Need opinions on Pop Century & January

[caroline1851]

I've only stayed at CSR and All Star Sports. Loved CSR, disliked Sports because of run down rooms, bad food options, too loud pool.

How is Pop Century? Looking for all the good and bad? Most concerned about transportation and the pool.

We're thinking about going 1/15-1/19 or 1/21-1/25. Seems like a pretty "slow" time for Disney, right?

 

[Viking7641]

I thought it was fine, but my standards may not be the highest (I spend very little time in hotel rooms on trips and am more than fine in a small space if its clean.)

I was in the 70s section of Pop, building 6. It was a 2 minute walk to the food court and lobby. Buses right outside, or Uber / Lyft goes right to the main entrance.

I rarely waited long for buses. 10 minutes tops. They got crowded at peak times, but that can happen anywhere.

The room itself was fine. I found the bed comfortable (more so than at home!), the shower worked and was hot. And it was clean. The only negative was the elevator area was a bit worn down.

I can't speak much for the decor it was basic and not my taste. But for the price it was what I expected.

The pool? Very quick walk. Take it with a grain of salt that I generally dont care for Disney pools, too shallow and loud (makes sense though). The main pool is right at the food court, is shaped like a flower, and has a bar, lots of chairs, and a few nights they were showing movies which looked fun.

The other guests were a diverse mix. Families, middle-aged couples, younger people, teen groups.

 

[HopperFan]

I've only stayed at CSR and All Star Sports. Loved CSR, disliked Sports because of run down rooms, bad food options, too loud pool.

How is Pop Century? Looking for all the good and bad? Most concerned about transportation and the pool.

We're thinking about going 1/15-1/19 or 1/21-1/25. Seems like a pretty "slow" time for Disney, right?

Used to be one of my times to stay there .............. but after years of nightmare stays with the 1000+ BTG kids.... I moved offsite last couple years.

Pool = human soup and unusable, plus chanting and singing.
Food Court = chaos and dirty from BTG who do not put their stuff in trash.
Bus = when BTG fill up a couple in a row ... we had to drive to parks.
Sleep = what sleep?

On the plus side their economy is bad and hoping is cuts the numbers closer to 500 instead of the 1000 plus.

Compared to sports ............. main pool is smaller but you have two quiet pools, rooms at POP are beginning full refurb supposedly this month so probably more run down than Sports (I just got back from a very nice room in Sports) and Sports food court only a couple years old - don't know that POP ever been renovated, but AoA is nice across the bridge.

PS. POP still my favorite value for layout, landscape, lake etc but at point I'd rather save $20+ dollars and stay at Sports because I don't stay around resort enough anymore. I am booked for two upcoming trips, one in each.

 

[Viking7641]

Eh. Probably get flamed into oblivion but I've seen and experienced plenty of awful behavior from white Americans and British tourists in WDW and elsewhere. (yes the "entitled" word). New York City stands out. I prefer the chanting at footie games to screeching groups of Iowa cheerleaders who haven't been out of the suburbs before so have no knowledge of how to walk on sidewalks or on buses. When your spoiled child who has their own wing of your mcmansion is throwing a fit in World of Disney because you won't buy him $500 of merch *yet*...........................thats my definition of entitled.

But it doesn't fit into stereotypes about out of control Latinos so....................

 

[china mom]

Pop is our preferred resort. (Well, I would prefer the queen beds and extra square footage of moderates but it is my families first choice).

We are not in the room enough to worry about the theming but if I had to say, I was call it bland. But, it is clean. The pool area always seems to have enough chairs. The pool bar is small but nice enough. I love that we can walk to AoA for a change when we want something else to eat.

I like one bus stop because you don't end up in a situation where multiple full busses drive by, having picked up at earlier stops. Also, you don't have the dance at the end of the night where people have to shuffle to get off at earlier stops.

Keep in mind that, like the All Stars, it is more basic and the rooms/beds smaller than the moderates.

 

[DDM525]

I loved the POP. We have stayed in the 50s and 60s sections. Loved the 50s area, close to the lobby and food court. Pool was quieter than the 60s pool and not crowded. The food court seems to have better options then the all stars, plus you can go to the AOA food court if you want different options.

 

[WDWNY]

Went those dates last year, absolutely loved it. The crowds were significantly smaller than when we usually go Presidents week or in the summer. I will say though, it was the coldest time I've been. Still much warmer than it was in NY so I couldn't complain.

 

[Clarissa McDaniel]

I like Pop Century but transportation can be a source of frustration.

 

[ols386]

Never had a problem with transportation at Pop. Food court was decent. Room was clean and bed was very comfy. Pool was good.

 

[Cinderella94]

We stayed at POP for our first couple of trips, back when POP was brand new. We loved it. Having said that, once we first stayed at Caribbean Beach, we never wanted to go back to POP. Since you say you love CSR, I don't know if stepping "down" to stay at POP would be disappointing by comparison.

 

[fla4fun]

We stayed at POP for our first couple of trips, back when POP was brand new. We loved it. Having said that, once we first stayed at Caribbean Beach, we never wanted to go back to POP. Since you say you love CSR, I don't know if stepping "down" to stay at POP would be disappointing by comparison.

It's all about keeping your expectations realistic. I stayed at YC in September, and love deluxe. I am staying at POP in December so I can afford to spoil my sister at BWV for her first Disney marathon weekend. I also have a vacation booked for next year at POFQ. Every level of Disney resort has it's good points and it's bad points. So long as you've done your research and know what each resort has to offer, you can have a great trip. I pick my resort based on how much I can afford for a particular trip, what activities I have planned (park time vs. resort time) and location (if I'm spending time at Epcot for F&W, it makes more sense to stay at an Epcot resort).

You can have run down rooms at any level. It's always a good ides to keep up with which resorts have just completed renovations, and which ones have upcoming renovations scheduled. This isn't always a guarantee though. My room at YC (which was going down for refurb) wasn't in bad shape at all. I just read a post this week where someone stayed in a resort that had just done a refurb, but the mattresses weren't part of the refurb and were in bad shape. If you aren't happy with your room, your best bet is to go to the desk to switch.

Noise can also be a problem at any resort level. The worst noise issues I've ever had were both at CR, and it was adults not teens or kids. One group was rather intoxicated, roaming the halls in the middle of the night and yelling down the halls to each other to the point a white noise machine couldn't drown out the noise. It's really luck of the draw, since you never know who your neighbors will be.

 

[maxiesmom]

My one complaint with Pop is that at the parks, Pop's bus stop is always one of the farthest, if not THE farthest away from the gate. It became a joke between my nephew and I (we were on vacation together) to look for the bus stop the farthest away, and it would be ours! Going from CSR which has great bus stop locations to Pop is quite a downgrade.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We stayed at Pop in January and for our February trip we chose Pop again. Had a very quiet room facing the lake and hope to have another quiet room in February!

 

[JennyDrake]

Completely agree with fl4fun! Run down rooms and cruddy transportation can happen at ANY resort! In fact, my WORST hotel experiences with noise and lack of food options were at Kidani (2x) and AKL. (At Kidani, we could hear the dude next door unzip his fly in the bathroom....)

At Pop I always request lake view, top floor. I'm just back from Pop and everything was fine. The food court is ALWAYS going to be LOUD and chaotic.....January is too cold for ME to swim, but I have Thin Southern Blood!