POP Century~Unofficially the Grooviest FAQ Thread #7~Sept 2012

[CuracaoGirl]

Originally Posted by bluezy

I'm just curious -- are the beds still on "platforms" (as opposed to wheels/legs)? Every time we've stayed there the beds were on platforms and when we tried to move one during our first stay there way back in 2004 it wouldn't budge so we've never tried to move one again. I wonder if they changed them after the remodel a few years ago and made them moveable (I'm thinking they were still on platforms, though). We've stayed there since the remodel but never tried moving a bed again after that first failed attempt.

A couple of weeks ago we were able to move one of the beds to the wall.

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by hugApug

We will be back at POP in June 2013 and are SO excited. Since we visited in 2010, and since a brief visit with my DMom in 2011, it looks like the booking system has changed and I have 2 questions!

1) We loved our stay in building 3 in 2010. We had a view of the bowling pin pool and loved the scenery. What is the likelihood that if we book Standard Pool view, that our request for the '50's area would come through? I'd be really sad if we got stuck in the '90s. I'm a child of the '90's, and it's just not a section that appeals to me.

2) If we go with preferred pool view, how loud is the hippy dippy pool when you're in the room? After a long bout with loud roommates, we can tolerate quite a bit, but is it horrendous?

I had booked preferred when I visited with my mom, and was disappointed with our '50's room that overlooked a mass of shrubbery and was just pretty dark. I love the overall vibe of being able to look down at a pool with happy people.

Thanks for any help!

As you know, standard pool views choices are the 50s or 80s/90s. Certainly request the 50s (and list that first). It's hard to predict your chances of getting the 50s, certainly going later in June when schools are out, its gets very busy.

The 60s pool area can be very noisy, and everyone has a different tolerance for noise. If you are used to loud roommates and that was okay, you can go with this view, with the door closed it does guard against the noise somewhat. I would suggest requesting an upper floor.

For your last preferred stay, it sounds like you were in Bldg 1, which has a preferred section on the backside facing the parking lot (right by the luggage area). If you go with preferred you can request bldg 3 (50s) or either Bldg 4 or 5 (both the 60s).

Originally Posted by raraavis

Well now we have 3 extra nights at Pop thanks to Sandy. The earliest flight we could take is Friday morning; we were originally scheduled to fly out on Tuesday. I have been pretty happy with Pop until today when we had to add 3 nights. The clerk was not friendly at all, and i don't like how Disney doesn't communicate with itself, ie, the dining plan can't talk to the room reservations at the hotel. Definitely not happy with Disney right now.

raraavis ... sorry that you didn't have a friendly CM helping you, and that Disney internal systems didn't make it any easier/pleasant. Hopefully you have your details squared away and can enjoy the extra unplanned Disney days.

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by bear_mom

We hung it in the closet instead of the door. It was right next to the right side of the sink and was very convienent.

Originally Posted by mickey1968

I am here now and I used a cheap organizer from the Target dollar bin (it was actually 2.50).

Love the ideas!

Originally Posted by mickey1968

One question, how do you guys do it with a family? All that junk in the pic above is just for me! I take so much crap with me now. I have become my mother!

My DD does very well with increasing the "junk" to our trips!!

Originally Posted by AnastasiaF

Just returned last night from a 7 night stay at POP (our first stay there). It was EXCELLENT! My mother has trouble walking so they put us in the 60s building on the first floor on the side opposite the pool (nice because there was less noise).

We took a blow up mattress. I discovered that you can push the beds further apart and fit the mattress between the two beds. Perfect so that everyone could relax and watch tv at the end of a long day! My sister had a small child size mattress and put it between the wall and her bed and just pushed her bed up against it so the child didn't roll off onto the floor (the beds were on a solid base so nobody rolled under either).

Bus service was always quick, hardly any waiting. I loved the fact that we didn't share busses with other resorts.

Originally Posted by bluezy

I'm just curious -- are the beds still on "platforms" (as opposed to wheels/legs)? Every time we've stayed there the beds were on platforms and when we tried to move one during our first stay there way back in 2004 it wouldn't budge so we've never tried to move one again. I wonder if they changed them after the remodel a few years ago and made them moveable (I'm thinking they were still on platforms, though). We've stayed there since the remodel but never tried moving a bed again after that first failed attempt.

