NEVER again in early Dec!

[Robo]

Most times cheerleaders have had experience only riding on THEIR OWN school buses... and they can do what they like.
However, the Disney RESORT/PARK buses are a different story.

The only unpleasant interaction we personally encountered was going back to All Stars on a late bus from MGM one night after viewing the OLights.

There was a group (6-8) of cheerleaders who decided we all needed to hear them do a routine. They were all in the very back seats.

They did a cheer (full-volume) inside that tightly-enclosed steel shell of a bus, that lasted about 20 seconds (OK, not TOO bad).

Then, less than a minute later, they started ANOTHER one!

Well, understand that the bus is FULL (standing room fully filled) at around 10pm after a full day at the parks. (The bus was a combo of all 3 All Stars by that time of night.)

I was standing about 3 rows away and at that point (in my "big boy" announcer's voice) I yelled, "KNOCK IT OFF!!!"
And the girls DID stop, mid-yodel.
(My DW chimed in with, "Not everybody wants to hear you cheer.")

We got lots of "thank you's" from the other weary guests nearby,
followed by much (very quiet) discussion amongst ourselves about the parents not teaching the kids any respect of others.

When we got to Sports (we were staying at Music) the girls and their "chaperones" got off the bus. The dad (I assume) of one of the girls was "steamed-up" over the fact that we silenced his little charges.

His wife actually physically held him back as he came running back to answer another man who told him that he needed to explain "outside voice/inside voice" to the girls.
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!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

we were SHOCKED at how packed the parks were! Granted we chose NOT to get Tour Guide Mike as we didn't want to commando the parks. It was 1st trip ever anywhere for my kids and i wanted to have them enjoy whatever whenever. ANYWAY we also knew the park would be packed on Sunday (with the zillions of us arriving on Saturday and wanting to see magic kingdom first full day) but it was insanely packed. it was hard at points to walk around. Pirates of the carribbean was lined up outside the tunnel areas into the covered walkway area (never in my life have i seen it that long). Wednesday at animal kingdom we got a fast pass in the morning for everest (took forEVER to get there, it was like a swarm of bees all moving closely together slowly to the ride) and the return time was for 1230-130. we went to ride at 1, and was going to get a 2nd fast pass, and they were already out of fast passes! the CM's said that they were gone well over an hour prior. sheesh. at that point, safari fast passes were gone (didn't get to ride) and cm said that they were gone all over the park.

it was an insanely busy week. apparently monday mgm was very quiet and slow, but that was the only day that i heard from anyone as being slow. strangers every night on the busses were always saying how it was busier than it was the year prior and so on and so forth.

i couldn't believe it! but we still had an awesome trip, and even tho we missed out on rides that we all wanted (the safari at AK, a 2nd ride on Everest at AK, Journey Into Imagination and Soarin at Epcot, The WedWay people mover (lol time didnt' allow us to WAIT IN LINE (*i have never ever seen a line for this) and ride it before dinner ADR) and Splash (*decided it was too cold on friday) at MK, The little mermaid show and a 2nd tower of terror ride at MGM) we were beyond happy with what we did do and had a great time and made the most of it !

 

[purpliequeen]

I am so sorry to hear all of your reports- wow- those are some nightmare stories you've shared. I will steer clear of pop warner week or whatever. Were they in every hotel or do they tend to stay in Pop?- imagine if they had rooms at the GF. I hope future trips are better for you all!

 

[MOREMICKEY4ME]

OK, I was thinking of Christmas for the next vacation, but now maybe not.
I was soooo wanting to see the lights and stay at WL, but now we will have to rethink it. When we go on the next vacation the kids will be DS-8, DD- 18 and DD-17 and DH (Let's just say he'll be too old to put up with squeeling cheerleaders) HHHHMMMMMMM..................
Any other suggestions??

