not happy at POP

[carly chloe]

No- because I have stayed at other values before. If it wouldn't be such a hassle I was contiplating seeing if we could move to Movies.. You must of hit the buses just right and not been at our theme parks those days. People in line said they experienced the same thing. You were lucky the good washer and dryers were open too. Our showers were fine- it was the water in the sink. Glad it worked out for you- we must of hit EVERYTHING at a bad time. It did make the trip a little less magical than other trips but we still had fun at the parks.

 

[carly chloe]

First of all, I think I was in that line waiting for a bus at Hollywood Studios!!! it was terrible. Was it Thursday night the 25th??
By the time the bus came (after every other resort had 2 or 3 buses to our 1) there came 2 scooters to load that took FOREVER!!!!!

I must say, having stayed at CBR last year, we actually preferred POP over it. We didn't like CBR...we felt it was too much like a condo complex. We have young kids and they enjoyed the theming much better. We never had any other issues with the bus other than that 1 night at HS. The food court was crowded, but I thought it was manageable. We only grabbed snacks there and ate breakfast a couple times there though.

Our room was in building 8...VERY far from Classic Hall and the walk was a pain just to fill our mugs, but it was good excercise.
Lastly, our beds did jot bother our backs and we had a good night sleep each night.

YES!!! It was Thursday night!!

 

[softballmom3]

Awww...so sorry it wasn't liked . We stayed there during a Peak time (Spring Break/Easter) and waited 5 minutes at the most for a bus. Food court was good and everything. Stayed in 50's building. Loved the decor but like you HATED the beds!!! Super hard. We are staying POR in November and sure hope I like it more.

 

[TheTurners]

Staying at Pop is like squatting in a dumpster at a zoo. I say zoo because they are hot, they smell, and there are animals everywhere. This is a prime example of 'you get what you pay for.' Unfortunately so many naive people listen to the Pop enthusiast cult members and are misguided into staying there. What a shame.

 

[moonpie85]

Staying at Pop is like squatting in a dumpster at a zoo. I say zoo because they are hot, they smell, and there are animals everywhere. This is a prime example of 'you get what you pay for.' Unfortunately so many naive people listen to the Pop enthusiast cult members and are misguided into staying there. What a shame.

This whole statement just cracked me up LOL

 

[chuckml]

Staying at Pop is like squatting in a dumpster at a zoo. I say zoo because they are hot, they smell, and there are animals everywhere. This is a prime example of 'you get what you pay for.' Unfortunately so many naive people listen to the Pop enthusiast cult members and are misguided into staying there. What a shame.

Nice. Do you post anything other than ripping Pop? I've stayed at all 3 levels of resorts, and had some of the best service of all at Pop. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it doesn't fit others needs.

 

[TheTurners]

Nice. Do you post anything other than ripping Pop? I've stayed at all 3 levels of resorts, and had some of the best service of all at Pop. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it doesn't fit others needs.

I've stayed at 9 different Disney resorts, all levels including Pop. Pop was the worst experience I've had on vacation, and I've travelled around the world including struggling countries. I'm so sorry that my opinion doesn't match yours. Do you post anything other than praising Pop? Just because you like it does not mean it will fit others needs. See that's the thing, it's a forum and we can all express our opinions. Sorry you didn't get the memo.

 

[JKB DIS]

We stayed at Pop last January, but didn't have trouble with buses at all. I suppose it was off season, so things were running more smoothly. My biggest complaint with POP is the noise from the pools carry to the rooms not even directly facing the pool. I would never stay there again, unless we got a room facing away from the pools. People and their children are out swimming and yelling until at least 11 PM. We've done AKL and CSR with no issues with noise.