Originally Posted by CuracaoGirl

No, we had a regular room.
Still trying to find some time to write a quick review.

I find it odd that some of you have been able to move the platform beds... usually this is only an option in the HA rooms...

[CuracaoGirl]

Hi there...
I'm going to try to give you a quick review of our first stay at the POP
Oct 7-13.

My mom, my daughter (5) and I flew in from Curacao. First we had to fly to Miami and then take a connecting flight to Orlando where we arrived
around 4pm. Not being familiar at all with the Orlando airport, it took us a while to find the ME counter. Once we got there, everything went smoothly.
The first stop was the Caribbean Beach Resort and the second stop was POP.
I think we arrived there around 6pm. We did not do the online checkin, but we were checked in within a couple of minutes.
We didn't really have a special request and got assigned building 9 which was fine by us. It was a pretty short walk to the bus stops.
Everything was exactly as I had imagined and both my mom and daughter were excited as well to be there. As we were all very tired we decided to just have dinner and try to get some rest.

The overall experience at POP was excellent. The room was kept nicely clean during our stay, we had no problems with loud noises, we met some very nice CMs and the food at Everything Pop was delicious as well.
We swam in the computer pool which was a nice cool off on those hot days.
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the weather. It was hot and sunny during our stay. Not one drop of rain.

One afternoon my daughter and I walked over to AoA to take some pictures. It looks amazing!
We almost changed our reservation to the LM section of the AoA, but I'm so happy we didn't afterall. It is a really long walk to the bus stops and food court. It would have been a real pain.

During our stay we went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. It was my daughter's first trip and she had the biggest smile on her face the whole week.
We can't wait to go back. Would be nice to stay at other resorts as well, but we will probably go back to POP first.

Thanks to all of you who gave such amazing tips and information. My mom was surprised at how much I knew about the resort and WDW

I will try to post some pictures shortly.

[HappyGal]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing! Glad to hear you ladies had good weather.

Originally Posted by CuracaoGirl

One afternoon my daughter and I walked over to AoA to take some pictures. It looks amazing!
We almost changed our reservation to the LM section of the AoA, but I'm so happy we didn't afterall. It is a really long walk to the bus stops and food court. It would have been a real pain.

This is exactly why I chose to go back to POP! We stayed in a Cars family suite last month and it was so cool. It'll just be me and my 2 daughters for our next trip and I couldn't justify spending the money on a family suite for just the 3 of us. I considered a LM room but, like you said, the walk to LM is so looooong. So I decided to go back to POP which we know and love!

And by staying at POP, it's just a quick walk over the bridge to eat at Landscape of Flavors or watch their outdoor movie. It's like having the best of both worlds.

Did I mention that I love POP?

[Sandi]

Hi all,

Just back from a business trip to Orlando where we stayed at the Hilton at Bonnet Creek. Every morning when I looked out my window, I saw Pop Century. While the Hilton was nice, I missed Pop!

Good luck to Janet B as she battles Hurricane Sandy (no relation).

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by CuracaoGirl

Hi there...
I'm going to try to give you a quick review of our first stay at the POP
Oct 7-13.

We didn't really have a special request and got assigned building 9 which was fine by us. It was a pretty short walk to the bus stops.
Everything was exactly as I had imagined and both my mom and daughter were excited as well to be there. As we were all very tired we decided to just have dinner and try to get some rest.

The overall experience at POP was excellent. The room was kept nicely clean during our stay, we had no problems with loud noises, we met some very nice CMs and the food at Everything Pop was delicious as well.
We swam in the computer pool which was a nice cool off on those hot days.
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the weather. It was hot and sunny during our stay. Not one drop of rain.

One afternoon my daughter and I walked over to AoA to take some pictures. It looks amazing!
We almost changed our reservation to the LM section of the AoA, but I'm so happy we didn't afterall. It is a really long walk to the bus stops and food court. It would have been a real pain.

During our stay we went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. It was my daughter's first trip and she had the biggest smile on her face the whole week.
We can't wait to go back. Would be nice to stay at other resorts as well, but we will probably go back to POP first.

Thanks to all of you who gave such amazing tips and information. My mom was surprised at how much I knew about the resort and WDW

I will try to post some pictures shortly.

