Lucky Bunny goes to WDW with photos!

Review of POP Century
Overall, POP Century is a great resort for the dollar. Through a AAA membership, I was able to get a standard room, taxes included, for $70/night.

Guest Services honored my request for a non-smoking room. They also worked with me to get a standard room close to the main paths. A single gal can never be too careful! :goodvibes

Positives:
(1) Room was available when I checked in (10 am)
(2) For a standard room, the walk to Guest Services, the main pool, food court, etc, was reasonable.
(3) $70/night!
(4) Great Theming - I loved the theme! I could see how children would love staying here. Visually, it is a lot of fun. It may not be plush or fancy like a deluxe, but it sure is fun

Negatives:
(1) No soap in the room! :rotfl2:
(2) Turbo Toilets - the toilets were loud and had enough water pressure to wash small children down! :scared1:
(3) Thin walls - this didn't bother me too much, but my neighbors did wake me up when they came home at 2 am. You can definitely hear a lot of outside noise in the room.

Final thoughts - I could see staying here in the future for a night or two. I don't think I would be willing to commit to a full week at this hotel. The price was great, the theme fun, and it was comfortable for 1 person.

Dining Review
I have started my Dining Review. Here's the link!
Lucky Bunny Eats the World
 
Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

Lovely piccies :goodvibes
 
Thumper's Tara said:
I slowly opened the connecting door. I peeked in the room. :woohoo: Empty. I run, naked (all of you who are shaking your head at me - where's your sense of adventure?), into the room and steal the soap. I streaked back into my room, locked the connecting door and hit the shower!

So, if you were in the 50's section of POP Century on the night of January 21st and had no soap - sorry that was me :rolleyes1

up next...my private limo to MK...


:rotfl2: ..great report!
 

Really enjoying your report! Thanks for posting.
 
Fifteen minutes prior to the alarm clock going off, I was wide-awake. I jumped out of bed, made myself beautiful and packed my bags. Promptly at 7, the baggage handler arrived for my bag transfer to Saratoga Springs. As I was traveling with my work laptop, I was a bit nervous about transferring my bags. After wringing a promise from the CM that they would not lose my bags, I handed over my bags.

The bags on their way, I ate my leftovers, grabbed my backpack and headed out. I popped into Everything POP to pick up some pop. :lmao:

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Last year, my family had visited Animal Kingdom on our last day. We were so exhausted (I was a bit of a commando :hyper: ) that we didn’t really enjoy the park to its fullest. We missed several major areas. With this in mind, I planned AK as my first full day in the parks.

As I approached the bus stop, the AK bus drove by. Ack! For those not familiar with POP’s bus stop area, it is goes on for miles. Well, maybe not miles, but a very long way. The bus could have easily left before I was able to walk there. I took off running – I was not going to miss this bus. I did enough of that in HS! No worries though, the bus driver waited a few minutes. I was able to catch my breath as we waited for some other not-so-devoted people. So far, my luck with Disney buses had been great! From this point forward, this would change…

We arrived to AK fairly quickly. I hopped off the bus and headed in. It was only 8:30, so I had a few minutes to wait. While I was waiting, I snapped a few pictures…

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…and watched a talking palm tree. Mr. Palm tree was pretty cool. His planter was on wheels, so he could follow guests around while talking to them. My favorite was when a pretty girl walked by with a bottle of water…he followed her, flirting, and trying to get some water. It was hilarious!

A few minutes before 9, they opened the gates and allowed the herd (mooooo) to move into the Oasis area. Here is a picture to give you an idea what the herd was like…

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Around 9, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto drove up for the opening show.

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After the show, I followed the herd (mooo) that was following the characters. We all headed into Africa. Once in Africa though, I listened to Tour Guide Mike and stopped following the herd! I grabbed some fast passes (FP) to the Safari and then headed over to Dinoland U.S.A.
 
Last year, my family totally missed Dinoland. This was another first for me. I started off on Primeval Whirl. Or should I say Primeval Hurl? I do NOT recommend riding this ride immediately after drinking a 20 oz. Coke. Insert Smile. Here are some photos from my trip back in time…

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After this point, I had to hang on for dear life!!!

On the way out, I noticed some hitch-hikers...
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After the Hurl, I headed over to Dinosaur. Wow. That is a pretty cool ride! After that, I wandered aimlessly about Dinoland. I met some cool Dinos along the way…

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All dino-ed out, it was off to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. The path to the show is amazing…a little part of me thinks it is even better than the show!

