I accidently went that week in 2006, instead of the week after T-giving and I will never do it again. Avoid POR like the plague......
I stay at POR every year, starting the Sunday right after Thanksgiving. I book the day I return from my previous trip. Three years ago, I accidently miscalculated and ended up the week of Pop Warner. When I arrived, I was informed I was being moved to another resort, Coronado Springs, because they had 300 families staying at POR. I said absolutely NOT, unless it was a deluxe resort, because I had made my reservation the year before and I have stayed there every year. They honored my request, but instead of being in my favorite building as they always do - Oak Manor facing the woods - I ended up in the Arcadian House facing the parking lot. I was furious.
I was informed by the desk that if I continued to come that week, I would have a problem getting a room because they signed a ten-year contract with Pop Warner for that specific resort for 300 rooms or more. I informed the manager that I will never make that mistake again. I have shifted back to my regular week, but arrive Saturday now instead of Sunday. In 2007 and 2008, I noticed they started arriving late on Saturday, and by Sunday it was a zoo trying to get anywhere, including to get baggage services to come to my room to get my bags to leave.
Well in addition, I wrote a letter to Pop Warner noting how bad it was at the resort and utterly rude everyone had been the entire week (with the exception of two coaches from NJ who happened to appear to be keeping the kids in line the best they could). It was as follows:
1. The parents relied on the coaches to watch their children; they sat in the lounge and got drunk every night like they were sailors on leave. The language was unbelievable. One night they started throwing change at each other over the tables and ended up knocking drinks to the floor and just left them there. Security had to be called EVERY night, and a few of the bartenders that normally work (John and Stacy, for example) there have said they will never work that week again.
2. The boys would cram about 20 of themselves into the hottub and dare each other to stay underwater as long as they could. They would fill up the pool and try to splash people sitting in the chairs trying to relax. They would be wandering around chasing the ducks into the pond. When the buses came along, they would rush up to the bus as a group, so you couldn't get a seat. They would yell to each other across the aisles all the way to the parks.
3. As bad as the boys were, the girls were actually even worse. The girls were cheering outside all hours of the night. When they went anywhere, they stood as a group and blocked every intersection of sidewalks getting over the bridge to the food court. If you asked them to move aside, they would all look at each other for about ten minutes trying to decide who would move out of the way to let you pass. The chaperones were standing right there and never say a word.
4. The girls would even do cheers on the bus in the aisleways. Once a girl fell over and almost knocked a baby out of its mother's arm. The woman got off the bus at the next stop; she was so shaken up, she went back to her room. I walked back with her to make sure she was okay. Before I exited the bus, I told the girl she owed the woman an apology and she shrugged at me and said, "Who suddenly made you boss?"
5. They decorated all their rooms displaying their school colors, teams, etc. but would leave everything for the mousekeeping staff to clean up - sometimes stuff was on the outside of the window and if it rained, it would get wet and fall down on the pavement. They would walk over it and leave it for the grounds staff to pick up.
6. On Thursday, I had made reservations with baggage services to come pick me up at my room on Sunday morning, to take my luggage for check-out. People stopped us every five feet, asking to take them to their room or over to the food court or down to the next building. Each person got huffy, and it dawned on me, they just thought Valentino was "assigned" to the Pop Warner people and was running them every where they wanted to go. When he explained he was from baggage services, they asked what the service was and asked for an explanation of how it works, where do you go to make reservations, etc. It took us almost twenty five minutes to get up to the lobby.
Need I say more; I have moved back to the Saturday after Thanksgiving and just have to deal with it the following Saturday night and that's it.
Oh, and to this day, I have never gotten one response from Pop Warner, despite the fact that I followed up my letter with three phone calls.