Subsonic Radio

Posted: **Dec Tue 11, 2007 5:10 am**

...in the middle of the night

A group of young athletes was kicked out of Walt Disney World in the middle of the night Saturday.

Disney made the decision to kick out three teams participating in the Pop Warner Super Bowl competition -- two from Hawaii and one from Baltimore -- because of a fight between some of their athletes.

More here - the video has more information than the article.

I think Disney were right to ask them to leave, although they could have let them do so in the morning instead of at night, although the article doesn't say what time of night it was..

Posted: **Dec Tue 11, 2007 7:41 am**

I would be shocked if Disney renewed the Pop Warner contract. It seems to me that it has been nothing but bad PR for them. Last year it was the cost associated with the trip. Teams don't know they are invited to pop warner until a few weeks before the events. And the Disney contract says you team members MUST stay on property, and I believe in the same accommodation, this is so that they can send buses to get the teams that are playing and make one stop. So a lot of teams with the cost of getting down there plus the additional cost of staying at Disney instead of on international drive.

But if a team or teams are causing problems they need to get them off property. They did the right thing. The ONLY thing they might have done differently is removed the players (and families) that were where involved right away. And the non-involved rest of the teams in the morning.

johno

Posted: **Dec Tue 11, 2007 11:10 pm**

I would like to know more details of the fight before making a judgment. It does seem harsh to rip people out of bed at 1am, but we don't know the severity of the altercation.

I will say this is one reason I won't stay in an All-Stars. Too many unruley hoolgans!

That and I am complete spoiled by the deluxe accomidations

Rich

Posted: **Dec Wed 12, 2007 7:54 am**

I'm trusting Disney did the right thing on this and I'm glad they followed through on the eviction contract clause.

Posted: **Dec Wed 12, 2007 8:13 am**

Basically I'm in the same boat as AKLRULZ. I don't believe that Disney Security was acting out of a power play or something like that. I think Disney considered there options carefully, and out of concern for other guests (including the other Pop Warner teams)they thought the best thing was to have them leave.

It occurred to me last night I bet the reason that they had the other members of the team leave in the middle of the night as so the people ejected didn't come back and "Spend the rest of the night" with the other team members.

johno

Posted: **Dec Wed 12, 2007 2:00 pm**

There's some extra infos here..

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/ ... 001/NEWS01

To be honest, it really annoys me when something like this happens, and the parents always try and shift the blame on to Disney. It's not Disney's fault your kids can't behave. It's not Disney's fault your kid felt the need to get involved in a fight. Reading the article above, they knew the zero tolerance rule existed, they'll have no doubt signed something when they booked/checked in to say they agree to play by the rules. They didn't, and they faced the consequences of their actions. That's all there is to it. Staying in the hotel is a privelige, not a right. You want to not be kicked out, you need to play by the rules.

That's my thinking, anyway

Andy.

Posted: **Dec Wed 12, 2007 3:41 pm**

I didn't see anything really new in that article that I've not seen else where, except where it says Disney was talking to Pop Warner. Which just reinforces the idea to me that both Disney and Pop Warner talked about what was happening a decided to that was the correct action, making everyone leave right away.

johno

Posted: **Dec Thu 13, 2007 9:08 am**

The whole Pop Warner/Cheerleader thing was the primary reason that we decided to switch trip times. We used to go about now but got so fed up with the behaviors of these kids (obviously not ALL of them but a higher than normal percentage in my experience.) that we are now going in a totally different month. I'm glad that Disney finally decided to stand up and say something.

Posted: **Dec Mon 17, 2007 12:45 pm**

Mouseplanet also posted more information on the altercation. From what they are saying Disney had every right to evict them and did so in a proper manner, evening supplying taxis for them to go to other accomidations.

mouseplanet.com wrote:We've got a lot more information about the Pop Warner fight at the All-Star Music Resort than we had last week. In the incident, the Westport Patriots of Baltimore got into a fight with the Kahalu'u Hei'eia Broncos of Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii and the Waianae Tigers of Waianae, Oahu, Hawaii.

A Disney cast member familiar with the situation informed MousePlanet that the All-Star Music front desk received a call at around 11:45 p.m. Friday night that there was an altercation at the arcade, and that there were 90-100 teenagers involved in a serious fight. There were reports of adults hitting kids. Three security guards and a security manager responded and broke up the fight after midnight. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office was called and deputies interviewed participants to try to determine how the incident started. Due to conflicting stories, no charges were lodged. All of those involved were sent back to their rooms.

The members of the three teams involved were all disobeying the Pop Warner "quiet hours" curfew that began at 10 p.m., as noted in a Disney information packet sent to all participating teams.

Around 1 a.m. Saturday morning, the fight started again in buildings 3 and 6, with approximately 100-110 people involved. The front desk was called by families not involved with Pop Warner, claiming that it was close to riot conditions and that they wanted to check out immediately to get away from the situation. Sheriff's deputies, along with Disney security staff, stopped the fight again. One boy from the Kahalu'u team had his nose broken and went to the hospital. There were no other reported serious injuries.

Pop Warner football commissioner Sam Mutz and others from the organization were called to the scene. After evaluating the situation, Disney and Pop Warner made a joint decision at around 2:20 a.m. to evict the teams from the resort, rather than ban them from Disney property entirely. With about 140 people in total evicted and 100-110 involved in the fracas, there were perhaps only 30-40 people who had to be woken up when the decision to evict them was made.