 

[C.Ann]

I am so sorry to hear all of your reports- wow- those are some nightmare stories you've shared. I will steer clear of pop warner week or whatever. Were they in every hotel or do they tend to stay in Pop?- imagine if they had rooms at the GF. I hope future trips are better for you all!

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Rumor had it that between the Pop Warner group and the Cheerleaders they were not only in all of the values, but in some of the moderates as well..

Oh - and on the monorail there was a large group of very rude and unruly Pop Warner boys who were laughing hysterically over having gone to the GF and run up and down the halls making as much noise as they possibly could..

 

[DisneyVC]

What days were you there? We were there on 12/3-12/5. We hardly saw any cheerleaders. Maybe we just had really good timing. We got to the parks when they opened and went back to the hotel during the lunch (busiest) hours. And went back in the afternoon. We were not out to late b/c our kids are very young.

 

[ADP]

Besides the Pop Warner and Cheerleading competition there was a large off-site convention held in Orlando last week. It was an automobile convention, race cars, etc. That convention draws about 45,000 people. I know this because it used to be held in Indianapolis and was moved to Orlando because the convention size grew so large Indianapolis could no longer accommodate it until it expands it's convention center (2010).

So with 45,000 new people going to Orlando for the first time with there families I'm sure that didn't help crowd sizes either.

 

[robinb]

The chaparones did nothing to keep their groups in check and literally, one evening, a PACK of early teen football players took over Winter/Summerland mini golf and chased us off the course (we were the ONLY players out there too...it started out pleasant at least....... ) I asked the 'boys' twice to give us some space but nope, they kept coming....when my husband had bent down to get his ball from the hole and three of them all shot their balls at the same time...let's just say it wasn't pretty after that. He asked them to back off, a bit more stern and they laughed in his face. Their coach was too busy on the cell phone to care.

Yikes! I'm the type that would have made him care. Perhaps he would have stopped the kids from terrorizing other innocent people.

 

[Robo]

What days were you there? We were there on 12/3-12/5. We hardly saw any cheerleaders. Maybe we just had really good timing. We got to the parks when they opened and went back to the hotel during the lunch (busiest) hours. And went back in the afternoon. We were not out to late b/c our kids are very young.

The cheerleaders and sports teams generally take up more RESORT space than theme park space.
They have activities to attend during much of the day, but in the evenings they can desend on the parks as well.

 

[jenkh]

So sorry to hear about all your bad experiences. We just got back we were there from Dec 1 -8 and had zero crowds and walked on almost all rides (and a few fastpasses for the bigger ones)

We didn't even run into any cheerleaders until the wednesday night, and that was at the TTC. And yes it was extremly annoying. But it was our only real encounter with them. (but based on that encounter I can see how dealing with it all the time could ruin a trip)

I would honestly go back in a heartbeat for the first week of december. BUT I would avoid any hotels the kids are staying at. We stayed at Coronado Springs and it was just beautiful.

I'm working on a trip report now. But we just had a completly different trip then you had. We hit almost all rides all day with little to no lines, saw shows, ate in kid free environments. It was really a great time to go, as long as you knew where to stay away from.

 

[Karnak]

Do any of you have experience with "a good time to go" ...

I just finished a solo visit to WDW during the week after Thanksgiving (Monday, Nov. 27 -- Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006), and found the crowds to be very manageable.

In fact, the largest crowd I encountered was at the Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom on Friday, Dec. 1. (I will not be going to any more of those "Christmas Parties." Whole sections of the park roped off, the castle boarded up so that one could not walk through it, in general a mess. It was more like the "Nightmare Before Christmas" to me.)

But with the exception of that evening at the "Party," the entire week was very enjoyable, with no large groups of kids anywhere, except those with their parents. No problems like y'all are describing at all.

Enjoy.

 

[jemiaule]

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Rumor had it that between the Pop Warner group and the Cheerleaders they were not only in all of the values, but in some of the moderates as well..
:

Someone I know has a daughter who is a cheerleader and they went on this trip. This girls group was staying at POFQ - so most likely a few of the moderates had them too.

