Pop Century - Preferred Rooms - King Bed - Do All Have ADA Functionality?

[jalpert]

We booked a preferred room at Pop. We did this because we were under the impression that we would be close to the lobby / parking if we did. We were also under the impression that we would be able to choose a king bed as opposed to twins if we wanted.

I've come to find out that preferred is more about the view than the location, which is fine. However, according to touring plans, every preferred room with a king bed has ADA functionality like a roll in shower or hearing assistance. Is this true? If it is, what now? We paid for the preferred, we would be very happy with a variety of locations with a king bed, how should we handle this.

Thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Preferred IS about location over view. The preferred rooms will be the closest to the food court and therefore the buses also. For the resorts we know well we have found the Touring Plans room finder tool to be extremely inaccurate.

At the Values and Deluxes a king bed is only a request. You can request one but there's no way to book or guarantee you will get one. The majority of king rooms at Pop have some sort of ADA features, but not all.

Hope this helps.

 

[HopperFan]

Preferred at POP is about location - aka how close it is to the Classic Hall Lobby and Everything Pop Food Court.
Preferred rooms come with a variety of views, they call them standard views or pool views aka which side of the building.
Preferred standard views should be looking at landscaping but may include slight views (and sounds) of parking, main building etc.

Can't help on the King, hopefully someone will step up.
But my last stay I got a POR Royal Room that was HA (not fully since a tub), which I didn't need nor request, but I loved the big bathroom!

 

[jalpert]

We've never staying in anything except moderates, so I was unaware that in anything but moderates it's just a request for a king bed.

In terms of the location of the preferred rooms, the rooms in the back of the 60's by the lake don't seem to be very preferred based on their location, so I thought it was odd that they are so far away but also preferred. I'm not sure I'd be happy if I was in those preferred rooms.

Preferred at POP is about location - aka how close it is to the Classic Hall Lobby and Everything Pop Food Court.
Preferred rooms come with a variety of views, they call them standard views or pool views aka which side of the building.
Preferred standard views should be looking at landscaping but may include slight views (and sounds) of parking, main building etc.

Can't help on the King, hopefully someone will step up.
But my last stay I got a POR Royal Room that was HA (not fully since a tub), which I didn't need nor request, but I loved the big bathroom!

 

[HopperFan]

We've never staying in anything except moderates, so I was unaware that in anything but moderates it's just a request for a king bed.

In terms of the location of the preferred rooms, the rooms in the back of the 60's by the lake don't seem to be very preferred based on their location, so I thought it was odd that they are so far away but also preferred. I'm not sure I'd be happy if I was in those preferred rooms.

The 60's rooms are a very short walk to the food court and buses. Close enough that 60's standard view (and many which are lake view) are very popular because they are so close, standard rates and some come with lake views. The only reason I don't book those is I drive and logistics from our car to those rooms is longer.

Honestly POP is a fairly small footprint and the longest walk is 7-8 minutes from 80's-90's.

 

[jalpert]

Yes, that is what I was trying to convey We rent a car and that seems like a long walk from the parking lot.

If you were staying preferred (or not), where do you recommend we stay? Close to the car, close to the lobby is what I'm shooting for. Do you have any wisdom like try and be near one lot instead of another because they tend to fill up etc?

The 60's rooms are a very short walk to the food court and buses. Close enough that 60's standard view (and many which are lake view) are very popular because they are so close, standard rates and some come with lake views. The only reason I don't book those is I drive and logistics from our car to those rooms is longer.

Honestly POP is a fairly small footprint and the longest walk is 7-8 minutes from 80's-90's.

 

[HopperFan]

We've stayed all over except for 60's because I don't think preferred is worth the money and the walk to parking lot/car.

Our favorite buildings are the 50's Standard. Lake View. I do not like Pool Views. They are always very quiet. Not too bad a walk to car. If you book a pool view or standard pool view your walk could be a little bit shorter. From where we stay never more than 5 minutes to the food court/buses.

I do not like the 80's and 90's although very close to parking. I don't like looking at the parking, I don't want to walk that far nor cut through or walk around parking to get to main hub and most of all they put most the groups in those buildings. I would stick to 50's, 60's or 70's. Some 70's, have a practically preferred location but a long walk to car.

But if you are requesting a King you might have to be more flexible on location.

 

[jalpert]

Is pop a particular noise resort? We are tolerant but don't love noise, should we make fining a quiet room a priority?

I just keep hearing how big the resort is, but maybe it's not as big as it seems.

We've stayed all over except for 60's because I don't think preferred is worth the money and the walk to parking lot/car.

Our favorite buildings are the 50's Standard. Lake View. I do not like Pool Views. They are always very quiet. Not too bad a walk to car. If you book a pool view or standard pool view your walk could be a little bit shorter. From where we stay never more than 5 minutes to the food court/buses.

I do not like the 80's and 90's although very close to parking. I don't like looking at the parking, I don't want to walk that far nor cut through or walk around parking to get to main hub and most of all they put most the groups in those buildings. I would stick to 50's, 60's or 70's. Some 70's, have a practically preferred location but a long walk to car.

