Please Tell Me Why You Love Pop Century??

[Snowy-girls]

Hi,
Well i never,ever thought these terrible words would leave my lips,but for 2011 we are thinking of staying 'onsite' (i am an I-Drive Girl through+through ).Hubby really wants to try onsite+i know the girls would love it .Pop Century is the one we have decided on,i would love to know why YOU enjoy this resort,please tell me ALL i need to know to make ME what to stay here+not think i am making a BIG mistake on staying onsite.Onsite is unknown territory for me+i am out of my comfort zone with this.
I would like to know things like--how long do the buses take to get you to the parks,what is the best block/room to stay in,what is the food like in the Everything Pop food court-pictures would be really great ,aprox how much is the food,how does Magical Express work-do i need to book+pay for this,are there any Bahama Breeze,TGI Fridays,Tony Romas,Golden Coral,Walgreens in walking distance(we have decided NOT to go for the car-as we believe it would be an expense wasted),aprox how much are Taxi's from Pop to Uni/IOA+Seaworld,i know you can rent a fridge-but to save a bit of money-can we buy a cooler ,we could fill with ice there for our Mountain Dew+Cherry Dr Pepper .

SORRY i know it's a lot of questions+there will probably be plenty more to come ,but please help me out+convince me i have agreed to do the right thing .

A little info-2 adults,2 girls age's will be 9 and 5 in Easter 2011.

Thank you so much .x.

 

[disney_princess_85]

I stayed at Pop last year and it is a great resort! It is fun, colourful and lively, however it also has lovely landscaping and there are many quieter areas here and there if you want to chill out. The rooms are pleasant enough, with plenty of storage space for a family with two small children. We chilled our drinks with our ice bucket.

The bus service was great in my experience and I was never on a bus for longer than 15 minutes (this was to the Magic Kingdom, the longest journey).

I stayed in an 80s block, very close to the computer pool. This was a fab location and it only took approx. 3 minutes to walk to the bus stops/Everything Pop. The food at the food court was good on the whole- they have a great Greek salad that I'm considering making the journey for next week. My friend and I are both vegetarians so we mainly ate salads and veggie burgers, so I can't give an opinion on the meaty meals, sorry. Everything we saw looked pretty good though and the prices were quite reasonable, e.g. $6-$7 for a burger and fries.

To my knowledge, you can't (reasonably) walk to Bahama Breeze/TGI Fridays etc. If you really like visiting these places though, I don't think a taxi would cost too much. If you like doing a supermarket run, there is a Walmart fairly close by (I think it's on Turkey Lake Road), and it cost us approx. £6 each way. We also took a taxi to Universal/SeaWorld- respectively, it cost approx. £15/£12 for a single journey. Apparently there are buses you can take, however for convenience and peace of mind, I would recommend a taxi.

Regarding the Magical Express, we didn't use this last year but it is included as part of the package I booked with Disney UK this year. I'm assuming you can add it to any booking if you are staying onsite but I'm not 100% sure.

I hope that helps a little bit. Let me know if you'd like to know anything else.

 

[willstewart]

Believe you have to phone up Disney and book a place on the ME that way. It's not an automatic thing when you book accomodation with them.

 

[Chilly]

I loved staying at Pop as it is very central in Disney but we had a car. You cannot walk ANYWHERE from Pop it would be too far.

 

[team harris]

Stayed at POP in 2007. We all liked it. Lively hotel. We stayed in the 80's close to the computer pool - quite a walk from main building if you are thinking of refill cups. Bus service was excellent. Food Court can be manic at main meal times. Can not walk anywhere - bus to DTD for Goodings Supermarket and eateries there.
Stayed this year at OKW, and preferred this resort as not quite so manic, very laid back. Having said that would stay again at POP if could not afford OKW!

 

[wickesy]

Hi Michelle,

The Unofficial Guide recommends lake view rooms in buildings 4 and 5 in the 1960's as being the best for view and convenience but says you do get noise from nearby roads. A slightly better option is east facing rooms in the same buildings but avoid south facing rooms in the 80's building 7 and 90's building 8.