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On the exit path, there is another cool picture spot…

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After my buggy adventure, it was off to Asia. The detail around Asia is amazing. It makes me want to visit the real Asia…maybe after my next Disney trip. ;)

A picture of Mt. Everest on the way into Asia…
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…more detail on the way into Asia…
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…and finally, some really cool statues in the queue for Kali River Rapids…
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That’s right! I said Kali River Rapids. Even though it was January, it was warm enough to ride. Totally tubular, dude! Another first for me – last year it was too cold to ride. I was actually HOT as I got into line. Actually, there was no line. While we are speaking of lines, I must have Trustworthy Line Tester tattooed on my forehead. Almost every time I got in line, I was handed the little card. You know the little card – the one that measures wait times. I had already “carded” Dinosaur and here I was carding Kali. Being the data person I am, I would love to see the data Disney has on all of its parks. They measure everything…hmmm, I wonder if they need any Black Belts…

Kali River Rapids was neat. I was seated with two families of four. On the way around, I ended up selling DVC to one of the families. When we arrived back at base, the CM offered us another river trip. Not one to turn down a free trip, I accepted. One family left, but one stayed. I strategically switched seats to be directly opposite of the family (Thanks Tour Guide Mike) – while I didn’t mind getting wet, I just didn’t want to get soaked! The other family got soaked :maleficen Was that evil of me?
 
After my second rapid adventure, I witnessed a touching Disney family moment…

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At this point, it was time for my Safari FP. I was carded again on my way in. I was very glad to have FPed this ride. The wait was already 40 minutes! With my FP, I was on board in about 5. Luckily, I got the front row for my two-week safari.

Unfortunately, we ran into some poachers on our trip. Poor Big Red and Little Red. The good news is, I did manage to see some cool animals on our trip. I even managed to get a picture of the baby elephant, Nadirah. Nadirah was born on 12/19/05. Compared to the other elephants, even the other babies, Nadirah was tiny! Here she is…

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Isn't she tiny? And this is a picture of Nadirah’s mom, Donna. At least, I think this is her mommy…

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Here is another picture of another baby elephant and his mommy...
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After saving Little Red, my safari ended. I was wandering around Africa when I noticed a sign for a series of mini-classes. The mini-classes are located in the little bench area next to the entrance for Safari. At 12ish, a class on animals was scheduled.

While waiting for the class on animals, I managed to catch the end of the African Culture and Travel class. The speaker was wonderful. If you are in Africa for this class, I definitely recommend it. I only wish I had caught it from the beginning.

Unfortunately, the animal class wasn’t as good. The animal instructors were nice, but only gave a brief speech. As I had taken Backstage Safari last year, I had already heard most of what they shared. I think that they were hoping for more class participation; unfortunately, we were not a vocal bunch. I did learn some interesting stuff about giraffe pregnancies though.

It was about 12:30 when class finished and it was getting crowded. The CM preview for Everest was happening and it really affected the crowd levels. At this point, I decided I had had enough fun with animals…I meandered my way to the bus stop and waited patiently for a bus to SSR. And waited. And waited. Then I became not so patient. I asked another bus driver when a bus was coming. He said one would be here soon. After about 30 minutes, a bus to SSR showed up. I hopped on board and headed to SSR to check in…

Up next Go Steelers Go!
 
As the bus headed into SSR, I was amazed at how big the resort is. It is gigantic. At the first bus stop, I asked the driver where I needed to get off for check-in. He kindly told me the 4th stop. When we arrived, he gave me directions to check-in and sped along his merry way.

I walked up the path towards check-in when I saw a sight that put fear in my heart. What you ask? It was a Magical Express bus pulling in. I immediately picked up my pace. I managed to speed walk my way in front of the hoards getting off the bus. It wasn’t really a hoard, but the story tells better that way. About 20 people got off the bus.

At the check-in line, two guests were waiting in line and I happily became the third. As I waited, the line behind me slowly grew as the ME people joined the line. Power walking is a good thing. While the line did not move quickly, it wasn’t horribly slow either. I think that I waited 10 minutes or so.

The CM handling my check-in was great. I wish I remembered her name. She handled my request for a room near a bus stop/food court very well. She pulled out a map and showed me general areas where rooms would be available. Within minutes, she had a room for me across the street from the pool and right next to the bus stop.

Normally, I am not the type to be picky about my room assignment, but I was traveling alone. In my heart of hearts, I know that Disney is a safe place, but I also don’t like to borrow trouble. This was the main reason I had her go to such lengths. That being said, it was nice to be so close to Artist Pallet. BUT, I am glad that I asked for the room. I would have been very uncomfortable walking long distances by myself late at night. Okay. Justification over.

During some point of the day, I remembered that I had forgotten my suit on the back of the bathroom door in my POP room. Awesome CM lady happily took care of it for me. She took a description of the swimsuit and promised to call POP and see if they found it. Happy days! The thought of buying a new swimsuit had me shaking with terror …especially at Disney!

Unfortunately, my specially requested room wasn’t available yet, so I had some time to kill. As I started my time-killing wanderings, I noticed a nice looking CM at the DVC desk. This trip’s purpose was to research DVC. I had time to kill. Perfect. I could kill two birds with one stone.

