Just back from Pop... The food court was a nightmare...

[wiserabbit]

Sorry to say that I agree with all you guys - we stayed at Pop this past September (our 3rd time there) and due to food court quality and chaos (along with the thin walls and flushing toilets/loud talkers and lack of amenities (full service restaurant/indoor lounge/bar) - we have decided NO MORE VALUES for us

One of the things I dislike most is after standing in all the various lines to get food, after standing in line to pay for your food and patiently wait for your turn, THEN you have to jockey for a spot to sit your tray down and get your drinks if you're using the mugs or cup. And we noted that on most nights - there wasn't enough ice to go around or was verrrrryyyy slooooooow coming out of the dispenser.

I realize this is the value classification of motel/hotel - but Disney can do better with the basic services it provides - look how well they handle crowds at the parks - why can't some of that flow over to the values? And we found it sad that for the same amount of money we would rather stay at a Hilton Garden Inn with comfy beds and better soundproofing - on site SIT DOWN restaurant and breakfast, etc. We really wanted to like the values - but from now on - we'll save up for mods or better to really feel like we are on vacation and not a trip to the mall the day after Thanksgiving

 

[metzgardesign]

We did our first stay at value in the family suites at AoA last September, and even though we loved the room and enjoyed the hotel overall, I told DH "NEVER AGAIN at a value" simply because of the chaos of the food court. It is just too much trouble to corral 2 children while trying to get everyone something different to eat, make sure you have all the stuff you need for the DDP, etc...Though I will say everything we tried there was of good quality, it just added too much stress.

I've not stayed at a value resort. But I have walked through them all, and each time, when walking through the food courts and seeing the offerings and time chaos....I looked at my wife and said "Nope....no way. We will not ever stay at this place."

Of course POR breakfast scene at their food court wasn't much better. Maybe if you're accustomed to a sea of humanity, jostling over waffles and bacon....then it makes sense to you. It just seems remarkably unpleasant and chaotic to me.

I think I may not like food courts. Nope....thought about it....I don't. I don't even like the term "food court."

 

[rock_doctor]

I can't add anything positive, unfortunately. We use to be big PopC proponents but over the years we had issues each time and the managers just did not seem to care one bit. Just gave the standard Disney lip service, "I am very sorry this happened...". The last time we stayed at Pop the room was perfect but i got food poisoning from the food court... Pop has the curse of death for us. We now stay at the CR and have never had an issue.

 

[freckles04]

Sorry to say that I agree with all you guys - we stayed at Pop this past September (our 3rd time there) and due to food court quality and chaos (along with the thin walls and flushing toilets/loud talkers and lack of amenities (full service restaurant/indoor lounge/bar) - we have decided NO MORE VALUES for us

One of the things I dislike most is after standing in all the various lines to get food, after standing in line to pay for your food and patiently wait for your turn, THEN you have to jockey for a spot to sit your tray down and get your drinks if you're using the mugs or cup. And we noted that on most nights - there wasn't enough ice to go around or was verrrrryyyy slooooooow coming out of the dispenser.

I realize this is the value classification of motel/hotel - but Disney can do better with the basic services it provides - look how well they handle crowds at the parks - why can't some of that flow over to the values? And we found it sad that for the same amount of money we would rather stay at a Hilton Garden Inn with comfy beds and better soundproofing - on site SIT DOWN restaurant and breakfast, etc. We really wanted to like the values - but from now on - we'll save up for mods or better to really feel like we are on vacation and not a trip to the mall the day after Thanksgiving

Don't know if you have ever stayed at POR (moderate) but our food court experience during busy times was pretty well exactly the same as above, just this month...

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We stayed at POR & POP this past summer. In our experience, the POR food court was WAY worse in terms of speed and trying to find a table (we would sit in Boatwrights during breakfast).

That being said I would still stay at both again. You just need to plan on meals during busy times of day to take longer (no matter where you eat).

 

[eliza61]

That is sad to hear because the food courts are a big draw of the values. While we have never stayed at a value, we've stayed at 2 moderates and really enjoyed having a food court available. We love the deluxes, but whenever we've talked about possibly staying moderate or trying a value, the first thing that comes to mind is "Yay! We'd have a food court!" So if that goes downhill, then we'd probably never do it....

