foxfire
<font color=00cc00>I wonder what rock I've been hi
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,657
Here's a mini (??) report of our trip last week and if I there are any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them.
Last trip we stayed at WL & spent little time at the resort since we were in the parks most of the time. This time, we decided to give POP a try and see how things went. Well, they went GREAT!
I wasn't sure how we'd like staying there but things went so well, we'd not hesitate to stay there again. We arrived last Sunday morning and were in the check in line at 8:15. With 5 people in front of us, it was only 7 minutes until we were at the front desk. I had made only one request when I made our reservations & that was for a nonsmoking room. At check in I did tell the CM that we are light sleepers and if he could give us a top floor room in a quiet location, we would really appreciate it. He said no problem and found one for us although the room was not ready. We weren't expecting it to be that early so we had already planned to head to Epcot as soon as we were through with the paperwork....which took about 10 minutes. It would probably have been less than that but the CM was a trainee and had to ask his supervisor a couple of questions. Still, we had a very fast, easy check in and were out the door to catch a bus shortly after 8:30.
As were were walking to the Epcot queue a bus pulled up so we walked right on. We were in the park 5 minutes after the 9:00 opening. The longest we waited for a bus all week was 30 minutes Monday night after MK closing and everyone knows what a multitude of people are at the bus stops then. One bus was loading when we got there. After a while another bus came and shortly after that, another one pulled up and the two loaded at the same time. The rest of the week, we had 5-10 minute waits at the resort or we walked right on as a bus was pulling up. Two nights after closing time at Epcot, we waited about 30-45 minutes for the mass exodus to thin before walking to the bus stops and both times there was a bus waiting. One time the bus left with only 8 people aboard, the other about 15. No long waits at either the Studios or AK after closing. The POP bus service gets kudos from us!
Our second night back to the room, we had a towel snowman in the window. Along with the tip, I left a note the next morning telling Lucienne (our Mousekeeper) how much we liked it and the next night we had a little rabbit and another towel creation that I still haven't figured out what it is...but it's cute even if it is a mystery.
When we were checking out of our room Saturday morning, I saw a Mousekeeper two doors down and I went and asked her if she was Lucienne. She said she was so I told her again how much we had enjoyed the towel animals. She smiled and seemed really happy that I had told her. She said to wait a minute and began looking in her cart. She pulled out a duck and a bird and told me to take those, too. I replied that we were checking out and she said take these with you. I said you mean we can keep them? She said oh yes, they are for you to take home. Well, we had already taken the stickers off the other 3 animals but we went back in and got them after she said that. It had never even entered my mind that we could keep them but she insisted they were meant to be taken. 
Back to our room (1410)....we were in the 50's building that has Lady out front...a very short walk to Classic Hall. We were on the side facing the bowling pin pool but on the far end from it. We were near the end of the building and it was very quiet. You couldn't hear any noise from the pool with the door closed. I only heard the toilets flush when I was in the bathroom or dressing area. Never heard any noise at night from neighbors. Never saw any people on our corridor at all and the only way I know anyone was staying there was the towel animals I saw in the windows. We do carry a room air cleaner with us when we travel and it makes great white noise. We slept soundly every night and were never disturbed at all.
We only ate in the food court twice...mostly just for a snack and we had no long waits in line for food or at the register.
The gift shop had a nice selection of items; however, the lines at the register were usually fairly long. At the back register at night one of the cashiers was almost always busy trying to help people who were there to pick up purchases they had shipped back to the resort. If you wanted to buy something, you had to be willling to stand in line for a bit.
On check out morning, I went down to luggage assistance for a hand cart. It was very busy then....about midmorning. It took about 15-20 minutes from the time I got in line until I got a cart. We pulled our car into the luggage drop off area, loaded up, and returned the cart within 30 minutes. All CM's there were very nice as were all we encountered everywhere at POP. As I said in the beginning, I wasn't sure what to expect after being at WL last trip but our experience at POP was a very positive one and we would not hesitate to stay there again. We were at the parks from opening until closing each day so all we needed was a clean, quiet room and POP fit those needs very well for us.
