For those who have stayed at Pop and French Quarter

[Gina Starr]

My husband and I are new annual pass holders. We have only stayed at POFQ and I have said repeatedly if we can't stay there I would rather stay home. I love everything about FQ but the main thing is the size! It's such a short walk to get anywhere. I have heard how far apart everything is at value resorts and the last thing I want to do is have a 10-15 minute walk from my room to the bus stop. I'm looking at annual pass discounts and Pop is super cheap for the time I'm looking to go. Of course, FQ has no discounts so it's more than double what Pop is. Is Pop that bad? I'm really thinking about just sticking with FQ and hoping some discount comes out between now and then

 

[Disneylover99]

Pop and the French Quarter are two of my favourite resorts. Strangely enough, I find Pop to be small and relaxing just like POFQ. It's the other moderates I find to be huge. Request a lake view room at Pop. You won't be too far from the main building and you'll be close to walk across the bridge to AofA.

 

[Minnie17]

view

Agree stayed at POP this past July! Looking forward to returning. Love POFQ but just can't justify the price over POP.

 

[dlchap]

FQ is also my favorite resort but I recently stayed at POP because we were able to get a really good deal. While I admit it wasn't that bad (what could be bad at Disney), I missed the quaint surroundings the quieter food court and the less packed busses and of FQ. If I were on a tight budget and could only stay at POP, I wouldn't pass it up. But if I had the option of FQ, I would always choose to stay there.

 

[NYCANC]

We have stayed at CR and the Poly.
For our last trip a few weeks ago- we had to come out two days earlier to beat the weather where we live.
1st night was at Pop Century. 2nd night at POR.

For someone who never stayed at Pop before- it was a long walk to our room. Of course, we did not have a preferred room since we booked it the night before and it was like the last available room at Disney! We liked the grounds a lot but it was a long walk to get back to the main bldg.
I think if you have a car, then it's fine since you can park close by.

We liked POR a lot. We were upgraded to one of those royal rooms and the grounds are beautiful there. We also enjoyed the boat ride to DS since it was our bonus day and we did not have a park planned yet.

I did not see any kids mentioned in your post- if kids are involved then I always go for the most convenience.

Have fun!

 

[Jaimie1911]

POFQ is my favorite mod, but we love the Pop too! I've stayed both in the 50's and 70's and never felt like a far walk at all. Nowhere near some of the moderate walks I've had! It's not as pretty as POFQ, but if you take it for what it is then it's a very cute, fun resort!

 

[DisHmsklMom]

We have stayed at both. At the Pop we usually try to stay in the 50's. Our main reason that we don't like the Pop is the full-size bed. Love POFQ and POR, and don't mind even taking longer walks there when we haven't gotten a preferred room. But, for twice the price I might just tough it out and do the Pop. If you do a split stay to save money be sure to start at the Pop and then move to POFQ.

 

[DeanDoug]

We've stayed at both, and like both. While POFQ is more upscale, POP is absolutely fine. I don't remember the walk to be prohibitive at all, and POP has a dedicated bus line. Save some $, experience a new resort, and use the savings on dinner of souvenirs! Enjoy.

 

[loves to dive]

Devil's advocate here. I haven't stayed at POFQ but have stayed at POR and have stayed at Pop. Unless I absolutely could not afford to stay at POFQ, I wouldn't stay at POP. I know there are a lot of people who love it but I absolutely hated it, I mean you really couldn't pay me to stay there again. It might be because before that I had only stayed in the deluxe resorts so it was a bit of a shock. I was testing is for a split stay, two nights at POP then I moved over to BWV where I was renting a studio (I wasn't thrilled with that either but then as I said, I had only stayed in deluxe resort rooms at that point and they were a tad bigger and a little nicer than BWV, they hadn't been renovated yet and were showing their wear and tear).

To answer you original question, no the walk at POP is not that bad, I got up both mornings and jogged around the entire resort and over to AoA and had to do it twice around to make 1/2 and I didn't jog fast. Just ask for a room in either the 90s or 80s section (I was in 90s) it's right across the parking lot from the bus stop and the main building. I don't really think the walk is horrible at any of the resorts except sometimes I have been known to get lost in the hallways at BW and YC, they go on forever. If you don't want to go value, you might check the other moderates, yes they are bigger than FQ but all of them have buildings that are close to the food courts that are not preferred.

 

[aristocatz]

We booked a preferred room when we stayed at Pop & we were about a 2 minute walk from the buses, main building, etc...loved our stay there!

 

[buzznina]

POFQ is our favorite Mod resort and DW and I like POP (DD's would rather stay ASMO) The biggest issue we have we the values is the full size beds vs queens at all other levels. You did not say when you were going, but I believe POP is or will be going through a refurb also. Our family has no issues walking at any of the resorts we have stayed at.

