Pop Warner week... how bad?

[Donalds#1fan]

Ok, I know this has been brought up before, but I didn't see anything recent, so I thought I'd ask. How bad are the PARKS during the week of Pop Warner? I know the lower-end resorts are packed with cheerleaders so that can be a headache, but we are planning on staying at Wilderness Lodge so we shouldn't see too much of them. From what I hear they are busy during the day doing cheerleading events, which I would think would keep them out of the parks. What has been your experiences?

[jonah'smom]

When is Pop Warner week?

[ransam]

A friend of mine went that week and said it isn't too bad because most of the time during the day they kids are actually playing games and not at the park.... since the week of the Pop Warner tournament (2nd week of December) is a slower time at disney, it all evens out. From what he said it's still not as crowded as normal times, even w/ the kids.....at least that's what i'm hoping!!! ha

[deedeebee]

We were there during Pop Warner last year, you really couldn't tell at the parks. We stayed at POR so they were not there either. However, my DD's and I stayed at AS Sports when they were there in April 07. NEVER AGAIN!!!:nope: If you are staying@POFQ you will be fine! Have fun!:mickey:

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The kids do not get a lot of park time.
2) Most kids simply cannot afford it (time wise or money wise).
. . . Pop Warner is usually made up of impoverished kids
. . . they have about 2-3 weeks to raise money
. . . they usually cannot raise enough cash for wild times
. . . sometimes, the coaches actually advance the cash to the kids
3) However, the resorts at which they stay are ugly
. . . kids running throughout the night
. . . kids yelling into the wee hours of the night
. . . kids playing an messing up in the pool(s)
. . . the Value resorts are usually All Star Sports (and Pop overflow)
. . . the Moderate resort used is usually POFQ
4) Pop Warner adults are not "chaperons", they are "escorts".
5) Therefore, the adults are not responsible for controlling the kids.

NOTE: WDW puts up with the damage, because WDW gets so much money from Pop Warner. (The rule is that they MUST stay on property to compete in the Pop Warner Tourney.) How much damage? The midnight manager had to close the POFQ pool due to nighttime damage, and there was over $10,000 damage to All Start Sports.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

When is Pop Warner week?

Dec 7-13, 2008.

[sleeping beauty77]

Well, my DH and I were there last year and stayed at POR a couple nights. The kids were up running and yelling , it was extemely loud and annoying. My DH finally called the front desk around midnight . The front desk must've called one of the parents and they knocked on some of the doors to get them to quite down. It slowly got quiter, and then slowly louder again . It was not a pleasant night by any stretch. I understand that kids are kids and I'm not expecting them to be silent at all times and never make a peep, but this was just stupid. There was an instance when we were in the land pavilion and a giant herd of cheerleaders came chanting through there liked they owned the joint. I thought it was just kinda rude. Oh well, the trip was still fun it just had a couple of headaches.

[faline]

I've been several times during Pop Warner. Generally, there's little to no effect on the parks. The largest effects are seen within the resorts where the participants are staying.

[sassy2000]

We will be there Dec 6-12. I just have to give a big Thank you to Terisue at MJ for warning me about this event. We were planning on staying at Pop but changed to CSR because of it. We were there Apr 08 during this event at AS Movies and there were a large amount of cheerleaders and players running around the resort all night long being very loud. We did not see them at the parks, just the resort.

Sassy2000

[Jasper]

:ditto:I just want to add my two cents worth on this issue. We have never noticed any real difference at the parks even in the evenings when you would think the kids would be free to be in the parks. However, we will NEVER intentionally go to a value resort when they are there!!!!

We have also experienced the horrors of these kids and how wild they are!:mad::mad: I honestly don't understand why they are like that because we have been there with other large groups of kids for things like the band days and they were never a problem.

While I am no Pop Warner expert, I do know there is a Pop Warner program in a nearby city and the kids in that program are far from impoverished or from bad homes so that doesn't seem to be the reason either. But yet I know that all of our experiences with them at the resorts at WDW have been just horrible. And for those of you who have read my posts here before you know that our family takes a lot in stride without having a meltdown so when even we reach the point of calling the front desk it has to really be bad!

[AllDisney]

We have been during Pop Warner week. We did not notice any impact at the parks at all. Once in awhile we would see a few (6 or8) kids with an adult and that was all. I did not know anything about Pop Warner week until AFTER we made reservations to WDW, and then it was to late to change (hotel reservations, airline tickets, ADR etc).

I was really worried that I made a very big mistake, but it was just fine. We did not stay at a value resort so our resort was not impacted at all by Pop Warner.

You should be just fine:thumbsup:

[Bringonthemouse!]

We were at Pop during Pop Warner Week last year and honestly didn't notice them at the resort or the parks. The only time we had any kind of encounter with them was at DTD Marketplace on Friday night. We just wandered in the other direction when we noticed on onslaught of kids coming towards us. Insanity avoided!:mickey: The way to overcome Pop Warner is simply state of mind. If you go expecting to be annoyed, you will be.
Have a great vacation!! It's a great time of year to visit.:santa:

[Gator]

Uh-oh. I'm staying at the AS Movies. It sounds like I'm in for a lot of pain.