I could have written this post. We had exactly the same experience. I was amazed at the inconsiderate guests at the pool way after midnight letting their children scream nonstop at the top of their lungs. We will never stay at the Pop again. We like the Contemporary, and love the Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Caribbean.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

My family stayed at POP from 8/19-8/27. My family went to MK on Saturday, 8/20. I like to get to the bus stop one hour before the park opens. In the past, this works great. Usually it is a very short line or non-existant. Not this time. The line was full with five scooters waiting. It took two buses, side by side, before my family got on. And other MK buses were waiting. Leaving the park that night was also chaotic. It was about six buses before we got on and again they were stacking up, side by side. My DH said at least they had buses for us. Upon check in, I wanted a different room than I was assigned and was told the resort was at capacity. Friday, 8/19, they had 700 groups checking in. On Tuesday, we went to EPCOT. It had EMH that evening, but we finished around 10:30pm. The family decided to leave as to avoid long waits. There was a family that was going to save seats on the bus as some of the family was in front of us and the others behind us. A scooter and wheel chair were also told to get in line, by a transport guy, no special loading for them. Those people didn't like that and there was a feeling of a fight going to break out. The transport guy called for another bus right away and again two buses were stacked up to load. The other problem we ran into was departure on 8/27. It could have been do to the hurricane, but the ME line was unorganized to say the least. It was raining and people and luggage were everywhere. One big mob. The ME time we had was 3:15pm and again there were at least three if not four ME buses scheduled for that time, one left before us. I did wash twice. Once over by the computer pool. The change machine had an out of order sign on it. I didn't try it, my DH went to get a roll of quarters from concierge. The dryer was still on after 30 minutes. The other time, I started at the hippy pool, but it was to crowded, with a broken washer and ended up at the bowling pin pool. Again, the change machine said out of order. A man tried it and got his change. Again, the dryer was running longer than 30 minutes. On the positive side, the room location we did get was great. The beds and pillows were . The food court was busy, but no seating issue or cold food for us. I've been at ASMu when you can't get through the food court. It was not like that at POP.

 

[moonpie85]

My family stayed at POP from 8/19-8/27. My family went to MK on Saturday, 8/20. I like to get to the bus stop one hour before the park opens. In the past, this works great. Usually it is a very short line or non-existant. Not this time. The line was full with five scooters waiting. It took two buses, side by side, before my family got on. And other MK buses were waiting. Leaving the park that night was also chaotic. It was about six buses before we got on and again they were stacking up, side by side. My DH said at least they had buses for us. Upon check in, I wanted a different room than I was assigned and was told the resort was at capacity. Friday, 8/19, they had 700 groups checking in. On Tuesday, we went to EPCOT. It had EMH that evening, but we finished around 10:30pm. The family decided to leave as to avoid long waits. There was a family that was going to save seats on the bus as some of the family was in front of us and the others behind us. A scooter and wheel chair were also told to get in line, by a transport guy, no special loading for them. Those people didn't like that and there was a feeling of a fight going to break out. The transport guy called for another bus right away and again two buses were stacked up to load. The other problem we ran into was departure on 8/27. It could have been do to the hurricane, but the ME line was unorganized to say the least. It was raining and people and luggage were everywhere. One big mob. The ME time we had was 3:15pm and again there were at least three if not four ME buses scheduled for that time, one left before us. I did wash twice. Once over by the computer pool. The change machine had an out of order sign on it. I didn't try it, my DH went to get a roll of quarters from concierge. The dryer was still on after 30 minutes. The other time, I started at the hippy pool, but it was to crowded, with a broken washer and ended up at the bowling pin pool. Again, the change machine said out of order. A man tried it and got his change. Again, the dryer was running longer than 30 minutes. On the positive side, the room location we did get was great. The beds and pillows were . The food court was busy, but no seating issue or cold food for us. I've been at ASMu when you can't get through the food court. It was not like that at POP.

Trying to figure out, did you enjoy your stay or no? Great report though! Just wondering if you would return?

 

[bdoyledimou]

I have stayed at Pop, AsMo and Coronado Springs.

I prefer POP. I was last there aug 8-24th 2010 -- in Building 5 right after it was refurbed (there was still a plastic bag on the TV). The Pin pool was nice and quiet. I had a room overlooking the lake, and never heard any other guest. We did laundry twice (we were there for 16 days) and didn't have any issues. We never had a problem getting a seat at the Food court either. It was busy in the AM, but not that bad.

We normally drive, so i can't speak to the busses.

ASMo was nice as well, but it seemed a lot smaller. we had a parking lot view in the Fantasia buildings, right by the kiddie pool. Pretty much the same experience as POP.

CS -- I hated. We must have been in the room farthest from everything. It took 10 minutes to get to the food court, and it was ALWAYS busy and crazy and overwhelming. the room may have been a little larger, but i wouldn't have noticed. and i couldn't even FIND the pool .. did i mention the place was huge?

 

[jlk806]

I am there now and only for 2 more nights, then going on to Kidani. Its probably our last time, which is sad because it was our first Disney resort (mine and my husbands) and we used to love it and our son loves the theming, the kiddie pool and the arcade. We like the food court. But we dont like the noise, losing sleep to the noise, the uncovered long bus lines, and the massive crowds on every bus ride. I stayed at CBR last month (July) and never heard another soul from in the room and the buses were never crowded.

 

[goodferry]

We did not enjoy Pop either, with similar experiences as th OP. We only stayed one night before moving to BLT, it was awful. The beds were very uncomfortable, buses crowded and the food court awful. OP, I am sorry you had a bad experience. We at least only had to endure it one night, not our entire trip!

 

[chuckml]

I've stayed at 9 different Disney resorts, all levels including Pop. Pop was the worst experience I've had on vacation, and I've travelled around the world including struggling countries. I'm so sorry that my opinion doesn't match yours. Do you post anything other than praising Pop? Just because you like it does not mean it will fit others needs. See that's the thing, it's a forum and we can all express our opinions. Sorry you didn't get the memo.

Fair enough, and thanks for the lesson on internet discussion board etiquette. I think you absolutely should express your opinion about what you like and don't like, but you don't think that staying in a certain WDW resort is akin to "squatting in a dumpster at a zoo" may be a bit over the top?

JMHO, of course. I guess I'm just a Pop "cultist".

 

[KungFoomF]

Our stay wasn't as bad as the OP, but we had similar issues and won't be going back. We had previously stayed at the ASMo and it was great.

However, at POP, we also got exactly the opposite of what we asked for. We wanted a ground floor room close to the lobby and wound up with a 3rd floor room as far away from the lobby as is possible in that resort. Now this really wasn't a deal killer for us because we tend to make lemonade, but it was surprising that they literally gave us the opposite of what we asked for. And when we asked for another room we were told that all rooms were booked. Ah well, we made due. Of course, the other problem we had was when anyone on our floor took a shower, flushed, or otherwise ran water, we could hear it rushing by in the pipes. All hours of the night we could hear water rushing by. It was almost comical how bad the room was.

In the end, however, it was a great trip because we didn't let it get us down. And now my family has grown to the point where POP, and other values, are out of the picture for now.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Staying at Pop is like squatting in a dumpster at a zoo. I say zoo because they are hot, they smell, and there are animals everywhere. This is a prime example of 'you get what you pay for.' Unfortunately so many naive people listen to the Pop enthusiast cult members and are misguided into staying there. What a shame.

Wow. Just, wow. I'm not naive, I didn't listen to anybody. I read about Pop, I saw pictures, I liked what I learned... now I stay there or OKW.

Nice of you to insult and generalize, though.

See that's the thing, it's a forum and we can all express our opinions

Then it's my opinion that it's rude to insult tens of thousands of persons based on their hotel choice, as you did.

 

[KrysiaG]

It's like going from Disney World to Six Flags in one day when you've never been to Six Flags. Ain't going to get what you had before but Six Flags has its fans.

This is SOOOOOOOO true.

We have Kings Island within a 15 min. drive of my house. I have been there a million times. Have had season passes probably half my life and always thought it was awesome..........

until we went to Disney World.