Last trip we stayed at WL & spent little time at the resort since we were in the parks most of the time. This time, we decided to give POP a try and see how things went. Well, they went GREAT!
I wasn't sure how we'd like staying there but things went so well, we'd not hesitate to stay there again. We arrived last Sunday morning and were in the check in line at 8:15. With 5 people in front of us, it was only 7 minutes until we were at the front desk. I had made only one request when I made our reservations & that was for a nonsmoking room. At check in I did tell the CM that we are light sleepers and if he could give us a top floor room in a quiet location, we would really appreciate it. He said no problem and found one for us although the room was not ready. We weren't expecting it to be that early so we had already planned to head to Epcot as soon as we were through with the paperwork....which took about 10 minutes. It would probably have been less than that but the CM was a trainee and had to ask his supervisor a couple of questions. Still, we had a very fast, easy check in and were out the door to catch a bus shortly after 8:30.
As were were walking to the Epcot queue a bus pulled up so we walked right on. We were in the park 5 minutes after the 9:00 opening. The longest we waited for a bus all week was 30 minutes Monday night after MK closing and everyone knows what a multitude of people are at the bus stops then. One bus was loading when we got there. After a while another bus came and shortly after that, another one pulled up and the two loaded at the same time. The rest of the week, we had 5-10 minute waits at the resort or we walked right on as a bus was pulling up. Two nights after closing time at Epcot, we waited about 30-45 minutes for the mass exodus to thin before walking to the bus stops and both times there was a bus waiting. One time the bus left with only 8 people aboard, the other about 15. No long waits at either the Studios or AK after closing. The POP bus service gets kudos from us!
Our second night back to the room, we had a towel snowman in the window. Along with the tip, I left a note the next morning telling Lucienne (our Mousekeeper) how much we liked it and the next night we had a little rabbit and another towel creation that I still haven't figured out what it is...but it's cute even if it is a mystery.
When we were checking out of our room Saturday morning, I saw a Mousekeeper two doors down and I went and asked her if she was Lucienne. She said she was so I told her again how much we had enjoyed the towel animals. She smiled and seemed really happy that I had told her. She said to wait a minute and began looking in her cart. She pulled out a duck and a bird and told me to take those, too. I replied that we were checking out and she said take these with you. I said you mean we can keep them? She said oh yes, they are for you to take home. Well, we had already taken the stickers off the other 3 animals but we went back in and got them after she said that. It had never even entered my mind that we could keep them but she insisted they were meant to be taken. Back to our room (1410)....we were in the 50's building that has Lady out front...a very short walk to Classic Hall. We were on the side facing the bowling pin pool but on the far end from it. We were near the end of the building and it was very quiet. You couldn't hear any noise from the pool with the door closed. I only heard the toilets flush when I was in the bathroom or dressing area. Never heard any noise at night from neighbors. Never saw any people on our corridor at all and the only way I know anyone was staying there was the towel animals I saw in the windows. We do carry a room air cleaner with us when we travel and it makes great white noise. We slept soundly every night and were never disturbed at all.
We only ate in the food court twice...mostly just for a snack and we had no long waits in line for food or at the register.
The gift shop had a nice selection of items; however, the lines at the register were usually fairly long. At the back register at night one of the cashiers was almost always busy trying to help people who were there to pick up purchases they had shipped back to the resort. If you wanted to buy something, you had to be willling to stand in line for a bit.
On check out morning, I went down to luggage assistance for a hand cart. It was very busy then....about midmorning. It took about 15-20 minutes from the time I got in line until I got a cart. We pulled our car into the luggage drop off area, loaded up, and returned the cart within 30 minutes. All CM's there were very nice as were all we encountered everywhere at POP. As I said in the beginning, I wasn't sure what to expect after being at WL last trip but our experience at POP was a very positive one and we would not hesitate to stay there again. We were at the parks from opening until closing each day so all we needed was a clean, quiet room and POP fit those needs very well for us.
).
I'm glad the weather worked in your favor for getting on rides quickly...that's great! 
I peeked out the window several times when those loud thunderboomers started. Some of them sounded very close by! 
She kept insisting I take them with me which took me completely by surprise...but what a nice surprise! 
