Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[Disneylover99]

First timer at POP in august! We are excited!

We paid for a preferred room, I have terrible feet and I am trying to cut down some walking.

But I NEED a refurb room (I hate carpet and I want a queen bed ) Pretty sure refurb will win over my damned feet and I'll just bring more advil lol.

Do you think if the 80's building 9 are done by then, I could try to request a room in the red circle in the map. This would be a standard room, so a downgrade, but not really far from the preferred room in the 70s!

Also, anyone stayed there and can comment on their stay, walking distance wise?

Thanks!

View attachment 248035

That would be my location preference in the 80's section.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Someone who has had luck tell me the best way to get a room as close as possible to the lobby/bus without having been able to book a preferred category room?

Any standard room NOT in the 80s, 90s or Building 2 in the 50s is almost as close as any "preferred" room. The buildings are T shaped with one elevator in the middle so standard rooms are directly behind the preferred and merely a different turn when you exit the elevator.

Three visits there and my favorite room was 4th floor lakeview on Building 4. Lakeview is not a category, but you can request it and IMO it's much quieter than poolview. You can't go wrong with asking for lakeview in Buidings 4, 5 or 6 IMO.

 

[PolyRob]

I just cancelled a preferred room since I picked up a standard room 7 days prior to arrival. Placed a "refurbished room" request via phone and through Touring Plans fax. Here's hoping!

 

[Amanda999]

.. Lakeview is not a category, but you can request it and IMO it's much quieter than poolview. You can't go wrong with asking for lakeview in Buidings 4, 5 or 6 IMO.

That has always been my choice too, but wondering if there is alot of noise from the gondola construction (which is at the lake)?? I'm going mid-August so guessing there will be noise. Probably still quieter than the happy hippy pool though!

 

[j2thomason]

First timer at POP in august! We are excited!

We paid for a preferred room, I have terrible feet and I am trying to cut down some walking.

But I NEED a refurb room (I hate carpet and I want a queen bed ) Pretty sure refurb will win over my damned feet and I'll just bring more advil lol.

Do you think if the 80's building 9 are done by then, I could try to request a room in the red circle in the map. This would be a standard room, so a downgrade, but not really far from the preferred room in the 70s!

Also, anyone stayed there and can comment on their stay, walking distance wise?

Thanks!

View attachment 248035

I stayed in building 8 last week. Building 9 is almost completed. They had all of the beds in and the TVs running all night each night. I would bet that building 9 will be ready by August. Also, to shorten my walk to the bus, I just cut across the parking lot to the bus stop....super quick!

 

[JerseyJanice]

That has always been my choice too, but wondering if there is alot of noise from the gondola construction (which is at the lake)?? I'm going mid-August so guessing there will be noise. Probably still quieter than the happy hippy pool though!

IDK how far along they will be in construction by then. My guess is that they will be working only through the heart of the day so if you're at the parks, it won't effect you.

As far as standard versus preferred, if you are on any floor other than the first and use the elevator, preferred is really not worth it. You will exit the elevator in the same place to walk to the buses whether you're in a standard or preferred room. And I'm baffled by why anybody would want "pool view." That's where all the noise is.

 

[bluezy]

IDK how far along they will be in construction by then. My guess is that they will be working only through the heart of the day so if you're at the parks, it won't effect you.

As far as standard versus preferred, if you are on any floor other than the first and use the elevator, preferred is really not worth it. You will exit the elevator in the same place to walk to the buses whether you're in a standard or preferred room. And I'm baffled by why anybody would want "pool view." That's where all the noise is.

I've seen some people post that they like pool view because they can keep an eye on their older (teen) kids in the pool while staying in their air conditioned room. It still wouldn't be worth the noise for me.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Booked 4 nights at POP 1/11-1/15 preferred room. Hoping for a refurbished room by then! I'm not sure when they are schedule to be completed. We can't wait!!!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

And I'm baffled by why anybody would want "pool view." That's where all the noise is.

I agree! We stayed in a pool view room once and have never again booked this type of reservation! We go to bed pretty early and found there was still far too much noise for us at 9-10 PM when we head to bed. We found it so noisy, we actually asked to switch rooms but there was nothing else available (Easter about 2 years ago). I'm sure it didn't help that we were on the first floor. We've avoided this room category ever since!

 

[flav]

Do they have safes at the checkin/out counter? I booked a late flight on checkout day and would rather not carry my passport into the park.

Also, how much coins do I need to keep handy for the pool lockers on that day?

 

[Disneylover99]

That has always been my choice too, but wondering if there is alot of noise from the gondola construction (which is at the lake)?? I'm going mid-August so guessing there will be noise. Probably still quieter than the happy hippy pool though!

We are going mid August as well. I'm very curious about the gondola construction. Has it officially started? I just don't want the bridge to be closed.

 

[DaniMoon]

Just back from 12 days at POP. We had an amazing trip. We were in preferred pool view, 4th floor, building floor -- so right by the Hippy Dippy Pool. It was a bit on the noisy side, but didn't stop any of us from falling asleep.

Busing was PHENOMENAL! I can only think of two times that we waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to or from the parks, and even then it was less than 20 minutes. Quite a few times we walked right onto a bus. They have outsourced to some motor coach companies to help with heavier times (evenings). We had a motor coach four times.

This was our first summer trip, won't be our last, as our kids are getting to the age where taking them out of school for more than a week will not work.

 

[mikegood2]

Busing was PHENOMENAL! I can only think of two times that we waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to or from the parks, and even then it was less than 20 minutes. Quite a few times we walked right onto a bus. They have outsourced to some motor coach companies to help with heavier times (evenings). We had a motor coach four times.

That was our experience, June 13-20th, to the Parks from the POP. We only had to wait for a second bus once and I don't think we had to wait for more than 15 minutes once. I also gave up a seat once or twice for a child, but it was heading to open a park for EMH so it wasn't a big deal. The only issue I found was that the bus arrival boards at the POP never gave times for the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the waits were only 10-15 minutes, so it wasn't an issue. Did make me nervous on our first night and I was heading to AK for EMH though.

Busses from the Park were a different story. Overall they weren't bad, but not very good either. For an afternoon pickup it wasn't uncommon to wait 20-30 minutes. While that wait didn't bother me that much, it meant that the bus was packed and I had to stand on a few occasions. Early on for our trip it was fine, but near the end of it after a long day at the park and blisters from walking in wet shoes at Epcot it really did a number on my feet. That definitely contributed to me no longer had ankles on the last 2 days of our vacation

 

[DaniMoon]

That was our experience, June 13-20th, to the Parks from the POP. We only had to wait for a second bus once and I don't think we had to wait for more than 15 minutes once. I also gave up a seat once or twice for a child, but it was heading to open a park for EMH so it wasn't a big deal. The only issue I found was that the bus arrival boards at the POP never gave times for the Animal Kingdom. Luckily the waits were only 10-15 minutes, so it wasn't an issue. Did make me nervous on our first night and I was heading to AK for EMH though.

Busses from the Park were a different story. Overall they weren't bad, but not very good either. For an afternoon pickup it wasn't uncommon to wait 20-30 minutes. While that wait didn't bother me that much, it meant that the bus was packed and I had to stand on a few occasions. Early on for our trip it was fine, but near the end of it after a long day at the park and blisters from walking in wet shoes at Epcot it really did a number on my feet. That definitely contributed to me no longer had ankles on the last 2 days of our vacation

We rarely waited while leaving the parks, we tended to leave between 1pm-2pm. We were the 19th-30th.

I will say we did have one nasty bus episode while leaving EPCOT. Security was called. Line jumpers -- which were dealt with, but then some other bus riders had to start getting vocally nasty. Several guests tried to get cooler heads to prevail, but unfortunately it didn't happen.

 

[mikegood2]

We rarely waited while leaving the parks, we tended to leave between 1pm-2pm. We were the 19th-30th.

I will say we did have one nasty bus episode while leaving EPCOT. Security was called. Line jumpers -- which were dealt with, but then some other bus riders had to start getting vocally nasty. Several guests tried to get cooler heads to prevail, but unfortunately it didn't happen.

It's funny how a few minutes can make a big difference. I'd say we probably averaged closer to 2pm when we left. I do remember that we just missed a bus on 2 or maybe 3 occasions. Epcot was hit or miss for us. We'd either walk right on to a bus and leave or wait 15-20 minutes.

Luckily, for the most part, people were very polite and friendly on the busses and in the parks. My brothers family went to for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter one of the days and my sister-in-law was amazed how different people were their. Made her appreciate, WDW and the people much more after that trip.

How were your crowds? This was our 3rd June trip in the last 7 years and the by far the least crowded crowds. We had a 5m standby wait at noon for Toy Story Mania one day, able to find same day FPs for Sourin for 5 in the middle of the afternoon on multiple occasions and rode Big Thunder Mountain 10 time, 3 different days, with waits usually under 10 minutes.

