POP Century~Unofficially the Grooviest FAQ Thread #7~Sept 2012

[jcarwash]

Which pool is the bar near?

The Petals bar is next to the main Hippy Dippy pool in the 60's section.

 

[eeudj]

Thanks!!

 

[stitchlovestink]

Which pool is the bar near?

The Petals bar is next to the main Hippy Dippy pool in the 60's section.

Petals will be on the right...just down about a half a dozen steps as you come out of the back side of Classic Hall... the Hippy Dippy pool will be straight ahead.

 

[amryn21]

Would POP be a good resort to stay at with a 3 year old? Also, is POP usually available for any discounts offered? My hubby gave me a budget and we can stay at POP within our budget and was just wondering about those two things.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Would POP be a good resort to stay at with a 3 year old? Also, is POP usually available for any discounts offered? My hubby gave me a budget and we can stay at POP within our budget and was just wondering about those two things.

I think yes to both questions. Our 2 yr old niece stayed with us Pop in January and she loved it! She loved looking at all the big icons and the pools.

We got a room only discount at Pop when we went in January and it was included on the spring and summer offers as well

 

[EpcotBill]

Is the posted quiet time at the pools still 10:00 PM?

 

[stitchlovestink]

Is the posted quiet time at the pools still 10:00 PM?

I thought it was posted as at least 11pm but I want to say I saw midnight at the bowling pin pool. I'm almost certain it was later than 10, but I just can't remember. For sure if it was 11pm or 12am. Either way I know people were still in the pool at midnight. HTH!

 

[amryn21]

I think yes to both questions. Our 2 yr old niece stayed with us Pop in January and she loved it! She loved looking at all the big icons and the pools.

We got a room only discount at Pop when we went in January and it was included on the spring and summer offers as well

Thanks.

 

[Janet B]

I wanted to introduce myself as ill be visiting Pop next month! My 60 yr old aunt (who is also my godmother) asked if I'd like to go on a vacation as her husband doesn't travel (last year we went to Vegas w/ my mom, sister, 2 aunts & cousin-this was my aunts 1st vacation out of town in 20+ yrs & now has vacation bug). So of course I suggested my beloved Disney, & my aunt was worried it wouldn't work in her budget, & I let her know Disney can fit any budget, so I suggested Pop! I just booked us sunday (last day to take advantage of spring deal) at Pop 5/26-5/30 w/4 days standard tickets & dining plus plan! This will be my aunts 1st trip to Disney!

My aunt had asked me last month about going on a vacation, but I didn't want to commit as DH just graduated in Dec 2012 with 2nd degree & has been looking for new job so I didn't want spend until he found new job. Well 2 wks ago he was offered new management job & all of his background screening came back on Friday & has an official start date so DH gave me the green light!! He also found out he can take vacation after 6 mos so we can go this fall!!

Problems:
1. Finding inexpensive flights
2. Finding dinner reservations as things seemed booked

So the things I am now considering:
1. Upgrading tickets to AP when I arrive
2. Booking bounce back while at Pop for fall trip w/ DH to YC or BC

Any thoughts on AP/bounce back?

Thanks for listening to my long rambling story, I just wanted to give you full background story.

Any Pop advice I need to know? We stayed at Pop 1 night last year, & really didn't to explore hotel all that much.

Hi! Welcome to the POP FAQ Thread!! As Kelly suggested, look for off meal times… also perhaps consider booking a signature meal (uses 2 TS credits). Try a TS for lunch time or book the last breakfast time...... For dinner at O’hanas there is always a line for walk ups (probably other restaurants have this too)…and the line does move. If you are willing to chance it get there between 5-6pm. We love O'hanas!

Remember to keep checking availability, at the 45 day mark people do cancel…. You are a little over 50 days yourself so keep a close watch. You can often find more availability at the resort restaurants over the parks (with the exception of MK resorts, which are very popular, but still possible.)

The BB from January covers the following 2013 dates (only listing the remaining dates).... Values 25%; mods 30%, deluxe/deluxe villas 35%

8/4-10/5/13,
10/20-11/02/13
11/17-11/23/13
11/30-12/4/13
12/15-12/19/13

On the AP, if you believe you will be returning and plan on having several parks days then consider one. Don’t do it for future discounts. Often times the GP mirrors the AP deals (AP a few percentages higher).. Right now the BB is very good, so be sure to book something before you check out if you believe you may be returning.

At POP, take a stroll down memory lane by the lake, many interesting facts/fun trivia to be seen on the signs on the path.... check out the lobby and look at the shadow boxes, it’s fun to look back and see the fads and news from way back in time!! You can stop by the lobby and do the hustle at 6pm. .

P.S. Congrats to your DH on his recent graduation and his new job!

 

[Janet B]

Well I am finally getting around to posting...
I have been back from POP for about 11 days now. The resort was never at 50% capacity the whole time I was there (3/19-22). The food court was absolutely dead every time we went in there even to fill our mugs which was several times a day. They even had sections closed off...I guess to make it easier on the CMs for cleaning. Some days they even had some of the soda machines covered over too. It was VERY slow!!

