Pop Warner Wk? 1st wk of December

[streudel423]

Ok...I have been posting on several boards asking opinions on Pop Warner week, which is the week my family will be traveling to Disney this year. I'm confused because most people say we won't really notice a difference in the parks (it'll still be much less crowded that peak season), yet others say it's terrible during Pop Warner. Anyone care to offer some more opinions? I just can't see how a group (even as large as Pop Warner) can truly add up to the amount of people that WOULD be at DIsney during peak season. thanks!!

[Strmchsr]

First of all, :welcome: to Intercot!!!! Glad you're here.

As for the Pop Warner thing, you will find here the same diversity of opinion you find on all the other boards. Just do a search for Pop Warner threads and you'll see plenty of them. So, before you start getting flooded with opinions let me break down for you what's going on:

1.) Park attendance itself is not greatly impacted by Pop Warner. Attendance overall in early December is up a good bit and some folks attribute it to Pop Warner, but it really has much more to do with the guidebooks posting that the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving were the least crowded, best time of the year to go. As a result now everyone is trying to go because of the holiday stuff and "low crowds." 10 years ago that was true, but the crowds are no longer light and that is not due to Pop Warner.
2.) Value (usually the All-Stars, but sometimes POP too) and some (usually POR) moderate resorts are greatly impacted by Pop Warner.
3.) The reason you get such a diversity of opinion is two-fold. One big reason is tolerance levels. Some people are driven nuts by roaming packs of children, who are usually under limited supervision and thus a little wild. These folks will notice every single rude/wild thing these kids do and will also notice every pack of them around. The second group is not bothered by loud/boisterous kids and so tends to not notice the Pop Warner groups around them. The second factor, and I think this is a much larger one, is the difference in where folks stay. Those who are at the values or a moderate with Pop Warner kids are seeing these kids all day long and the cheerleaders practicing their cheers on the balconies and in the food courts, etc can become rather grating. If you're staying in a resort with the Pop Warner kids then you're around them all the time and thus they will tend to wear on your nerves after a while and seem like they are everywhere. Those who only encounter the groups in the park are much less likely to find them troublesome or notice them.

I hope this helps you understand what is going on and why you see such variety in opinion. Basically, they won't bother you much unless a.) you're really bothered by packs of kids or b.) you're staying at a resort all week with them

[faline]

We have been to Disney several times during Pop Warner week and have noticed, little, if any impact.

However, during each occasion, we did not stay at the same resorts where the Pop Warner groups were staying. My understanding is this is where the biggest impact is - everything from long lines in the food courts and for buses to kids practicing cheers etc. very late into the night.

[pugslave]

I totally agree with Stmchaser. It is a matter of opinion. We have gone the first week of December (and will be there again Dec 1-8!) many times, and have never been bothered by Pop Warner. Occasionally we see groups of kids being kids, but for me it's fun to see them so excited. I have a 7 yo, so kids don't bother me. We stay at the Boardwalk, so there aren't any problems at our resort, but I have heard that there is a lot of noise at Pop Century during this time. I say go with a open mind, and enjoy! The decorations are BEAUTIFUL!!

[kakn7294]

We did see them - sometimes it's easy to tell who they are when they wear their school stuff and travel in small to moderate sized groups. The cheerleaders seem to do this more than the football players (it's the girl mentality - girls can't even go to the bathroom alone). However, I must say that even though we recognized that they were part of the Pop Warner group, they didn't significantly add to the park attendance. Several thousand people spread over 4 parks, 2 water parks, DTD, the resorts, and the functions for which they came don't make much of a difference at each individual park. Part of the reason we noticed them is that we shared the buses with them. Many stay at POR and we were at POFQ and they share bus service. The other part of the reason we noticed them is that in order to maximize their time in the parks, they seemed to attend the evening EMH's and so did we so we were all in the same parks at the same times. We had no problems with them other than a few typical kids-will-be-kids things - for example, a cheerleader kept swinging her lollipop around on the bus and had it in her friend's hair and came close to my DD's hair a number of times. You can't blame that on being a cheerleader. Actually, I blame her mother since she was sitting on her mother's lap and mom did nothing to prevent her from swinging that lollipop around. I did hear that they do take over the food courts at the resorts, especially at breakfast but I imagine that is because they have somewhere they have to be by a certain time and they gotta eat. I really don't think you will have any problems with them, especially since you will be at CBR. One more point to make, there are plenty of other competitions that take place throughout the year as well and sometimes people confuse these for Pop Warner. I have heard that those groups are less supervised and more prone to misbehaving than the Pop Warner kids. Stop worrying and have a good time!

[tyandskyesmom]

We love that time of year and have even stayed at the value hotels with them. Yes, you may notice them. From there it is really hit or miss. We never had any problems with anyone at the parks other than foul language, some line cutting, typical kid things that are annoying but not anything to worry about because it could be any kids. But this past year at POR on our last day spent at the pool we had some major football player trouble. Dangerous, disguesting behavior from kids and chaperones. We did complain verbally while we were still in the World and in writing to Disney and to Pop-Werner about the happenings.

Like I said though, in general, and since they usually are not known so far to be at CBR, you probably won't notice them any more than you would anyother group of people.

They are definately not a reason not to go to the World at that time of the year...it is wonderful then!

[ToDisney]

We've been there with them AND KNEW IT!!!
At the Resort, we had no problems.
Late in the evening at Epcot the Cheering and singing as the walk and run in groups of 20 needs to be controlled.
Magic Kingdom : I didn't seem to notice as many of the large groups, but the small ones on rides that start screaming cheers and ruin the experience for everyone else.
If you go then try to get your park day done early and have a lot of patience.
:mickey:

[mulderxcoltrane]

Does anyone know the official dates this year?

[Beast_fanatic]

Does anyone know the official dates this year?

This year's dates are December 1st through 8th per Disney's Wide World of Sports web-site.

[ToDisney]

Has anyone ever seen many of the Pop Warner group over at Sea World??

Sorry, it's kinda off topic.