Just Back from POP...NEVER AGAIN

[Theresa-MI]

Just came back from the Wilderness Lodge, and on marathon weekend it was a ZOO!!!

People woke up for the marathon at 3 in the morning , were loud and totally lacked respect to those not attending the race.

I am a light sleeper and woke up to screams and shouts in the hallway at 03:00 AM!!

So, deluxe or not.... people have to mind their manners and be considerate to others!!!!

 

[Theresa-MI]

Like I said before I have stayed at the other resorts and have enjoyed all them but Pop was not as enjoyable as ASM,WL,POR, and CSR. It's not my first time staying at Disney. So all of WDW was not that way for me. It must of been that Pop was the popular resort at the time we were there. Maybe everyone decided to stay there because Pop Warner was at the other value resorts towards the begining of our stay.

Like youself, I have been at other Disney Resorts ( ASMovies and Music, Pop Century, Port Orleans Riverside, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs and Wilderness Lodge. By far, Pop was the worst experience! In my humble opinion the number of rooms is too large for the infrastructure of the hotel, thus causing a lot of trouble as the all times crowded food court and huge bus lines.

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

As for the rudeness, unhappily, it's EVERYWHERE now. Staying at a deluxe will not shield you from rude behavior. I think people need to again be taught manners--they're practically non-existent. Remember the Disney Institute? Maybe they should revive it and make it a pre-requisite to attend manners classes before entering the parks! Parents have seriously fallen down on the job with teaching young ones how to be respectful and just to have ordinary courtesy. (And some of the parents' behavior is worse than the kids!) I'm so sorry your trip wasn't great. No matter where you stay, you want your trip to be a fun experience--sorry it wasn't all you hoped for.

I absolutely agree about rudeness. The resort you stay will MOST certainly not guarantee that people train their kids not to run around and ram into people.

And honestly, it's not something that I've experienced with Disney per se, but at some more expensive resorts or destinations, with some people, there is almost an aura of entitlement, that they can act however they want, simply b/c they might have a bit more money than you. And heaven forbid you ever question their childrens' behavior.

All I can say is if it were my children running into anyone, if they didn't automatically apologize, they would have been marched right back up to the person to do so. But I'm a strict mommy like that.

 

[australiankaren]

hi there,

just re-reading this thread and I wonder if Disney reads the boards??
It would be a great way for them to upgrade/ re-jig/ improve the resort.

All it would take for pop to once again be a great resort is 1 or 2 more cleaners on the food court, one more bus on per hour,one more person on front desk, 2 more cleaners for the pools and laundry's....so really the problem is man power I guess. as for the rampaging kids in the food court,maybe have more outdoor tables and chairs with a play ground????

Just thinking out loud..... it doesnt take too much to turn a negitive into a positive.

 

[7165red]

That must have been awful, I am so sorry you had a bad eperience.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree - I think the Deluxe resorts typically have individuals who are not quite as rude. The value resorts feature large family groups, people going CHEAP, etc. who are often loud, roudy and rude. I have, as well, stayed at all levels and that is my observation. This is not to offend my POP friends - some of you are very nice----but the majority...just rude. Deluxe is the way to go! Nuff' said!

Nuff said is that rudeness and ignorance are always such a shame.

Its funny, we have friends who always stay at the GF. My dd and I went over there in October one day to shop, look around and have lunch with our friends who were at WDW the same time we were. And yes it was lovely! But what sticks out in my mind was that while we enjoyed lunch on the outdoor patio of Gasparilla Grill, there was a guest there who had been swimming with his two dd's. They were both completely naked. These two little girls, one of whom was at least 6 sat on the chairs, bared bottomed and had their lunch. Okay, this was isolated and not the norm at the GF at all. But it proved that classless ppl stay at all resorts and they can be quite rude. God love my friends, they love the GF and have at times, made me and my husband feel a bit like they pity us for staying value and moderate and once even said the values were tacky. Don't ask me how they know, they've never set foot in one, yet here we were at Disney's flagship resort with a view of the castle and this kid's rear end not two feet from our food. After a bit, a manager came over and spoke to the man, he got very nasty and said he was staying concierge and for the manager to mind his own business. He finally made the older one at least wrap herself in a towel. I heard another person at a nearby table say she has seen the kids swimming naked earlier that day in the quiet pool. Later on, we returned to our own resort (All Star Music) later and swam with all the other value folks. All of whom had the good graces to put their children in swimsuits.

I have seen classless behavior at all levels of WDW resorts. Its simply a fact of life. Money buys you a nicer room, but it can never buy class or good taste. I worked in marketing at a five star hotel years ago and let me tell you, if you think guests who stay in fancy hotels can't be disgusting and disrespectful to other guests, staff and hotel property, go work at one of those WDW deluxe's and see what you find.

I have logged over ten value stays in all. I have never seen filthy food courts or tacky people. Does that mean it does not happen. Of course not. Anymore than its the norm for naked kids to be eating lunch at the GF even thought that's what I saw the day I ate there. I also saw a lot of tables that guests had not bothered to clear away. And the manager who tried to get Tacky Daddy to clothe his kids saw those tables and did nothing.

I do very much agree that Pop has too many rooms/guests for one food court to accomodate and their busses are often the most crowded. They need to add more services to that resort plain and simple.

 

[Theresa-MI]

I have seen classless behavior at all levels of WDW resorts. Its simply a fact of life. Money buys you a nicer room, but it can never buy class or good taste. I worked in marketing at a five star hotel years ago and let me tell you, if you think guests who stay in fancy hotels can't be disgusting and disrespectful to other guests, staff and hotel property, go work at one of those WDW deluxe's and see what you find.


