Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[FinnsMom7]

Yup, DS2 said "It's too bad the worse part of our experience is other guests." AND the lack of enforcement by Disney on what is coming in the park. HUGE wagons, rolling suitcases, rolling backpacks, rolling coolers, children driving ECV, more non-AP holders in the AP entry line than AP holders (complained in writing on this one) and that doesn't even count the rude behavior.

At Safari FP+ line two women (50's) on ECVs ...... enter the group. The first woman quickly lifts her band, it turns blue, then she guns the ECV flying up the path with no regard for others. The second woman gets caught by CM and tells her she has no FP+. She claims she does and must since her friend up ahead got in. He lets her go. Clearly a scam which they giggled about. It was just one of MANY FP+ scammers attempting to enter lines.

Large groups (tour groups and huge families) stopping and clogging up walkways causing huge jams, EVERYWHERE. Some standing across blocking doorways and entrances to FP+ waiting their turn. It's just not hard to step aside and have your conversation without impeding others.

Constant pushing of guests trying to cut ahead in lines. With Starlord/Groot .. the queue line is futuristic lines on the floor. Every time a group went in the family in front of me ran across all the lines trying to be next, the folks in front of them directed them back. And it happened a few times. I guess they thought at some point someone would just let them go. I was in line for a question at FoP FP+ entry and a man walked right up to my side, looked at me, then stepped in front of me and starting talking as my turn started. I just glared at him. I was inline at POP food court to check out, close enough I was next to the station ... a girl walks up with a tray and side steps in front of me - I said something (excuse me?) and she looked at me (I do have one of those faces) and she immediately stepped out and got behind me.

It's sad, it used to be I enjoyed talking with other guests in lines, laughing at cute kids and .... now it's hard to find folks even smiling and enjoying themselves. I feel so bad for CMs, I make an effort to talk to them, say something nice and be a positive in their day which there seems to be a shortage of.

THIS - why is it so hard to have common simple decency for others - the standing in groups blocking FP or doorways was driving me nuts in December. And I called out a few people for line cutting, I had had it - I wasn't rude I was stating facts. And sadly 8/10 times its an ADULT not a child misbehaving/scamming

 

[MommyinHonduras]

(I do have one of those faces)

Haha, guess this fits your avatar photo of Hopper

 

[HopperFan]

Haha, guess this fits your avatar photo of Hopper

My basic discipline for my kids was just my face, and on occasion I would start to count. My Mom's DH asked what happens when she gets to 3, my Mom replied, "don't know she's never gotten there." Worked well from across the room too and no one even knew.

I have also found my face to work on strangers kids too .............. ...... once in World of Disney a child was having a HUGE temper tantrum in the stroller while Mom and Dad had their back to them shopping. It was LOUD and honestly they should have taken kid outside. I stopped and looked at him like I would my kids. Then put my finger to my mouth to say be quiet. Silence occurred. It's a gift.

So guess no surprise my favorites are the Villains. They are my people.


PS Now that I look at that Avatar photo ............ it very well may be "the look"........

 

[SimplyTink]

It's sad, it used to be I enjoyed talking with other guests in lines, laughing at cute kids and .... now it's hard to find folks even smiling and enjoying themselves. I feel so bad for CMs, I make an effort to talk to them, say something nice and be a positive in their day which there seems to be a shortage of.

I hear you HopperFan ... it's is so sad to see the way people are acting when at WDW nowadays. This is our go-to vacation traveling from NJ 3-5 times a year and IMO people have been getting pushier and CM are just trying to keep it magical for everybody. A lot of times when confronted by a CM a rude guest either gets angrier or feigns ignorance. Hubby doesn't go on many rides and I usually just go on the ones we FP for then we spend the rest of our time just hanging with Cast Members. It makes our day to just spread some magic to them and it's even better for us when they remember who we are from previous trips xoxo

 

[dansdad]

I feel so bad for CMs, I make an effort to talk to them, say something nice and be a positive in their day which there seems to be a shortage of.

I have a couple family members that are/were CMs and let me tell you, it's guests like you that make dealing with the difficult ones completely worth it to them.

 

[HopperFan]

I have a couple family members that are/were CMs and let me tell you, it's guests like you that make dealing with the difficult ones completely worth it to them.

