Pop Century Expectations?

[aprincessatlast]

Unlike the pp, I did notice a big difference between a value and a moderate. A big one actually. Pop was our first on site experience. We have a lot of Hilton/Marriott stays with Hampton Inn/Embassy suites etc. mixed in. Pop was pretty bare bones in our experience but not so much that we did not return. We returned again after several stays elsewhere. We learned to appreciate all he levels but just manage expectations. I say view it as a new experience and embrace the fun side of POP. It makes for great pictures with all the bright colors!

 

[kbmartin]

My DH and I stayed at Pop in August last year after only staying at moderate and off-property hotels. Staying at a value was the only way to afford our trip. I was expecting to be very disappointed by Pop and told my husband that it wasn't going to be a nice hotel. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised, and I liked Pop for many reasons. Like you, we spend very minimal time in the hotel. For two people, the size of the room did not matter - it was fine. We were lucky and scored a king bed, too. The transportation was far better at Pop than we ever experienced at POR. POR had a very frustrating bus system (we waited in long lines, and we rarely had to wait more than 10 minutes for a Pop bus (we only waited longer than 10 min. at MK right after the park closed - completely understandable). The decor is certainly appealing to kids, but my DH and I (in our early 30s) thought it was kind of fun. Honestly, the only reason I'd spring for a moderate ever again is if we travel with friends and share a room. Don't get me wrong - it was NOT a luxury hotel. But for what it is, it exceeded my expectations.

 

[TML2012]

I think you will be fine at POP especially since there are only 2 of you in the room and you don't plan to be at the resort much. The theming at POP is really fun. I found the QS food selection at POP to be better than a mod. food court. The gift shop at POP is also good. On our recent trip, we requested a ground level lakeview room in the 70s section and it was great. It was quiet, had a beautiful view and was close to Classic Hall and the bus stops with having to pay the preferred rate.

 

[isabellea]

I will be the opposite to everyone else... I HATED Pop Century. I've stayed at ASMo and AoA in the past so I knew what to expect at a value. The decor was not to my taste, very noisy and the buses were kind of bad. We spent more time at AoA than Pop and will not go back. The one thing that was nice was that I could choose between the Pop or AoA bus at the parks to go back to the resort. If one had just left we would just get on the other one.

 

[old feller]

As another poster has mentioned, there will be no coffee pot in the room. The linens are a little less better quality than in the Moderates. No towels at the pool so make sure you take your own if you go. No quiet pools, although I think there might be more than one pool there. No shaded bus stop but do have actual line ques. The food court seemed a little busier to me and all the common areas seemed a little more crowded. The Dreams show just did a show on the value resorts, you might want to watch that.

What is The Dreams show ?

 

[old feller]

If possible walk to AOA

 

[JerseyJanice]

We really enjoyed each of our three stays at Pop. The rooms are smaller than the mods and no hot tub or slide, but those were the biggest differences for us.

I suggest that you request a room facing the lake on the fourth floor of Building 4 (I think it's 4--it's been a while--you want the Play Doh can building.) That was my favorite location of the three we stayed in. You can see the MK fireworks in the distance and some of Illuminations from there. Plus the water is calming. BTW, we loved seeing the big turtles in the lake.

Give it a try. Like I was, you may be pleasantly surprised by how nice the resort is. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[tinka-belle]

As others have said, the main differences from the moderates are: smaller rooms, no coffee maker, one sink, no queen beds, no table service restaurant. Also no ceiling fans in the room, no covered bus stop waiting area, no hot tub, no pool slide at the feature pool though there is separate water play area at AOA.

 

[thinkerbell]

We stayed at POP for the first time about 5 years ago and we have stayed there almost every trip since. When our kids were little, we stayed at CR most of the time with some Poly sprinkled in. They got too expensive so we went down to the moderates. Then when it was just the two of us we decided to save a little more money and tried POP. Loved it! We enjoy walking over to AOA to see all of the different decorations as well as walking around POP. There are three pools to choose from. We like the bowling pin pool because it seems the quietest. There are lots of choices for food. That is one thing I love. When I am in the mood for a burger and my husband wants pizza, we both get what we want. Rooms aren't huge but plenty big for us. We usually get a king bed. Only time we didn't get a king bed when we asked is when we went with our daughter and her family. We wanted connecting rooms and you can't get two king rooms that connect. We let our daughter have that one so they would have plenty of room for the pack and play and all the baby stuff.
The only time we weren't pleased at POP was when there was a big group of teens from Brazil who were chanting in the pool right outside our room at 1:00am. They promptly moved us to a quieter even better location. We are headed back to POP in July and we can't wait! I think you will like it. The only moderate that we will stay at now over POP is Coronado Springs.

