Just back from POP Century...

[Nini]

I started a post on the trip reports board. However, I DO have to make a couple of comments here regarding POP.

Our check-in went smoothly, well until the CM (who was polite and very sweet) told us the incorrect building...she even circled it on the map. We being of the "herd" mentality after being up since 3 am did what we were told and went to the wrong building. Well, one of the brighter individuals in our group figured it out! Of 4 rooms reserved, 2 were ready at 11am when we checked-in (#1206 and 1207 of the 50's building). Additionally, those rooms were connected with a door betweem them (like we requested). The other two rooms (#1208 and 1209) were not connected with a door...but they were all in a block so that was great!

We were probably a little annoying because we DID use the door lock to prop open the doors ...sorry dis'ers! But with all the children wanting access to each other, it was just easier for them.

I could hear a toilet flush now and then, but not loudly like you were there in the room or anything. I knew when my sil was soaking her feet because I could hear the tub running (that only happened one time ) when I was in the bathroom.

There were hairdryers, iron and ironing board already in the room. The hairdryer was powerful enough to dry hair.

We totally LOVED the location of the rooms. We were in the building right next to the entrance to Classic Hall. A 2 minute walk and we were at the food court. Our rooms faced the bowling pin pool, which the kids swam in one afternoon. The rest of the nights they were asleep by the time their heads hit their pillows if not BEFORE!!!

The beds were on the firm side (just my opinion, but dh confirmed). Everything was clean and much nicer than I expected for a "value" resort. BUT, it is WDW after all! The arcade was a nice touch for the kids and contained a variety of games for all ages. The store was limited to disney merchandise...I simply could not find any sundry items (ie: band aids, toothpaste) at all. Perhaps I just couldn't find them . The food court was PACKED at all hours except the later evening (after the dinner rush). We only ate breakfast there a couple of times and it was ok. The lunch/dinner menu was really pretty good! I am picky and enjoyed the "parmesan crusted chicken w/salad" as well as the "grilled chicken alfredo" . DH liked his food just fine (I think he got a hamburger one time and a wrap sandwich another). We never had any major problems w/the Dining Plan. I just wish Disney would mark the single items in the cases (like danish, donuts, fruit) with a "D" or something, it was a little confusing and deterred us from those items. It seemed like a price limit was set on which dessert one could choose on the plan (approx. $2.50). Now, NO FLAMES...there was one time when I ordered the chicken nugget kids meal for dd4 and they said it would be a 10 minute wait...ever wait with a hungry 4 year old!?!...NOT HAPPENING!!!...so I ordered the adult chicken tender meal. Not an eye was batted or remark made...they just filled the order.

We DID have to request a refrigerator as they were not installed in any of the rooms we were in. By the way, the food court DOES have 1/2 gallons of milk at POP.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, slept in a clean room with more than basic amenities. One NOTE: the bathroom door closes SO close to the toilet that it hit my dd4's toe causing it to bleed near the nail and she cried pitifully! Another time when entering the room, she was almost knocked down by the door closing! There is maybe 1 inch between the door and the bed when the door is open...just a warning, watch the toes!!!!

We definately loved POP and would return there for another visit. However, if we return without the extened family (just us and MY parents), we would stay at a Moderate resort for the atmosphere.

Any questions, fire away!!!! I will most likely post about our dining experience on the Dining board...but I will say it was all GREAT and a ton of food!!!!

 

[Nini]

I had to add that our group found the POP Century bus service to be POOR!!! It was horrible. DH, me and dd4 waited at the MK for exactally 1/2 hour before a POP bus showed up! It was weird because I actually had him time it because of what I heard here on the boards. There were separate busses by the way showing up for ASMo, ASsp, and ASMu. They were definately separate from each other. Well, their busses came at the minimum of 2 each resort!!!! Was I missing something!?! One moderate resort came 4 times in the 1/2 hour an no one was even waiting!!!!! There was always a line at the POP bus stops going to the hotel from the park.

The bus stops at the hotel going to the parks was just "ok" as people were waiting longer than the 15 min. scheduled intervals.

That is one of the reasons my dh said "you get what you pay for" while standing in line.

This was the ONLY downside to staying at POP!!!!

 

[disneysnowflake]

We were at Pop from Sept 30 to Oct 8.
We found the same exact thing when it came to getting a Pop bus when returning from any park. MK was the worst.
Every single time we wanted to get a bus none came for up to an hour.
The lines were horribly long. Some were so long that the queue line was full with people lined back toward other bus stops.

Oh, and all the other bus stops were constantly getting picked up.

We wasted so much time just waiting for the darn bus to come. We never had such a bad time with busses as we did this time with Pop.

 

[Msslaydbug]

I was mortified when there was a mistake with our reservation and had to change just a few days before our trip to POP. I was BEYOND upset. Well, being a "hotel snob" I was pleasantly suprised myself. The food court we found to be terrible but we harly ever ate there.

We love the resort itself and family loves the ppols. We have been back twice now and would return in a heartbeat.

We always rent a car so Ican't say how long the wait for the buses were, but we always saw LONG LONG lines and were happy just to walk to our car and hop in !!