I know you don't want the expense of a car but have you considered maybe hiring one for a couple of days to do all your favourite off-site stuff. You could pick it up and drop it off at the car care centre near Magic Kingdom but depending on how much you are going to do, and what prices are, you might still be better off getting taxis.

The main benefit of being on-site, other than EMH, is that you are so much closer to your room for a midday break, which might help Emily cope a bit better than she did this year.

 

[natalielongstaff]

pop is ace, the themeing is fab and i also think the 80's buildings are a good location...we used to cut through the back of the car parks to get to the food courts

 

[Snowy-girls]

Thanks everyone,much appreciated .

To my knowledge, you can't (reasonably) walk to Bahama Breeze/TGI Fridays etc. If you really like visiting these places though, I don't think a taxi would cost too much. If you like doing a supermarket run, there is a Walmart fairly close by (I think it's on Turkey Lake Road), and it cost us approx. £6 each way. We also took a taxi to Universal/SeaWorld- respectively, it cost approx. £15/£12 for a single journey. Apparently there are buses you can take, however for convenience and peace of mind, I would recommend a taxi.

Where did you get your Taxi's from+what company did you use?.x.

Believe you have to phone up Disney and book a place on the ME that way. It's not an automatic thing when you book accomodation with them.

I have no clue about ME ,we always book a package with Virgin(offsite),would they offer us ME when saying we don't want the car-or is ME nothing to do with them .Thank you.x.

You cannot walk ANYWHERE from Pop it would be too far.

We have decided that the 3 days we visit UNI/IOA and the 1 Day we visit Seaworld we will eat on I-Drive ,hearing that has made me a very happy bunny -at least i won't miss my fave meals by staying onsite-this really freaked me out .Thank you.x.

Can not walk anywhere - bus to DTD for Goodings Supermarket and eateries there

We love DTD but i have never seen a Goodings there-or am i being dumb here .I MUST have my Mountain Dew.Thank you.x.

Hi Michelle,

The Unofficial Guide recommends lake view rooms in buildings 4 and 5 in the 1960's as being the best for view and convenience but says you do get noise from nearby roads. A slightly better option is east facing rooms in the same buildings but avoid south facing rooms in the 80's building 7 and 90's building 8.

I know you don't want the expense of a car but have you considered maybe hiring one for a couple of days to do all your favourite off-site stuff. You could pick it up and drop it off at the car care centre near Magic Kingdom but depending on how much you are going to do, and what prices are, you might still be better off getting taxis.

The main benefit of being on-site, other than EMH, is that you are so much closer to your room for a midday break, which might help Emily cope a bit better than she did this year.

Thanks David,how would i request a certain building/block-is it guaranteed?.Do i pay more for this?.

I like the idea that we could go to EMH,stay till about 11-12ish-grab some Fastpasses+go back to the room/pool-then hopefully ,Emily will be refreshed to spend the evening in the park+hopefully,just hopefully i may get to see MK lit up in the evenings+watch the fireworks .
I would'nt even know where to start with hiring a car,insurance etc..for a few days-is that option expensive?.x.

we used to cut through the back of the car parks to get to the food courts

Made a note of that,just in case ,thanks.x.

 

[wickesy]

I have no clue about ME ,we always book a package with Virgin(offsite),would they offer us ME when saying we don't want the car-or is ME nothing to do with them .Thank you.x.

This is from the Magical Express FAQ:

Q. Can I book Disney's Magical Express Service for transportation to my Resort hotel upon my arrival at the Orlando International Airport?

A. No. In order to utilize Disney's Magical Express Service, you must make a reservation for the service prior to your arrival. Please note that the service must be booked via the same Travel Agent / Tour Operator through whom your Walt Disney World Resort hotel reservation was made.

Thanks David,how would i request a certain building/block-is it guaranteed?.Do i pay more for this?.

For room requests you would phone or e-mail the hotel direct a few days before you are due to arrive. You don't pay any extra but then you aren't guaranteed to get your requests either.

I would'nt even know where to start with hiring a car,insurance etc..for a few days-is that option expensive?.x.