I am SO sorry ot hear some of you had such bad experiences.

We usually go around mid December (trying to get in around the 15th out of there before the 22nd) and have had a good time with low crowds. This year we went the week after Thanksgiving and also had a good time and low crowds.

Is this Pop Warner/Cheerleader thing and annual event and usually the first week or two of December. I want to make sure to avoid this like the plague!

 

[Ziggychic90]

My family will be taking our second annual trip to Disney World in June of 2007, and in 2008 we are thinking about going twice. Once in June and the second in December for a Christmas trip. Any advice on how much money I should bring?

 

[SuperTink]

When are the cheerleaders/sports scheduled for next year?

 

[Joanna71985]

I just finished a solo visit to WDW during the week after Thanksgiving (Monday, Nov. 27 -- Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006), and found the crowds to be very manageable.

In fact, the largest crowd I encountered was at the Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom on Friday, Dec. 1. (I will not be going to any more of those "Christmas Parties." Whole sections of the park roped off, the castle boarded up so that one could not walk through it, in general a mess. It was more like the "Nightmare Before Christmas" to me.)

But with the exception of that evening at the "Party," the entire week was very enjoyable, with no large groups of kids anywhere, except those with their parents. No problems like y'all are describing at all.

Enjoy.

The castle is always closed off during the shows. That has been the case for years now. And the only parts that get roped off is Fantasyland for the fireworks. That too has been happening for some time as well. I too agree the sports groups is awful. I was at AK on the 6th and had the worst time with them. I was in Dinoland for the majority of the day and was totally frazzled by the end. The groups were very aggressive with the characters, disrespecting them, and had me to the point of calling security (especially after the EMH with Mickey and Minnie, but that is another story).

 

[UP Disney]

We were there Nov. 29th through December 5th and if they were there we certainly didn't see them. The parks were all walk-ons too!

It was the same for us. We never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a bus anywhere and we hardly saw the cheerleaders even thought POR was booked 100% because of them. We walked right into Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, the Safari, and many others. We were there Dec. 1-5.

 

[NHLFAN]

We just came back last night and never had a problem with the Pop Warner players or the Cheerleaders

We went to MVMCP on Friday Dec. 1st and the crowd didn't seem to be as bad as last year when we went on a Sunday.

Highlight of our trip was a tour of Kennedy Space Center and the launch of Shuttle Discovery !

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

GOSH This sounds awful!! I had read on these boards that the first week of Dec was booked solid!! Sounds like a mess!


We leave for WDW for just 2 nights on Wednesday...I am glad all those groups will be gone...Maybe things will be back to normal...

Crowd levels are supposed to be at a 4??? Guess we will find out??? I will post when we get back!

We are headed to AK on Thursday morning and then doing MVMCP on Thursday night...Then we go cruising!! We will be ready for some relaxation!!


Sorry to hear these experiences from last week.......Hope this week is better.

We have never been mid December before??

Michelle

 

[C.Ann]

GOSH This sounds awful!! I had read on these boards that the first week of Dec was booked solid!! Sounds like a mess!


We leave for WDW for just 2 nights on Wednesday...I am glad all those groups will be gone...Maybe things will be back to normal...

Crowd levels are supposed to be at a 4??? Guess we will find out??? I will post when we get back!

We are headed to AK on Thursday morning and then doing MVMCP on Thursday night...Then we go cruising!! We will be ready for some relaxation!!


Sorry to hear these experiences from last week.......Hope this week is better.

We have never been mid December before??

Michelle

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The "groups" will be gone, but from what I understand, the resorts are still at capacity.. Maybe due to the free dining? Still has to be better than last week though.. LOL

 

[MomofCKJ]

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The "groups" will be gone, but from what I understand, the resorts are still at capacity.. Maybe due to the free dining? Still has to be better than last week though.. LOL

There is no free dining right now. I wish there was, we leave Friday, but alas there is not!

Allyson