Experience with the Pop Century?

[Lovemy3babes]

I'd love some real life experience on this resort. We have young kiddos (will be 3, 6 & 7). Tell me what you loved, what you hated and anything else that would be beneficial. I'd really, really appreciate it!! Thanks everyone.

 

[fanofdisney]

We really liked Pop! The theming is great for adults as well as children. We stayed in the 70s building per request. It didn't cost any extra since it's not a preferred location, but it a reasonable walking distance to the food court/pool. You may be a bit cramped with 3 little ones, but how much time do you plan on spending in the room? We were there a few hours in the evening, then bed and that's about it. We were usually at the parks or the pool. The food does get old after awhile, but tastes pretty decent. My DS5 only wants macaroni anyway, so it wasn't an issue for him. I think PC is a great value. You can also read up/view photos at www.allearsnet.com


Have a great time!

 

[virginiamama]

We really enjoyed it in December 2005. We have DS5 and DS1.5 and didn't feel too cramped. I'd definitely recommend getting a room in a building close to the Welcome/Food Court building. The only thing that I could say we were disappointed about was the single bus stop for the entire resort. The lines were so long! When we stayed at Caribbean Beach, we picked a building that was near the beginning of the bus route through the resort so that we usually made it on the first bus that came along. Oh, also comparing the Pop/Caribbean Beach, there was no curtain between the vanity area and the rest of the room so when I got ready before the others were up, there was no way to block the light from shining into the room. I'd be happy to stay at Pop again - I miss those POP waffles!

 

[Savsmommy]

We were just there March 3-6. We liked it. We were in the 60's section, paid the extra to be in the preferred builing. We were facing the lake which was nice, it was quiet. DD6 loved the pool, it has big flowers all around it that squirt water out. They also have the temporary tattoos station there and the place you get your hair done with the thread and beads. DD loved getting both of that done. The food was OK, but nothing great. I liked the gift shop, had a lot of nice stuff. DH kept laughing at me because I was always looking around it every chance I had. Overall for a value it was fine.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We love Pop! We've stayed there twice - once in 80s and once in 50s - and had a great time both times. We like the pools, went mostly in bowling pin pool last stay. We really enjoy the food court - make sure you're there at 6:00 one night. We never had a problem with the busses - like the fact that you don't have to share with other resorts! The gift shop is much bigger than All-Stars. Every night when we got back from parks, DDs would make Mr. Potato Heads while we looked around or got a snack - kept them busy for hours. Everyone is so friendly - its a really great place for families. We will definitely be going back.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Are you aware that if your yongest is three that you will have to get two rooms??? POP has a 4 person limit. Sorry.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

We stayed there and really enjoyed it. DS1.5 really liked the fountains in the kiddie pool. We stayed in the 60s building facing the lake. We liked the food court, although we didn't eat there everyday. The theming is awesome. The bus is nice because you don't share it with other resorts. The room size was fine for us, DH, DS and myself. We don't spend much time at the resort, so we haven't been able to justify spending more on a room. I wish that it would have had a small fridge, but other than that, I really don't have anything bad to say. Rooms were clean and we even got towel animals a couple times! We will stay at Pop again.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Are you aware that if your yongest is three that you will have to get two rooms??? POP has a 4 person limit. Sorry.

My husband isn't able to go. So, there will be 4 of us total.

Thanks everyone so much for the information so far!! I appreciate it.

 

[staci]

We loved the resort itself; the layout was nice (we were in the 70's), the theming was great. Food court was fine, big gift shop, etc. DS loved the Goofy water playground, and the kiddy pool, as well as the big theme pool. I thought the theming was better than the AllStars resorts, and there seemed to be more landscaping as well. I liked the disney theme throughout; like the giant mickey phone and the big jungle book characters by the main pool, very much appealed to my ds.

We had horrible lines for buses too; keep in mind that the resort was booked solid when we were there and often had to wait for a second (or more) bus to leave the resort. This was VERY IRRITATING.

We had a horrible experience at checkin with a very unknowledgeable employee. I know this could happen at any resort but I was so stressed out at the misinformation and length of time it took this individual to check us in. (We ultimately did have to switch to a new CM, who got it right instantly). It was by far the worst experience I have had with a disney CM anywhere in the parks or resorts. All the other interactions with the front desk staff for the remainder of our stay were fine (although I stayed clear of that one employee and the supervisor who failed to help him).