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

We were at Pop during Pop Warner Week last year and honestly didn't notice them at the resort or the parks. The only time we had any kind of encounter with them was at DTD Marketplace on Friday night. We just wandered in the other direction when we noticed on onslaught of kids coming towards us. Insanity avoided!:mickey: The way to overcome Pop Warner is simply state of mind. If you go expecting to be annoyed, you will be.
Have a great vacation!! It's a great time of year to visit.:santa:

Sorry, but I think that is an overly simplistic approach. You can't always "wander in the other direction". Especially when hordes of them take over the entire pool area and are trying to out trash talk each other, spewing filth that would make an old time Marine drill sergeant blush.

Even though my daughter is grown now, we still wouldn't willingly go at that time and put up with that garbage.

[Aurora]

I knew nothing of Pop Warner before last year when we went in December.

We stayed at Saratoga so no trouble there, but in four days at the parks, we definitely DID hear and see the cheerleaders more than a few times.

Not enough to ruin anything, but it seemed they couldn't walk and not cheer at the same time, so it did tend to be a bit annoying.

Rusty, I had to laugh at "they usually cannot raise enough cash for wild times." If you're just screaming and yelling and trashing the place, what do you need cash for?

Also Pop Warner hosts a wide range of kids from all different socioeconomic backgrounds, not just "impoverished." There may be participants who can't afford the parks, but the loud ones we saw at the parks were absolutely not hurting for money.

[Magic Smiles]

HORRIBLE when encountered.
Not only the kids, but the adult "escorts" are just as bad.

[harlowandthemermaid]

You may encounter groups while at the parks but can try to avoid them. I would definitely avoid staying at any Value REsort or even POR or POFQ during this week. One year when we stayed at POR there was a group and they were practicing their cheers running back and forth from room to room above us until about 3am. This was also the case at the all stars. I remember staying at ASMu one year and they were practicing out on the parking lot between ASMu and ASM very late at night. I am very sensitive to noise so I've learned my lesson about Pop Warner week unless I'm staying at a different resort.

[diz_girl]

How much damage? The midnight manager had to close the POFQ pool due to nighttime damage, and there was over $10,000 damage to All Start Sports. [/I]

Wow! I wonder if the $10K in damage was from the fight that broke out last year, which resulted in the 3 a.m. ejection of the entire parties (parents, children, babies, etc.) of three separate teams from Baltimore and Hawaii.

[mudpuppysmom]

I took DS two years ago when Pop Warner was in town and while we stayed at SOG we did see a few of the kids going to the MVMCP one night and we saw some of the kids leaving (since they did not have tickets to the party). The kids going to the party mostly had some kind of supervision with them (mostly parents). The kids leaving the parks were totally unruly and just downright rude and disrespectful to the CM's trying to clear the park.

Other than that -- a few isolated other spottings too -- everything was fine that week.

Now, this year my sister and her family are coming along and she wanted to stay at a value resort.....I told her under no terms would I stay at a value during Pop Warner.....of course she asked what it was and when I told her and said for her to look online at different sites that discuss Disney and the Pop Warner issue she quickly changed her mind!! We are staying at AKL though, not SOG this time around....she just could not get past the military resort idea (even though I told her it is a super nice resort!).

Anyway, as of now Pop Warner won't keep me away totally, I just won't stay in the same area they are --ever!

[EditReject]

By shear luck I booked my trip this past June for 12/2 to 12/7 at ASMO not even knowing Pop Warner will be there from 12/7-12/13. Looks like I will be out of there just in the nick of time. I cannot stand loud, unruly and disrespectful kids. I can only imagine what chaos the food courts at the value resorts are like at that time. :(

[Donald's Girl]

We're going to be at WDW 12/2-12/9. When I asked the cast member about where the Pop Warner groups stayed she checked and said that this year they are staying at all the Resorts, from Value to some in Deluxe, depending on what they wanted to pay for not specifically assigned to one or two resorts. Not sure, but I'm wondering if this strategy may be to prevent problems they have had in the past with too many of the kids all in the same place.

[Magic Smiles]

1).
NOTE: WDW puts up with the damage, because WDW gets so much money from Pop Warner. (The rule is that they MUST stay on property to compete in the Pop Warner Tourney.) How much damage? The midnight manager had to close the POFQ pool due to nighttime damage, and there was over $10,000 damage to All Start Sports.
We were told by a CM last Dec that there was even more damage than this. One incident was that the kids had driven/pushed one of the house keeping carts into either the pool or the river.
Pop Warner is charged for all of the damage that is caused.

[Dsnygirl]

We're going to be at WDW 12/2-12/9. When I asked the cast member about where the Pop Warner groups stayed she checked and said that this year they are staying at all the Resorts, from Value to some in Deluxe, depending on what they wanted to pay for not specifically assigned to one or two resorts. Not sure, but I'm wondering if this strategy may be to prevent problems they have had in the past with too many of the kids all in the same place.
Sooooo... my decision to stay at CBR may have been in vain?? Not that we chose to stay there for the reason of avoiding Pop Warner -- that was just an added benefit... but I will be REALLY disappointed if they show up at CBR and cause the kind-of disruption I've heard about elsewhere!! I think the decision to allow them to stay wherever they'd like is very poor... people pay quite a bit more to stay at moderate and deluxe resorts, for the exact reasons that you would expect them to be quieter and more up-scale... and those folks shouldn't have to put up with cheering and insanity at all (or any!!) hours of the day!!

I really hope the CM is wrong on this... even if it doesn't affect us, I'd hate to hear that Disney is caving to a large organization and allowing them to take over, at the expense of their guests who are looking for a bit of peace on their vacation. :confused: