POP Century Review

[Unofficial Fan]

DD (age 9) and I stayed at Pop from January 19 - 24. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly from one person's perspective. We stayed in the 50's building close to the parking lot. Feel free to ask specific questions!

THE GOOD

*The theming is spectacular!! I couldn't believe how fun it was to look at all the different things from the different decades. The four story jukebox in a 50's building had a ton of different songs on it - just reading the titles was fun. The supersize statues of things like Lady and the Tramp, Play-Doh, Foos-Ball, etc., were so much fun to look at. Even the little details like the bowling lane markings by the bowling pin pool were so much fun. We took about a half day just to wander around everything and take pictures.

*The cleanest laundromat I've ever seen in my life

*Nice community area with more theming, gift shop, etc. Didn't really use the food court so I can't really comment on that.

*Hula hoops and sidewalk chalk outside the check-in area.

*At check-in I requested a room close to the parking lot (I had a rental car and didn't want a 5-10 minute walk every time we were going to the parks). She gave me a room right next to the stairs - easy easy easy trip to the car.

*Safe and ironing board/iron in room. Cute Disney soaps in room.

*Nice new, clean shower nozzles that are actually easy to change settings.

*They fixed the clogged sink the day I called. (Unfortunately the first night had to brush teeth in the tub, but not that big of a deal.) Nice little shelf on bottom of mirror held all the toiletries even though counter space was just so-so.

*Black out curtains are really blackout! They run on two separate tracks so they truly overlap - no problem with that middle gap.

THE BAD

*They hose off the stairs and the balconies and you get wet from the water dripping! This is actually probably a good since it does keep them clean.

*Tough to figure out how to get back to the hotel from the parks strictly from signs. After the first day I realized you needed to look for The Wide World of Sports signs and follow those. Another tip that took me two days to discover - there's a good map of the whole WDW area on the back of your room map. Much better than the map in the Unofficial Guide which I had been trying to use. (This is pretty minor but just thought I'd mention it.)

*Really small room. For DD and myself it was ok, but I would have been super claustrophobic with another person in it. Then again, I've stayed at the Caribbean Resort and that room didn't seem any bigger.

THE UGLY

*Very thin walls. Even though we were on the end (so only one room on the side of me), we could hear EVERYTHING. Not just luggage being rolled on concrete outside our room, or the toilets and showers, but things like the people next door banging their toothbrush on the sink to get off the extra water. If this bothers you be EXTRA careful to get a top floor room in a quiet area. Thankfully I sleep through most anything so it was okay for me.

*Beds are just a shade better than a rollaway. They LOOK fine, but just don't offer much support. Again, it didn't really bother me because I can sleep on just about anything, but if this bothers you then I would take this into consideration. I had a sore back from the first night.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

*If you want to save money, staying here is cheap and a lot more fun than a cheap hotel offsite!! If you are planning on spending a lot of time in the room, consider upgrading to a different resort.

 

[ead79]

Thanks for the review! We stayed at Pop shortly after it opened and had a really nice time as well. Your comment about the beds was too funny. The bed we got was too supportive--hard as can be! I guess you just never know what you're gonna get.

 

[Sister Spooky]

Thanks for the review. We're planning on staying there when we go in April. We have two boys, ages 10 and 11 and I think they'll love it.

 

[Unofficial Fan]

LOL Elisabeth, too funny that we had opposite experiences with the beds! Maybe mine was just jumped on more.

 

[Glennwood]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to stay there Feb 9-14. I like the top floor idea. Do you hear the people above you otherwise?

 

[littlestix]

I think I might stay there in Oct. My son doesn't care for soda. Is there a food market on site where I can buy some milk and a few other things for our room? I'm thinking of not getting a rental car.

Thanks

 

[Disney On A Dime!]

Great post Unofficial Fan!

I just wanted to second the driving directions to Pop Century. Thank goodness we were given that map at check-in or else my husband would still be driving around the World looking for the resort!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Unofficial Fan, we were there at the same time! Great review. I really loved the resort, too. In fact, it was better than I expected.

I agree about the signage being difficult to follow when you're driving. We made a few hairpin turns trying to get back, but also quickly learned that the signage was better for Wide World of Sports so we followed those, too.

We were in the 50's Bldg (Tramp) closest to the main building on the first floor facing the pool as I'd requested. At one point I considered changing to the 60's area because I like being part of all the activity, but I was told the resort was full so I wasn't able to switch. I wondered about that since it seemed to be a fairly slow time but then again it IS a really good value so it probably really was.

Surprisingly, our room was really quiet when we were there, which was mainly late at night and early in the morning, and one or two afternoons. In 6 nights I only once heard people in the next room (which is why I wondered if the resort was really full). I did find during the day it was noisy outside the room when they were using those water spraying machines, which seemed to be all the time. That noise is annoying but I know it's how they keep things clean, and I know they use them at all the resorts.

I loved the music playing around the resort - 50's in our section and 60's by the Hippie Dippy pool. We also made a special point of watching the CMs do the Twist and the Hustle in the food court. The first morning I called to see where they were going to do it and the Front Desk told me by the HD pool so we waited there. Lo and behold it was in the food court so luckily we didn't miss it but we almost did. Sometimes there's conflicting information but no major problems. I also was slightly bothered by the fact they'd changed the EMH days around so I had to change our itenerary and PSs after our arrival but that wasn't Pop's fault and the people at the desk were very pleasant in helping me sort it all out.

I found the grounds to be spotless and very pleasant. The full size bed was small but not uncomfortable (though nothing like the queen size cushy beds at the deluxes). And even though there were 4 of us - two adults and two 7 yr olds, we didn't mind the room size. A) we weren't there much and B) after two cruises it actually seemed pretty big to us!