Good, we try. I have told some, I couldn't do your job so I appreciate what you go through. If I see a guest being rude or wrong, I will follow up behind them telling the CM kudos for dealing with that nonsense. Once ... long story ... very rude woman who was very wrong leaned in to verbally attack CM but I was right there. So after we finished with meeting character I followed the woman who was high tailing it to a supervisor. A manager was brought out, so I approached supervisor and said I saw the whole thing and would like to stay and talk to manager. Sure enough this "woman" was demanding he be fired to which I told the whole true story to the manager. She figured so much since CM was an older gentleman but appreciated that I saw what happened, took the time to get that info to her as now she didn't have to do anything with that woman's lying complaint.

My DD worked at Disney in a few locations for a year, her goal was stay forever. In the end she decided to leave and go to grad school ... her biggest complaint = guest behavior. Says a lot because DD is tough as nails and handles the worse just fine. At Soarin' she was actually brought in to take over in tough times because others would be so crushed by guests behavior. She said you work hard all day mostly doing same things over and over ... and it was so nice when a guest saw you as a person and not someone there to do their bidding.

Very sad.

 

[Haley R]

Good, we try. I have told some, I couldn't do your job so I appreciate what you go through. If I see a guest being rude or wrong, I will follow up behind them telling the CM kudos for dealing with that nonsense. Once ... long story ... very rude woman who was very wrong leaned in to verbally attack CM but I was right there. So after we finished with meeting character I followed the woman who was high tailing it to a supervisor. A manager was brought out, so I approached supervisor and said I saw the whole thing and would like to stay and talk to manager. Sure enough this "woman" was demanding he be fired to which I told the whole true story to the manager. She figured so much since CM was an older gentleman but appreciated that I saw what happened, took the time to get that info to her as now she didn't have to do anything with that woman's lying complaint.

My DD worked at Disney in a few locations for a year, her goal was stay forever. In the end she decided to leave and go to grad school ... her biggest complaint = guest behavior. Says a lot because DD is tough as nails and handles the worse just well. At Soarin' she was actually brought in to take over in tough times because others would be so crushed by guests behavior. She said you work hard all day mostly doing same things over and over ... and it was so nice when a guest saw you as a person and not someone there to do their bidding.

Very sad.

I’ve seriously considered working at dw on a ride. I think it would be fun to admit guests onto a ride but now I see there is a huge negative side to it. I imagine it doesn’t pay too well either? I will make a point to be extra nice to cms this trip!

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Oh dear. How in the world as I am going to be able to keep my cool? I am ZERO patience for rude people.

 

[goofygal531]

We’re thinking about trying disneyland for the first time this year and I’m interested to see the difference there. Honestly, we did sea world for one day last year and got to ride one roller coaster 10 times in a row! Could’ve kept going but dh started feeling sick. It was right in the afternoon when it should’ve been busy. Hardly anyone in the park.

I've been following @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina Trip reports for years. She is a big Orlando advocate. I'm a Disney world lover who rarely ever leaves the bubble, but Gina has me wanting to take an Orlando vacation. She discovers so many things to do other than Disney! She loves Sea World and really takes advantage of her annual pass. Her dining reviews will leave your mouth watering.

After Star Wars opens in 2019, I have a feeling our frequent vacations to Disney will be changing. The prices are getting ridiculous and the rude crowds will only get worse.

 

[Haley R]

I've been following @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina Trip reports for years. She is a big Orlando advocate. I'm a Disney world lover who rarely ever leaves the bubble, but Gina has me wanting to take an Orlando vacation. She discovers so many things to do other than Disney! She loves Sea World and really takes advantage of her annual pass. Her dining reviews will leave your mouth watering.

After Star Wars opens in 2019, I have a feeling our frequent vacations to Disney will be changing. The prices are getting ridiculous and the rude crowds will only get worse.

Yes I completely agree with you. I love Disney and we only go once a year but the price for pop is $171 when we are there plus the amount of people that are in the parks now. Honestly the only reason we went to sea world is because it came with our discovery cove admission. If you want an amazing day away from Disney discovery cove is the place to go.

 

[ThistleMae]

Same here. My family prefers the hot summer months. Kids love the pool time and it's honestly easier to pack for.

I'm going to bring our lighter-weigh winter coats for travel days. For the parks, I plan to layer. I tossed a reusable tote bag into my park bag. I figure if it gets warm midday, I could always pack up our layers and put everything into a locker. I've never used the lockers before, but it makes sense for this time of year.

Just in case of a freak cold spell (hey you never know it happened last week!) I put gloves and hats in the suitcase too.

I'm looking forward to mild temps and wearing capris too!