 

[wonderstruck88]

Just back from 12 days at POP. We had an amazing trip. We were in preferred pool view, 4th floor, building floor -- so right by the Hippy Dippy Pool. It was a bit on the noisy side, but didn't stop any of us from falling asleep.

Busing was PHENOMENAL! I can only think of two times that we waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to or from the parks, and even then it was less than 20 minutes. Quite a few times we walked right onto a bus. They have outsourced to some motor coach companies to help with heavier times (evenings). We had a motor coach four times.

This was our first summer trip, won't be our last, as our kids are getting to the age where taking them out of school for more than a week will not work.

Was this the case even if you stayed until after the nighttime shows? I haven't used the bus system since 2010, but at that time the waits for a bus right after fireworks, Fantasmic, etc., were horrendous. We've been planning on renting a car because our kids (3 and 5) will be up way later than usual as it is and we want to get back to the room ASAP, but I'm getting the impression that everyone takes the bus these days and figure there must be a reason for it.

 

[DaniMoon]

How were your crowds? This was our 3rd June trip in the last 7 years and the by far the least crowded crowds. We had a 5m standby wait at noon for Toy Story Mania one day, able to find same day FPs for Sourin for 5 in the middle of the afternoon on multiple occasions and rode Big Thunder Mountain 10 time, 3 different days, with waits usually under 10 minutes.

This was our first June trip (we have been fall/winter visitors). It was not nearly as crowded as we were thinking. I was able to get FPs for later in the day for most rides. Exceptions were Test Track, Frozen, 7DMT and the Pandora rides. We did notice an uptick in the crowds the 29th and 30th (our last day).

We were also pleasantly surprised by the weather. We expected more rain, but only wore ponchos three times, and only once for any extended period of time. And, yes it was hot. But we would do a ride and then do something indoors like the Tiki Room or Ellen's Energy, etc. and it was more manageable than we thought.

The Hippy Dippy pool was not all that refreshing some days, as the water was on the warm side some days, but still a good time.

 

[DaniMoon]

Was this the case even if you stayed until after the nighttime shows? I haven't used the bus system since 2010, but at that time the waits for a bus right after fireworks, Fantasmic, etc., were horrendous. We've been planning on renting a car because our kids (3 and 5) will be up way later than usual as it is and we want to get back to the room ASAP, but I'm getting the impression that everyone takes the bus these days and figure there must be a reason for it.

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Don't have a lot of experience with this, rope drop is more important to us than night time shows so we were usually back at Pop by 9pm. But my husband and daughter did do the Galactic Star Wars show at DHS. They didn't get on the first bus, were about 10th in line for the 2nd bus, which showed up less than 5 minutes after the first bus left. They were back at the room by 10:15.

It did seem that after 7pm is when we saw more of the non-Disney buses, so I do think Disney was trying to keep ahead of it.

 

[mikegood2]

Was this the case even if you stayed until after the nighttime shows? I haven't used the bus system since 2010, but at that time the waits for a bus right after fireworks, Fantasmic, etc., were horrendous. We've been planning on renting a car because our kids (3 and 5) will be up way later than usual as it is and we want to get back to the room ASAP, but I'm getting the impression that everyone takes the bus these days and figure there must be a reason for it.

Like I stated above, it was hit or miss for Epcot. The night I close out AK the wait was fairly short. We only did a 1/2 day plus at HS. Because MK had been a nightmare in the past, we stuck around after the show. We're able to get same day nighttime FPs for Pirates, which was luckily down which meaning we got to use them on BTM, at night for the first time , instead. Think we ended up leaving about 1 hour after the fireworks and it took about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive. The wait was well worth it because they were using motor coaches and the the cushioned seats were great!

 

[Veronique]

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Don't have a lot of experience with this, rope drop is more important to us than night time shows so we were usually back at Pop by 9pm. But my husband and daughter did do the Galactic Star Wars show at DHS. They didn't get on the first bus, were about 10th in line for the 2nd bus, which showed up less than 5 minutes after the first bus left. They were back at the room by 10:15.

It did seem that after 7pm is when we saw more of the non-Disney buses, so I do think Disney was trying to keep ahead of it.

Just the fact that they are trying to adress this issue makes me hopeful! Waiting for a second bus is ok, but a third is probably pushing customers satisfaction over the line!