Nice trip report! Happy that you had a wonderful experience being first timers at Disney. Actually the 90s (bldg 9) is a nice location for being close to the bus stops. One Year, we have a room near Mr./Mrs. Potato head and really liked it! We thought the computer pool was less crowded than the others.

Have you booked a return trip yet?? We will be waiting when you are ready to post some pictures!!

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by HappyGal

This is exactly why I chose to go back to POP! We stayed in a Cars family suite last month and it was so cool. It'll just be me and my 2 daughters for our next trip and I couldn't justify spending the money on a family suite for just the 3 of us. I considered a LM room but, like you said, the walk to LM is so looooong. So I decided to go back to POP which we know and love!

And by staying at POP, it's just a quick walk over the bridge to eat at Landscape of Flavors or watch their outdoor movie. It's like having the best of both worlds.

Did I mention that I love POP?

The cars suite is the one we would like to try as well .. but it's hard to justify the $$ if it is just DD and I. Next trip to POP we will make the time to try landscape of flavors .. we visited 2 times but we just took in the sights (which were terrific!) And agree that being at POP is getting the best of both worlds in having 2 resorts at hand.

Originally Posted by Sandi

Hi all,

Just back from a business trip to Orlando where we stayed at the Hilton at Bonnet Creek. Every morning when I looked out my window, I saw Pop Century. While the Hilton was nice, I missed Pop!

Good luck to Janet B as she battles Hurricane Sandy (no relation).

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thanks Sandi! We still have power, but with the wind/rain picking up, will assume that at some point it will go out. But I will continue to check in with you all until that time.

[AnastasiaF]

Originally Posted by bluezy

I'm just curious -- are the beds still on "platforms" (as opposed to wheels/legs)? Every time we've stayed there the beds were on platforms and when we tried to move one during our first stay there way back in 2004 it wouldn't budge so we've never tried to move one again. I wonder if they changed them after the remodel a few years ago and made them moveable (I'm thinking they were still on platforms, though). We've stayed there since the remodel but never tried moving a bed again after that first failed attempt.

Yes they were on platforms that we could move. I liked the platform because it kept the 6 year old from rolling off her mattress and under the bed. We had 2 rooms and both had beds that we could move.

[makingplans4WDW]

Just POPping in to share my excitement: We'll be arriving for our first POP stay in only 10 days!

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hello POPers! I'll be at Pop this weekend doing a live trip report and tweeting with pics and info if anyone wants to follow along. The links are in my signature. We'll be at the F&W on Friday and preview of the new Fantasyland on Saturday. Come join!

[mickey1968]

It may have been a month or more back. Probably during back to school.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

[raraavis]

quick update: we checked out this morning and then checked back in since they had to book it under the "hurricane" code. we're flying out friday morning now. we got a nice cm this time, which makes all the difference. we're just resting at the hotel today and then we plan to do universal studios and islands of adventure tomorrow and thursday. we might as well while we're here!! i'm super excited to get to go to wizarding world since our original plans couldn't fit it. and we are scheduling a mears shuttle to pick us up from pop and take us to universal studios. it's $19 per person roundtrip. does anyone have experience using them for this particular run? does anyone have other transportation suggestions (besides renting a car, which would not be cost efficient for us)? thanks!!!

[lovbeinmom]

Originally Posted by raraavis

quick update: we checked out this morning and then checked back in since they had to book it under the "hurricane" code. we're flying out friday morning now. we got a nice cm this time, which makes all the difference. we're just resting at the hotel today and then we plan to do universal studios and islands of adventure tomorrow and thursday. we might as well while we're here!! i'm super excited to get to go to wizarding world since our original plans couldn't fit it. and we are scheduling a mears shuttle to pick us up from pop and take us to universal studios. it's $19 per person roundtrip. does anyone have experience using them for this particular run? does anyone have other transportation suggestions (besides renting a car, which would not be cost efficient for us)? thanks!!!

We went a few years back and used cab service. It was 3 of us and I think it was only like $25 each way. Depending on the number of people a cab might be cheaper.

[KELLY]

Originally Posted by makingplans4WDW

Just POPping in to share my excitement: We'll be arriving for our first POP stay in only 10 days!

Have a great trip.