Just Home from POP

[pjathome]

Hi, just got home from a week at Pop. I admit that I was nervous about a value as so many of you had some not so positive things to say about it. I loved it. The disney magic is everywhere, the staff is incredible, friendly, knowledgeable and very willing to help. The food court was great, lots of choices, even some healthy options like fruit, cut veggies, salads etc. The cheesburgers are awesome, we ate way to many of them. We paid the extra for a preferred room to be close to food court, hippy dippy pool and it was well worth the money. We were about a 4 minute walk to the food court but next time I would request poolside cause boy were my feet tired at the end of the day. It was not too noisy and the rooms are a fair size. I prefer a bigger bed but hubby and I were so tired by the time we went to bed we could have slept on the floor. All in all it was a great trip, however I don't think a week is enough time to do it all. I'd stay a little longer next time. I think 10 days would be perfect not so much pressure. Any questions about Pop I'd be happy to answer.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Glad to hear your good report of Pop. Dh and I are going to spend a night there in less than 2 weeks! We've never stayed in a value resort before; so when we decided to fly into MCO a day earlier than originally scheduled, we decided to give Pop a try. I can't wait!

BYW, we spent 10 days at WDW in May and it was perfect. We never felt rushed to do anything.

 

[thelionqueen]

We are staying for 10 days at POP in Oct. I have only ever stayed at Deluxe hotels (paid dearly for that by the way...not my favorite amenity I am also very nervous about staying at a value resort. However, we are going on the Free Dining MYW plan and can only afford another WDW trip this year by staying at POP. That said, I requested the 50's building on the 4th floor (no dancing mice above us hopefully). I have read that this bldg. is desirable, not sure why. I am also interested in staying close to food court, main bldg & pools, but also with a little quiet. Which bldg. would you choose & why? Which bldg. would you recommend for me? Was it noisy in your room (thin walls or loud thumps), could you hear a lot of screaming etc. from pool? We have 2 kids and I am totally OK with rowdy kids, but a little peace & quiet would be nice. I would appreciate your comments & reply. Thanks!!!!

 

[pjtjm]

Okay --

Big question, was the icee machine working during your stay???

 

[pjathome]

We were in the 60's building, not facing the pool but fine just the same. The 50's and 60's are both preferred and I'm not sure which were 50's but you'll be glad you paid the extra. We arrived a day early and stayed in the 90's which was way too far from the food court, I'm glad we were only there one night. We were close to the computer pool that night which was great. I have stayed in very upscale hotels before (not at disney) and you can hear noise when it's quiet. Hotels are not apartment buildings they don't have sound barriers and you have to hope that people are respectful of others. Don't worry about noise, you'll be so tired at night you'll sleep through anything. Everyone is there to have fun we didn't run into any real noise at night at all, most people are out quite late and crash as soon as they get in same as we did. Have a great time. You'll love it.

 

[pjathome]

yes it was.

 

[nowellsl]

We've stayed in the 50's section several times, the most recent being Dec. 04. It is not a preferred building - unless that's changed recently. The section we stayed in was closer to the food court than the preferred building!

 

[Zandy595]

We were there in April and the 60's were the only preferred buildings.

We have stayed in the 70's Big Wheel building and it was very close to the buses and foodcourt, probably closer than some of the 60's rooms. I wouldn't pay extra, JMO. Pop Century Map

 

[Rags]

We've stayed in the 50's section several times, the most recent being Dec. 04. It is not a preferred building - unless that's changed recently. The section we stayed in was closer to the food court than the preferred building!

What section did you stay in? Can you recall you room number? We are staying a Pop Nov 27th- Dec 4th with two kids so we want to be as close as possible to the food court and busses.
Thanks

 

[pjathome]

You were lucky to be so close. I paid 90$ for the week to be in a preferred room. I thought that was very reasonable. Our first night was an extra night and we were in 90's and it was way to far for my liking but that my personal opinion. It's great you were so close without paying extra.