Soon, I was in deep conversation with the CM (again, I didn’t not her name, oops). I explained that I had done a TON of research about DVC. I also explained that I knew that I was interested in buying, but I was trying to figure out where. I was in love with BWV and wanted to see if SSR measured up. We talked a bit more, she tested my knowledge (in a good way), and I asked if I could go on a tour.

“When would you like to go on the tour?” she asked.
“Umm, now.” I replied.

Looking a bit amazed, she said no problem. She typed my information in the computer, called over to the DVC desk, and then said something really great…she said that I could get a $50 gift card for touring today. Really? Yup, yup, uh huh! Talk about your magic – I was going to get a $50 gift card for doing something that I had planned on doing all along. Bonus Baby!

She walked me over to the DVC desk. On the way over, we walked through the Spa. It smelled amazing. I didn’t get to stay though :guilty: . Anyway, after arriving at the desk, she turned me over to the DVC counter staff. The counter staff, in turn, turned me loose on the lemonade and cookies.

I helped myself to some lemonade and cookies and found a seat. As I was eating my cookies, I spotted this really cool table. I don’t know why I liked it so much, but I liked it so much I took a picture…

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Mark, my DVC guide, showed up a few minutes later. We found an empty room and were soon deep in conversation. The first DVC CM had filled Mark in on my needs. He still tested my knowledge a bit, but quickly realized that I knew my stuff. After the necessary financial breakdowns, we headed out for my tour.

We started with the 1-Bedroom/2nd-Bedroom lock-off. Being the total geek that I am, I took pictures on the tour. Here is a picture of the kitchen area for the 1 or 2 Bedroom…

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Here is a really bad picture of the living room…

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…the main bedroom, you can see the laundry room in the background and the shutters to the bathroom…

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Unfortunately, I felt like such a geek taking the pictures that I missed a bathroom shot for the 1 or 2 bedroom. Next up was the Grand Villa. The SSR Grand Villas are just as amazing as BWV’s. Here is the dining room…

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…and the kitchen…

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…the main bedroom’s shower and toilet…

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…the living room…

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…and the upstairs rooms…

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The tour over, I got my grubby little hands on the GC and wandered back to the main desk. My extra special room still was not ready, so I decided to go sit by the pool bar. It was now 3 pm and the Steelers/Broncos game had just started. I chilled out and enjoyed a nice cold beer while selling a DVC membership to another guest. Hmmm…shouldn’t I be getting commissions here?

When my beer was done, I got up and called the desk to see if my room was ready. Not yet! I rolled up my jeans to my knees, ordered another beer, and kept cheering for the Steelers. To be honest, I am a big Buffalo Bills fan, so I really didn’t care who won the game…but I do love football, the Steelers were kicking some serious butt, and Bettis is a good guy. It seemed like the right thing to do.

After my second beer, I called on my room again. Still not ready. Blech. It was getting a bit toasty out. When I left AK, I was hoping for a nap before my dinner PSs. Now, I was praying for enough time to freshen up. I ordered another beer and tried not to complain too much to the bartender. She was very understanding though. She was well tipped for her sympathy.

Anyway, after my 3rd beer and almost 2 hours at the pool bar, my room was finally ready. Check-in time is 4 pm and it was now 4:40. Considering I had a room request, I didn’t complain.

Up Next...Momma always said...
 
I love your trip report! I've wanted to take a solo trip, but have not had the courage. You're inspiring me! :goodvibes
 
The bad news is...I had to travel to Atlanta today, so I won't have much time to post...

The good news is....I will spending several hours on a plane, so I should be able to write some more...I will hopefully have new posts tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!
 
Mickeefan said:
I love your trip report! I've wanted to take a solo trip, but have not had the courage. You're inspiring me! :goodvibes

Thanks! I have to say that if you are going to go solo anywhere, Disney is the place to do it. It is a very safe environment with a lot of options for solo people. Also, you can be totally selfish and do exactly what you want to do...I say go for it! If you want any recommendations, just PM me!

ta ta for now,
Tara
 
thanks so much Tara.........these are some great photos and reports too.......taking the time to do this is what makes the trip reports so awesome......people like you.......thanks again
 
I am enjoying your trip report and pictures. Looking forward to the next update. :)
 
Great report! And the pictures of SSR are very nice. It looks very homey.

I did have to laugh about your black belt comment. I work in the defense business, and I know exactly what type of black belt you must be! And yeah, I'd think Disney could use someone like you!
 
Loving your report. :) Although I actually realized that for maybe the first time ever reading Trip Reports that I was sitting with my mouth hanging open at the running naked through the empty room that someone could have popped into at any second. :scared: :lmao:

Mel
 











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