 

[Huff]

Unlike the pp, I did notice a big difference between a value and a moderate. A big one actually. Pop was our first on site experience. We have a lot of Hilton/Marriott stays with Hampton Inn/Embassy suites etc. mixed in.

We too have stayed at numerous resorts like Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt etc. I'm the type that can't really say they are all better than POP. Depends on what you like and whats needed for a given trip. At the upper end resorts we rarely make use of the onsite restaurant or bar opting to go into town for better dining and see the sites. So the major differences aren't usually things we need or want. We spend very little time at the resort itself. POP is not a low end motel by any means. We love the fact that POP says DISNEY loud and clear which makes it perfect!

 

[aprincessatlast]

I'm the type that can't really say they are all better than POP. Depends on what you like and whats needed for a given trip. We spend very little time at the resort itself. POP is not a low end motel by any means. We love the fact that POP says DISNEY loud and clear which makes it perfect!

I am the type that can say they are better! POP just screams to me...whether or not that is Disney well depends if I am next to a Disney Icon or a giant laptop.

We do spend time at our resort. If it was just a run to the room and sleep thing we would stay off site for sure and get a nice breakfast with comfier beds with nicer sheets, but as it is we go for the ambiance.

 

[barbaraann]

I have stayed at Pop Century three different times now, and I enjoy it a lot. In the past, I have stayed at almost all of the moderates, and I must say, that I prefer Pop Century. Less walking, and a lot less cost for me. Of course, if I could afford the cost, I would rather stay in a monorail resort. I love being close to the MK, which is my favorite park. However, I am getting fonder and fonder of DHS, and it is closer to POP than the MK is to Pop.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

The Values are getting better and better with a huge addition being the fridges several years ago.

POP has recently replaced the "wall-mount hair dryers" with the "Hair Dryer in a bag" and All-Star Sports now has Pool Towels at Surfboard Bay and Grand Slam as well as 24/7 access to the Beverage Islands.

I'm thinking coffee-makers for the Values "could" be coming somewhere down the road.

Can you explain this please?
Do you mean there are beverage islands by the pool?
Do you mean you are allowed access to the beverage islands in the food court 24/7?
Thank you.

 

[loves to dive]

What is The Dreams show ?

The Dream Unlimited Podcast.

 

[Huff]

We do spend time at our resort. If it was just a run to the room and sleep thing we would stay off site for sure and get a nice breakfast with comfier beds with nicer sheets, but as it is we go for the ambiance.

For those that spend time at the resort then sure, they'd want a resort that offers more amenities they make use of. For us if I wanted such I'd stay off site because a 4 or 5* offsite resort is 1/2 the cost or less than a Disney deluxe. Of course for some a $1000 is like $10 to another's wallet! We typically do not stay off site because of the need for transportation from the airport, then to/from parks each day. As Disney has been limiting discounts we may stay off site in the future.

 

[WEDWDW]

Do you mean you are allowed access to the beverage islands in the food court 24/7?
Thank you.

Yes,the Beverage Island at End Zone Food Court at All-Star Sports now remains open 24/7.

 

[ambermiller6970]

Well, we just stayed for 5 days/4 nights at POP, and we will not be staying there again. We have been at disney world multiple times on Christmas and new years week and have never had as bad of bus service! (Once at All Stars Sports, once at CBR and once at POR.) It was ridiculous how long we had to wait for buses. But, I guess you do get what you pay for, and I guess my 15% spring discount didn't pay for bus service.

 

[loves to dive]

Well, we just stayed for 5 days/4 nights at POP, and we will not be staying there again. We have been at disney world multiple times on Christmas and new years week and have never had as bad of bus service! (Once at All Stars Sports, once at CBR and once at POR.) It was ridiculous how long we had to wait for buses. But, I guess you do get what you pay for, and I guess my 15% spring discount didn't pay for bus service.

While I'm not a big fan of POP or any of the values for that matter, I will say you can't judge any of the resorts by the bus service. I won't stay at POP again but I learned after staying there and at ASsp, I'm just not a value resort person. I've had good and bad bus service at every single level of WDW and I've stayed at them all from Villas to Deluxe to Moderate to Value. It is what it is, you will have good service some days and some days you will have bad, there is no way to tell. It will all depend on so many variables, if you get to the stop just as a bus was leaving,you are going to wait. Maybe there is an accident on the road while the bus is on the way to resort, it is going to get delayed. It happens at all of them