than most others here. We were in the parks the 4th thru the 9th and didn't have any problems with crowds or cheerleaders. We stayed at POP Century and didn't have any issues there either. We used TGM and went to his recommended park each of the first four days. We took advantage of Fast Passes and I don't think we waited more than 10-15 minutes for anything. One morning, at the MK, we did all of Fantasyland (and the Indy Speedway twice) within an hour. The last two days were a bit more crowded, but we used them to catch the attractions that we had missed the first time around. That was Friday and Saturday, so the crowds were bigger, but we had a lot less on our agenda, so it was still very enjoyable.

On a side note, because we were able to get so much done during the mornings, we headed out to the coast (both Thursday and Saturday nights). We watched the space shuttle launch from Titusville (about 10 miles from the launch pad). It was amazing!!! It's hard to explain to a 6 year-old that this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, but he thought it was cool and hasn't stopped talking about it.

 

[kelzab]

I agree with you on the teenage group issue! We were there from Nov 30 to Dec 6 at All-Star Music and the groups came in on about the 3rd. We were up the rest of the trip until 2:30-3:00am with them (the football group!) screaming across the complex to another building where there were others in their group! They were right above us and banging around so loudly! We called security several times and my husband even got dressed and walked up to the front desk to report them. It was a nightmare and I have to say that I was NOT impressed with All-Star Music's service during this trip. I was very disgusted by the time I left and if this is where they put the groups, I will not be going to All-Star Music next year at this time. I thought that the crowds were also a bit bigger this year...are people getting wiser to the value of going at this time of year or was this just a freak thing? Anyway, hope you had some fun during your trip. I feel your frustration, though!

 

[Broomstick]

I just got back as well from the first week of Dec and it was a little more crowded then I would have liked. I think I ran into that group of cheerleaders in AK, they were cheering everywhere they went. Had a couple of good nights, I thought the Christmas Party on the 4th was great, it was almost walk on for all the rides. I'll try to post a trip report when I get some free time.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

Early Dec is still a really nice time in Orlando so, maybe, if you wanted to try non-Disney things, it would be a good time to do it. IOA was walkon and the dinner show on International drive we did had front row seats showing up 10 minutes early to buy tickets. It's still a great time of year, just not so much for Disney crowdwise it seems. Just a thought.

 

[Blondie]

After reading all these posts I'm sooo glad we checked out on the 3rd!

From what I noticed, it looked like some of them started arriving on Friday the 1st, so we didn't see too many shenanigans except for the blood curdling screams on the Haunted Mansion (and no, it wasn't part of the HM's special effects!) Some of those girls should win an Oscar, their screaming could be heard far and wide.

We arrived on November 29th and it was more crowded than I had expected.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

This is terrible. DH and I just decided this past weekend to go next year 12/1 - 12/11. Now, reading this, I don't know when to go. We will not go for Thanksgiving week again and thought early December would be great. Do any of you have experience with "a good time to go"???

We were there from 12/1-12/11 and I agree the crowds were horrible! I didn't have any issues w/ any of the Pops kids other than there were so many of them. My DH rode up front w/ the monorail drive from Epcot to the TTC and he told him that from the 2nd week of Jan through Feb. you pretty much have to kick the horse to get him to wake up around there.

 

[shamrock30]

We usually go to WDW either the week after Thanksgiving or the first week of December. This year, we were in the parks Dec 4, 7, and 8, and at MVMCP Dec 5. I thought the crowds for a Tuesday night MVMCP were high. They either had more people than usual, or more people who (like us) were there mostly to ride the rides rather than see the Christmas shows. I think they used to have one more show, plus the free photo. Maybe taking those things away gave people more time to ride the rides.

We stayed offsite, and didn't have any problems with the cheerleaders (other than some screaming on Tomorrowland Transit Authority) although we saw them all over the place in the parks. I did think the crowds were worse than usual. I never had a problem finding a table upstairs at Columbia Harbor House at noon before.

 

[stitchgal]

We were there from 12/2-12/11. I didn't feel it was horribly crowded. More crowded than it was the last week of August this year but not too crowded, in my opinion. We never had to wait in too long lines and just skipped the attraction or went on it later if the line was long. And no problems here with the Pop Warner crowds. Saw plenty of cheerleaders and such but none misbehaving.

It's funny how we all can have different experiences at the same time.

 

[rie'smom]

I was planning on going ealy Dec 07 but now I dobut it. I can't afford to stay at a deluxe resort and I can't spend all this money to have my trip ruined by a bunch of BRATS! There I said it! Disney doesn't care becasue it is a lot of money. Pop warner isn't going to care either. We are screwed. I don't know when to go now? I was also thinking late Sept if free dining is offered but I am worried about hurricanes.

WDW is pretty safe during a hurricane. It's far enough from both coasts to avoid the storm surge which is the really dangerous part of the storm. Winds might kick up-probably the worst would be a tornado but then those can happen anywhere.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

oh my god, im glad we wernt there.......if that was me at the min. golf, those kids would of had the min. golf ball up their @@@.........yep i dont take crap from noone,...........i would of ending up having it out with the coach.they seem to basically do nothing about keeping the kids in line. and also the hotel, if i was up till 2 or 3 ,i thinkthe hotel would of moved us or we would of ended up being in jail.........hahah...........no way would i deal with that. i hope you all wrote letters to disney and also pw. there is no excuse for them to be acting that way,and disney should do something about it.

 

[MouseGirl]

AARGH!! I just read through this thread and went onto MousePlanet.com to check what events would be happening during our March 2007 trip.

We'll be there March 3-17, and it turns out that there are not one, but two cheerleading competitions during that time (the Cheer and National Dance Championships from March 2-4, and the National All Star Cheerleading Championships from March 9-11). Guess we'll have to plan our time at the parks strategically and pray for the best. At least we're staying off-site so hopefully at least our nights will be quiet...

Thanks for all the information everyone,
MouseGirl

 

[ssweldon]

How are the crowds in mid-December? I'm leaving Saturday (Dec. 16) for a week-long trip and don't know what type of crowds to expect. Based on the other posts, I'm not too optimistic. Any thoughts?