Well I just got home from a long weekend at Disney (Thursday to Sunday). This is my second time staying "on-site"...first time was Port Orleans and after that I was sold on the benefits to staying at a Disney Resort. This time we stayed at POP.
This was my first time at POP and I am VERY HAPPY with my choice. We arrived on Thursday at 7pm. My husband chuckled when we pulled into the check-in parking area...he wasnt expecting all of the large icons and bright colors. The kids loved it. He even joked that it felt like he was at Dolphin Mall (a large bright colored outlet type mall in Miami - where we live). So we check-in...it was speedy-- not a lot of people. We were taken care of by a nice CM who was on an exchange program from Disney Tokyo (I think it was Tokyo or was it Hong Kong - not sure). Her accent was a little hard to understand but I got the jist of things when she explained the location of the room and check out time, etc.
I had reserved a "preferred room" in the 60's building. I was happy with the location. We were in room 5410 (4th floor) overlooking the lake to the right and the kiddie pool at the Hippy Dippy Pool. The room, though a tad small, was suitable. We did not hear our neighbors or the music and hoopla outside from the people at the pool until midnight. The bathroom small but who spend alot of time on the toilet...so you have to skoot all the way next to the bathtub to close the door, but I was coll with that. The fun part was parking in the parking lot and using the handcart to take all of our luggage to the room...that was the longest walk of our lives (mainly because my husband did not pack the stuff well and stuff kept on falling off of it).
I love the refillable mugs. I think psychologically I drank ALOT so that I could get my money's worth. I think I had 6 cups of coffee and 10 cokes a day...took full advantage of "refilling" the mug. Our experience with the food court was good. We only ate there once for dinner because the other times we either ate at the parks or at Dowtown Disney. The food was average but I wasnt expecting Emeril to cook the meals. The mac & Cheese is awesome by the way.
Transportation....on Friday when we went to Epcot I think we waited 10 minutes and coming back from Epcot about 15 minutes. Saturday to the Magic Kingdom we waited another 15 minutes and but when we boarded we realized it was standing room only and we were almost outside the front door. So we opted to wait for the next bus...which came about 5 minutes after. We left back to the hotel before the 3pm parade so the bus was still empty and we only waited about 10 minutes. Overall - very happy with the bus system.
We will definately stay at POP again when we return in the fall. I was a little skeptical on the hotel because of some of the posts I read...but once I experienced for myself...I was happy.
Hope everyone planning to stay at POP have a pleasant time like us.
Rebecca
This was my first time at POP and I am VERY HAPPY with my choice. We arrived on Thursday at 7pm. My husband chuckled when we pulled into the check-in parking area...he wasnt expecting all of the large icons and bright colors. The kids loved it. He even joked that it felt like he was at Dolphin Mall (a large bright colored outlet type mall in Miami - where we live). So we check-in...it was speedy-- not a lot of people. We were taken care of by a nice CM who was on an exchange program from Disney Tokyo (I think it was Tokyo or was it Hong Kong - not sure). Her accent was a little hard to understand but I got the jist of things when she explained the location of the room and check out time, etc.
I had reserved a "preferred room" in the 60's building. I was happy with the location. We were in room 5410 (4th floor) overlooking the lake to the right and the kiddie pool at the Hippy Dippy Pool. The room, though a tad small, was suitable. We did not hear our neighbors or the music and hoopla outside from the people at the pool until midnight. The bathroom small but who spend alot of time on the toilet...so you have to skoot all the way next to the bathtub to close the door, but I was coll with that. The fun part was parking in the parking lot and using the handcart to take all of our luggage to the room...that was the longest walk of our lives (mainly because my husband did not pack the stuff well and stuff kept on falling off of it).
I love the refillable mugs. I think psychologically I drank ALOT so that I could get my money's worth. I think I had 6 cups of coffee and 10 cokes a day...took full advantage of "refilling" the mug. Our experience with the food court was good. We only ate there once for dinner because the other times we either ate at the parks or at Dowtown Disney. The food was average but I wasnt expecting Emeril to cook the meals. The mac & Cheese is awesome by the way.
Transportation....on Friday when we went to Epcot I think we waited 10 minutes and coming back from Epcot about 15 minutes. Saturday to the Magic Kingdom we waited another 15 minutes and but when we boarded we realized it was standing room only and we were almost outside the front door. So we opted to wait for the next bus...which came about 5 minutes after. We left back to the hotel before the 3pm parade so the bus was still empty and we only waited about 10 minutes. Overall - very happy with the bus system.
We will definately stay at POP again when we return in the fall. I was a little skeptical on the hotel because of some of the posts I read...but once I experienced for myself...I was happy.
Hope everyone planning to stay at POP have a pleasant time like us.
Rebecca
The only thing my DH pointed out was the frozen coke machine was broken.
It's funny you should mention the luggage cart because just today my husband said, "I hope the room isn't too far from the car, I'll feel like a pack mule". We drive and we always seem to take everything we own with us. 