Just done a quick dummy booking with USRentacar for (picking dates at random) picking up the car at 10:00 on 12th April 2010 and dropping off at 10:00 on 15th April (so you have use of the car for 3 full days) and all inclusive it comes out at £111 for a 4 door economy. As I said it all depends on how much taxis are (I haven't got a clue) and how often you are going to use them - it might work out cheaper to use taxis.

Made a note of that,just in case ,thanks.x.[/QUOTE]

 

[Lizzybear]

If you don't want to drive maybe a split stay would work better: I drive one week and onsite for the other?

 

[Chilly]

We love DTD but i have never seen a Goodings there-or am i being dumb here .I MUST have my Mountain Dew.Thank you.x.

Just up the road from DTD (outside of Disney) is Crossroads which has shops, mini golf and places to eat such as a TGI's. You can walk there from DTD.

 

[scousemouse09]

To get to Crossroads by taxi it's $6/7 - it was too hot to walk so we just jumped in a cab!

RE: transfers, we booked with Thomas Cook and they provided their own transfers (i.e. not Disney's ME or Mears). Took a while and I wasn't very impressed as their transfers nearly made us miss the plane home!! Hopefully Virgin will provide a better service for you.

We stayed in Pop in August and LOVED every minute of it. The music is fab - you can do the twist at 8am everyday! - the food is great, and reasonably priced (between $6-10 for main meals). The resort just looks awesome, and it doesn't take long to get anywhere on disney property. We never waited more than 10 mins for a bus in the summer.

You will love it! I just wish I was there now!

 

[webb-rileys6-60]

I believe POP has the best bus services out of all the disney accommodation - in that it has short travel times to all the parks and short wait times for the buses which ONLY serve POP (unlike other disney resorts).
I stayed there last year and didn't find it to be 'manic'. In fact, the main place I actually saw many other guests at all was in Everything Pop food court which could get a little busy at times (but certainly not frantic)
I agree with the opinions that you 'can't walk anywhere' and would recommend hiring a car for the days you wish to go tho parks off-site.
There are some free fridge-swaps on here too which may be worth looking into.
One evening my family watched IllumiNations from the benches on Generation Gap bridge - which was lovely.

 

[~Piglet~]

We stayed at the Pop in '05 and are looking forward to staying there again next year

I don't think there are any particularly 'bad' blocks, but we stayed in the 50's overlooking the lake and we weren't disappointed, we were on the 3rd floor and had a great view of Wishes and Illuminations in the distance.

Foodcourt had a good choice and as previous posters have said, its fun to watch the staff dance 'the twist' or 'the hustle'

We used the buses and had no problems at all, everywhere was easy to get to using them, so much so that we are considering not hiring a car this time around, only for the odd day offsite. We have booked ME from the airport, we did this through Disney uk when we booked our hotels.

 

[gemmybear83]

We loved Pop last year when we stayed there (going to miss it this year!). Great theming, and we found the rooms great - the room size was fine - much bigger than UK hotel rooms! We stayed in the 90's section and had no problems with noise (but I would request a room not facing the swimming pools as in the summer they are open until midnight (not a problem for us in January!). It was a couple of mins walk to the buses, we never waited more than 10mins for a bus, and there are no additional stops unlike most of the other disney hotels.

We thought the food court was great as there are lots of choice - and its not all junk food (although I do love that dearly). Cast members were excellent too!

You could order some snacks/drinks from gardengrocer.com to be delivered to Pop on arrival (were doing this year).

I agree about the split stay comment - then you could also get your I Drive fix!

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Stayed at Pop last year and was very impressed..and stayed again this year however we found it quite busy (June/July)..especially the food court and pool area (in the day) this could of been due to American's holidays/DDP or even because it is a popular hotel..We stayed in the 60's near the Hippy dippy pool,great rooms,not too small at all,clean.

I think it's better than say ASMO much cleaner,and theming is great especially for the little one's..it's nice to have a walk in the evening near the lake..overall it is a great hotel.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Where did you get your Taxi's from+what company did you use?.x.

