Pop and ASD

[3ToDisney]

We are planning a trip mid Sept with our then 7 year old daughter who has PDD-NOS. We are still trying to decide where to stay. Really our budget says value resort, so we are considering POP. We really want a mod but I am trying to justify that extra $ and if we really need to stay at a mod. My biggest concerns are our daughter and waiting for the bus, needing downtime and pool time at the hotel. Unfortunately we can not afford a monorail resort. Is the bus transportation any better at one resort over another? POP vs other value resort vs mod resorts?

Thanks!
Linda

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILITIES!

The Value Resorts have one bus stop each. Other than at park opening or closing the buses to All-Stars tend to service all three.

The moderates, being more spread out, have several bus stops at each, so many rooms are closer to bus stops than at the values.

 

[lucigo]

We have stayed at moderates where the walk to the food court is SO far its just miserable and by the time the bus gets to the back bus stop it was full. Since my son's diagnosis we have stayed at Pop twice because HE loves it! Its big, bright, colorful, larger than life, and he has a love for numbers and letters. There were SO many opportunities for interaction and language development for us at Pop it made staying there worth every penny. After our first trip I made him his own "pop" book with pictures from the trip, PM me if you would like to see it online.

BTW for our trip last week I had originally planned for POFQ, but after seeing how much he thrived at Pop in January we just had to go back.

 

[3ToDisney]

Thank you Luci for the offer. Yes I would love to see some pictures!

Is the bus ride very long to any of the parks from POP? Did you come and go during the day from the parks to the hotel for downtime? Thanks for the info.

I tried to PM but for some reason it is not letting me.

 

[disneydeb]

we use the pop too! zach likes the fountains, and he wears the life jackets they provide in the pools, we like the flower power pool. last time we were walking in the front door, over by the baggage handling, and there's a big bucket of sidewalk chalk and hula hoops there which i think we stayed and played there for at least 25 minutes he likes the big icons and helps to identify which building were in, i like that too since i can get lost in a square. lol, where he seemed to have the biggest problem there was the food court. i dont know if it was the noise, or the way it is set up, twice for some reason he does not like it in there and has ended up crying, so now we take our food to the outside tables or the ones near the windows along the back wall, that seems to help.

 

[livndisney]

I don't know if this helps- here is a link to pictures of Pop Century
http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_pop.htm


My DD LOVES Pop. One thing she doesn't like is the check in area. It is a long narrow-ish "hallway" type area. Sounds tend to echo a bit off the tile floor. There is a small area off to the side with brightly colored chairs with Disney movies playing.

 

[lucigo]

http://community.shutterfly.com/gallery/post/start.sfly?postId=/gallery/1/post/GMGDBg0bNHLBg5cg83SKn4

Hopefully this link will work. I made this book after our January trip so that when we went back in April (last week) he would remember our trip and be able to talk about it with me. It seemed to work pretty well!

 

[lucigo]

Thank you Luci for the offer. Yes I would love to see some pictures!

Is the bus ride very long to any of the parks from POP? Did you come and go during the day from the parks to the hotel for downtime? Thanks for the info.

I tried to PM but for some reason it is not letting me.

Most of the bus rides weren't more than 10 minutes, but downtown disney was more like 20 min. We have season passes and plan to go 4x in the year so we really don't push it, will go have lunch and do a ride or two and then go back to the resort for swimming and relaxing. It makes for a much better trip than trying to squeeze too much in. We did several times go to the park in the morning, go back to the resort to relax until dinner and then get a bus to the park or resort we had dinner reservations at.

 

[lucigo]

where he seemed to have the biggest problem there was the food court. i dont know if it was the noise, or the way it is set up, twice for some reason he does not like it in there and has ended up crying, so now we take our food to the outside tables or the ones near the windows along the back wall, that seems to help.

THe food court is very loud and hectic. I was worried they would expect my son to be with me to get his kids meal with the dining plan but not at all, we were able to let him sit at a table with siblings while we took care of it. For some reason whenever we would walk in there he wanted to lay in the floor, with people everywhere! It helped for us to get a table by the TV so he could watch, or we would bring his game boy and let him get lost in it.

 

[ecki]

For some reason whenever we would walk in there he wanted to lay in the floor, with people everywhere!

My younger DD does this everywhere we go! Except after she lays on the floor she then starts to lick it. BLECH!

Anyway, both of my DDs are on the spectrum. My older one is high functioning PDD-NOS and my younger is pretty severly autistic in addition to having Down syndrome. We're also staying at POP, in August.

I thought the photos mentioned above were helpful, but geez, there weren't any PEOPLE in them! (well, I guess it's not nice to post pics of strangers on the Internet!) I was wondering how CROWDED it's going to be!

 

[livndisney]

:
I thought the photos mentioned above were helpful, but geez, there weren't any PEOPLE in them! (well, I guess it's not nice to post pics of strangers on the Internet!) I was wondering how CROWDED it's going to be!

