arizonacolbys
Owner of 2 Crazy Labs!
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2002
- Messages
- 2,280
Well, we are back (1 1/2 weeks ago now 
) from our 1st stay at POP Century. I have to say that we really Loved this resort! 
We even got to stay an extra day with Jeanne! 
Just thought I'd mention some of the things we noticed during our 12 night stay -
We checked in around 12:30 on Weds 9/15 - probably waited 1/2 hour or so to check-in. The line was a bit longer than I had expected, but I think it was just the time of day it was. No big deal. We were very happy once we got to the counter though & got a great room with everything we wanted. At the desk I asked if we could get a (NS) room in the 50's section, top floor & w/a view of the lake - our wishes were granted & our room was even available immediately!
This was great news - so, we unloaded the rental car & checked out our room.
Our room was very fresh & clean & we enjoyed the cute decor. I must say that during our entire 12 night stay we never once heard our neighbors talking, or much noise at all from anywhere. The only complaint I have is our neighbors that insisted on going in & out, and in & out again with their door lock-bar open so the door consistently slammed. They were only there during the last 2 nights of our trip (they were escaping the hurricane from the coast.) Definitely not the fault of the POP - I just wish people would realize how loud this really is when your neighbors are trying to sleep.
We ended up swimming almost every afternoon in the hot September heat. We swam in the Bowling Pin pool twice, but chose the larger Hippie Dippie Pool every other time. For some reason the water seemed warmer in the larger pool. (Not sure if it's possible or not.)
We really enjoyed the POP Century Food court. We purchased our refillable mugs on arrival day & got great use out of them the entire trip. We ate lunch/dinner at the food court 3-4 times & got snacks in the evenings many other times. The food was better than your standard fast food type restaurants IMHO. My hubby had a Turkey Panini sandwich that was excellent & I enjoyed the Penne Pasta there. The pizza isn't gourmet by any means, but is pretty decent for this type of pizza.
Jeanne decided to pay us a visit while at the POP. We didn't end up finding out that the MCO airport was closing on Saturday until almost midnight Friday. At that point, it seemed difficult to try & get out early (especially since Jeanne's path had been so erratic.) We were scheduled to fly out Sunday afternoon, but didn't know yet how long the airport would remain closed. I called our airline (Continental) Fri night at 11:30 & she didn't even know the airport was closing Sat. So, we decided that we didn't want to end the vacation early & have to leave in a mad rush. We decided to ride out Jeanne at the POP. My only complaint with this entire process is the fact that we had to check back in 2-3 separate times. Apparently, when adding a night to your ressie, they must issue you new keys. The 1st time I waited in line I was put on the "waiting list" to stay an extra night (although, I was told I was "guaranteed" a room & not to worry about anything.) Then later we had to go back down (& wait in line again) & get new keys. This was actually the 3rd set of keys for us due to our ressie being split in 2 originally.
Overall, I think we're happy with our decision to wait out Jeanne. She was the only way that we had one entire day to relax at the resort! We purchased a Disney board game at the gift shop to play & POP played Disney movies on 3 different channels continuously on Sat - Sun. We stockpiled junk food in our room on Sat night (because the food court would be closed Sun.) All of the ice machines were out of ice by 7 pm Sat - but, the food court began giving out free bags of ice - which we got. The funnest surprise at the POP during the hurricane was the characters we met in the lobby. Sat night & Sun night - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto & Goofy were in the lobby for pics. They were a lot of fun to see at the resort. Overall, where we were, the storm wasn't bad. Lots of wind & rain. I think we were still asleep when the worst part of the storm passed over us. Overall, I thought that Disney & POP Century handled the hurricane very well.
Sorry this post got so long - we enjoyed the POP so much that we'll be staying there again in January when we go down to visit my parents in FL for the week. We can't wait!!!
Please feel free to ask me questions - thanks for reading!!
) from our 1st stay at POP Century. I have to say that we really Loved this resort! We even got to stay an extra day with Jeanne! Just thought I'd mention some of the things we noticed during our 12 night stay - We checked in around 12:30 on Weds 9/15 - probably waited 1/2 hour or so to check-in. The line was a bit longer than I had expected, but I think it was just the time of day it was. No big deal. We were very happy once we got to the counter though & got a great room with everything we wanted. At the desk I asked if we could get a (NS) room in the 50's section, top floor & w/a view of the lake - our wishes were granted & our room was even available immediately!
This was great news - so, we unloaded the rental car & checked out our room.Our room was very fresh & clean & we enjoyed the cute decor. I must say that during our entire 12 night stay we never once heard our neighbors talking, or much noise at all from anywhere. The only complaint I have is our neighbors that insisted on going in & out, and in & out again with their door lock-bar open so the door consistently slammed. They were only there during the last 2 nights of our trip (they were escaping the hurricane from the coast.) Definitely not the fault of the POP - I just wish people would realize how loud this really is when your neighbors are trying to sleep.
We ended up swimming almost every afternoon in the hot September heat. We swam in the Bowling Pin pool twice, but chose the larger Hippie Dippie Pool every other time. For some reason the water seemed warmer in the larger pool. (Not sure if it's possible or not.)
We really enjoyed the POP Century Food court. We purchased our refillable mugs on arrival day & got great use out of them the entire trip. We ate lunch/dinner at the food court 3-4 times & got snacks in the evenings many other times. The food was better than your standard fast food type restaurants IMHO. My hubby had a Turkey Panini sandwich that was excellent & I enjoyed the Penne Pasta there. The pizza isn't gourmet by any means, but is pretty decent for this type of pizza.
Jeanne decided to pay us a visit while at the POP. We didn't end up finding out that the MCO airport was closing on Saturday until almost midnight Friday. At that point, it seemed difficult to try & get out early (especially since Jeanne's path had been so erratic.) We were scheduled to fly out Sunday afternoon, but didn't know yet how long the airport would remain closed. I called our airline (Continental) Fri night at 11:30 & she didn't even know the airport was closing Sat. So, we decided that we didn't want to end the vacation early & have to leave in a mad rush. We decided to ride out Jeanne at the POP. My only complaint with this entire process is the fact that we had to check back in 2-3 separate times. Apparently, when adding a night to your ressie, they must issue you new keys. The 1st time I waited in line I was put on the "waiting list" to stay an extra night (although, I was told I was "guaranteed" a room & not to worry about anything.) Then later we had to go back down (& wait in line again) & get new keys. This was actually the 3rd set of keys for us due to our ressie being split in 2 originally.
Overall, I think we're happy with our decision to wait out Jeanne. She was the only way that we had one entire day to relax at the resort!
We purchased a Disney board game at the gift shop to play & POP played Disney movies on 3 different channels continuously on Sat - Sun. We stockpiled junk food in our room on Sat night (because the food court would be closed Sun.) All of the ice machines were out of ice by 7 pm Sat - but, the food court began giving out free bags of ice - which we got. The funnest surprise at the POP during the hurricane was the characters we met in the lobby. Sat night & Sun night - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto & Goofy were in the lobby for pics. They were a lot of fun to see at the resort. Overall, where we were, the storm wasn't bad. Lots of wind & rain. I think we were still asleep when the worst part of the storm passed over us. Overall, I thought that Disney & POP Century handled the hurricane very well. Sorry this post got so long - we enjoyed the POP so much that we'll be staying there again in January when we go down to visit my parents in FL for the week. We can't wait!!!
Please feel free to ask me questions - thanks for reading!! 
Oh well there's always next time! We are going back just DH and I in either late Jan. or February. When are you going arizonacolbys?? 
Are the pools at POP warm enough, on a normal day, in December? My kids really would like to go swimming.
