Pop Century closing!

[Disneyfan71]

And if they do close down Pop Century for refurb then that means a lot of people won't go for the simple fact of saving $100 a night or more by staying there.

I priced Pop and Carribean Beach--the difference was over $100!!!

 

[andrewilley]

And if they do close down Pop Century for refurb then that means a lot of people won't go for the simple fact of saving $100 a night or more by staying there.

There are three other Value Resorts too, and presumably the only reason to close one resort would be if there is plenty of spare capacity at the others.

Andre

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

.double post edit

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I used to stay at the All Star Movies and then stayed usually at Coronado Springs which I just love. But even though I worked in the travel industry and got a great discount I chose Pop over Coronado. It was tough don't get me wrong but I looked at the bigger picture. I was staying for a week, I could save $300 if I stayed at Pop. The rooms are a little smaller, the bus ride is a little longer. BUT I could dine at better restaurants and do other things.

Thats basically our thoughts as well. We were booked for our May "buy 4 get 3 free" trip at Caribbean Beach. We called back and switched it to POP. After careful consideration, it boiled down to that bottom line that it was almost $300 more to stay at CBR. The only real perks we saw were coffee makers, refrigerators, slightly larger rooms, and better pools. The room size has never been a problem for us, because we live in a smaller home and are used to small space. The coffee maker was a nice thought, not that we would ever use them... Disney Vacation means BLUE SLUSHIES!!! Not coffee. We drink our gourmet coffees at home. We don't have a slushie machine at home! The refrigerator isn't a perk to us because we drive to WDW, and we always pack our foods for the trip up and back in one of these big Coleman electric coolers like this item http://www.joessports.com/product/index.jsp?productId=5118 (but ours is bigger and square shaped.)
Which we simply unplug from the minivan and plug into the wall at the resort. So the only perk for us would be a better pool and the appeal, which is over rated.
As far as the bus lines mentioned above... I'm not completely sure I believe that one. On our last trip I noted that the CBR usually has lines just as long as, and in a few cases, LONGER THAN Pop Century.
I guess we are just value resort people.

 

[mooneyda]

I thought Pop was one of there most popular value resort because every time I went( might just be coincidence) the was always a large line for the bus there than the other ones.

 

[akayek31]

There are three other Value Resorts too, and presumably the only reason to close one resort would be if there is plenty of spare capacity at the others.

Andre

I am staying onsite just to stay at Pop. I don't want to be forced to stay at all stars. I hope it is all a rumor.

 

[jfinke]

I am staying onsite just to stay at Pop. I don't want to be forced to stay at all stars. I hope it is all a rumor.

Is there a significant difference between POP and the AS?

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I am staying onsite just to stay at Pop. I don't want to be forced to stay at all stars. I hope it is all a rumor.

Is there a significant difference between POP and the AS?

I have stayed at the POP at least 10 times, maybe more... and I've stayed at all the All Stars as well. Our last trip to A.S. Sports was AWESOME!!! They have recently refurbished it, and we loved it. To be honest... I liked it better than POP. Everything was clean and efficient. The food court is smaller, and kinda "cute" compared to POP.
There was no cigarette smoke cloud to walk through. There were no long lines at the food court. We had a MUCH shorter walk to both the van for loading/unloading (literally... 20 feet away from our corner room) and much shorter walk to the buses. If everyone else in my little party didn't like POP better, we'd be at Sports again next trip. I do like the slushies a lot at POP though.
You can have a bad experience at ANY resort. Never write off a resort based on reviews you get here. We had a HORRIBLE experience at POP once. No room service almost at all, the entire week the maids were slack, never gave us soap or shampoo, both the CMs and the maids were rude, the lines at the check in were HORRIBLE all week, and POP certainly has (without doubt) the worse AC units of any value resort. It was so hot that none of us slept much all week, and usually we sleep better at WDW than we do at home.
But POP is consistently good, so we shook it off and tried again, and of course next trip was back to their usual standards of a great resort!

 

[bambighsmom]

I hope they don't close this resort. It is our favorite and is always busy when we are there.

We have always had great service and housekeeping is awesome. Food court is great and any of the cast member always have been helpful......