 

[HopperFan]

Just returned from POP, probably our 18th stay. It has a fairly small footprint and most rooms are only a few minutes to the main hub and bus. Our walk to all this trip was way shorter than our walk was at POFQ last trip and we didn't even have one of the farthest rooms. Get a lake view room, so quiet and peaceful.

No way I'd rather stay home than stay at POP. Part of having an AP is going more often and for us, I am fine with saving money on a bed/bathroom so I can spend more doing fun things.

 

[cassie58]

Agree w/aristocatz above - usually stay at CSR which we love, but did Pop last because of cost and rooms available for FD deal. Preferred room was well worth it - stayed in 60's Building 5 and was close to food court and buses.

I would also consider CSR if that is part of the deal you are considering - very beautiful and peaceful, and Cabanas are a great location (not sure about refurbs going on now and if that would affect your dates.) Not nearly as spread out as people make it out to be!

 

[ols386]

FQ is my favorite but I really like Pop too. I think you would be very happy with Pop. It is large but also compact, at the same time. Dedicated bus service is a plus, short walk to main building, large pools. Food court offers typical value resort meals. If I were in your shoes, I'd definitely stay at Pop.

 

[cpdisney]

I LOVE Pop. I have 42 on site visits in deluxe (including CL). I tried CS and FQ each once to get a feel for mod. I've stayed at Pop twice and have an upcoming trip in less then 30 days. The vibe of Pop is just too cute. Not a big fan of buses, but Love the music they play, it makes the ride almost enjoyable. Being able to take an AOA bus back from a park is also a plus. The rooms and grounds are clean, the food court is manageable in off times. The money I save allows me to make extra trips per year. I live in northeast and have to fly, normally only made an annual trip, in 2016 I went 6 times! I've been in 70 and 50 building lake view, perfect rooms for about $100, can't get any better!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Pop and the French Quarter are two of my favourite resorts. Strangely enough, I find Pop to be small and relaxing just like POFQ. It's the other moderates I find to be huge. Request a lake view room at Pop. You won't be too far from the main building and you'll be close to walk across the bridge to AofA.

Agree 100%! Our stay two times ago was at POFQ, then last January at POP in a wonderful, quiet lake view room in 50's section, and our upcoming February stay is at POP (We are treating other family members and need two rooms so POFQ not in budget!), hopefully will get a quiet lake view room!

Love being close to AofA, and easy to use either bus or food court. Pop is very large and the lobby at times can be loud and feel hectic, but the theming is fun. We like single bus stop resorts, so both fit the bill. The on and off and slow process of loading/unloading of people, strollers and scooters at the multiple bus stop resorts isn't our thing!

 

[DG25]

I will admit, I have never stayed pop, I keep thinking about it, actually booked it this time, but next morning changed over to WL. I have stayed POFQ and love it, I have stayed POR and did not enjoy it, but that is me not POR, I am blind and had a terrible time with the layout, others would not have the same problem. Just so you know, POFQ never have AP rates, at least that is what I am told. But POR does have AP rates. If I were you, I would check out the POR AP rates, you will at least keep all the amenities you love and the Queen beds. You will also be able to walk back and forth to FQ and you can take the boat back and forth also, so you can have you POFQ fix. When we stay POFQ we very often go back and forth to POR. Let me say while you are at it check out all resorts for AP rates, you may be very surprised at the prices. I was going to book POR for our stay in May, we have to have preferred room if we go there, after checking over and over again, we could get AKL or WL for only $23 more a night, so we are heading to WL. Sorry can't help you much with POP, my problem is not so much the layout, I would love to stay, my fear is the double beds with less than comfy mattresses, and the buses, I hate buses at Disney because the over fill them and my guide dog gets stepped on, so I have to go off hours on buses, so I would do not stay at over crowded resorts.

 

[maxiesmom]

I've stayed at both. I really like both resorts. The only negative abut the Pop is the location of it's bus stops at the parks. Look for the one farthest away from the park gates, and most likely that is the Pop's stop. And I'm not kidding. If not for that the Pop would be practically perfect! Great CMs, a good food court and nice gift shop. My room was quiet, even though it was mere steps from the main building and pool.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I've stayed at both. I love love LOVE POFQ (and POR). To me, that is home. But if I'm saving a significant amount of money, I'd stay at Pop any day! I really do like it there, too. I've always stayed in the 50's section there. The first trip I was a 2 minute walk from the main building. The second time, about 4 minutes. It can get noisy at the Hippy Dippy Pool when it's open, but if you stay away from that area, it's surprisingly very peaceful. My DD14 and I wandered around one night and I couldn't believe how quiet it was. We took a bench right by the lake and just enjoyed the peacefulness prior to a Disney cruise. If you're saving half, I'd definitely give Pop a try!

 

[GrammyJudy]

Have stayed at both. Love the size of POFQ and the boat to DS. But I prefer the food court and the bus set up at POP. At POP there are desperate lines for each park and not just the push to the front when the bus arrives like FQ.