Resort Thread Disney's POP CENTURY Resort

[Dayman99]

Unfortunately if the skyliner is running, there are no buses to Epcot or HS.

Uber is it! haha

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks for the responses!

I was told otherwise by a cast member earlier this week. Perhaps she was mistaken. If you are rope dropping from the international entrance, does staff still hold you at Canada until park opening?

Yes, IG guests are still held at Canada.

 

[m steve]

Where is the Uber/Lyft drop off for EPCOT? Thanks!

 

[CarolynFH]

Where is the Uber/Lyft drop off for EPCOT? Thanks!

The rideshare drop off is to the east of the bus depot at the front entrance of Epcot. On this map it would be at the bottom of the map, to the right of the little bus icon.

https://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/epcot.htm

 

[scrappinginontario]

I love it when they use Pop as a trial resort!!

Breaking News: Walt Disney World Begins Piloting Return of Resort Airline Check-In Service

Starting today, a very limited pilot is underway as Walt Disney World explores bringing back the popular Resort Airline Check-In offering.

Resort Airline Check-In is where guests were able to check in their bags at their Disney resort, and the bags would magically appear when they arrived at their destination airport back home.

From the BlogMickey article:
Starting today, a very limited pilot of the Resort Airline Check-In offering is taking place at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The pilot is only at Pop Century for now, but it will be rolling out to more Value Resorts in April.

The Resort Airline Check-In service is extremely limited during the pilot, with Southwest Airlines being the only supported airline at this time. If there is more interest in the service in the future, it will be expanded to other airlines.

In terms of the logistics of the service, it is only being communicated to guests via word of mouth to keep it manageable during the limited pilot. Guests who qualify to use the service can head to the Luggage Assistance desk in front of the resort. From there, Cast Members will be able to help guests with the process.

In order to qualify to utilize the service, guests must be staying at a qualifying resort, and be checked-in with Southwest Airlines. That means that guests will have to have checked into their flight and (soon) have paid for their bags. As long as there is a green light from Southwest, guests can utilize the Resort Airline Check-In process.

Right now, we’re using the term Resort Airline Check-In simply because it’s familiar, but there is no signage or marketing collateral naming the service. A third-party company called Bag Check is handling the process. From our research, Bag Check is a new company that has roots in the former Resort Airline Check-In process. Bag Check owner Craig Mateer is the former owner of Bags, Inc., which previously handled Resort Airline Check-In and more guest services at Walt Disney World.

Currently, the service is only rolling out to Value Resorts at Walt Disney World. That said, guests only need to be staying at a Value Resort on the day that they plan to utilize the service, which means that you could spend the majority of your vacation at a Deluxe or Moderate Resort, and then switch to a qualifying Value Resort on the day of your departure.

Once guests check their bags in with the service, they will no longer be able to access their bags. This means that guests should be sure not to pack anything that they would need to access after checking in their bags.

In terms of the check-in process, guests with flights before 1pm will need to check their bags the night before they depart. For flights after 1pm, guests can check in their bags on the morning of their flight at least 4 hours before the flight.

Finally, and this is the big one, the service is complimentary!

The return of the Resort Airline Check-In service will be a welcome one to guests who are looking to enjoy the “Disney Bubble”. Other offerings that were discontinued that would be a big hit with Walt Disney World guests would be the return of the Magical Express offering and a more substantial Extra Magic Hours benefit, among others. That said, we haven’t heard anything definitive on the return of those offerings.

If you're visiting Pop and try out this service, please let us know how it goes. Thanks!

 

[Sandi]

I hope the trial with bag check works great and it is rolled out to other airlines, too. I miss Magical Express and Resort bag check. Even if we can't have ME, the bag check for the departure day would be fantastic. Thanks for making us aware of this @scrappinginontario

 

[scrappinginontario]

I agree @Sandi! I would love to see Magical Express come back! If offered, I'm not sure I would use the Magical Express luggage service upon arrival as we've found we like having our bags with us when we arrive at Pop but we will definitely be using this luggage service when we fly in Aug as we have an evening flight booked. Will be so nice not to do the luggage shuffle at Pop and the airport. Will allow additional time in the parks if we pack our backpacks properly!

 

[EACarlson]

I agree @Sandi! I would love to see Magical Express come back! I'm not sure I would use the luggage service upon arrival as we've found we like having our bags with us when we arrive at Pop but we will definitely be using this luggage service when we fly in Aug as we have an evening flight booked. Will be so nice not to do the luggage shuffle at Pop and the airport. Will allow additional time in the parks if we pack our backpacks properly!

The luggage service isn't being offered on arrival from what I can see, only for the trip home. I think the barriers to it being available on arrival would be very difficult to overcome. On departure it's fairly easy to collect the bags, and drop them with the carrier at MCO.

 

[AngieInOH]

I love it when they use Pop as a trial resort!!

Breaking News: Walt Disney World Begins Piloting Return of Resort Airline Check-In Service

Starting today, a very limited pilot is underway as Walt Disney World explores bringing back the popular Resort Airline Check-In offering.

Resort Airline Check-In is where guests were able to check in their bags at their Disney resort, and the bags would magically appear when they arrived at their destination airport back home.