Lol, which is the opposite of us. When our kids were small, we always wanted to try the values because of the "oversized" theming but always skipped it because of the food courts. I hate the ones in the mall so no way do I want to do them on vacation. The one time we stayed at a value, we had the same experience as op. Never again.

No flames from me Op, sorry it was so bad.

 

[Deb123]

We stayed at POR & POP this past summer. In our experience, the POR food court was WAY worse in terms of speed and trying to find a table (we would sit in Boatwrights during breakfast).

That being said I would still stay at both again. You just need to plan on meals during busy times of day to take longer (no matter where you eat).

I SO agree with you! We have stayed at both resorts many times, and POR food court was the WORST. You stand in line for 15-20 min only to place your order and then it takes another 15-20 min for your food to be ready. Now while Pop DOES get busy, it is usually only during certain peak eating times. If you just plan accordingly, you can avoid this. If we go in there and it is chaotic, we'll just usually leave and come back in about an hr and the place will be empty. We actually find the food quite good there. We loved the taco plate! (9.99 for 4 tacos that you mix and match and customize any way you want) Easy plate to share. Also, the large pizza you can order is still an awesome deal for Disney. Oh and the curry shrimp was my best meal in our 16 night trip!

 

[Lisann]

D) I get that it is free dining, and that has impacted the quality/quantity of the food - but watching them weigh fries for every order was ridiculous.
would just be nicer to be closer.

Thanks for the wonderful and honest review. It's nice to know.

I don't have a problem with a restaurant weighing portion sizes...it actually helps keep the cost of food down. I've worked in food service before, and imagine just one extra tomato on every salad...800 salads a day, 800 extra tomatoes a day...that works out to 292,000 extra tomatoes a year. Huge cost, and it was only one extra tomato on the salad. See?

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Is it crazy crowded around 7? I would expect it to be busy during.normal breakfast hours but curious that early. Wanna get breakfast and then head to park when the first bus leaves at 8.

 

[JennyDrake]

Don't know if you have ever stayed at POR (moderate) but our food court experience during busy times was pretty well exactly the same as above, just this month...

As self professed Queen of the Value Resorts, I've stayed in each multiple times except AoA where once was enough. I also have frequent flyer miles at the moderates and I will echo that the craziest food court I've EVER seen has been peak times at POR. The food is so good and fresh and lots of choices! But it was so spread out, large and LOUD that our party of 3 adults repeatedly had trouble finding/keeping up with each other.

A PPer asked about values being busy at 7 am--well, that is when the food court opens. If you aren't a sleep in kind of person, you could have been awake for a coupe of hours and pretty darn hungry by 7 am..... And if EMH hours start at 8 am, yes you need to have the family there and ready for chow at 7.

The only times I've seen understaffing for my entire stay were August 2013 at Movies (only in the evening), AoA (Oct 2012 for each and every meal), and AKL (both stays, each and every meal).

 

[practicallyperfect77]

As self professed Queen of the Value Resorts, I've stayed in each multiple times except AoA where once was enough. I also have frequent flyer miles at the moderates and I will echo that the craziest food court I've EVER seen has been peak times at POR. The food is so good and fresh and lots of choices! But it was so spread out, large and LOUD that our party of 3 adults repeatedly had trouble finding/keeping up with each other.

A PPer asked about values being busy at 7 am--well, that is when the food court opens. If you aren't a sleep in kind of person, you could have been awake for a coupe of hours and pretty darn hungry by 7 am..... And if EMH hours start at 8 am, yes you need to have the family there and ready for chow at 7.

The only times I've seen understaffing for my entire stay were August 2013 at Movies (only in the evening), AoA (Oct 2012 for each and every meal), and AKL (both stays, each and every meal).

Thanks for the info. Luckily it's a friend trip so only have to get myself up and ready. I'll plan on getting there at 7 and chowing down and drinking a pot of coffee. =)

 

[Ariel on Land]

We've stayed at CBR and most recently, last week at AoA. THe food court at CBR, while it has fewer options, was never crazy. EVER. AoA for us, only one night was bad- on Sunday. I imagine a lot of folks were arriving (we were!) and it was just a madhouse in there. We went again on Wednesday for lunch, and it was much, much better. I went through there a couple times for a drink a few evenings during the week (think 9-11pm) and it didn't seem bad. So at least for us, in October, it was just the one night.

