Pop Century Room Renovations

[Veronique]

Check in is in 39 days! Still hope that building 9 is done! Anyone can swing by? I'll take pictures of the renovation when I'm there on august 11 so you'll know where they are at !

 

[bluezy]

I know people want to use an air mattress and a twin won't fit, but Coleman makes a "slim twin" air mattress and it's only 26" wide. My kids use them when camping. We've also used a bunch of them for sleepovers. You can find them several places online. Here is the link to Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-QuickBed-Lite-Slim-Twin-Skinny-Airbed-White/40703442

I'm pretty sure someone confirmed that a standard twin mattress would fit (based on measurements -- not actually putting a mattress there). There is 50" of space between the bed and the window so that's wide enough for a standard mattress. It's the length that makes it a tight fight and mostly blocks the door.

 

[bluezy]

I may have said this before, but I get why they did this layout. For a long time, it has seemed that the 2 big "deal breakers" at POP for many people were the small beds and lack of coffee maker. They figured out how to get 2 Queen beds and a coffee maker into the small square footage, but not without trade-offs.

Now the wall-mounted TV and long, open dresser top means they could have put the coffee maker there, but could you still have put a table and chairs on that wall with the longer dresser?

I've had my ways of doing things, and the new room layout is going to change that. But for me, it will work out, and maybe for the better - but I know that won't be the case for everyone. I'm not sure how POP could have designed the rooms to bring in queen beds (I think the main goal) and allow for families who need extra sleeping surfaces. I guess if they do major remodels to the All-Stars we'll see if they try some different ideas.

I do wonder - and this does not solve everyone's problems - but from the start we thought the Murphy would be a double, and assumed "Murphy" = "uncomfortable." Since it appears the 2 queen mattresses are identical, has anyone tried or considered putting the kids in the stationary bed and the adults sleeping in the Murphy so you could have Kids In Bed and Table Available at the same time? Just wondering.

There is probably a safety issue with putting the coffee maker on the dresser since that piece of furniture appears to be lower to the ground than the shelves on the beverage center. I'm sure they want to keep the coffee maker out of reach of young kids.

 

[Kaytie]

And no table if the bed is down?? Don't care for that at all. I have always loved having the second bed to lay out clothes and other things (purchases, etc). "Stuff" goes on the second bed and my meal gets set down on the table.

Especially for guests not using the second bed, there's plenty of surface room on the dresser to put stuff.

I also think the beverage station should be by the sink, not as far away as the front door.

Disagree. I don't want my coffee maker and perishable food storage any closer to the toilet than absolutely necessary

Not fond of this at all.

What's so great about the Walt Disney World Resort is the more than two dozen on-site sleeping options.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

If they are both queen size the parents can sleep in the Murphy bed.

This might work for a traditional family consisting of two parents with two kids who are full siblings. It doesn't work so well for blended families with step-siblings and/or families with with older (above the age of 10 or so) opposite gender children. When we travel, I share a bed with my daughter.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We were in the standard room section I think it was the 80's section (we were near the computer pool). As said, I was pleasantly surprised how well Pop handled the groups. I was surprised when we checked in to see how many teenage girls groups there were, but it was handled well,

 

[stunticon]

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but can anyone tell me if the coffee maker in the refurbished rooms takes regular grounds or pods?

 

[EveDallas]

So none of the new rooms will have bathtubs at all? That really stinks. My son has balance issues that make standing in a slippery shower dangerous but he doesn't need a handicapped room as he doesn't use a wheelchair.

 

[bluezy]

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but can anyone tell me if the coffee maker in the refurbished rooms takes regular grounds or pods?

They take the pods. I've seen pictures *somewhere* of the pods in the drawer of the beverage center and I saw the instructions on the top of the coffee maker that say, "...place pod in left side..." The coffee makers are Cuisinart.

So none of the new rooms will have bathtubs at all? That really stinks. My son has balance issues that make standing in a slippery shower dangerous but he doesn't need a handicapped room as he doesn't use a wheelchair.

I think *most* of the new rooms will have bathtubs. Some of them definitely do -- there are pictures of the bathroom in this thread somewhere (maybe around page 45ish). Of all the pictures and videos I've seen of the refurbished rooms over the last few weeks, only 1 has had a bathroom with a walk-in shower as opposed to a bathtub. I would make a note on your reservation that you require a room with a tub due to a medical condition.

 

[karly05]

So none of the new rooms will have bathtubs at all? That really stinks. My son has balance issues that make standing in a slippery shower dangerous but he doesn't need a handicapped room as he doesn't use a wheelchair.

There are new rooms with bathtubs. All the videos and nearly all the photos I've seen have the usual tub/shower combo.

Some new rooms have showers only, but we don't know yet what percentage. There was rumor/speculation earlier that tub or shower would be bootable, but no idea if that will happen.

But there are definitely new rooms with tubs.

 

[Kellykins1218]

So none of the new rooms will have bathtubs at all? That really stinks. My son has balance issues that make standing in a slippery shower dangerous but he doesn't need a handicapped room as he doesn't use a wheelchair.