SORRY! I was trying to help the OP.

 

[3ToDisney]

You guys are great! The pictures were great and you all are so helpful!

 

[bzzymom]

DS 10 I thought may be HFA, but the doctor told me he is not, but he called it OCD with anxiety and ADHD. I have taken him to WDW several times. We have stayed at POFQ, POR, AKL, ASsports and ASmovies and he stayed at Pop with my parents once. As far as downtime at the resort, the only thing he misses when he is at a value resort is a slide at the pool. He loves the slides and would ride them over and over again. At the value pool, he doesn't have that, so we have to interact with him more..throw a ball or he has dive sticks that he goes to get. We do alright.

The wait time for the bus at POFQ and All star resorts is about the same in my opinion. The ride to the parks depend on which you go to. He really likes All star movies so that is where we stayed the last 2 trips.

DS is really focuses into wait times. If a sign says 10 minute wait, and you don't get on for 30 minutes, he will have a meltdown. He even gets upset when you get on a ride sooner that the sign says. He thinks WDW should either have no sign at all, or update it minute by minute. So, we stated using fast passes for the bigger rides which help a little because when you get there at the time, you don't know what your wait time is.

In 2005, my mom bought him a pal mickey. He played games with it, it tells jokes, sings songs, and it interacts at the parks with what is going on. For example, at Epcot, when you go to the countries around the world it gives facts and things. It really helped him pass the time. We took him everywhere, and we brought him back when we went there in 2006 as well. It was good for him.

 

[Disneylvr]

I know this is an old thread but we are staying at POP for our next trip (a moderate or a deluxe just wasn't in the budget this time) and was wondering if anyone has any recent experiences there to share? DD has ASD, is non-verbal and is a sensory seeker. We plan to request a room in the 90's or 80's section where there is a "quiet" pool. All advice is appreciated!

 

[lucigo]

I know this is an old thread but we are staying at POP for our next trip (a moderate or a deluxe just wasn't in the budget this time) and was wondering if anyone has any recent experiences there to share? DD has ASD, is non-verbal and is a sensory seeker. We plan to request a room in the 90's or 80's section where there is a "quiet" pool. All advice is appreciated!

Hope you love it! We haven't been since 2008, however I would recommend the 50's area to you, it always seems to be the quietest, is a pretty close walk to the food court, plus at night you can see the fireworks from the top of one of the 50's buildings (far away, so no noise in case your child doesn't like loud noise). We stayed at Pop 3x in 2008, first in the 50's, then in the 90's and the 3rd time we asked for the 50's again!

 

[Disneylvr]

Do you think 80's or 90's wouldn't be a good idea? We also need to be near a parking lot and I was hoping those areas were quiet too. It is best for DD (and hauling around her special needs stroller) if we drive to the parks so we always rent a car.

 

[lucigo]

Do you think 80's or 90's wouldn't be a good idea? We also need to be near a parking lot and I was hoping those areas were quiet too. It is best for DD (and hauling around her special needs stroller) if we drive to the parks so we always rent a car.

The building we stayed at in the 50's section was right by a parking lot. You can ask for that when you check in. Also ask for a 1st floor room to make things easier, we always do that.

80's or 90's are fun, but definitely not as quiet. The computer pool seemed to have more traffic flow through it where the bowling pin pool seemed quieter. My son absolutely loved playing on the computer pool's giant keyboard however. Either section would probably suit your needs, I would just ask for a 1st floor room close to parking and see which one they have available.

 

[Ali]

Whatever you do make sure you get a room without a connecting door. The POP connecting rooms are the loudest rooms o have ever been in. I don't complain much once I get into a room but I couldn't sleep at all the last time we were there and the neighbors were so loud with a crying screaming baby. I don't know how many people were in that room but I swear it was packed full of loud rude horrible aliens. Never again in a connecting room. Never!

Other than that I agree that the 50's section is the best for easy access to the parking lot. And that pool is less crowded.

Have fun

 

[Bugsmom73]

Yes, I would recommend the 50's section as well. We just returned a week ago. We stayed at the end of the 50's section in room 1337. It was quiet and away from water and it overlooked the parking lot. We had a portable door alarm that we attached with 3M non marking tape. It worked like a charm. We were pleasantly surprised.

Ds is ASD but is verbal and a sensory seeker. Warning though, the elevators aren't air conditioned.

 

[lucigo]

Yes, I would recommend the 50's section as well. We just returned a week ago. We stayed at the end of the 50's section in room 1337. It was quiet and away from water and it overlooked the parking lot. We had a portable door alarm that we attached with 3M non marking tape. It worked like a charm. We were pleasantly surprised.

Ds is ASD but is verbal and a sensory seeker. Warning though, the elevators aren't air conditioned.

It actually took me a minute to realize why you would care about the elevators if you were in a first floor room.