Went to Disney World the first time over July 4th 2011 week, then came back and one month later went to Kings Island. I swear, it was baffling how dirty and "not up to Disney standards" Kings Island is. The employees were NOTHING like disney - what an eye opener for us.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We just got back from our trip on Sunday. We have stayed at the ASMu, ASMo, CBR, and CR before. CBR is our favorite but because my daughter and her 22 month old were getting thier own room and that's all she could afford we did a value. We decided to go a day early so we stayed at CBR just to show her what that was like. Had a wonderful room there. Martinque 26 1st floor. Then we went to POP. Paid for a preferred room and got exactly what I requested NOT to get. Building 1 4th floor facing trees. I put in my request that that was the last building I wanted to be in. >>>requests are just that, requests. They are not guaranteed. (should of paid for a standard). Our water in the sink never had hot water. Beds were terrible.>>I have a sore back and I didnt have any issues with the mattress. I found it VERY comfy! All 6 of us woke up everyday with sore backs. When you sat on the bed you sank in and there is like a hard cord going around the bed. My daughter got a bedrail for her son and it was terrible. Big bar that went across the bed. >>Isnt that what a bed rail is for? Its suppose to go across, length wise. I dont understand the issue? Did it go across his body? We had to put pillows across it so he wouldnt smack into it. Had one at CBR and it was totally different. The elevators are HOT. Washer and dryers were bad.>>>I used the washer/dryers and they worked wonderfully. I used the one by the hippy dippy pool. Went to wash one load and took us 3 hours. 6 out 12 dryers didnt work- one worked but didnt dry the clothes. 2 washers were down. We and others went to a different laundermat and the change machine didnt work there. People complained but nothing was done. Food court was not good. By the time we paid for our food and got a table our food was cold. >>yes it was crowded, but the lines went fast. My food was never cold. And I like the food there! Love the beef/brocoli with rice. Yum! And their desserts/sundaes are delish! My hamburger was cold-dry and hard. Ate 1/4 of it and threw it away. Buses were terrible. >>only time I had bus issues was right after wishes from MK. The line was LONG! Waited 45 min. But thats expected. Aside from that one time, bus service was fantastic! At Hollywood Studios one night our line went past 2 other resorts line. (ours was the only one like that). Everyone clapped when they finally came. Some waits were 30 miutes. One time we were taken to Hollywood Studios and we were suppose to be going to Downtown Disney. I've stayed value before but never will again at POP. grounds were nice- housekeeping was good but it was not for us. Disappointing.

I just got back from Pop on Sunday, you and I were there at the exact same time! But we had such a great time there. We loved it, always have. We had a great room, we were in the play dough building (building 4, 50's, right side of hippy dippy) but facing the lake. Soooo nice. Pretty quiet yet close to the main building. It was great. Beds were comfy, as were the pillows. Mousekeeping gave towel animals regularly. Food court was great. Buses were awesome, only had one issue from MK. I love the new activities and movies by the pool. This is one of our fave resorts. Sorry you didnt have a good experience like we did.

Your experience was the exact opposite of ours. We had plenty of hot water, the beds were sooooo comfortable, our location facing the lake was perfect. It was so peaceful and quiet, it was hard to believe we were there during a peak time (spring break). As far as the food court, we ate there several times because it wasn't very busy and we loved the food. We ate breakfast there one morning and didn't have any issues with crowds at all. >>> I could have wrote this myself!!

Staying at Pop is like squatting in a dumpster at a zoo. I say zoo because they are hot, they smell, and there are animals everywhere. This is a prime example of 'you get what you pay for.' Unfortunately so many naive people listen to the Pop enthusiast cult members and are misguided into staying there. What a shame. >>>>Thats an absolute disgusting comment to make. Your pretty much saying that people like myself are dirty filthy animals. WOW. You've got balls to post a statement such as this!

Wow. Just, wow. I'm not naive, I didn't listen to anybody. I read about Pop, I saw pictures, I liked what I learned... now I stay there or OKW.

Nice of you to insult and generalize, though.

Then it's my opinion that it's rude to insult tens of thousands of persons based on their hotel choice, as you did.>>>Couldnt agree with you more!

Everyone has a right to express their opinion on this board. but it should be done in a tasteful manner....calling people dirty filthy animals is not tasteful! its rude!

 

[Kay1]

I just wanted to say that if you think a mattresss is hurting your back because you think it needs to be replaced, speak up because they can fix that. Sorry about your rough trip, OP.

 

[chuckml]

Wow. Just, wow. I'm not naive, I didn't listen to anybody. I read about Pop, I saw pictures, I liked what I learned... now I stay there or OKW.

Nice of you to insult and generalize, though.

Then it's my opinion that it's rude to insult tens of thousands of persons based on their hotel choice, as you did.

Amen.