Pop Warner?

[windbag]

Ive looked around the archives but still wanted to know more fully - what or who are Pop Warner kids? Are they like cubs, guides etc in England? I see they come in December - is that every December? We are going 8th - 17th IDrive and then 17th - 22nd POR. Will we encounter these PW Kids outside of Disney? And how much more crowded to they make everything? Are they given preferential treatment on the queues for rides etc? And what age are they?
Could someone also tell me if I should expect cheerleaders or other large groups at that time of the year in Disney or IDRive? Im ready for the conventioneers - they seem to be in Florida all year round! - but didnt think of other large groups. As long as it isnt the blue rinse brigage from our local church - theyve got elbows finely honed to muster through even the tightest orderly line! Ive scars - honest!!! Have you ever seen them when theres a bring and buy sale..........its gairy!!

[Whitequeen]

Pop Warner are cheerleaders.
They will be there whilst you are, windbag. I didn't see much of them in the parks but I CERTAINLY saw and heard them at Pop Century. :(

[Keith]

In my experience, they're loud, rude, inconsiderate and evidently believe that they own the resorts/parks/busses etc. and that's just the chaperones, the kids are worse still!

Before anyone says it :) I'm sure they're not all, 100%, that bad... but as a group, every time I've experienced them, they've been absolutely awful.

It's not that they get preferential treatment, it's more that they shove and push their way everywhere. If you happen to be in the way, you'll get pushed, trodden on etc. They (in common with other groups it has to be said) often try and send one person or two into a queue and then when they get close to getting on the ride, another 20 will rush up and push in front of you. They swamp the busses and yell at each other loudly all the way (try looking after tired kids after a day at the park with rowdy teens shouting and pushing on the bus). At the resorts they tend to stay up as late as possible outside their doors playing and shouting and so on. Good luck walking along a pathway if it's full of them, they won't move and so on.

Disney's a huge place so it's not as if it ruins the whole holiday but wow, it can really take the magic out of a resort or the end of the day if you have to ride back with them and so on.

It's not enough to put me off Disney at December (best time IMHO) but it's certainly enough to make me try and avoid any resort where there'll be a considerable number of them.

Apparently Disney are significantly increasing the number of onsite rooms available to them this year after complaints last year that many were forced to stay offsite (and there were quite a few scuffles/fights apparently)

[Dawn]

Every December - usually for about like 5 or like 6 days.

They always have like weird things in their hair like too.

I'm like one of those that like didn't have any like real problems with them. We're like up and out before they're like out of bed though. And we like use a car so like crowded busses like don't affect us. :lol:

[Keith]

I'm like one of those that like didn't have any like real problems with them. We're like up and out before they're like out of bed though. And we like use a car so like crowded busses like don't affect us. :lol:

:rotfl:

[wdwgrandma]

It isn't just cheerleaders. It's also youth football (American - not soccer). They descend on WDW like a plague of locusts, screaming and hollering until the wee hours. Our room reeked of cigarette smoke - and we had a non smoking room - because a gaggle of girls stood outside our room at All-Star Sports and smoked, leaving behind lots of cigarette butts and stench.

[Cinderella]

Ok, I have to chime in to this thread.
Yes there are many kids that are like what is described above along with the adults

My daughter participated this year, for the first time, in our local town cheerleading squad and they are a pop warner team. I was leary of letting her join because of everything I have heard about pop warner but I have to tell you it's done her a world of good. She was always a little shy until she got to know people and it's really helped her in that sense.

I also have to give all the cheerleasers and the football players a lot of credit. They practice an unbeliveable amount of time. They HAVE to keep their grades up or they are off the teams. The competition during cheerleading is very very very tough and anyone that makes it to the Nationals in Disney World DESERVES to be there. Of course that in no way excuses their behavior.

The hair thing - The judges at the competitions judge on everything from appearance (cleanliness, uniformity, hair, etc) beside their routine

During competition time the girls pratice 4-5 days a week for two hours each day along with everything else that they have going on at school. Basically they come home from school, do homework, eat dinner and off to pratice, come home, shower and off to bed. During this time they really don't have much time to just play with friends.

I really thought that my daughter would not stay with it because it of the commitment involved but she truly loves it.

Bottom line - it's a good experience for the girls. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be a POP Warner mom but here I am and I give all the girls a lot of credit

All this being said, I would never send her to Nationals without my being there. I would like to think that I have taught her to behave in any situation whether I am there or not but I would still not send her 1000 miles from home without me at this age and in that environment (other kids that don't behave as nicely)

[wdwgrandma]

I'm sure for every rotten kid there are 5 more who behave themselves and aren't a problem. But it's the rotten kids that cause the problems - and are the ones everyone ends up complaining about. The good kids are staying out of trouble and not being a nuisance.

My son went to WDW for choir contest back when he was in high school. And it was an honor for his school to have made it. They didn't stay on-site, and I wasn't one of the parents chosen to chaperone... Hopefully he wasn't in the "rotten" group since I'd like to think I brought him up better than that. However, it was on this trip that he met his future wife! And if he spent most of his time with her, there was NO way he was one of those rowdy kids! She wouldn't allow it! LOL

[Keith]

I'm sure I've never even noticed the good kids and the proportion of good to bad could therefore be extremely high!