From the BlogMickey article:
Starting today, a very limited pilot of the Resort Airline Check-In offering is taking place at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The pilot is only at Pop Century for now, but it will be rolling out to more Value Resorts in April.

The Resort Airline Check-In service is extremely limited during the pilot, with Southwest Airlines being the only supported airline at this time. If there is more interest in the service in the future, it will be expanded to other airlines.

In terms of the logistics of the service, it is only being communicated to guests via word of mouth to keep it manageable during the limited pilot. Guests who qualify to use the service can head to the Luggage Assistance desk in front of the resort. From there, Cast Members will be able to help guests with the process.

In order to qualify to utilize the service, guests must be staying at a qualifying resort, and be checked-in with Southwest Airlines. That means that guests will have to have checked into their flight and (soon) have paid for their bags. As long as there is a green light from Southwest, guests can utilize the Resort Airline Check-In process.

Right now, we’re using the term Resort Airline Check-In simply because it’s familiar, but there is no signage or marketing collateral naming the service. A third-party company called Bag Check is handling the process. From our research, Bag Check is a new company that has roots in the former Resort Airline Check-In process. Bag Check owner Craig Mateer is the former owner of Bags, Inc., which previously handled Resort Airline Check-In and more guest services at Walt Disney World.

Currently, the service is only rolling out to Value Resorts at Walt Disney World. That said, guests only need to be staying at a Value Resort on the day that they plan to utilize the service, which means that you could spend the majority of your vacation at a Deluxe or Moderate Resort, and then switch to a qualifying Value Resort on the day of your departure.

Once guests check their bags in with the service, they will no longer be able to access their bags. This means that guests should be sure not to pack anything that they would need to access after checking in their bags.

In terms of the check-in process, guests with flights before 1pm will need to check their bags the night before they depart. For flights after 1pm, guests can check in their bags on the morning of their flight at least 4 hours before the flight.

Finally, and this is the big one, the service is complimentary!

The return of the Resort Airline Check-In service will be a welcome one to guests who are looking to enjoy the “Disney Bubble”. Other offerings that were discontinued that would be a big hit with Walt Disney World guests would be the return of the Magical Express offering and a more substantial Extra Magic Hours benefit, among others. That said, we haven’t heard anything definitive on the return of those offerings.

If you're visiting Pop and try out this service, please let us know how it goes. Thanks!

This would be a fantastic perk! I don't know if I could trust it at first, but if it's implemented with good customer feedback.... I'm in!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

The luggage service isn't being offered on arrival from what I can see, only for the trip home. I think the barriers to it being available on arrival would be very difficult to overcome. On departure it's fairly easy to collect the bags, and drop them with the carrier at MCO.

Oh yes, I understand that. I was saying I hope they bring back Magical Express. I'd love that!!

I updated my post to make it clearer that this new service is not available upon arrival, only departure.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This would be a fantastic perk! I don't know if I could trust it at first, but if it's implemented with good customer feedback.... I'm in!!

I'm guessing it's not too difficult for them to implement as it was a service they offered for years but ended in 2020. They are reinstating a known process, just with a new company but that company's owner is one who was with the company that offered the service pre-2020.

 

[Sandi]

I hope anyone staying at Pop and flying Southwest will use the new luggage handling service. It's almost like a secret handshake kind of thing if they aren't advertising it. I want it to be available for our August trip flying Delta and staying at Pop. It will make a huge difference on check out day.

 

[TheHoppingTigger]

Are there any updates on the room refurbishments that I should be added to post 1? I’ll be offline for the majority of the next week but will check when we have wifi.

Add us to the group who regularly stay at Pop in Aug and have rarely been affected by the Skyliner stoppages. We’ll happily continue to stay there.

Renovations have started yesterday, from the Disney’s Pop Century Resort - Vacation tips, tricks, and advice! facebook group

 

[scrappinginontario]

Renovations have started yesterday, from the Disney’s Pop Century Resort - Vacation tips, tricks, and advice! facebook group

Thanks so much for this update!! I’ll update page 1.

 

[ocalla]

Has the coffee shop/area opened up yet?

 

[rhenkt]

You'd think if starting on building 1, they would just make their way around in order? About 5-6 weeks on each building would put them on track for completion next March.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You'd think if starting on building 1, they would just make their way around in order? About 5-6 weeks on each building would put them on track for completion next March.

Time will tell. The last major refurbishment they would close down certain sections for refurbishment, add another section and then the first section would re-open,

A new thread has been created to discuss the refurbishments so that we can keep this thread to helping guests planning a trip to Pop!

Pop Century Refurbishments - March 2025 - February 2026 - Information and Discussions thread.​

 

[bluezy]

Well, it looks like the luggage pilot program at Pop was a success! They've already made it an official perk and it's available at all resorts as of today!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/airport-luggage-transfer/

 

[scrappinginontario]

Well, it looks like the luggage pilot program at Pop was a success! They've already made it an official perk and it's available at all resorts as of today!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/airport-luggage-transfer/

Thanks so much for the update! The link in the Luggage post on page 1 has been updated to the official Disney link for this service.

So happy for this change!!

 

[maryj11]

Just heard Disney is bringing back Airline baggage check for value resorts for Southwest only. Hopefully for Magic Express too! Also hoping they will add other airlines and resorts.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/airport-luggage-transfer/
Ops looks like someone just posted this not sure how to delete this post