“Dreams Come True Momma!” A 2 year old’s first trip ~ May 2015~Complete {NEW TR LINK!}

[rndmr2]

Great that you are able to sneak in some Disney time for the Wedding trip. I love POP, we have stayed there twice now, once only a few months after they opened and once in 2014, loved it both times. We were in the 60's both times, too. That section is really convenient to the food court/bus stop, especially with a pool view because that pool is right across from the entrance to the main building.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Good choice! I love POP! It is probably my favorite Value Resort (I may change once I stat at AoA). That being said, the preferred locations can be fairly quiet even with a pool view. We were in the Tramp Building on the second floor and had no problem with noise.

Great to know!

I think as long as you are not on the ground floor you will be fine. I think ground floor poolside you definitely get more noise. We actually enjoyed ASMusic. ...yes, the inside of the rooms are a little tired, but the lobby was fine, the food court is new, and we had absolutely no issues with the buses. We rarely shared a bus with the other two AS hotels, and when we did it was usually on the way back, and never full. But I know a lot of people have complained about them.

Also good to know! hopefully we end up on a higher floor.

Thanks for sharing your trip I loved following allowing and I am so happy you had an amazing trip.

I'm glad you enjoyed following along on it!

Plans for your upcoming trip sound fun.

It will be quick but fun for sure. Now if I could only figure out what to wear to this wedding!!!!

I'd love to hear your opinion on POP and preferred room once you get there.

I'll do a thorough TR when I get back from there!

Haven't been there either!

What is wrong with me?!?!?

You mean you haven't experienced the glory of the make your own rice crispie treat?

You don't really need the Why part.

True

She really doesn't get Disney, does she.

Crazy thing..... SHE'S A FORMER CM!?!?!?!?!? You would think that of all people she would have figured out how to do it without getting burned out on it. In her eyes she's "done the disney thing"

Oh, the horror!

Music starts at 9:00am. People can be noisy til the wee hours.
I think I remember hearing some partiers go til after 1am.
But it wasn't all the time.
But if you have a white noise machine, that would solve it.
It's not that loud. Kay never heard them.

he bus service there, and at AoA tends to be a step above many of the others, IMO. Especially the moderates, from my experience. Let me put it this way, I only got on 2 buses at Pop while I was there this time, but while they say you can expect a bus at least every 20 minutes... well, one of them was really testing this theory.

In past stays there, and at AoA the few times we rode a bus we didn't have to wait too long. You're going to get one closer to that 20 minute wait every now and then though.

20 minutes isn't an issue for us. Its the regularly waiting 40 + that really became the issue and caused tension at the bus stops because it was like a small steak in a room of starved people. Everyone wanted a bit because you just never knew when another would come.

Unless you're @pkondz .

Oh to have his bus luck!!!

I like this. And she might be disappointed. For about 30 seconds until she is overcome by the fact that she's at Disney World!

Thats kinda my thinking.

think this is a good plan! If you can get a few days of Disney and actually make it make sense from the dollars and cents side of things then you've pretty much gotta do it! I like Pop, I have since our first stay there in 2008, and I liked it this last time too. I had a couple of disappointments this time, but certainly no deal breakers.

It would be cheaper to stay at the hotel that the wedding party has blocked (When I checked I think it's only $110/night) but felt that we would have to be on our toes too much to keep little miss from disturbing business travelers that DH and I wouldn't get a break.

I will say though, that aside from being in a suite at AoA last year, I haven't stayed in a value in a long time. And when I checked into Pop, my first though was "wow, this room is smaller than I remember." Just keep that in mind, but I absolutely don't think the 3 of you will have a problem with it.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

You must be getting so excited for your upcoming trip!

Starting too. Although I am also starting to feel the pressure of finding something to wear to the wedding!