HTH. I dont mean to sound negative but I wanted to be honest.

 

[CanadaKim]

We stayed at Pop Jan 5-12 this year with our 9 month old and almost 3 year old and loved it (70's). We actually had MIL in the room the first few nights as the resort was sold out.

We got a crib for ds which worked fine and rented a fridge which I would recommend - we had breakfast in the room (cereal, bars, etc) and at night dh & I could have a beer or glass of wine before turning in. The first night was a bit crazy, me wanting everyone to get a good night sleep and dd too excited to sleep and waking ds. I was thinking - why didn't we get a suite with a separate bedroom! After that I sent dh & mil out of the room each night for a bit and got the kids settled - they were exhausted so it didn't take long before they were out.

Buses were awesome. We never waited. Heading back to the resort at night they were usually full - standing only but someone always gets up when they see a mom with kids. We had rented an SUV from the airport but only used it a couple of times.

CM were friendly and the resort was clean. The food court was great as was the gift shop. The pool was cold when we were there. Even though it was sold out it didn't seem busy. You heard people coming and going a bit but I hardly noticed.

It seems so long ago!

Have fun! You're very brave doing it with 3 kids on your own!

 

[jloz]

We stayed there in Feb 19-23 and loved it. We were in the 60's section but asked for a room that did NOT face the pools since they are open until 11pm and can be loud and every morning they power wash the pool deck starting at 6:30-7am. With 3 little ones, ask for a room close to the stairs on the 1st or 2nd floors or near the elevator if you need a stroller. Caution: There are only 2 elevators for each section and they are VERY slow plus one was down every day we were there.

The mickey mouse waffle breakfast is great.

Also, take the time to walk around the property our kids loved exploring all the cools tools and seeing the Disney Movie characters.

 

[susykt4]

We stayed at Pop Jan 5-13th with DD5 and DS3. We stayed in the 70s building with the Mickey phone in front. We all absolutely LOVED Pop and I will never bother spending the extra money for a moderate again while my kids are little! The kids absolutely loved the Goofy pop jet fountain, the kiddy pool and the big pools. The 70s section had big Twister games they loved to play. We all just loved the theming. Though the room was small, we spent very little non-sleeping time in it and found it perfectly adequate. We did not rent a fridge, but we flew and used DME with no car so we didn't bring too much food/drinks.

We were very close to the main bldg/food court, but the resort just didn't seem nearly as huge and spread out as POR. We loved that there was only one bus stop and I don't remember any terrible waits. The food court was very kid friendly and the kids absolutely loved the Frozen Coke on the drink bar. Oh, the food court had plenty of choices for adults as well. We really enjoyed our stay at Pop and all agreed we'd stay there again next time.

 

[AB&Me]

We stayed at PC in June and loved the atmosphere. We picked the '80's, and it was a little too far from the main building for me. The other downside for us was the bus lines .... but then again, it was June. I've toured all the All-Stars, but POP is the best value, IMHO. I think its just too cute!! I stayed at CSR in Jan. at a conference, and the curtain at the sink area is a great idea. But, that was basically the only difference as far as the room goes. If you're staying value, stay at POP. We're going back in October and staying there again.

 

[Xcited4Disney]

Did you request the building/floor that you wanted ahead of time or at check-in? Thanks!

 

[dawnball]

Let's see..
The first set of rooms they gave us met none of our requests (non-smoking, connecting rooms), was in the back of beyond and had trash on the beds.

The second set of rooms was fine, non-smoking with connecting rooms in building 50. We got towel animals every day there too.

They accused us of attempting to steal a 10 day ticket (on multiple occassions), despite the fact that every other CM who had looked at the ticket transactions said "Oh, the resort screwed up and I can see how they did it, but you have to get the resort to fix it" including outright lies like "only the resort can add days to your KTTW card", therefor you must have a paper ticket with those 10 days on it. I finally got a manager to look at it, and she fixed it relatively promptly (30 more minutes?). We spent no less than 3 hours at the front desk with various key snafus (they stopped working, the tickets were screwed up, I locked myself out (everyone else was at the parks) and wanted someone to let me in and instead they had to reissue keys for both rooms, for every occupant - which meant that the folks in the parks couldn't use the dining plan or room charge anymore - oh, and they screwed up the tickets *agian*.

