Just booked at POP!! First trip!!

[LeslieMDisLvr]

hi all, I'm new here. I hope I'm doing this right.

i am sooo excited! this year I decided that no matter what it took my family was going to go on vacation. i knew nothing about Disney or travel and had no idea what I was doing (didn't know these boards existed!) somehow I found Mousesavers which is a really neat site. I was a hopeless case for trip planning and the site recommended looking into a travel agent and that particular site recommended a company by the name of Small World Vacations. I did that and am so glad I did.

we just put our deposit down yesterday!! first real vacation and first trip to Disney ever!!

anybod have any tips about POP CENTURY or Disney in general? we are psyched!

 

[bishop1989]

First of all congrats and have a great time!! WDW can be extremely overwhelming so make sure you keep asking questions and maybe buy Birmbaums' book, etc. And have a map handy. My first trip I was unaware how large all of Disney was. I love amusement parks and have been to several. I thought that I would be able to jog from CBR to MK. lol My wife just laughed at me. How many days are you staying is a a big factor as to what you can take in and how relaxed you can be. We have a daughter who loves Space Mt. and the rides so we spend far less time on the Main Street shops than we use to.
We stayed at POP last year and we enjoyed it. The atmosphere is fun and lively. The busses from the MK at night are slower than most but overall it was a nice stay. The lake there is pretty and relaxing. The food court is good with lots of selections. ENJOY!!
Also plan on the EMH while in the parks or e-ride nights if they come back.

 

[DiverD]

We stayed there last year and are going back again this year. It's a nice place just go and have fun never had a problem with any busses walk around and check out the place saw a family of duck last years that would come right up to you, everything is freindly at Disney well not the gators. Have fun

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Welcome to the Dis. You will find a lot of answers to your questions here. You might want to check out the Pop Century Resort Board at this link http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=698727
We will be at Pop in June and can't wait. It sounds awesome from everything I've read here. Feel free to ask as many questions as you can here. Everyone is nice and willing to help.
Have fun planning!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Hi!

You're going to have a great time.

We stayed at Pop the first week of December and we loved it. We're going back in May.

Pop is a really neat place. The Hippy Dippy pool is great. The giant character icons make for some neat family photos. There is a really big food court, a nice shop, an arcade (great for kids or adult men who love video games...my SO spent 30 minutes each night playing some sort of Star Wars game in there and he's a grown man! )

The bus service, we found to be terrific. No problems, no long waits, no crowds.

We stayed in the 50's section, in a room on the opposite side from the pool. We were facing the lake which was pretty. But still close enough to the main hall and the 50's pool that it was not too far away. People complain about noise a lot at Pop but I don't know...we didn't hear any and I am a terribly light sleeper. The only thing we occasionally heard was showers or toilets flushing from other rooms, but I hear that in every hotel.

I had never stayed at a value resort before and I have to say I was really impressed. I can't wait to go back.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Welcome to the Dis Boards! You're going to have a great time. How old are the kids in your family? That will help people give you tips. Have fun - planning is half the fun!!

 

[LeslieMDisLvr]

thanks everyone for your responses. we are staying for 7 nights, which i think is long enough right? i asked my travel agent the same questions and she said she prefers six nights or seven nights the most and it seems that is a really good value with the new park tickets too? we are also doing the dining plan and that seems to be a good value for the money. this is allnew for us so i think it will be great.

also, i keep seeing things on this board about room requests...is that for something like non smoking? I see people saying stuff about room location. on our quote from small world our agent put in a request to disney for 50's or 70's sections for us, and i'm guessing because she thinks they are good locations for us. are there pros or cons to either?

we are realy excited to be going on a vacation and to disney. i think i will go to the bookstore and checkout some of those guides too

 

[LeslieMDisLvr]

my kids are 8 and 2. this resort looks like it will be a fun place for them

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I think you kids will love it. One of the best things about taking a 2 year old is they don't need park tickets and they eat free at the buffets. The first time we took our little ones ds was 2. The meal plan does sound like a good idea. For the guidebooks I would suggest the Unofficial Guide and Birbaums' official guide. I love the Unofficial guidebooks - but don't let the section on taking little ones scare you . The first year our kids were 2,4 and 5 and we had a great time. The biggest piece of advice I can give you (you'll probably hear this over and over again) get to the parks at opening, leave in the afternoon for a swim/nap break, and go back at night. I also always make PS for restaurants because I don't want to be wandering with hungry, tired kids. Make sure you see spectromagic and wishes, both you and the kids will love it. Any questions - just ask.

 

[bishop1989]

We first took our daughter when she was 18 months and though it was alot of work - well worth it!! The tip about hitting the parks early is important. One the parks are less crowded and by the time the crowds and temps heat up you can go back for a quick nap or jump in the pool. Take advantage of breaks in the afternoon, especially since you will be there 7 days. Don't miss out on the Crystal Palace or Small World and in EPCOT your 2 year old will love Figment from Journey into your Imagination.

 

[DisnyMama]

Definately get Birnbaums and the Passporter. Along with the DIS you will have alot of fun counting down the time till your trip.

You will have the time of your life.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

You'll love Pop! We stayed there in June and had a great time. We were in the 70's building #10 that is close to the food court and bus stop.

 

[Fromeurope]

I have stayed at PopCentury for three weeks now in three different vacations. So you see I am a big PopCenturyfan
I think the theming is great and the atmosphere is even better.
There are a lot of negative things said about PC on these boards, but I have never experienced any negative thing over there. It's just fun.

 

[dawgfan]

Your kids are the perfect age for the first trip. The length of your stay is also great. You have plenty of time to see everything and take it easy around the pool at times. Kids that age will not be able to ride everything. My oldest was able to ride quite a few things and wanted to get on them. The youngest was not able to ride a great deal and was scared to get on some that she could. We had to split up and luckily had the grandparents as back up. We took good walkie talkies to keep track of each other when we split up. Both kids had a great time. We only stayed for five days/four days actually in the parks on the old park hopper. That last day was wasted. We stayed in Magic Kingdom most and never went to Epcot. We stayed at All Stars as Pop was not built yet. We like the budget hotels adn have since started to stay at the moderates. We would go back to a budget if we needed to. I would recommend defintely buying a book and try to make that book directly reference to Disney WITH kids. I had one and it was a great resource. Read and study.

 

[elan]

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this or not. Hold off on buying your guidebook. The new revised ones should be out in the next few weeks. They will have info about MYW and the new EMH. Even if they say 2005 look for these additions otherwise they will be the old version. I prefer the Unoffical Guidebook.

Don't forget to make some dining PS.

We stayed at POP last year for a few nights. We really enjoyed our stay. The pools were fun and it was cool seeing all the large icons.

Happy planning.

 

[G&J's Mom]

dawgfan - That pics cracks me up everytime I see it! How bout dem dawgs?

Dd changed her mind and wants to stay at POP for her birthday instead of AsMo. Pics of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head won her over, Ok by me, I would love to stay there. Love to read positive reviews of it.

 

[lovethattink]

We stayed at Pop a couple weeks ago. The theming was great. We had lots of fun. The only drawback was how noisy the rooms are. Our baby was not use to the sound of toilets flushing through the night. He woke up every time one flushed.

 

[Fromeurope]

I really don't think that hearing the neighbors flush their toilet is only a PopCentury-issue. Staying at POFQ and even at AKL I heard the toilets as well.

 

[Bugsmom73]

Have fun, I too recommend the early park thing, go back and rest and then back in the evening. YOu will have a lot fun.

 

[LeslieMDisLvr]

thanks for all your tips we are really excited to be going! it sounds like a great resort!