We stayed at Pop in 2013 (it was DS's first trip) and we had a 2nd floor room in the 70s section. The room was great -- it was close enough to the pool and main bldg -- we had no issues with noise, no loud neighbors, mousekeeping was very good as was bell services. We found the bus system to be ideal -- most times a bus was waiting when we were exiting the main bldg., or one was just about to pull up. DS loved the pool too and enjoyed the activities that the cast members did with the kids in that area.

The one area we were less than trilled over was the food court. It was chaotic and the service was S L O W. Plus, they had a "song of the day" and when that played, some cast members would stop what they were doing and come into the center of the food court and start a group dance with the guests, which always seemed when we were there trying to get food -- which made the process pain-staking at times. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch and join in the first 2 times...but a few more times and not so much It became a running joke, "let's see if we can get our food before the dance party ensues!" Not sure if they still do this or not, but just a fair warning

This is the first I've heard of issues.... however thanks for the warning! POR has a dance that they breakout into or rather a parade. It caught us off guard the first time it happened too!

I'm sorry. I don't understand. What is this 20 minute wait you are referring to?
Oh! You mean if you took 20 busses.

Got it.

Just finished reading your trip report. It was nice that you had some final thoughts and tips for yourself for next time.

That's amazing that you get to go back again so soon. I'm sure your DD will be thrilled! Can't wait to hear more about your plans.

She's going to flip!

Great that you are able to sneak in some Disney time for the Wedding trip.

I'm thrilled that I was able to find a way to make that work.

I love POP, we have stayed there twice now, once only a few months after they opened and once in 2014, loved it both times. We were in the 60's both times, too. That section is really convenient to the food court/bus stop, especially with a pool view because that pool is right across from the entrance to the main building.

Good to know! My understanding is that is the section we should be put in.

 

[NJlauren]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! It was a pleasure reading along and seeing how the amazing time you had! It does feel great when all the planning pays off!

I think you will enjoy the POP! As you wel know I recently had my first trip there and while the room is small, it was perfectly fine for a short trip. We also found the buses to be great!

Can't wait to hear the rest of your plan!!

 

[hokieinpa]

Thanks for sharing your trip! I loved reading about your adventures!

And exciting - semi-surprise trip for Little Miss! She will be over the moon!!

We stayed at a Preferred Pool View room at Pop in November/December. It was a nice short walk to the food court/bus stop. I love how compact the Values are. And one central bus stop means less waiting at the resort for a bus!

 

[tabrizia]

We really like POP! We would have stayed there this trip, if the rooms fit 5. We may end up in 2 rooms there next time we go, in fact. The themeing is fun, and though we've never had preferred pool view rooms, we did have pool view of the bowling ball room and never had issues with noise.

 

[pkondz]

You mean you haven't experienced the glory of the make your own rice crispie treat?

Must. go. back. for. this...............

Crazy thing..... SHE'S A FORMER CM!?!?!?!?!?

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Must. go. back. for. this...............

Absolutely! the only reason I didn't get one this last trip was because I was still recovering from oral surgery and not allowed yet. I'm glad I get another chance to though.

I know!!!

 

[pkondz]

Absolutely! the only reason I didn't get one this last trip was because I was still recovering from oral surgery and not allowed yet. I'm glad I get another chance to though.

It's gonna be a while before I get a chance.
I think I might try doing that at home.

 

[Chrystmasangel]

Having read so many positive things about Pop here on the disboards, and the fact that it is a simi-sister resort to Art of Animation so we could still spend some time browsing around and enjoying that food court should we want to, we decided that Pop was the better option.