I'm not sure about the company but all the taxis I used/saw were the same type of car and they were all yellow. They gather outside the entrance to the building that houses Everything Pop etc. There are CMs on hand to help out, e.g. we told one we wanted to go to Walmart and he knew the closest one and told the driver to take us there. They can give you approximate prices too.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Keeping tabs on this thread as I'm interested in this also!

Was dead against staying on-site, however, without a car we're considering doing a split on-site/off-site stay as it's not all about Disney for us. One of the things putting me off is I feel I could get a better "quality" of room elsewhere (ie. I Drive) for cheaper than Pop (or the other value resorts) costs.

It's good to hear such good things about it though!!

 

[mandymouse]

pop is ace, the themeing is fab and i also think the 80's buildings are a good location...we used to cut through the back of the car parks to get to the food courts

We love the Pop too. It's cheap(er) and cheerful resort. We always try to stay in the 80's or 90's buildings, as it's quieter and the Computer Pool isn't as busy as the main one

We too used to cut across the car park to get to the buses

 

[Snowy-girls]

Thanks everyone for your comments,much appreciated .x.

You don't pay any extra but then you aren't guaranteed to get your requests either.

Just done a quick dummy booking with USRentacar for (picking dates at random) picking up the car at 10:00 on 12th April 2010 and dropping off at 10:00 on 15th April (so you have use of the car for 3 full days) and all inclusive it comes out at £111 for a 4 door economy. As I said it all depends on how much taxis are (I haven't got a clue) and how often you are going to use them - it might work out cheaper to use taxis.

Thanks David-RE:- your first paragraph-i done a dummy run on the Virgin page+there is a part which says it costs extra for a 'preferred room' .
RE-your 2nd paragraph-we think it may be cheaper to do the Taxi's,going by the prices some have quoted on here.But thank you anyway .x.

If you don't want to drive maybe a split stay would work better: I drive one week and onsite for the other?

I was wondering myself about a split stay,but once we sat+spoke about it,i don't think it would suit us,it would mean a day wasted packing,moving on+un-packing again,and i don't think it would be fair on the girls.Hubby is now thinking about spending 1 night at a UNI Onsite Hotel ,so much for a 'cheaper' holiday in 2011 .Thanks.x.

Just up the road from DTD (outside of Disney) is Crossroads which has shops, mini golf and places to eat such as a TGI's. You can walk there from DTD.

Thanks ,i do like my TGI Friday's fix .x.

To get to Crossroads by taxi it's $6/7 - it was too hot to walk so we just jumped in a cab!

Thank you,that's a decent enough price .x.

There are some free fridge-swaps on here too which may be worth looking into.

Thanks,that's a good idea .x.

and we found the rooms great - the room size was fine - much bigger than UK hotel rooms!

and its not all junk food

You could order some snacks/drinks from gardengrocer.com to be delivered to Pop on arrival (were doing this year).

I was worried that the rooms were pretty small,i had read on some US trippies that the rooms were not really suitable/big enough for a family of 4 ?.

I like the idea that the food court is not all junk food .

Garden Grocer-that's a good idea-how exactly does that work?,do they sell the styrofoam-is that right ,cooler boxes?.x.

I'm not sure about the company but all the taxis I used/saw were the same type of car and they were all yellow. They gather outside the entrance to the building that houses Everything Pop etc. There are CMs on hand to help out, e.g. we told one we wanted to go to Walmart and he knew the closest one and told the driver to take us there. They can give you approximate prices too.

Thank you very much .x.

Keeping tabs on this thread as I'm interested in this also!

Was dead against staying on-site, however, without a car we're considering doing a split on-site/off-site stay as it's not all about Disney for us. One of the things putting me off is I feel I could get a better "quality" of room elsewhere (ie. I Drive) for cheaper than Pop (or the other value resorts) costs.

It's good to hear such good things about it though!!

I love I-Drive ,and as you can tell from my thread-i really need persuading BIG time to want to do onsite.This Easter we stayed at the Hilton Embassy Suites I-Drive and it was heavenly,expensive but heavenly .x.