Thankfully for us, we're not in the food courts all that often anyways, so it's no big deal. But there definitely was a difference between the food court at AoA vs. CBR!!!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I didn't enjoy the food court on my last Pop stay in early Dec. 2012.

I normally only eat in the food courts for breakfast but it was nuts. I ended up buying bananas and juice in the food court once to eat in the morning and would stop and have a light snack mid-morning.

It was so much nicer starting my day without the Pop food court hassle.

 

[jcyoung]

We traveled to POP for our first visit to the world last week. As novices, we didn't know everything about the dining plan. Luckily, I got a nice CM that explained it to me, but my poor husband didn't. The person in his line charged him a QS meal, but he didn't have a drink or dessert. She just didn't bother to help him. I was pretty mad that she didn't take the time to even ask if he knew that he didn't have everything. The lines were pretty crazy and the food wasn't that good. All in all, I was a little disappointed. The hotel was nice, though...just not the food court.

 

[lvillotta1]

Having stayed at the Values for all of our trips I agree with the craziness at peak times. It is aggravating that you stand in all these different lines for different foods esp with young kids. I felt it took us forever to get food. We are going in Feb and staying at POP. We bring along breakfast items so eat in the room. We also use one of our days to just stay at the resorts and have used the food court,but might eat earlier or later. We also love DTD and it is easy to catch the bus at eat at Earl of Sandwhich or another QS meal.

 

[Girlfriday17]

We have a split stay in March with 5 days at Pop and 5 days at WL. We typically only eat breakfast at our resort (past two times at POFQ) so this info is good to know. I am a slow riser and my husband usually grabs us breakfast and brings it back to the room for me to eat while I get ready. I am thinking yogurt and fruit in our room might be a good idea.

 

[Cinderella's slipper]

We stayed at Pop in October 2012 and loved the hotel itself. The food court was another matter entirely. After a dismal 1st attempt at breakfast one day before we headed to the park - we sought out food elsewhere.

The food here was inedible - and rarely if ever hot. Love the hotel, great place to stay if you don't need to eat here.

 

[ToyStory3]

I stayed at Pop for the first time this November. When we went to the food court late at night we had a good experience. Very little wait and our food was fine. But, the two times we went at breakfast it was awful. We waited a very long time in line - I actually got out of two lines for food because in over 15 minutes it literally never moved. I started running out of time so I got cereal, milk, and a Danish. I went to checkout and they were going to force me to use 3 snack credits. I tried to tell them that I had to catch a flight and none of the other lines are moving (for waffles, etc.). Didn't matter - they really didn't care.

I went back and a CM gave me a combination of food that she said could be used as a QS meal. I went back through the line and they, again, told me it was 3 snack credits. I was literally in tears. They finally let me use it as a QS credit because I explained that a CM told me that I could. It was a nightmare.

 

[TeachTink]

I've never stayed on site before and I'm so worried about the food court "horror" stories I've read since we will be staying on site this time. :lol

 

[alex9179]

I despised the Art food court on our last trip. It was the only bad part of the whole week. Even going at 10 at night was bad.

We did our first stay at value in the family suites at AoA last September, and even though we loved the room and enjoyed the hotel overall, I told DH "NEVER AGAIN at a value" simply because of the chaos of the food court. It is just too much trouble to corral 2 children while trying to get everyone something different to eat, make sure you have all the stuff you need for the DDP, etc...Though I will say everything we tried there was of good quality, it just added too much stress.

We hated the AoA food court. It wasn't that the food was so bad, it was that it was chaos and hard and to get all of your food and with toddlers it was very hard to wait in line and carry your trays and sit down to eat before it was cold- if you had to push a stroller too, forget about it! And it was SOOOO crowded in the evenings even until late at night like you said. Some of the longest lines of our whole trip were at the food court.

Us too! We really liked the suite, but our two food court experiences convinced us that it wasn't for us. Chaos, limited to one bay or in line multiple times to get everyone's choice (doesn't work with small kids), and the bounty platter was terrible! Cold food and the potatoes were inedible. DH is actually the one who said "never again" because he was the food runner while I stayed with our little kids.