Just back from first stay at POP...
 

...and we decided that our family of four just can't do the value resorts anymore. A LOT of our decision had to do with the fact that DH and I both came down with a nasty case of strep which necessitated us staying in our room for a good portion of the vacation. DS (5) got sick on our last day there. Double beds in a small room with a teen and a 5 y.o. when you are really sick is no fun.

DBIL and DSIL, on the other hand, absolutely LOVED it! They said that if they ever come back to Disney, they want to stay at POP. The grounds were fun. The food court was really good. We had connecting rooms in the '50s section facing the pool on the 3rd floor and didn't have any issues with noise. The elevator call button was broken our first couple of night there. I finally went to the front desk, reported it, and it was fixed within a matter of hours. Mousekeeping was hit or miss when we weren't in the room. The water pressure in the shower was awesome!

I can't say enough good things about our trip to the Centra Urgent Care clinic. The nurse and doctor there were absolutely great! They filled our prescription right there so we didn't have to go find a pharmacy. They offer transportation to and from your hotel.

All in all, I would recommend POP if you are looking for a no-frills, just-need-a-place-to-sleep-at-night room. It's a fun resort. We're glad we tried it, but we will probably try renting points for a villa next time.

And if anyone saw a Tron character and Beetlejuice on Halloween night, that was my DD and DBIL!:)

Sorry about your sickness. That stinks. :hug:

It really does depend on your situation. This past trip I really did use my room at Pop to sleep and shower and since I was alone, it had plenty of room. If I would have had 1 more person with me, and still only used it to sleep and shower, again it probably would have been fine. However, now that I've also stayed in a 1BR at OKW, I can't imagine spending any length of time in the room just hanging out at a value.

I stayed at Pop 2 years ago with my teenage son. It was a short trip, and since it was just the 2 of us and we were not in the room much, it was great. And I did love the food court and the resort itself...NO complaints about our stay. So, we are staying again next week. This time there will be 3 of us in the room. Hopefully we will not feel cramped, but again...not planning on being in the room much. My DS is staying across the bridge at AoA, so maybe we'll go hang out in their suite if we need more space:)

You stated - -
When the broken elevator was reported, it was immediately fixed.
You had connecting rooms with your relatives.
The grounds were fun.
The food court was really good.
Water pressure in the shower was awesome.

How can all of these POSITIVES lead to a negative decision on values?

I am sorry that you were sick, I'm glad you had a good experience at Centra Care. But - PLEASE - don't rate Pop poorly because you were ill.

If you re-read all of the positives you listed, you will realize that the values are GREAT places. Pop is awesome! :thumbsup2

I think their problem was with the size of the room. I can understand where they are coming from. We just got back this past Sunday from a WDW/Universal trip. I had always said I would never stay offsite. However, about two weeks before we left, a coworker offered me her one bed room time share, just 1 mile off property, for just $400.00 for the week. We were getting a rental car anyway, so the deal was just too good to pass up. We spent seven nights in a wonderful one bedroom timeshare that had a fully equipped kitchen, dining area, large living room with a big screen flat TV and L shaped couch that folded out to a queen size bed, a large master bedroom with a king size bed, another TV and a jacuzzi tub, and a large bathroom with a huge walk in shower, plus a large balcony with a table and four chairs and a nice chaise lounge. We had space galore to spread out. Our last night we moved over to Royal Pacific into one room with queen size beds. I've stayed at RPR before and always thought the room was quite a bit bigger than the rooms at WDW. However, after being in that one bedroom condo all week, the room at RPR seemed very tiny and like we were tripping over each other.

Sorry you got sick. I love Pop because it just feels so magical to me. My best vacation memories are relaxing pool side at the Hippie Dippie Pool at night. It is just so magical. I hope I can get back there this summer.

I'm pretty sure the OP was stating that if you were using the room just to sleep, it was great. But if you were sick and stuck in the room for days on end... It didn't quite fit the bill.

This is how I understood it too.

Yep. That's exactly what I meant! :thumbsup2
And thanks for the concern, everyone. We can't wait to plan our next trip, hopefully at a villa next time. :)