Mom worried about Pop - never stayed in value before

[lecach]

My Mom and I are headed to the world for my 35th birthday. We have always stayed at POFQ but it wont be reopened when we go (March 10-15). Since we havent stayed at a Value resort before I made ressies at Pop Century. She saw the pictures of it and is really worried about it. Several reviews mentioned thin walls. She said she'd stay there as long as I agreed to move to a moderate if we didnt like it the first night. Does anyone have any advice to make her feel better about the situation? We dont really love any of the other moderate resorts. I guess POR would be our first choice. Since she is insisting on paying since its my birthday I am trying to save some money. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[tcfdick]

Hi,
I haven't stayed at Pop yet (going in June! YEAH!!!), but I have stayed at the All-Stars. I've always loved staying there because it's so much fun! Pop Century looks like it will be just as much fun, if not more! I have a family of four (me, dh, dd, and ds). We are an 'early to bed, early to rise' type people and don't like noise after 10:30 or 11:00 pm, so I always ask for a quiet room. This means, I don't ask for a courtyard or pool view and I ask for a top floor (4th floor at Pop). I take a small fan with us to help drown out noise and it always works. I have been able to hear toilets flush and the water flow from showers, but that is generally in the morning and I am already awake. It has never woken up me or anyone in my family in the middle of the night, so it's not as bad as it sounds. If you sleep in late, it might be an issue, but we like to be in the parks early so we can take advantage of being able to walk on rides without a fastpass and then use fastpasses for rides we want to ride again.

Everyone who has reviewed this resort has commented on staying in the 50's or 70's building to be close to the food court/busses.

That said, I absolutely LOVE staying at the value resorts because I am in Disney!!!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by lecach
My Mom and I are headed to the world for my 35th birthday. We have always stayed at POFQ but it wont be reopened when we go (March 10-15). Since we havent stayed at a Value resort before I made ressies at Pop Century. She saw the pictures of it and is really worried about it. Several reviews mentioned thin walls. She said she'd stay there as long as I agreed to move to a moderate if we didnt like it the first night. Does anyone have any advice to make her feel better about the situation? We dont really love any of the other moderate resorts. I guess POR would be our first choice. Since she is insisting on paying since its my birthday I am trying to save some money. Any advice is appreciated.

As far as the "thin walls" go even the deluxes have them. We just came back from the AKL and we could hear things from other peoples rooms. I do not think I have been in any resort/hotel where I did not hear anything from another room.

I took a look at the POP the other night and the buildings for the 1960s hurt my eyes to look at them. The colors were overwhelming.

Make sure your mother is aware of the differences in services provided between the moderates and the values and that the color scheme at the POP is a little more intense then the moderates so that she knows what to expect.

 

[sue1013]

If Mom has seen pictures and doesn't like the looks then why stay there? You mention saving money and Mom is paying, then stay where she is comfortable. I think its more of a waste to have her pay to stay somewhere she doesn't like.

 

[DMRick]

when you check in, request a room without a connecting door. That really will cut down on noise. We prefer non pool facing rooms..also quieter. As adults, we enoyed POP (I thinkt he way the buildings are set up, they are quieter. If we had grands, we would prob go back to one of the All Stars. We happen to prefer POR, ourselves.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I agree with above post. If Mom is paying and doesn't like the looks of Pop before you've even arrived, I would reconsider.

Don't forget about Deluxe options that can often be had at a Moderate price--Wilderness Lodge, AKL, Swan/Dolphin

I would check mousesavers.com codes available for your time, call CRO, and price out EVERY option. Then pass that info along to Mom and let HER decide.

And tell Mom my birthday is next week

 

[Jaklackus]

DH was never a big vacation person before I met him, stayed at cheap hotels and motels for work so I did not expect that his expectations would be very high....while we were still engaged we decided to spend a couple nights on property while visiting my mom who lives in FL( I had stayed at Asmu a few years prior and thought that it was fine for less than $100 a night)..from the get go DH hated the look of the All Stars based on the pictures alone...started tearing the resort (ASSp)apart the second he stepped foot on property...ruined the whole time we spent on property..and it didn't help that he found a toenail in the bathroom either...ewww!!!! It would have been much better to spend the extra $50 a night on a moderate...instead he walked on property with an attitude and he wanted to find fault and he did(unfortunately mousekeeping didn't do a great job before we got the room) and we fought the whole time we were there...so much for getting away from my mom to destress!
...Of course we stayed at the GF for our wedding/honeymoon and all was wonderful..DH is of the mindset that if he can afford it he will spend the money..no need to scrimp on vacation. Your mom sounds like she already doesn't like the idea of a value resort and is willing to pay for a moderate...take the time now to find a discount or promo rate instead of paying rack rate at the last minute...mom will be more relaxed..let me tell you from experience...you cannot argue with parents and grandparents who WANT to spend the money on you..it's a losing battle...if she saves the money on the accomodations she'll spend it on you some other way...or like my grandma and grandpa used to do ...sneak cash into my pocketbook or coat pocket when I wasn't looking ....treat mom to a nice meal or a nice souvenir that she wouldn't buy for herself as a thank you.

 

[goofy4tink]

I stayed at AllStarMu last Dec and found it to be fine. Also stayed at POR twice before that. Your mom may not find the values to her liking. May I suggest that you try POR? The theming is beautiful and very peaceful. Stay in the mansion section as it is more formal. If your mom is paying and doesn't mind the extra expense, I would go with POR. If you decide to stay with a value, then you might want to try AllStarMu and get the third floor (top) on the backside of the building. I found it to be very quiet there. AllSTarMu doesn't seem as visually 'loud' as the other value resorts. Have fun planning. Aren't you a lucky girl to have such a generous mom!!!