I noticed mostly families around as well as many adults and couples without children. We saw one or two school/sports type groups of preteens but that was about it (and those kids were getting yelled at by their chaperone - which I guess was a good thing??). Even though it was chilly there were always people in the pools, even at midnight.

We ate lunch in the food court twice and actually found it to be pretty good. The meatball sub and the parmasean crusted chicken were favorites. Very efficient and even when crowded seemed ok. And I was surprised at how busy the food court was late at night, lots of people eating meals after coming in from the parks.

As far as parking goes, we did find it to be fairly inconvenient as I'd read here before our trip. We used the buses a lot but when we did use the car there never seemed to be any spaces left late at night, at least not any anywhere near our building. So we sometimes had to park in the lot out front (technically the 60's parking area) where there were plenty of spaces and it was a quick walk through the main building to our room.

To me Pop really WAS a great value, and I would definitely stay here again. We paid $1721 for four people for 6 nights, 6 day MYW base tickets and MYW dining (through AAA, no insurance). To me it was a bargain.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

A note on signage at Walt Disney World:

Because we have so many different destinations, it would be impossible to list them all on one sign. As such, we list by Areas. Hence, the MK resort area, the Epcot resort area, AK resort area, and of course the Wide World of Sports area. Once you approach that area, special blue, and green signs detail whats in that specific area. You'll only see the purple road signs for Pop Century once you actually get close to its general area.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A note on signage at Walt Disney World:

Because we have so many different destinations, it would be impossible to list them all on one sign. As such, we list by Areas. Hence, the MK resort area, the Epcot resort area, AK resort area, and of course the Wide World of Sports area. Once you approach that area, special blue, and green signs detail whats in that specific area. You'll only see the purple road signs for Pop Century once you actually get close to its general area.

Tyler, thanks for explaining. I didn't quite understand that as it relates to Pop Century.

P.S. Since you're here: I wanted to say my DH loves your signature and every now and then in seeing a bus he would jokingly say, "hey, do you think that's Tyler"?

One nice commentary on the bus service: in all our trips this was the first we'd ever used the buses so we were newbies in that regard. We found the drivers to be very pleasant, some even shaking our hands as we entered the bus, but always being greeted with a hello. Very nice. And one evening we really messed up leaving our car somewhere that required a "special" bus to take us back to our car. No problem, a bus was there within minutes and carted us back to our original location (don't ask )...

Thanks to you and all of your fellow drivers!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

We work very hard to make sure that you get to where you need to go, in a safe, quick, and efficient manner. It's Magic in Motion!

 

[Sox18Fan]

Hello..

I was also at Pop Century recently. 3 of my girlfriends and I were there January 17th-21st (way too short!) and we had a great time. I really, really enjoyed staying at PC.
We didn't request a certain room but we lucked out. We were also in the 50's building on the 2nd floor facing the Bowling Pool. Walking around, I noticed that I really wouldn't have wanted to stay in the 80's becuase it was so far from the lobby and food court.
Yea, the room was small but we expected it to be but we managed to all fit in. As for the bed conditions, I couldn't say anything becuase I slept on the floor the whole time.
Everyone who worked there was so nice. They brought us a TON of extra pillows and blankets when we asked. They were also so helpfull when it came to getting us a bunch of PSes.
although it was cold, we did go swimming our first night there.
I found the resort to be very quiet at all times. And the food court was pretty good as well. And to answer someone's question...yes, they do have a market in the food court where you can buy all sorts of drinks and snacks, etc.
The busses were really awesome. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes. I would have to say, they are very good about leaving on time. Case in point: my friend and I were coming back from PI and we saw that our bus was idling and getting ready to leave. We ran across the parking lot and got to the bus just in time...for the driver to close the doors and take off even though there weren't many people on the bus. Oh well, I guess we are spoiled from living in the city were most of the busses will open the doors again. But luckily, whomever was working the PI bus area had another bus take us two back to PC.
Another thing..a fridge was delivered to our room by accident. We called and said we didn't want it but no one ever came to pick it up. We called more than once and no one came so we used it. So we got a free fridge. Lucked out on that one!
When the new buildings open up, I hope to go back and stay there.
I do have a question though, when the golden years building opens up, will they have thier own food court and such? If not, it seems an awful long trip across that bridge everytime you want to fill your cup up or something...

:c)
K

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The problem with Downtown Disney, is that there will always be more people walking up to the bus. It's a never ending trickle. At some point, the drivers just have to close the doors and go. Unfortunetly, we cannot open the doors once we've started to leave a stop.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

when the golden years building opens up, will they have thier own food court and such? If not, it seems an awful long trip across that bridge everytime you want to fill your cup up or something...

Hey, Southie person, welcome to the DIS!

Yes, from what I've seen the Golden years will be just like the Classic years with it's own main building and food court, kind of a mirror image. Glad you enjoyed your stay!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The Legendary years will be a mirror image... 10 buildings, multiple pools, with its own Legendary Hall... (food court, check in, etc)

 

[riu girl]

Does anybody have any idea of when Pop Century - Legendary Years will be open??????? We will not be going to WDW until 12/2006 but I wonder if it will be open by then. I am so excited about reading about POP though I would be VERY happy to stay in the part already open!!!!

Suzy V.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I stayed in November and had similar issues that you did. One thing I didn't like was trying to find my car in the parking lot! They really need to number the rows or something. However, I didn't hear any noise from the room next to mine, except for the toilet flushing once. Maybe I just had really quiet neighbors. I thought the bed was very comfortable, but then again, I sleep on a rock-hard mattress at home with springs sticking in my back. lol.

About the DTD bus...we waited about 40 minutes for the bus to come. But the bus service was excellent other than that. Never had to wait long at all for the bus to the parks.

I'm actually planning on staying there again next January.