 

[wendyt_ca]

We just booked at Pop Nov 29-Dec 6 and it was available. I hope they don't close it we stayed there in June and loved it.

 

[Natasha&Matt]

I hope it doesnt close either !! i have just booked for 2 weeks in May 2010!!!!!

 

[michelleiada]

OK...I read on a rumor site that Pop Century is not closing but some changes will be occuring. The rumor says that the name will change to "Disney's Animation Hotel and Suites". They will be fininshing the unfinished side of Pop and turning them all into "Family Suites". It makes sense really and I think it is an excellent idea! There is a need for a larger accomodation in the value category for families of 5 or more.

 

[racefanof88]

OK...I read on a rumor site that Pop Century is not closing but some changes will be occuring. The rumor says that the name will change to "Disney's Animation Hotel and Suites". They will be fininshing the unfinished side of Pop and turning them all into "Family Suites". It makes sense really and I think it is an excellent idea! There is a need for a larger accomodation in the value category for families of 5 or more.

WOW, I can't believe Disney is doing any kind of renovations or expanding with the recent announcements of executive buy outs and lay offs.

It is obvious the economy is really affecting Disney as they have expanded the 4/7 bookings until late March. I guess they aren't getting the response they had hoped for?

Maybe they will be offering more discounted options soon .

 

[CanadianGuy]

WOW, I can't believe Disney is doing any kind of renovations or expanding with the recent announcements of executive buy outs and lay offs.

It is obvious the economy is really affecting Disney as they have expanded the 4/7 bookings until late March. I guess they aren't getting the response they had hoped for?

Maybe they will be offering more discounted options soon .

Disney (and other large corporations) frequently make capital investments involving construction during economic downturns.

The time required to complete the work will probably be about the time before the economy turns positive again.. and they can do it for anywhere from 15 to 25% LESS $$$ because construction crews are otherwise sitting idle.

It's a smart use of capital.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

OK...I read on a rumor site that Pop Century is not closing but some changes will be occuring. The rumor says that the name will change to "Disney's Animation Hotel and Suites".

Please don't take offense to this, but I don't believe this. POP Century is a VERY catchy name, and it matches the resort PERFECTLY. People always refer to it as POP! and that's a simple but effective advertising strategy. I'm NOT saying they WON'T do it, because Disney has made some screw ups in the past.
My point is I just can't see any logical reasoning behind a VERY COSTLY effort of changing the name of an EXTREMELY POPULAR resort, when it sells out faster than any other resort on the grounds. I always book value resorts, and POP is ALWAYS (and I mean ALWAYS, NEVER an exception have I met) the first to be booked up of the value resorts. You see people all over this forum who have lists of moderates and deluxe resorts under their sigs, and yet they are all bragging about how much they like POP.

I just don't see them doing it unless there is a legal problem with the name, such as the deal with Disney's MGM / Hollywood Studios.

 

[racefanof88]

Disney (and other large corporations) frequently make capital investments involving construction during economic downturns.

The time required to complete the work will probably be about the time before the economy turns positive again.. and they can do it for anywhere from 15 to 25% LESS $$$ because construction crews are otherwise sitting idle.

It's a smart use of capital.

I guess you're right. I bet it doesn't make the execs and layed off workers happy though.

The sad thing is no jobs are secure right now .

 

[ajenkins]

It's a fun resort, I would hate to lose it.

 

[LPNmom]

OK...I read on a rumor site that Pop Century is not closing but some changes will be occuring. The rumor says that the name will change to "Disney's Animation Hotel and Suites". They will be fininshing the unfinished side of Pop and turning them all into "Family Suites". It makes sense really and I think it is an excellent idea! There is a need for a larger accomodation in the value category for families of 5 or more.

I found this utube video that shows the unfinished pop century building today, thought that it might be fun for some people to watch, since we are talking about rumors regarding this building.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSc1fG0ETeY

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

LPNmom, THANKS! We LOVED the video.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

Do you think maybe this new; unfinished building is the one that will be called "Disney's Animation Hotel and Suites"?
While we were watching that video my son asks "How can they build that if we haven't even gotten to 2010 yet?"
Good point even if by a kid. It wouldn't take 50 years to build.