A lot of the new rooms have tubs

 

[KNovacovschi]

Ok so I was on the fence regarding the new rooms and now have changed my mind after seeing pics of finished rooms. I usually book 50's building 1 or 3 however for my solo trip in November I will be requesting a new room. It looks like it will be perfect for a party of 1. I can't wait to see it in person.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks. Stealing this idea for my November 2017 stay!

I was the one who posted about the power bar. After hearing that the renovated rooms have 10 plugs and 10 USB options I'll happily be leaving my power bar at home in September.

 

[jimjenkids]

hate to say we were against doing a value resort, but hoping that if I book POP for a quick December trip that I wont see the resort looking the way it was last December. we were in the 50s area and there was a lot of overgrowth in the building areas that we walked through to get to our rooms. to the extent of almost what you would expect to see in an abandoned area-very unheard of for Disney. mousekeeping wasn't great, so if they offer the card vs having them its a win for me-we tend to be a bit clean and make our beds before we go to the parks anyway. any incite to how this resort is looking now vs this past December would be great. other option would be maybe doing dvc points, but I really like the ease of calling Disney and them taking care of things for me.

 

[Helen Gregson]

Anyone there now able to give an update on progress?

 

[scrappinginontario]

90's completed. 80's close to being completed.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I was the one who posted about the power bar. After hearing that the renovated rooms have 10 plugs and 10 USB options I'll happily be leaving my power bar at home in September.

Sorry about that mistake. I was thinking the same thing. But as of right now not really taking to the new room, so I am planning on that power strip! Thanks again for the idea. lol.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I don't know if you've seen the videos of people opening the Inovabed or have tried one at AoA, but they are extremely simple and easy to open. You can literally do it with one finger on your weakest hand. It takes less effort than opening and closing a sliding door (and there are 2 of those in the rooms). The biggest effort in opening and closing the bed is moving the chairs. And since you're a solo traveler, you won't even have to worry about it since you'll be able to sleep in the other bed and keep that one closed up and use it as the table. Even if you did have to open it/use it, there is plenty of flat surface space in the room to organize your camera and cell phone -- that's one of the huge improvements in the room. Can't help you with where to eat in the room....but there is an ironing board.




Someone on this thread did measure the space and there is room for a twin size mattress between the open Inovabed and the window (and for the record, both beds are queen size). It will partially block the door, though. If you have two kids who don't want to share a bed, you could potentially just keep the Inovabed closed up and use 2 air mattresses instead -- I think they would fit in an "L" shape in that area, especially if one of the kids could use a smaller air mattress. Personally, I wouldn't want to pay for a room where we're using 2 air mattresses while there's an unused bed in the room, but it is a potential solution if you want to stay at Pop. I understand the logistics of having kids share beds. We have 5 kids and by the time they got to be about 10 or 12 years old, they no longer wanted to share a bed in general (and they're all restless sleepers so if they do share a bed, they constantly wake each other up), but they especially didn't want to share a bed with a sibling of the opposite gender. We travel with air mattresses all the time. As far as space for a stroller and pack & play...the pack & play definitely fits in the area between the dresser and vanity area (where the connecting room door is or would be depending on the type of room you have). The stroller would fit in front of the window or between the beverage center and dresser depending on the size. Now, if you have a pack & play, stroller, and need to use an air mattress or two, these rooms are going to be really tight and probably not the right choice for your family. But I'll chime in and say that my sister stayed at POR with an air mattress, stroller, and pack & play and ended up leaving a day early because the room was just too cramped and they were tripping over everything. We never even tried to put 5 of us in one room (when we could) and always just got connecting rooms. Once AoA opened, we started staying in a suite there. We still need air mattresses, but we have plenty of floor space for everything (though our pack & play and stroller days are long behind us ).

Hi Bluezy:

I appreciate your sentiments. I'm going to admit, I have never dug my heels in with an attitude on any subject in the forums, so this is a first, and please know that I am *****ing, but not at you.

I am actually a very health 56 year old woman. I know that putting the bed up and down would not be a problem for me personally. That being said, I still don't think that the room is a traveler friendly design. I don't want to have to put the bed up and down (easy or not). And if I decide to keep it down...I want a table in my room that (to my knowledge) every piece of nothing hotel / motel in the USA has in their standard rooms. I insist that I don't know what they were thinking about. I can only presume this will be the design for the entire resort refurb.... which will be disappointing for my next trip. I may have to upgrade to AOA or POFQ.

What I am pleased about is having the forums to provide me with this info, so I know to request the room that I had in 2015 - in the 50's building by the lake. Actually looking forward to staying in the rooms that are not yet under construction.

Blessings!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Sorry about that mistake. I was thinking the same thing. But as of right now not really taking to the new room, so I am planning on that power strip! Thanks again for the idea. lol.

You're so welcome! It has been a huge help to me on a number of trips! Glad to help.

 

[julesdamom]

Anyone there now able to give an update on progress?

We left this morning and stayed in room 8246 in a renovated room in the 90's section which was amazing!!! Building 9 still has taped plans on each window, but most rooms that I could see looked to have all mattresses and bedding in place, and even towels hanging on the towel racks. So hopefully it won't be long until that building is open also! Let me know if you have any questions about the new rooms! My husband and I loved the new renovations!