I do very much agree that Pop has too many rooms/guests for one food court to accomodate and their busses are often the most crowded. They need to add more services to that resort plain and simple.

Couldn't agree more !!!

 

[Camno's Mama]

I think your expectations are a little high. You are in Disney. Kids are everywhere, and they are excited. Even the best behaved ones are bouncing off the wall a little. Kids are not miniature adults...I read a lot on here about how kids are so disrespectful and obnoxious. I feel like adults need to be a little more patient. Everyone is moving fast.

As for the strollers...I read a lot about that on here as well. I try to be very respectful when it comes to the stroller. People constantly walk in front of me, and act like we're not even there. Do I think they're rude? Maybe a little, but it's not the kind of vacation where people are really aware of the world around them. It's sensory overload, and there is a lot of tunnel vision. I don't think it's intentional.

I hope that your next trip to CSR is better. That's where we are going next time!

 

[jenseib]

I think your expectations are a little high. You are in Disney. Kids are everywhere, and they are excited. Even the best behaved ones are bouncing off the wall a little. Kids are not miniature adults...I read a lot on here about how kids are so disrespectful and obnoxious. I feel like adults need to be a little more patient. Everyone is moving fast.

As for the strollers...I read a lot about that on here as well. I try to be very respectful when it comes to the stroller. People constantly walk in front of me, and act like we're not even there. Do I think they're rude? Maybe a little, but it's not the kind of vacation where people are really aware of the world around them. It's sensory overload, and there is a lot of tunnel vision. I don't think it's intentional.

I hope that your next trip to CSR is better. That's where we are going next time!

YES! I think most people don't realize how many times they step into a stroller path. I have hit very few people, and when I have, it's because someone stopped abruptly in front of me...and I always apologize. Or more often I have had people practically step into the stroller, not looking where they are going. One person actually fell over my DD in the stroller. They were to the strollers side, and just turned and walked without paying attention. I think everyone needs to pay a little more attention.

 

[dclfun]

I stayed at Pop in early December and had a miserable time but have stayed there several times in the past and not had a bad experience. Part of the trouble was families with young children who screamed at 6 am outside my room. I know they are excited, but they were not told to lower their voice or stop, and they stood out there screaming for about 30 minutes before moving on. Not sure what they were doing and I doubt I was the only one who heard them. Also I travel in a power wheelchair with a lift van. I could not find an accessible parking spot ANYWHERE at the resort, even if we'd parked far away from our building. As such I had to park sideways across two spaces and people made nasty comments. I was afraid of damage to my van, but thankfully no one bothered it. Gee....if I had a way to get out of my van with my wheelchair and if there were enough accessible spaces ( or if the h/a parking was enforced) then I'd not have had to park this way. It's not the first time either, but seeing adults in their pajamas in the food court is really tacky. This can happen anywhere- in fact we stayed with our DVC points on the concierge floor at AKL and there was a man in the lounge in his pajamas too. Oh...I guess they're called "lounge pants", but truly they are pajamas and not meant to be worn in public when you can see through them ( and you're not wearing underwear). In both locations other guests did not bother to pick up after themselves and left dirty trays and food on the tables, so again, not isolated to a value resort. I say this all the time, but we live in an entitlement society and people feel they can do what they want and the heck with everyone else or with social graces. We hear it on this board and people will agree that "it's MY vacation and I can do/wear/say what I want". As to Pop, as we live locally we might be back for a short 1-3 day getaway if the price is right but it wouldn't be for a true vacation if I really want to relax. The walls are too thin to guarantee a lack of noise and the wait times for buses and queue lines in the food court can be long.---Kathy

 

[mmay60046]

The only thing I'm going to say is that toddlers are very messy eaters. They don't yet have the gross and fine motor skills necessary to get food to mouth that adults take for granted without making a mess. It's a learning process that requires patience and generally any family with a toddler will end up with the floor under the table looking like it exploded. For the most part I don't think this is intentional or rudeness, it's part of the process of a toddler learning life skills. Personally if they had provided a broom and dustpan to me I would have been happy to clean up after my toddler myself, but I have yet to go to a restaurant that provides these tools to their customers so an apology from me to our server usually has to suffice. Of course they are always very understanding of the situation since they see it all the time and understand that toddlers are messy by no fault of their own.

 

[a1tinkfans]

OP: sorry to hear about your bad vacation experience.

Regardless of where you stay... on property or off, regardless of season and promo's....regardless of cost.... poorly mannered people (adult and children) are bound to be present, sadly it's true!

Its a busy place with so many people in fast forward, trying to get "everything" done, without missing a moment...thus often speeding thru everything. Coupled with Excited, anxious kids it can easily become a whirlwind.
Thats where Disney can improve guests experiences, by having sufficient cast members to keep it all running smoothly.....Perhaps the "cutbacks" we have heard of, have made the "experience" less that what we have all come to expect at Disney. You should not have had to deal with all that key to the world drama IMHO!

As someone whose family has used the strollers/both single and double, an ecv as well, I know that being careful is tough (but certainly doable with extra caution)!
I think the majority of the issues can be reduced substantially if not eliminated, with a simple reminder to everyone......please treat others how you want to be treated....it's Everyone's Vacation, not just yours alone! Manners Count!

Despite the resort issues, I hope you were able to make some wonderful Memories at the Parks!