We are going to wait till the week before our trip, end of February, and see what the weather looks like. We are bringing shorts and jeans and crop pants, sweatshirts, ear muffs and gloves. I hate having to carry stuff when it warms up during the day, so not sure what to do about that as I want to avoid bringing a backpack. I also don't want to be cold for 2 to 3 hours in a.m. and p.m....it's just so hard to choose. I hope once we get there and see how day one goes, we will better know how to plan the rest of the days.

 

[ThistleMae]

This literally just solved my problems. My last resort was renting a stroller LOL

They are at the front of the parks?[/QUOTE
We are park hopping, so lockers wont work for us.

 

[BradChristian]

@HopperFan alluded to this on the Renovation Thread... Mentioned that busses were working great!

This will be my first on site experience since the Grand in 2001...

We will have a car with us on this trip.

Busses:

My understanding is that taking the bus to Magic Kingdom saves time because you are not having to deal with the parking lot, and then the Ferry Boat or Monorail.

EPCOT
Hollywood Studios
Animal Kingdom

If you have a car... You can in general save time because you park free being a resort guest, and you can either walk or tram faster than the busses.

For those who stay onsite and keep a car or rental with them... What is your experience from POP? I already know POP is a favorite because of the dedicated busses even in slow season.

 

[bluezy]

We are park hopping, so lockers wont work for us.

Why won't they work? You could just grab your stuff out of the locker at the first park and then get a locker at the second park. Keep your receipt from the first locker and you won't have to pay again at the second park. Or maybe I missed something and there's a different reason that the locker won't work for you.

 

[HopperFan]

@HopperFan alluded to this on the Renovation Thread... Mentioned that busses were working great!

This will be my first on site experience since the Grand in 2001...

We will have a car with us on this trip.

Busses:

My understanding is that taking the bus to Magic Kingdom saves time because you are not having to deal with the parking lot, and then the Ferry Boat or Monorail.

EPCOT
Hollywood Studios
Animal Kingdom

If you have a car... You can in general save time because you park free being a resort guest, and you can either walk or tram faster than the busses.

For those who stay onsite and keep a car or rental with them... What is your experience from POP? I already know POP is a favorite because of the dedicated busses even in slow season.

Do you mean experience driving? We do that as well some days. DS (disabled) hates the trams. We had years DS wouldn't get on bus at all so we drove.

MK, usually your best bet is the bus. BUT in closing the park down, car can be just as fast if the bus lines are really long and MK is competing with other parks. Like this week while we were there AK, DHS and MK all closed same exact time - 8 pm. Epcot at 9 ... and that night we rode a coach bus (which we also saw being utilized at DHS).

I think DHS and Epcot are both great to drive to if you don't go too late in day. Walk in. Animal Kingdom can be a very long walk if you don't get there early now that Pandora is open.

 

[1911]

THIS - why is it so hard to have common simple decency for others - the standing in groups blocking FP or doorways was driving me nuts in December. And I called out a few people for line cutting, I had had it - I wasn't rude I was stating facts. And sadly 8/10 times its an ADULT not a child misbehaving/scamming

sadly, I am finding common decency and manners to be a rapidly disappearing trait in todays society in general not just at Disney.

 

[scrappinginontario]

At thx Orlando airport now and unfortunately still not sure if we’reinan old or refurbedroom. Oh well, not much longer to find out.

 

[pooh'smate]

At thx Orlando airport now and unfortunately still not sure if we’reinan old or refurbedroom. Oh well, not much longer to find out.

Have a magical trip!!!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Have a magical trip!!!!

Thanks so much! Excited t board MDE and get our magical trip started!!

 

[micandminforever]

My basic discipline for my kids was just my face, and on occasion I would start to count. My Mom's DH asked what happens when she gets to 3, my Mom replied, "don't know she's never gotten there." Worked well from across the room too and no one even knew.

I have also found my face to work on strangers kids too .............. ...... once in World of Disney a child was having a HUGE temper tantrum in the stroller while Mom and Dad had their back to them shopping. It was LOUD and honestly they should have taken kid outside. I stopped and looked at him like I would my kids. Then put my finger to my mouth to say be quiet. Silence occurred. It's a gift.

So guess no surprise my favorites are the Villains. They are my people.


PS Now that I look at that Avatar photo ............ it very well may be "the look"........

I taught middle school for 30 years and never realized I had a look, until my husband said something I did not agree with one time and he said "don't give me your teacher look". We got a big laugh out of it.