 

[pjathome]

There are so many buildings it's hard to describe it to you. Were were in building 4 room 4333. It was a short walk to pool, busses and food court. Next time I will specifically request a poolside room. I know they don't guarantee but I will push the issue more. I guess I'm lazy, I like to be closer to everything. (lol)

 

[matt&jakesmom]

We just got back from the POP about 3 weeks ago. We loved it. We were in the 70's building by the "big wheel". It was close to the food court,pool,and buses. We have stayed at the All Stars where we have had to "hike" to the food court.

We had a great stay and would definately stay there again!

 

[kimisabella]

I'm so glad you had such a good experience - we're going in Oct and I was also worried about quality/noise, ect.. I requested the 70's building, hope they honor my request!!

 

[Zandy595]

I'm so glad you had such a good experience - we're going in Oct and I was also worried about quality/noise, ect.. I requested the 70's building, hope they honor my request!!

Did you know there are two 70's buildings? #10 Big Wheel and #6 Mickey Phone. Just wanted to let you know, in case you have a preference.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Glad to hear you liked it! We stayed at Movies last year, going for Pop this year, and I'm getting nervous about it. We know what to expect from the value, but still......I'm hearing it's horribly crowded everywhere, etc. Have thought a couple times about just switching to Movies again, because we liked it, but DH wants to stay at Pop. This was an unexpected trip, so moving up to a moderate isn't in the budget.

 

[Rags]

Just curious.

 

[pjathome]

Its always tought to go with something you don't know. I was nervous about value as we had only stayed in moderate. I have to admit that the moderate was nice but now that I've stayed at pop I won't stay anywhere else as long as I have kids with me. Moderates are great but they lack the disney ambience. For an adult only trip I would go with CBR cause of the atmosphere but when the next time we go with be with my daughter and my son and his family so we'll stay at pop so that the little ones can experience the magic that is all around at pop. I have no idea how busy it is a Christmas time but we just got back and it was very crowded everywhere. It took a couple of days to sort out the best way to get around determine strategies for making the most of our time. My daughter is 10 so she was full of energy. If I was going again soon I would call disney and ask them to mail me the little park booklets so I could go through them and determine what we wanted to see and determine the best way to get around the parks and utilize the fast pass. If you don't plan you won't get everything done you want to see IMO. My advice, don't change your ressie, you'll love pop. I don't see how you couldn't.

 

[GuitarInChrist04]

I stayed at POP the last trip to Disney...I'm pretty sure it was the first year it was open. I loved it...It might be my fav other than CBR, but you know! It was great...I love the food court, arcade, gift shop, etc. It was awesome! I would love to stay there again! My favorite food was the sloppy Joes. It was big and filling! ...my kinda food. The pool was great...and the room too. I love the lobby, because when you are there waiting for the keys to the room, there are some great memorabilia things from the diff times/years...including a Mickey Mouse phone. My favorite memory from the hotel is that infront of the building, they have really big years, and my mom bro and me took pics of us standing in the year/decade in which we were born in. I can't wait to stay there again!

Andrew

 

[drp4video]

I have stayed at POP four times. The first time I stayed in the preferred building, 60's (50's are not preferred), and the other times I stayed in the 70's building. Some of the 70's rooms are closer than the 60's to the food court (I rent a car, but some70's can be closer to buses as well).

In the 60's building, I was there right after POP opened, in December for Christmas, and I faced the pool on the 4th floor. I did not find it noisy. In the 70's building I have faced the fooseball players in the center between the two players, and I have faced the lake. Either is fine. I was on the 4th floor all times as I don't like to hear people walking around above me at night. Toilets are a little noisy, and you can hear neighbors door when it shuts, but POP is awesome, and I plan to stay there again this Christmas.

Oh, and the 60's are far from the parking lot. Parking can be a problem at pop. The first year I was there, it was hard to find a spot, and we had to walk quit a way. I finally got fed up and left the rental car by the curb. Then I got smart, and just parked in the check in lot, which seems to be the biggest lot. I don't know why they made that lot so big, but if you park there, you can cut through the food court. Much shorter.

 

[monte]

My adult niece and I are going in Jan. and we will be relying on Disney transportation. We are not staying in a preferred building and I was wondering if it's a long walk to the food court, buses, etc..? Thanks for your input.