Week of Dec 5th Pop Warner

[smithmac]

Has anyone gone Pop Warner football week in the past? How busy are the parks. The hotels are all booked. It looks busier than Christmas week.

 

[rangerxenos]

We've been twice during that time frame, and the only difference we noticed were the cheerleaders at the resorts. It didn't seem to affect the crowds. This December EVERYTHING has been booked for months, I'm not exactly sure what's going on. I booked my trip in July and I'm grateful I was able to make the one change of resorts I wanted to before there was nothing else. I'm a little worried that it's going to be a madhouse this year in early December, which has never been the case in the past. It's been busier than it used to be, but never like this.

 

[smithmac]

We've been twice during that time frame, and the only difference we noticed were the cheerleaders at the resorts. It didn't seem to affect the crowds. This December EVERYTHING has been booked for months, I'm not exactly sure what's going on. I booked my trip in July and I'm grateful I was able to make the one change of resorts I wanted to before there was nothing else. I'm a little worried that it's going to be a madhouse this year in early December, which has never been the case in the past. It's been busier than it used to be, but never like this.

I'm worried about the same thing. The week of December 5th pretty much all the hotels are sold out, but Christmas week there seems to be a lot available. I always thought the first couple weeks of December would be less crowded.

 

[Mal6586]

We were there Dec 3-11 last year, and while our resort was full, I felt like the park crowds were very manageable. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios were downright easy breezy, maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10. Epcot was bustling, but we never felt overwhelmed, something like a 5 or 6 out of 10. Magic Kingdom was the most crowded of the parks, as usual, but I wouldn't equate it with what I've heard Christmas week is like. Maybe a 7 or 8 out of 10 in my opinion, but we also were there on arguably the worst days to pick, Monday and Saturday, so take that with a grain of salt. We had a great vacation, and I had worried about the Pop Warner crowds as well, especially since we were staying at All Star Music, but we had a room on the back side of the Jazz section facing the parking lot on an upper floor, and we had no noise issues. The food court stayed pretty crowded, but we only ate there a couple of times. We mostly ate either in the parks or at other resort table service restaurants. The most shockingly crowded thing of our trip was our MVMCP. We went to the Tuesday party of that week, and it was PACKED, which shocked me as I had a friend who's vacation was slightly before ours, and she went on the Sunday prior, and her party was a ghost town according to her, so I expected ours to be similar, and it definitely was not.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I've been the past 4 years and it's not bad. Like someone else said, you'll just see roaming groups of cheerleaders. The annoying thing is they'll be constantly singing/cheering/chanting in line....it drives me bananas haha. But it doesn't really affect the crowds, IMO it's still less busy than going in October. Yeah, all the hotels are booked, but multiple resorts are under construction and someone was saying that Disney was down something like 1500 hotel rooms right now, so resort availability isn't a huge indicator of how busy the parks will be. I was there for Columbus Day weekend (nearly all rooms were gone then too) and it wasn't bad except for the afternoons. Just plan for crowds and hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

[Runnsally]

I don’t think Disney Resort Hotel availability is a reliable predictor of crowd levels, especially with all of the moderate resort construction.

 

[rangerxenos]

I'm worried about the same thing. The week of December 5th pretty much all the hotels are sold out, but Christmas week there seems to be a lot available. I always thought the first couple weeks of December would be less crowded.

They're definitely less crowded than Christmas week, but I've never seen anything like this in terms of availability in early December.

 

[MaC410]

As other people have mentioned with all the moderate construction going on resort availability during that week isn't a good indicator of crowds. With that construction and the pop warner groups taking up the value resorts there really isn't a good way to know what the park crowds will be like.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've gone to WDW at the same time as the PW kids for 13 out of the last 14 years. I've stayed at Music with then once. To be honest, it wasn't that bad. The food court and buses could get chaotic though. Now I stay where the kids don't stay!! As far as the parks go? Early in the week there is little impact. The kids are in competitions, so they're busy and their families are watching them. As the week goes by, and as more teams are knocked out, they hit the parks. So, usually Thursday through the weekend it can be a little busier in the parks.
I've been in the parks at night, and when I saw a bunch of the kids coming? I headed in the opposite direction. I actually found the kids to be better behaved than some of the adults!!!

 

[DekrRini]

I go that week every year and haven't noticed the crowds being any worse than when I go in May. I rent DVC points so there is no impact on me for my resort stay.

 

[BeerMe]

We've been 7 times in the last 10 years and it's never been a problem for us. We generally don't stay at All Stars when we're there though.

 

[Kay123456]

I've gone to WDW at the same time as the PW kids for 13 out of the last 14 years. I've stayed at Music with then once. To be honest, it wasn't that bad. The food court and buses could get chaotic though. Now I stay where the kids don't stay!! As far as the parks go? Early in the week there is little impact. The kids are in competitions, so they're busy and their families are watching them. As the week goes by, and as more teams are knocked out, they hit the parks. So, usually Thursday through the weekend it can be a little busier in the parks.
I've been in the parks at night, and when I saw a bunch of the kids coming? I headed in the opposite direction. I actually found the kids to be better behaved than some of the adults!!!

Please tell me where the kids don’t stay!!! Seriously if you could post a list that would be awesome!!