But if you are requesting a King you might have to be more flexible on location.

 

[HopperFan]

Is pop a particular noise resort? We are tolerant but don't love noise, should we make fining a quiet room a priority?

All the value resorts can have noisy moments mostly related to pools, so summer or tour group season can be worse. The lake view rooms are exceptionally quiet. But you know my noisiest Disney hotel stay was a deluxe with interior hall and pool view room so you just never know.

I just keep hearing how big the resort is, but maybe it's not as big as it seems.

It's not that big, it is laid out very well. I think it gets the bigger name because it does have many more guest rooms than any of the Allstars. BUT it has 4 story buildings instead of 3 story buildings so it has the same number of buildings. It does have only one food court although seems somewhat larger than others, and one bus stop - but we've never had issues other than during BTG season and that would affect Allstars as well.

The farthest walks at POP are tighter than many walks at Movies and shorter than standard walks at Music. They also planted POP more lush than the others plus a lake so it is a pleasant resort to walk around, more relaxing to us. It also has 3 big pools instead of 2.

A real plus is walking over bridge to AoA, great to walk around and awesome food court. Great food and served on real plates with real silverware. There are also fireworks views at POP.

 

[DebbieB]

We booked a preferred room at Pop. We did this because we were under the impression that we would be close to the lobby / parking if we did. We were also under the impression that we would be able to choose a king bed as opposed to twins if we wanted.

I've come to find out that preferred is more about the view than the location, which is fine. However, according to touring plans, every preferred room with a king bed has ADA functionality like a roll in shower or hearing assistance. Is this true? If it is, what now? We paid for the preferred, we would be very happy with a variety of locations with a king bed, how should we handle this.

Thanks.

It's two double beds.

 

[lanejudy]

As mentioned, King beds are just a request at POP and not guaranteed. There are a few King rooms that are not "ADA accessible" in any manner, but they are fairly limited in number. Accessible King rooms may or may not have a roll-in shower, some have a tub. So while it's possible to get a regular King, it's more likely to get an accessible King, assuming you are assigned one at all, as you don't necessarily get to "choose" a king vs two beds.

I don't believe ALL rooms in the 60's section are preferred, I think the rooms facing the lake are standard (non-preferred). That said, I agree that some preferred rooms aren't exactly "close" to parking or Classic Hall. To get closest to both parking and Classic Hall, you might request Building 10. But recognize that a building request, like king bed request, is not guaranteed. You could end up in Building 10 but not with a King. The buildings with the most rooms closet to parking appear to be non-preferred in the 80's and 90's section, but those are further from Classic Hall and therefore not designated Preferred. In my experience, none of the rooms at POP are really that far from Classic Hall/food court/buses. Even with a young child we easily walked from the backside of 50's within 5 minutes; it might be a few minutes longer from the 80's section.

Since you are now aware that your initial intention with booking a Preferred room at POP is not guaranteed, I suggest re-evaluating your situation. Decide if you are willing to compromise on either the king bed or the location. If yes, make a request for what you MOST want to have. If you aren't able to compromise on either item, you might reconsider the resort and change your reservation to a moderate that allows greater chance of booking exactly what you want.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[jalpert]

Thanks for all the input guys.

In hindsight, yes, we probably wouldn't have booked preferred. We leave in 6 days, so I think we'll just go down and see what happens. Two double beds is pretty rough, I wouldn't mind a king non preferred room if they had one that works better for us.

I just got very surprised when I looked at the king bed preferred inventory and besides it being very very small, all ADA accessible. I'm sure we'll figure it out, and it'll work out fine, but it never hurts having as much info as possible before hand.

As mentioned, King beds are just a request at POP and not guaranteed. There are a few King rooms that are not "ADA accessible" in any manner, but they are fairly limited in number. Accessible King rooms may or may not have a roll-in shower, some have a tub. So while it's possible to get a regular King, it's more likely to get an accessible King, assuming you are assigned one at all, as you don't necessarily get to "choose" a king vs two beds.

I don't believe ALL rooms in the 60's section are preferred, I think the rooms facing the lake are standard (non-preferred). That said, I agree that some preferred rooms aren't exactly "close" to parking or Classic Hall. To get closest to both parking and Classic Hall, you might request Building 10. But recognize that a building request, like king bed request, is not guaranteed. You could end up in Building 10 but not with a King. The buildings with the most rooms closet to parking appear to be non-preferred in the 80's and 90's section, but those are further from Classic Hall and therefore not designated Preferred. In my experience, none of the rooms at POP are really that far from Classic Hall/food court/buses. Even with a young child we easily walked from the backside of 50's within 5 minutes; it might be a few minutes longer from the 80's section.

Since you are now aware that your initial intention with booking a Preferred room at POP is not guaranteed, I suggest re-evaluating your situation. Decide if you are willing to compromise on either the king bed or the location. If yes, make a request for what you MOST want to have. If you aren't able to compromise on either item, you might reconsider the resort and change your reservation to a moderate that allows greater chance of booking exactly what you want.

Enjoy your vacation!