 

[Schmeck]

I don't think any of the value resorts have refrigerators in the room, so if you need one, you have to ask.

When we were there in August a year ago (the day after hurricane Charlie) we never waited more than 20 minutes for a PC bus. We split our stay, and had longer waits (30 minutes and more) for the AKL buses!

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We like Pop for the value resort as well. I thought I heard Disney is planning on putting refrigerators in all the resorts now. However I don't know what the timeframe is for doing this.

 

[SolitaryPhoenix]

... The store was limited to disney merchandise...I simply could not find any sundry items (ie: band aids, toothpaste) at all. Perhaps I just couldn't find them . ...

The 'sundries' were there, but kind of tucked away on one wall nearest the exit out to the bus stops. Definitely easy to miss!

 

[n2mm]

We stay at Pop often too. I agree with the OP on all of the issues. For a value it's a nice resort. We also rent a car so don't have to deal with the bus issues. This past year we stayed at WL 1 week in Feb, Pop 2 weeks in May, BW 1 week in July, Pop 2 days--moved to CR 1 week in Sept, and head back to Pop for 11 days next week (also AKL for 5 days in Dec.). We have no problem bouncing between delux resorts and value resorts. We know what to expect on each trip. But we are new DVC members, so starting next year, we'll be combining our DVC resorts with a couple of nights at a value. But would never turn down a trip at a value, especially if free dining comes around next September!!

 

[jtdl]

We were at Pop from Sept 30 to Oct 8.
We found the same exact thing when it came to getting a Pop bus when returning from any park. MK was the worst.
Every single time we wanted to get a bus none came for up to an hour.
The lines were horribly long. Some were so long that the queue line was full with people lined back toward other bus stops.

Oh, and all the other bus stops were constantly getting picked up.

We wasted so much time just waiting for the darn bus to come. We never had such a bad time with busses as we did this time with Pop.

This was our biggest complaint with POP also. There have been many posts on here from people who had no problems with the busses - we all must've been there at the wrong time (1st wk of Feb. for me)! We also saw the same thing with the All Stars at MK - ASMo had their own bus and half the time when their bus pulled up, it sat there waiting for more people to come. Our line up at the POP went way past the ASMo quene and we waited over an hour.

 

[natalielongstaff]

i was at pop 3 weeks ago and i can honestly say we thought the buses were great we never waited more tham 15 minutes and that time we literally just missed the bus

 

[Grumpy92]

Just returned from a stay there last week. I normally dont like the value resorts and after reading so many poor reviews I wondered how it would be. I was impressed, no long line at c/i, the cm even let us pick the section. Got a great room in the #3 bldg of the 50s it overlooked the lake and we had a view of the fireworks at Epcot from our window. Yes you can hear the shower and toilet in surrounding rooms but otherwise it was pretty quiet. THe bed and furnsihings were in wonderful shape, the foodcourt had a nice variety of selections and the pool was nice. Will definitely be staying there again.

 

[weluvslinkydog]

We DID have to request a refrigerator as they were not installed in any of the rooms we were in. By the way, the food court DOES have 1/2 gallons of milk at POP.

did you have to pay for the fridge? guess they haven't put them into the values yet...wonder when that is supposed to happen?

 

[monte]

Did your room have a coffee maker?

 

[mommyoeo]

Just returned from a stay there last week. I normally dont like the value resorts and after reading so many poor reviews I wondered how it would be. I was impressed, no long line at c/i, the cm even let us pick the section. Got a great room in the #3 bldg of the 50s it overlooked the lake and we had a view of the fireworks at Epcot from our window. Yes you can hear the shower and toilet in surrounding rooms but otherwise it was pretty quiet. THe bed and furnsihings were in wonderful shape, the foodcourt had a nice variety of selections and the pool was nice. Will definitely be staying there again.

We were there 10/3-10/13 in #3128. We must have been close since we could also see the fireworks.

The whole experience was magical!

Christy

 

[Nini]

My TA had told me that WDW was going to be installing refrigerators in all of their hotels, but that the values were the last on the list to recieve them.

We DID pay for our refrigerator and even though it wasn't in the room already, they brought it up within 20 minutes of us calling the front desk. I think they did see the request and had no problem.

No there were NO COFFEEMAKERS in the rooms. Only hairdryer and iron w/ironing board.

I was truly shocked over the bus situation! We never had such a problem as we did staying at POP. It was just...unusual.

We DEFINATELY would stay at POP again...I just think that we would like to experience some of the other resorts WDW has to offer. I can say that GF is not my taste. I would be too worried that my dd4 would have to be watched too closely (jmo). In the sense that the whole place just seemed way to "Breakable"!!! No, we definately need a "sturdier" hotel!!

I tried to post our dining experience on the food board, but it killed my post since it was too close in time with this one... That means I have to do it again from the beginning...

 

[Superjoint_Ritual]

I was at the POP from 10/07-10/13. My freinds and I really liked it. The food was ok,but I knew that a head of time. The only complaint I had was the smell when you enter Everything Pop. There was a kinda sweet smell,but for some reason it would make me feel a little queezy in the stomach. Other than that I had no complaints at all.