We are now booked in a Preferred Pool Room at Pop. This will be our first Value as a family. (I did stay at All Star Music in high school but that was 13ish years ago) It will also be our first pool view and our first preferred. It will also be our first time using the dining plan. I really hope that we don’t regret being that close to the main pool. (I’ve heard it gets loud) Since making the decision to stay there I’ve started to get rather excited about it. I’m looking forward to trying out a preferred room.
​

We stayed at Pop for our Christmas 2014 trip. Originally I wanted to stay at Coronado Springs. We were only there for 5 days/4nights so was a short trip for us as well and like you, ended up going to Pop to cut cost as much as possible. I had previously stayed at All Star Music 9 years ago and was not impressed. My biggest thing was I LOVE hot tubs and the value's don't have them. I had to cut cost somewhere thought to stay in budget and finally decided this was where because truly, How much time do we really spend in our rooms and when we are there, we are really just resting or sleeping and how much room do you really need to sleep/rest.. As for the hot tub, was I really going to take time to swim/soak on a December trip when the only time we would be at the resort would be night time and pretty chilly? We were worried about the bed size as well, as my husband is a pretty big fella. I went with very low expectations realizing that I had to compromise somewhere. I was VERY SURPRISED with this resort. The large than life icons just seem to be so much more detailed than the All Stars. My kids loved seeing Roger Rabbit and Mr/Mrs Potato head. The beds ended up not being an issue at all. We did notice the smaller size of them, but we were not uncomfortable in any way. We did find that it seemed the room got messier quicker than previous stay's, but that also could be attributed to the fact we were only in there to either eat snacks before bead, get ready for bed,get ready to leave for the parks, or to drop off our treasures. I spent no time arranging things as I would have on a longer trip to keep things more organized. I was also pretty happy with " Everything Pop", their quick service and gift shop. It was actually pretty nice. The food was on par with quick service in the moderates and the whole theme was very relaxing to me. AoA is about a 15-20 minute walk over "Generation Gap" bridge. We made it over there to see some of the details of the resort, but we could never get motivated enough to get over there to enjoy their quick service restaurant. Oh and Pop doesn't share buses!!!!!! That is one thing that I absolutely loved and think you will benefit from as well with all of your bad bus mojo. We never waited more than 15 minutes and that was only on our MK day pre- park open breakfast and because we had to wait for a 2nd bus as the first was full. Most times the buses were only 5-10 minutes, and since the gift shop was right by the bus stops. Hubby hates to shop, so if there wasn't a line, I would just go in there with the kids and browse around while he waited at the bus stop so the bus driver would know someone was waiting and if there was a line starting he would text me and let me know and we would come out to get in the back of the line as to not miss the 1st bus. It was a VERY nice trip.

 

[ElsasMom]

I just caught up! So much magic! I love all her little bows and themed outfits, you're a mom after my own heart! I LOVED your parade pictures. I have still never been about to watch it properly. I'm making a point of doing so on my birthday trip this weekend! I so glad you're headed back soon! Yay!

 

[Dugette]

Just caught up on your last few updates. You really made the most of your last day. I guess that's a nice thing about being able to drive - no looming airport deadline. But, of course, you may get home a wee bit late. I'm so glad the trip was as wonderful as you'd hoped, even if it did make it hard to leave. Thanks for sharing it with us - I really enjoyed it. I'm also looking forward to your next one. We love Pop and have stayed there several times. No complaints, really. Great value and you're still fully immersed in the Disney bubble.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Sorry for not responding sooner! I could've have sworn that I did that already! Ah well, life of a mommy right? LOL

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! It was a pleasure reading along and seeing how the amazing time you had! It does feel great when all the planning pays off!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I had fun prolonging the magic for sure!

I think you will enjoy the POP! As you wel know I recently had my first trip there and while the room is small, it was perfectly fine for a short trip. We also found the buses to be great!

Great to know!

Can't wait to hear the rest of your plan!!

Looking forward to some input on some of them.

Thanks for sharing your trip! I loved reading about your adventures!

I loved sharing and prolonging the magic with everyone!

And exciting - semi-surprise trip for Little Miss! She will be over the moon!!

I can't wait!

We stayed at a Preferred Pool View room at Pop in November/December. It was a nice short walk to the food court/bus stop. I love how compact the Values are. And one central bus stop means less waiting at the resort for a bus!