The pop jet pool was very, very popular with the little kids, and often had beach balls in it, which increased their enjoyment. The staff at the bar and at Everything Pop were excellent about our food allergies. The rooms were clean, and we got towel animals every day we had our regular maid (and lots of them the day before she was off for 2 days).

If I were staying on property again, I'd stay there, but I probably won't stay on property again unless they give me the free dining plan, because the front desk became the bane of my existance. Oh, and they need some shade over the bus queues.

 

[AB&Me]

I requested the '80's section for my dh because he the '80's! And then we said it again when we got there. I can see now that the '50's, '60's or '60's would be better and '90's would be worse, as far as walking. But as far as the icons go....it was great to relive my childhood/high school days. We had no problems with tickets, food, CM's, etc....but we also never got a towel animal, either.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

AB&Me

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

We stayed there in Feb 19-23 and loved it. We were in the 60's section but asked for a room that did NOT face the pools since they are open until 11pm and can be loud and every morning they power wash the pool deck starting at 6:30-7am. With 3 little ones, ask for a room close to the stairs on the 1st or 2nd floors or near the elevator if you need a stroller. Caution: There are only 2 elevators for each section and they are VERY slow plus one was down every day we were there.

The mickey mouse waffle breakfast is great.

Also, take the time to walk around the property our kids loved exploring all the cools tools and seeing the Disney Movie characters.

What is the mickey mouse waffle breakfast? Is this a meal or just waffles?
Thanks!

 

[C.Ann]

I had a nice stay there in the beginning of April last year.. I was in one of the preferred buildings (the Play Doh Can) on the backside, 2nd floor (very quiet).. Theming is great - nice gift shop - nice food court (although I didn't eat in there).. Was checked in very quickly - no problems (ditto with check out).. No lines waiting for the buses out front - just came down from my room, walked alongside the pool, through Classic Hall, and out the front door to empty buses that 9 times out of 10 were just sitting there waiting for people..

It was fun, but I would never put more than one or two people in one of those rooms.. They're waaaaaaay too small!

 

[DisneyFreq]

We stayed for six nights in Dec. for the "whole bowl full promotion." Worked out to about $875 for six nights stay plus dining plan for two adults and two children. Not bad considering all the great places we ate!

We weren't there much. Upon arrival I was a little suprised at the size of the rooms. They are small but very neat/organized/well planned. We got over it really fast. I wish the bed wasn't so close to the door and I would have also liked a mini fridge but we kept our ice chest full of ice for water/juice/and soda.

Check in was speedy (of course it was close to one in the morning). The cast member was plesant and accomidating. We recieved the 70s building we requested (at arrival). It was close to both the parking lot and the main building. I was worried I would get stuck in the bowling pin buildings because I thought the theming would hold little appeal for my kiddos (6 and 9) but they decided when the saw those giant pins that they hoped we would stay there!

Seeing as we were there in December we weren't very tempted by the pools. They were heated but not very much. A couple of brave souls were there everytime we passed and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Bus wait times were one of my main concerns but wrongly so. We rarely had a very long wait except once for EPCOT due to electric wheel chairs. I believe it took close to 45 min for the bus to arrive and completely unload (two wheel chairs). After that we were on our way. One night at MK there were two bus lines dedicated to POP. My recommendation is that you wait in the line furthest up. We got in the first line thinking it was shortest and when buses arrived we were under the assumption that they would alternately park and pick up but they tended to pull as far forward as possible so that in the event that another bus arrived it could park behind. So, several buses pulled up and loaded the other line before picking up at ours (about a 3:1 ratio).

Although it was cute how the gift shop crossed over into the eating area I was disappointed with the fact that you have to wait in several lines if members of your party want different food. How they devise what foods go to which lines is beyond me. For example, if I wanted waffles for my kids, pancakes for me and an omlet for my husband, I would have to wait in three different lines to get the food then a fourth line to pay for it. Ridiculous waste of time. We ate lunch here once and I came down on our second morning and got the kids waffles (husband and I don't care for breakfast). Unfortunately I was rung up for three waffle platters instead of two so I had to wait in line again to get a refund. Then my kids weren't even impressed. They would have been just as happy scarfing a poptart or orange while in line to get on a RIDE!! I will say this, everything we ordered for lunch was really tasty.

My kids and my hard-to-please husband have all agreed that they would happily stay at pop again.....for me...only if the price is right!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Thanks for the info so far!!