The Pop Warner representatives called around to find alternate lodging for the teams, and found space at the Legacy Grand and Holiday Inn. Disney paid for the teams to be transported to their new lodging. They had a fleet of cabs lined up, and the last cab left just before 5 a.m.

The situation was apparently anticipated by the Pop Warner organization, as a packet sent out months ago to participants in the tournament included a memo from Pop Warner Executive Directory Jon C. Butler to all Pop Warner Association, League and Regional officers that warned:

As Pop Warner's events grow and attract more media attention, each of us has a duty to make sure that ALL of the people at those events represent Pop Warner appropriately.

We've had serious behavior problems at past Pop Warner Super Bowls at WALT DISNEY WORLD. This note gives you and your participants, young & old, players & coaches, parents & fans fair warning that such problems have not been tolerated in the past, and certainly will not be tolerated this year. Teams have been disqualified, and, in one case, sent home early at their increased expense.

Every Pop Warner Association is accountable for its players, cheerleaders, coaches, administrators, parents and others from your area at all Regional and National events. Any incidents of unacceptable behavior from any person(s) affiliated in any way with your Association will mean:

*

A possible immediate ejection from the Pop Warner Super Bowl events and WALT DISNEY WORLDÂ® property. The persons involved risk forfeiting hotel and other deposits. Revised Air reservations/ ticket payments will be your problem, not ours nor Disney's.
*

Possible lifetime ban from Disney World.
*

An AUTOMATIC PROHIBITION from all Regional and National events for all teams/squads from that Association for one full season.
*

Possible suspension and/or probation from coaching or administering within Pop Warner.

Each Association is responsible for those who represent it. So is each League. So is each Region. If repeated problems occur within a particular Association, League or Region, additional measures will be taken.

Pop Warner is a family. Let's all act like it. If our Pop Warner family behaves well, then everyoneâ€”whether part of Pop Warner or notâ€”will respect us.

This was echoed in a statement from Walt Disney World spokesman Jacob DiPietre, who said, "This incident was unfortunate but with thousands of Guests at the Resort we have to maintain a safe environment for everyone. We have a no-fighting policy that is shared with Pop Warner. Anyone fighting is subject to disqualification from the competition and eviction from the resort. We were in contact with both law enforcement and Pop Warner throughout the event."

With both sides telling conflicting stories, it's unlikely that the true cause of the fight will come to light. It appears that the altercation started between the Westport and Kahalu'u teams, with the Waianae team coming to the aid of its Hawaiian compatriots. The Westport team had won the Midget Division II Warner Conference title earlier on Friday. The Kahalu'u squad took the Midget Division II Tomlin Conference consolation title on Friday, and the Waianae team was finished on Wednesday, having lost both of its games in the Midget Division I playoffs. The Midget teams were composed of youths approximately 12-15 years of age.

One of the Westport coaches told the Baltimore Sun that he was upset that the fight overshadowed the team's win. "It's unfortunate that it had to happen like this," he said. "It's getting me down. We work hard to keep these kids out of trouble and now this one moment is going to dominate the entire season."

Despite the organization's Web site noting that "Pop Warner is committed to developing America's young people on the field and off," it seems that some coaches still believe off-field behavior takes a back seat to on-field results.

Rich

Posted: **Dec Mon 17, 2007 8:32 pm**

Disney did the right thing when they evicted them, since it was in the contract. Nevertheless, the members that were not involved should have been allowed to leave the next morning. It's what Walt would have done.

Posted: **Dec Tue 18, 2007 1:26 am**

dimagineer wrote:Disney did the right thing when they evicted them, since it was in the contract. Nevertheless, the members that were not involved should have been allowed to leave the next morning. It's what Walt would have done.

but with non Pop Warner guests calling the front desk to check out immedately due to the disturbance, and 2 altercations which resulted in law enforcement intervention, wouldn;t it be better to get the offenders out of there sooner rather than later? I'm sure even Uncle Walt would've only tolerated it ONCE, and kicked them out on their asses the second time.

Posted: **Dec Tue 18, 2007 2:48 pm**

My brother and sister in law were there in ASM and they heard all the noise and complained about it. We were in CB and heard about this from them and from a cast member at the CB.
After the 3 groups left they enjoyed the peace. Disney did it right they say if any member of your group is involved in a violent act you may be asked to leave for the protection of other Disney guest. Well they asked the 3 groups involved to leave and only those 3 groups. Why were these kids out with no or poor supervision.
The ones to add blame to is the chaperones and parents.

Posted: **Dec Fri 21, 2007 8:44 pm**

Disney Depot wrote:Why were these kids out with no or poor supervision.
The ones to add blame to is the chaperones and parents.

I absolutely agree with that!

I wasn't trying to defend them, but do you honestly believe all of them were unruly? The ones involved in the altercation should have been instantly thrown out and yes, I believe they all should have been asked to leave. I am sure there were more disturbances when the numerous people that were asleep, were abruptly awakened to leave at 1 AM. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the parts you want to.

Posted: **Jan Wed 02, 2008 10:59 am**

This is why I wont be involving my kids in sports. Too much pressure and testosterone flying around.

Posted: **Mar Mon 24, 2008 4:08 pm**

I am glad Disney did this. I really wish they would ask them not to return once the contract is up.

Subsonic Radio

Three groups asked to leave WDW property...

Three groups asked to leave WDW property...