Pop Century or POFQ? Need advice.

[disneysnowflake]

Last Dec on our first ever WDW family trip we stayed at POFQ in building 4 and loved it.

This Oct. we decided to go back to WDW, but we chose Pop Century.

Now I'm debating whether to switch my ressies to POFQ.

I'm mostly concerned about the location we may be placed in. I don't want to pay the extra money for a preferred building.
Our friends stayed at Pop over Easter, but were located in the 90s building. They liked it, but said it was quite a hike to the food court and bus stop. With POFQ everything was so close.
When I first made my reservation I asked for non smoking, top floor of building 5 at Pop facing the lake. I was told that I could only request non smoking and I'd just get whatever room I got. I was told I could try to get that sort of room, but most likely I wouldn't. I'm concerned about noise. Our friends said the Pop rooms had paper thin walls. Even with ear plugs they couldn't sleep soundly. On the printout I got in the mail from WDW with our confirmation it only states non-smoking as a request.

We aren't renting a car. We are going to be relying on Disney bus transportation only. Last time at POFQ the busses were pretty quick, even though we had to make 4 stops at Riverside before getting to the parks. My friend said that Pop busses were great, but many times you'd stand on the busses due to capacity and wait up to 30 minutes in line each time because there are so many guests there with only 1 bus stop. He did say the bus trips were quick though once you actually got onto the bus.

What would you suggest?
Do you think I should stay at Pop or move my ressies over to POFQ?

 

[BuckNaked]

We stayed at POFQ last August, also in building 4. We just returned from a week at POP, in building 6 (70s). Though we thought POP was lots of fun and a nice change, I would absolutely switch to POFQ, assuming that the additional $$ are not an issue.

And I totally agree with your friend about the POFQ v. POP buses. POP is so much bigger, so it's no surprise that the buses are much more crowded and the waits longer. But the bus transporation was the one thing that I really didn't care for at POP. It didn't spoil my trip by any means, but it could have been much better than it was.

 

[Tinkaroo]

I would second your friends' thoughts on Pop re: the thin walls. We stayed for 1 night in April before checking into AKL, and I could hear just about everything coming from our neighboring room! Granted, we did have a connecting door, so maybe a room that doesn't connect would be more quiet.

Although the theming of Pop is neat, the rooms are TINY, and I'm not planning on staying there again any time soon (unless it's the only way I could afford to stay on-site).

But, of course, this is just my opinion. I know plenty of people love Pop!

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

Having stayed at both, I would recommend switching from POP to POFQ. POP is loud, small rooms, and very spread out while POFQ is quiet, a nice sized room, and quaint. You can hear everything through the walls at POP !!! POP building locations aren't that bad except for the 90's. The 50, 60, and 70 buildings are all pretty close to everything. They will accept building requests, but won't guarantee them (that's what they told me) When I went in May, I got all my requests 70's building, non-smoking, corner room near the playground and the Goofy Pop Jets. Having said that, I liked my room at POFQ last Nov much better, and I would go back there, while I think POP is off my list. I liked ASMo as a value resort much better. Good Luck with whatever you decide !!!

 

[Disney Spaz]

I would also vote to move up to POFQ. As you can see from my signature I have stayed at both recently and have to say hands down POFQ beats POP everytime. My DH and I even agreed that after staying in mods that we would never go back to value because they are to small for the 4 of us.

 

[sarsah]

Just got back from POP yesterday and we liked it. I have stayed at POFQ too and it is nice too.
We did not find the walls to be paper thin -- maybe we had quiet neighbors -- DH & my youngest are very light sleepers and they both slept fine without ear plugs.

We were in the 50's section and it was not a far walk to the food court or the buses. I can see, however, if you were in the 90s section, it would be a hike.

We only took the buses a few times and it was never a long wait. The buses coming back from the parks at night were packed, but it's like that for pretty much every resort. We had our car and preferred to drive to most of the parks, just because it's easier with two young children, a stroller, etc.

We are going back at Thanksgiving and haven't decided where we want to stay yet -- DH wants a Deluxe, but unless there are great AP rates, that's out of the question. I think we will consider POP again, at least I will. For the price, it was nice.

 

[lajones81]

Each person has their own opinions...with that being said, I stayed at POP in the 80's building (where it meets the 90's building) and didn't find it far at all. My friend and I found the shortcut the first night. It all depends...

 

[PedsTherapist]

I too have been wavering between POP and POFQ. I have never stayed at either. Thanks to all of the info on this thread I think that I have just made up my mind!

 

[littlebigdog]

We have never stayed at POFQ but have stayed at POP twice. We have never had a problem with noise from people around us. We are considering going to POFQ for our next trip, but not because we don't like POP. We were in the 50's section on both of our trips to POP and were not far from anything. Also the bus service was good. We have stayed at values, moderates and deluxe, and the bus service from POP is as good as anywhere (sometimes better -CBR-). POFQ looks really nice though and we want to try some more resorts so we might book it for our next trip. Whichever you choose I hope you have a great time!

 

[Bete]

You need to be a little more flexible about the fourth floor, etc. I think you will find better building choices, if you do. In a perfect world, you can get non-smoking, building of choice, floor of choice, near a pool, near parking or near the food court, but if everyone wants the same, it just isn't possible. List priorities in the order of most important and I believe the CMs will do their best to help you. If not getting a 4th floor room at POP is a deal breaker than stay at Port Orleans.

With that being said, at check-in I've seen resort layout charts where they show the room choices based on most of your requests. From those choices you can pick what best suits you with what's available. I've gotten as many as 4 choices. No, they don't show you hundreds of possibilities. I'm usually satisfied picking from what they show us. Also, sometimes you can check-in for the first day anywhere with the understanding when a room of your exact preferences is available they will let you move to it. This requires some follow-up on your part to make it work with CMs; so, this happens the next day. Also, you have the added hassle of moving, but if it means so much to you than you do it . How important is it really to get all your exact choices?

If the the CM is doing their job going to a supervisor will not help. They can't make a room just appear. I'm not trying to be mean here but I'm a very practical person and you can use the system for check-in to the best degree possible and still not get your perfect answer right at the exact moment you check-in.

 

[christinou]

I have stayed at both, and without hesitation I would pay the extra to go to POFQ, (which is what we are doing next February), we do enjoy smaller resorts.
On the other hand my kids would probably love going back to POP, they just loved the resort.