pop....bad reviews!!

[princess eve]

hi all

i have just been reading over on the resorts board about how bad pop is!! i.e buses CM's and food court etc

i am booked to stay here with my 2 friends in november and i am now really starting to worry

i have only stayed at all star movies before and this is my 2 friends first visit and i really want them to feel the magic

 

[2Tiggies]

Reviews are all opinions and every resort has the good and the bad - even the Deluxes.

The most common targets for complaint are the food courts and the bus services. Pop gets a lot of very good reviews too and if I stayed at a value I would have no problem booking a room at POP.

Last year we stayed at POFQ. Loved it. One of the things that stood out to us was how we never waited more than a few minutes for a bus or boat - save for once or twice - over a period of 2 weeks.

On our return I was reading reviews on our resort covering the dates we happened to be there and it was slated with criticism for .... yep, long waits for transportation

Take the reviews with a pinch of salt. POP has great theming, has relatively recently refurbished rooms, it is the most centrally located of all the values and you will have a great time

 

[princess eve]

ahh thank you for reply....its helped put my mind at ease

 

[Sarah28]

As I always think Eve, people seem to be quick to complain rather than praise which is a shame

 

[originalkk]

We stayed at POP for 8 nights February of last year (half term). Despite it being President's Day weekend, we found it to have the best bus service of any of the hotels we have stayed (Beach Club, Swan/Dolphin, Port Orleans). I think we did have to wait 20mins once for a bus at Pop itself, but after Wishes at MK, and Illuminations at EP, we virtually walked straight onto a bus.

The food court can get very crowded, so it's a good idea to eat at slightly odd times, but had a good choice of food. Not fantastic quality, but fine for a food court.

For a holiday on a budget, we'd have no problem staying here again.

 

[teekathepony]

I've stayed at Pop 3 times and will most likely be going back in October this year. I love it! Now granted I can't compare to anything as it's the only resort I've ever been to, but I will definitely say that I thouroughly enjoyed my time there. Everything is big and loud and colourful, the food court is a little busy but quite good, decent selection (especially considering how often we ate there -- we tend to eat in the parks more often). I thought the busses were great! One reason we liked the busses at Pop was that once you get on a bus at a park, you only have one stop - yours! I remember one single time in 39 days at Pop that we waited more than 15 minutes for a bus, and the driver arrived he told us that another bus had broken down on its way to us.
I think it's just like 2Tiggies said, you're going to get bad reviews on everything it's just all opinion. And this was mine!

 

[wayneg]

If you have been to ASmovies and enjoyed then I think you will be fine at any of the value resorts, we didn't like ASmovies and we didn't like the food court at Pop last year when we called but everyone can't like everything, we love OKW yet Jen_UK doesn't. Everyone has different tastes.

 

[mrshappy]

We have stopped at pop and loved it so much so that we are staying again this July, yes the food court can be busy but i think you would get that anywhere

 

[orangetiggs]

ive stayed at all the all stars and loved pop so much better! all stars always seem to be full of kids that are doing competitions at world of sports and always seem so busy but pop wasnt like that for us.

Next year I'm looking at pop as the girls will love the themeing and i would prefer that to all stars

 

[WDWisTheBest]

hi all

i have just been reading over on the resorts board about how bad pop is!! i.e buses CM's and food court etc

i am booked to stay here with my 2 friends in november and i am now really starting to worry

i have only stayed at all star movies before and this is my 2 friends first visit and i really want them to feel the magic

As others said, you are going to read both positive and negative reviews about every resort, including the POP. Friends have stayed there multiple times without incident.

 

[disneyholic family]

i didn't like pop last year when i stayed there (it was ok, but i'm a spoiled old biddy), but my daugther and her best friend LOVED it when they stayed there.....
and when i was questioning staying there in august with the whole family, DD pretty much demanded that we stay there...

so that's where we'll be....

by the way, i didn't use the bus service, so can't comment on it, but DD and her friend did use the bus service (they couldn't rent a car as they were too young)....they thought the service was really good....they said they never had to wait...

 

[scottishgirl87]

We stayed at Pop for a week last year and had no complaints, whatsoever!

I too had read a few bad reviews, the one that stuck in my mind most was someone saying it was "nothing more than a 2 bit motel" which worried me no end. Silly as it sounds, I didn't/don't particularly like staying at a hotel with external corridors but when we got there it wasn't an issue at all!

 

[MademoiselleKel]

I LOVED staying at POP.
The food court is very VERY busy at the peak times for breakfast but what do you expect? We still never had trouble finding a table
I found the transportation to be very good. Never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a bus from the resort to somewhere. Now from DTD back to the resort was a different story XD
Enjoy your stay!!

 

[gemmybear83]

I stayed at Pop a few years ago and loved it - great value for money, clean etc and the rooms looks much better then the ones at All Stars. We used the buses all the way through the trip and they were fine, we did have to stand more as it is a busy resort but they are very frequent (tend to be more more than the expensive resorts as there are more guests) and the bus only stops at one stop so they are nice and quick.

Dont worry I am sure you will have a great time

 

[jen_uk]

I've stayed at Pop 3 times and loved it there! The food court is really good, theres loads of choice, its far better than the ones at the deluxe resorts. Now we are DVC we don't stay at Pop and I miss it

 

[~Piglet~]

Just to add another positive vote for the Pop!!

We've stayed there twice now and love it. Photo's of the resort sometimes don't do it justice IMO - sometimes it looks a bit gaudy - but in the flesh it is much nicer

We took friends and family (of mixed ages) last year and we were worried about the 'oldies' take on the theming, but they loved it and want to stay there again next year!

We did a split stay last year and as nice as POR is, overall we liked the Pop better, especially with our 4YO who still talks about going back to 'the old hotel' and not 'the new one' for our next trip!

The buses were a definite plus over POR! we never seemed to wait long for a Pop bus, but once we switched hotels the POR buses seemed to take ages! oh, and (I know it's trivial...) but Pop wins the 'bus music' hands down

 

[princess eve]

oh wow thank you everyone for your positive comments i feel much better at staying at pop now

roll on november the 2nd

 

[princessdawn2011]

I liked Pop a lot when I stayed there. CMs & housekeeping were great, cool theming, clean room. Can't comment about bus service BUT as previous posters said EVERYONE complains about bus service EVERYWHERE! could b a busy weekend or high traffic hour. The deluxe Epcot resorts are the worst for buses! If that makes you feel better, for $300+ a nite, you usually stop @ all 5 hotels. Only 1 @ Pop!

The bus system not running PERFECTLY will not make or break your trip. Enjoy all your planning!

 

[VailaTigger]

We stayed for 2 weeks at Pop at Easter last year, and loved it!

No worries with the buses - if there's a wait, then just chill and go with the flow.
No worries with the food court - yes, it was busy for breakfast, but we always found a table almost straight away.
The pools are great, the CM's were fab, we liked our room.

The only issue was the room next door who had an all out throw-each-other-at-the-wall barney one night, and we had to get the CM's and manager to intervene. We think they left the next day, but very nicely left their alarm set to come on very loud at an ungodly hour the next morning... But then you can get this in ANY hotel, including the Deluxes, you can't choose your neighbours.

You will LOVE Pop, and have a fab holiday. And if you don't like it, well, it's only where you're sleeping, put it to the back of your mind, and go and have FUN!!

 

[princess eve]

thank you both for your replies and every-one else who has helped put my mind at ease