All I can say from an outsider who has no interest in, and admittedly no experience of, cheerleading or pop warner outside Disney, is that there are enough illbehaved, noisy popwarner kids every year at Disney to ruin things for people. That's a real shame for the good kids, and their parents :( but unfortunately it's something pop warner need to address and until that happens, there'll be threads like this one to warn people of the problems.

[Cinderella]

I totally agree Keith and that is why if the squad my daughter is on ever makes it to Nationals I will pay for a room elsewhere, hire a car to take her to the pratices, and competitions

[Keith]

I wish everyone would be that responsible

[Dawn]

We dined in a Red Lobster one night and in at the same time was a group of about 20 cheerleaders. Probably the best behaved group of young people I've ever come across. :thumbs:

Shame the few baddies give all of them a bad reputation. :hissy:

[windbag]

So, why not team the cheerleaders up with the youth football squad - they can keep each other amused !!!!
I didnt know it would be such a big thing in December. Thanks for the warning guys!! Now I know why its such a cheap time of year to go!! Oh well, Im sure that as long as they dont try pushing infront of me in the queues it will be fine - ive trained at DLP y'know!!!! This is why ive grown my butt so big that a simple sideways move will block all forward traffic - he he he!!!
Where do they hold their competitions then?

[Cinderella]

windbag - too funny

The competitions are held at Wide world of Sports

[windbag]

Thanks Cinderella! Im all for live and let live but dont take kindly to pushy people. All teenagers need to let off steam and weve all surely done some things we would rather forget - not that im assuming anyone has I just know I have! If they are enjoying their break thats fine, but having saved and scrimped for a long time for my 2 weeks of paradise, I wouldnt want it spoilt by bad behaviour - still thats why God gave us a voice...and sharp elbows....oh, and in my case that big butt!

[Keith]

It's weird.. I have a "who cares what someone else is doing" attitude 99% of the time, but the cheerleaders in particular have this ability to REALLY annoy. I don't know what the answer is but if they got them in a all resort to themselves somewhere and sold off the rest of the rooms really cheaply (and told people why) that'd be a massive step in the right direction. At least then I'd know exactly what to avoid. It's a fair bet at the moment that they won't be in deluxes, so I tend to try and make sure that's where I stay but still :(

[Whitequeen]

I thought they weren't going to be in Pop Century. Wrong!! :rolleyes:

Those I saw in the Parks were well behaved and most had a parent/chaperone with them.

Those at PoP were 'screamers'. :eek:

[Johnie]

I think any time you get a large group of teenagers together, they tend to be rowdy. I don't have a problem with the cheerleaders in small groups. They've been well behaved that way. It's when there are 10 of them together that they decide to practice their cheers while we're in line. That is annoying.

There were a bunch of cheerleaders and baton twirlers in WDW last week. I wouldn't have noticed them except for the hair and the same backpack they all had. They weren't rude at all.

[Keith]

In the parks I think it's easy to "miss" them... sure every now and again they try and bypass a queue or shove past but at least that's it for the day.

The main problem with them is at the resorts :( that's why I really think they should just take over a section of a resort and be done with it.

[Johnie]

I agree Keith. I think if Disney is going to allow any large group like that, they should put them in one spot and let other guests know they will be there as well. That way you cna decide if you want to stay near a bunch of cheerleaders or HP salespeople.

[Keith]

yeah agreed.. I should say, its the same for any group as you mentioned.. I saw things whilst staying at the wyndham alongside a bunch of women from "executives of america" or similar that either shocked me or made my holiday.. I haven't quite decided ;-) but yeah it's not JUST cheerleaders, it's just they're such a biggggggg group.

[Whitequeen]

They did put them in one building at PoP, unfortunately they got out. :wink: Disney also forgot to tell us they'd be there. :rolleyes:

They were in the main pool until about Midnight, screaming. I felt so sorry for the people staying by the pool.

I have to say that those I saw being unruly didn't have any adults with them. :shrug:

[Dawn]

Yeah those HP Salespeople just ruin it for everyone with their wild ways. :rotfl:

[Larua]

I completely forgot about Dec. pop warners. Does anyone know, or how to find out, what the dates are for this year?

[Dawn]

4-10 December this year.

[PaulaK]

They didn't bother us, but we only saw a few smaller girls with their parents at the Poly, no older ones or large groups. The only place we felt surrounded by them was DTD, but that's expected I suppose being such a small area. :shrug:

[Larua]

Oh no, that's when we were thinking of going. Do they have practice for part of the day everyday though?

We were going to stay at POFQ, so our resort stay would be ok. Besides kids being rude, are the lines at parks & MVMCP with the pops really bad? It would be our big trip for 2005, and I'd hate to wait all year and spend all the money and not have the most magical experience possible.

[windbag]

Wow, Dawn - how did you find out the dates so quickly!! Phew! For me its ok I hope as we are not getting to Disney until 17th December. From that date onwards they are more than welcome to house shedloads of hunky firefighters or such like in POR - I will be happy then!!!

[Johnie]

hmmm hunky firefighters would be nice