 

[AdventurerKat]

If your mom doesn't like the looks of Pop, I would definately pick somewhere else. Check Mousesavers.com for codes and see what you can get. There are three moderates right now, Riverside, Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs. Have her see which one she likes best and try for that.

 

[mom2brm]

Don't worry!
We've just returned from Pop - and for us, this too was our first stay at a value...(last visit was a 4-night stay at the AKL).
We had a fabulous stay - no complaints whatsovever (and from me, believe me, this is a big thing!). One particularly great thing about our stay was our room location (70's area - in building 6 - (room 6250 and 6251 to be precise!) facing Hourglass Lake) - a quiet and pretty location.
Next best thing...the BUSES!!! Amazing, amazing bus service. NEVER waited more than 5 minutes for a bus going TO the resort from any of the parks. And the buses were never stuffed.
Finally....the resort was clean, staff friendly, and...best of all...the luggage assistance team (Tyler included!) were punctual and thorough (they even OFFERRED to plug in my cooler while my bags were in the storage area!).
We hardly spent time at the resort - woke up at 7 and out the door by 8. Returned to the room usually by 8pm - so for us, and for this type of visit (with kids etc.) Pop fit the bill.
My only "not real complaint" was that the theming wasn't necessarily my cup of tea (not Disney-esque, not tropical etc...) but it was cute and well done.

 

[lecach]

I just called to see what would be available in a moderate during our stay and they said there was nothing - I dont know if she meant discounted rooms were not available or NOTHING was available but I guess its a moot point. Now we're worried that everything is going to be too crowded in the parks.

Thanks everyone for your posts - they made mom feel a lot better. She said she just wants me to have a wonderful time-she doesnt have anything personal against the Pop. I had a miscarriage in December and she just keeps going out of her way to may me feel good. I told her that I am FINE with Pop. I AM a very lucky soon-to-be-35-year-old girl!

 

[Sammie]

That is Spring Break time so yes I would not be surprised if the moderates and value resorts are selling out. Bookings are definitely up from last year.

 

[GoingtoWDWagain]

Hi lecach, keep calling, keep calling and keep calling, for a reservation. In case your calling the 407 area code here is the toll free number 1-800-828-0228. People that don't keep their reservations get cancelled out and make availabilty possible early in the morning. So, call first thing in the morning and keep trying. How about Caribbean Beach Resort? I've stayed there several times and loved it, it's my second favorite resort (POLY first). I've never stayed at POFQ, but if your concerned about Pop then maybe it would be best to stick with a moderate resort. CS is also a beautiful resort, but I personally did not like or enjoy the food court or bus service, the grounds were beautiful and very well kept and service was great.

Also, sometimes Expedia.com has availabilty for certain rooms/resorts.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and have a wonderful birthday!

 

[honeymom]

I have a trip planned during spring break and wanted to upgrade from moderate to WL. I kept calling and checking internet. They would tell me that nothing was available. However, they were referring to the code rate. There were rack rate rooms available when I asked. I did not want to pay so much for the entire stay. I did a night by night search on the computer and discovered that there were only a couple of problem nights. So I broke up the reservation into 2 reservations - have 5 nights with the discount and 2 at rack rate. And, I keep trying for the discount on those 2 nights.

First thing in the morning, there is sometimes more availability. For example, yesterday morning I could have gotten the Polynesian, Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge. For moderates, CBR was available. This morning, only AKL. Try in the afternoon, too. That's when I got availability for the 5 nights at WL. Anyway, the good news is that there seems to be movement. You just have to hang in there.

Can you swing the cost for the AKL? There has been availability there nearly every morning. I was doing a lot at the MK so I didn't want to be so far, but it seems like a really nice hotel.

 

[lecach]

I just called - POR is available. All they had was a king bed non-designated view. It will cost $307 more for the 5 days. I put it on hold but we still havent made a decision.

What should we do? We're not bothered by the king bed. We've always thought POR was really spread out - we dont want to walk too far to the bus or the food court. Since we are checking in on a Wednesday will we have better luck getting a good location than if we got there on a Saturday. And if this was all that was available is the resort going to be really busy?

 

[honeymom]

Pop Century isn't supposed to be too spread out whereas POR is.
If that's what bothers you, perhaps you should stay at Pop Century. Otherwise, keep trying. Maybe you can get a preferred room at CBR. Then you wouldn't be too far from anything.

 

[BrerRabbit_fan]

We stayed in 70s B and heard lots of noise. We were on the second floor facing the courtyard right by the foosball. Big mistake, I am a very light sleeper.

We had a fabulous time though and I loved the resort.

 

[ChairborneRangr]

We were at ASMo last June. We stayed in the Love Bug bldgs. Most activity and noise is biased towards the courtyard and near the stairs/elevator. When you are in an end room (only one neighbor) it is actually quiet almost all of the time.

If noise is an issue get a room that is:
1) away from the pools
2) away from the playgrounds
3) not on a direct path to everything POP and the bus stops
4) If you get the rooms where the XX are on the outline below, you will be furthest from the courtyards and have no traffic around your room. Getting one with an Hour-Glass Lake view would be great! (I had to use dots as place holders.)

TTTTTTTTTT..........TTTTTTTTTT
TTTTTTTTTT..........TTTTTTTTTT
TTTTTTTTTT..........TTTTTTTTTT
.................TTTTTTT
.................TTTTTTT
.................TTTTTTT
.................TTTTTTT
.................TTTTTTT
.................XXTTTXX

I would look for a room in the 70's bldg (no pool) on the Lake side, 4th floor. Book your PC right away, and continue to watch for CBR or one of the other moderates.