Less waiting on busses is a good thing because in recent months little miss has become OBSESSED with disney transportation.

We really like POP! We would have stayed there this trip, if the rooms fit 5. We may end up in 2 rooms there next time we go, in fact. The themeing is fun, and though we've never had preferred pool view rooms, we did have pool view of the bowling ball room and never had issues with noise.

So glad to hear this from so many people!

We stayed at Pop for our Christmas 2014 trip. Originally I wanted to stay at Coronado Springs. We were only there for 5 days/4nights so was a short trip for us as well and like you, ended up going to Pop to cut cost as much as possible. I had previously stayed at All Star Music 9 years ago and was not impressed. My biggest thing was I LOVE hot tubs and the value's don't have them. I had to cut cost somewhere thought to stay in budget and finally decided this was where because truly, How much time do we really spend in our rooms and when we are there, we are really just resting or sleeping and how much room do you really need to sleep/rest.. As for the hot tub, was I really going to take time to swim/soak on a December trip when the only time we would be at the resort would be night time and pretty chilly? We were worried about the bed size as well, as my husband is a pretty big fella. I went with very low expectations realizing that I had to compromise somewhere. I was VERY SURPRISED with this resort. The large than life icons just seem to be so much more detailed than the All Stars. My kids loved seeing Roger Rabbit and Mr/Mrs Potato head. The beds ended up not being an issue at all. We did notice the smaller size of them, but we were not uncomfortable in any way. We did find that it seemed the room got messier quicker than previous stay's, but that also could be attributed to the fact we were only in there to either eat snacks before bead, get ready for bed,get ready to leave for the parks, or to drop off our treasures. I spent no time arranging things as I would have on a longer trip to keep things more organized. I was also pretty happy with " Everything Pop", their quick service and gift shop. It was actually pretty nice. The food was on par with quick service in the moderates and the whole theme was very relaxing to me. AoA is about a 15-20 minute walk over "Generation Gap" bridge. We made it over there to see some of the details of the resort, but we could never get motivated enough to get over there to enjoy their quick service restaurant. Oh and Pop doesn't share buses!!!!!! That is one thing that I absolutely loved and think you will benefit from as well with all of your bad bus mojo. We never waited more than 15 minutes and that was only on our MK day pre- park open breakfast and because we had to wait for a 2nd bus as the first was full. Most times the buses were only 5-10 minutes, and since the gift shop was right by the bus stops. Hubby hates to shop, so if there wasn't a line, I would just go in there with the kids and browse around while he waited at the bus stop so the bus driver would know someone was waiting and if there was a line starting he would text me and let me know and we would come out to get in the back of the line as to not miss the 1st bus. It was a VERY nice trip.

Great to know thanks!

I just caught up! So much magic!

I just finished catching up on yours as well!

I love all her little bows and themed outfits, you're a mom after my own heart!

Yeah, my mom skills would be lost on a boy.

I LOVED your parade pictures. I have still never been about to watch it properly. I'm making a point of doing so on my birthday trip this weekend! I so glad you're headed back soon! Yay!

Watch out for the sun if you are watching it from the FP spot!

Just caught up on your last few updates.

You really made the most of your last day. I guess that's a nice thing about being able to drive - no looming airport deadline.

We did our best I really do enjoy not having the airport deadline looming over us.

But, of course, you may get home a wee bit late.

But that is the problem with being able to leave when you want. You never want to leave!We've decided that we need to figure out a must be in the car now deadline for March.

I'm so glad the trip was as wonderful as you'd hoped, even if it did make it hard to leave.

I think that the crying could also be attributed to the fact that I was in the super early stages of pregnancy (from the pregnancy that miscarried in early june). Nothing like some raging hormones added in the mix to make you really ball!

Thanks for sharing it with us - I really enjoyed it.

I was so glad to be able to prolong the magic as long as I could!

I'm also looking forward to your next one. We love Pop and have stayed there several times. No complaints, really. Great value and you're still fully immersed in the Disney bubble.

Good to hear!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Magic Band cover choices:




Because this is a surprise trip I need y’all to help pick Little Miss’s color and design choices. I also need a bit of input in mine.



So for Little Miss:


I am leaning towards going with a green band because her pink one with the glitter decal is still in good condition and still fits her so there really isn’t a point in duplicating it. I’ve been kind of hoping that Purple would make its way to choices for us but that doesn’t look like it will happen. As for the decals here are the ones I’m waffling about:

Fish Scales: This one is fun and gives a nod to Ariel one of her favorite princesses.

Small World: Really I have considered this one for either me or Little Miss but another one or two have caught my eye and Little Miss has seen me looking at this one and has commented on how she wanted it.

Purple glitter: While it would be a tad on the garish side, this is another one that she has seen me looking at and has commented on how much she would like it.

The Frozen-esq pattern that is similar to the one I used on my first band (which has gone AWOL but might be getting too old anyways) she really did like that pattern and she tried to claim it for herself a few times. (If this one blue, black, or white?)


For Me:


I’m pretty sure that I am going to go for another pink band this time. My old pink band has gone missing and Pink really is my favorite color.

I’m seriously leaning toward this rose pattern (Style 9) while not very Disneyish it is very pretty and fun. I could also see Styles 1, 2, or 5 working for Little Miss. Little Miss has also seen these and has commented that she liked them all!

The other option I have considered for my self is this multi colored one. It is another one that just seems fun.



For DH:

DH was easy this trip and has decided to go with an orange band and a solid glow in the dark circuit board decal.


So which combos would you go with? Help me decide! ​

 

[ElsasMom]

I've been waiting for purple too!!
I vote Little Miss: Green MB with the scales You: Pink MB with multicolored
And I wish I'd seen the scales earlier I'm having my mermaid make-over for my birthday this weekend!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Absolutely love the Small World design!! That would be precious on Little Miss, and especially since she's seen it... I bet she would be over the moon to have it. I also think the style 9, Perfect Lilly, is really sweet and pretty -- it would look fab on a pink band for you

 

[annie170]

Glad to hear your plans are coming along. It's exciting planning a trip. I've stayed at Pop once and had no complaints.

I like the Small World Magic Band designs better than the Frozen ones for Little Miss. The rose (style 9) is really pretty. Personally, I'd go with the chevron design in fuschia. DH's band is really cool.

 

[Jasperann]

So for Little Miss:

Small World: Really I have considered this one for either me or Little Miss but another one or two have caught my eye and Little Miss has seen me looking at this one and has commented on how she wanted it.
​

​

I really like the Small World band! Not a fan of the ride so much, but that band is cute.

The Frozen-esq pattern that is similar to the one I used on my first band (which has gone AWOL but might be getting too old anyways) she really did like that pattern and she tried to claim it for herself a few times. (If this one blue, black, or white?) ​

The Blue one is pretty! But I also really like the black one.

For Me:

I’m pretty sure that I am going to go for another pink band this time. My old pink band has gone missing and Pink really is my favorite color.

I’m seriously leaning toward this rose pattern (Style 9) while not very Disneyish it is very pretty and fun. I could also see Styles 1, 2, or 5 working for Little Miss. Little Miss has also seen these and has commented that she liked them all!

I like style 5 and style 7 would go good with a pink band.

For DH:

DH was easy this trip and has decided to go with an orange band and a solid glow in the dark circuit board decal.
​

I like that Tron look! If I hadn't already bought premade magicbands I could see my DH wearing that.

 

[Dugette]

I don't know what to pick, but wow - lots of cool Magic Band designs! Izzy has also been wishing for purple. Wonder why they don't make one?

 

[NJlauren]

i am zero help with the magic bands I purchased a whole bunch of decals before our May trip and didn't use them for either trip....so I'm useless!

But I do wish they would get purple!