Let me know if you have any other questions...

66 days until my next scheduled visit...if I don't go back sooner....

Welcome back stitchlovestink Thanks for all your info! Interesting on the meal plan... only one snack for one CS credit? Wow, not a good deal at all...we typically use all our CS and this makes another reason to do so. Not much value there.

and for low crowds!!! Happy that the rocky beginning to your trip was smoothed over and did not continue....Hope you were able to spend some time wth your DD.

On the cabs... it seems we always see one or one arrives as we wait for a bus. Last year when we had to have a cab (for getting to the train station) I called the day before to arrange one. A good reminder to anyone that knows in advance to simply call ahead to avoid any hassle or disapointment.

You have to wait 66 days until you return? Is that your longest stretch this year? maybe DD will simply stay in the college program forever... one can dream, right??

 

[harris family]

30 days !!!!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

After our first Pop stay in January, we will be returning from September 10-21st!! So excited for Fall at Disney and another stay at Pop. Hopefully this time we'll make it over to explore the 80s and 90s rotfl. Our feet were too tired last time. But we really liked the 50s section. Dbf liked Pop so much he refuses to stay anywhere else!

 

[tracydeech]

The BB from January covers the following 2013 dates (only listing the remaining dates).... Values 25%; mods 30%, deluxe/deluxe villas 35%

8/4-10/5/13,
10/20-11/02/13
11/17-11/23/13
11/30-12/4/13
12/15-12/19/13

On the AP, if you believe you will be returning and plan on having several parks days then consider one. Don’t do it for future discounts. Often times the GP mirrors the AP deals (AP a few percentages higher).. Right now the BB is very good, so be sure to book something before you check out if you believe you may be returning.:

Hi Janet - do you think those dates will be the dates that they offer any discounts to the general public? Like possibly room discounts will come out for November in July. Just curious to what you think about the bb offer dates compared to the dates they may offer discounts on down the pike. I know your not a mind reader haha! I will be at POP nov 12-20.

Thx for any insight

 

[Sandi]

Hi Janet - do you think those dates will be the dates that they offer any discounts to the general public? Like possibly room discounts will come out for November in July. Just curious to what you think about the bb offer dates compared to the dates they may offer discounts on down the pike. I know your not a mind reader haha! I will be at POP nov 12-20.

Thx for any insight

Hey Tracy, Actually Janet does have super-powers. And she only uses them for good.

Typically the BB offers or something similar are offered to the general public eventually. Mary at Mousesavers has a great chart of WDW resort discounts historically offered, so you can kind of see what the discounts were and when they became available. Here is a link: http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codetrends

All we can do is speculate until something is officially offered, however. Maybe Janet will find a magic wand though! (Hi Janet! )

 

[Janet B]

30 days !!!!!

After our first Pop stay in January, we will be returning from September 10-21st!! So excited for Fall at Disney and another stay at Pop. Hopefully this time we'll make it over to explore the 80s and 90s rotfl. Our feet were too tired last time. But we really liked the 50s section. Dbf liked Pop so much he refuses to stay anywhere else!

Smart man.. Will you be going to the halloween party?

Hi Janet - do you think those dates will be the dates that they offer any discounts to the general public? Like possibly room discounts will come out for November in July. Just curious to what you think about the bb offer dates compared to the dates they may offer discounts on down the pike. I know your not a mind reader haha! I will be at POP nov 12-20.

Thx for any insight

Hey Tracy, Actually Janet does have super-powers. And she only uses them for good.

Typically the BB offers or something similar are offered to the general public eventually. Mary at Mousesavers has a great chart of WDW resort discounts historically offered, so you can kind of see what the discounts were and when they became available. Here is a link: http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codetrends

All we can do is speculate until something is officially offered, however. Maybe Janet will find a magic wand though! (Hi Janet! )

Sandi, you flatter me my friend! Thank you! A mind reader and with super powers?? Yeah! I wish! Good thing we have the amazing Mary at Mousesavers to keep up in the loop and up to date!

Tracy, Mary's site has a lot of great info... as Sandi stated, we can only speculate based on past history. Last year there were promos during your November time frame...late fall promos/discounts came out mid July and late August. Also check out the "Discount Rates & Codes" section of the resort thread ... lots of talk about future discounts!

 

[tracydeech]

Thx sandi and Janet ! My airfare and hotel an tix are all booked so I do feel some sense of relief just hoping now for a discount but if one doesn't come then that's okay too! A girl can wish though!!!!!!

 

[bluezy]

I booked two rooms at POP for my family of 5. I requested connecting rooms of course. This is my one and only request. Has anyone ever requested connected rooms and not gotten them? Just curious.

We've stayed at Pop on our last 3 trips and always requested connecting rooms and we've always gotten them. That is the only request I've ever made as I didn't really care where we were located. Two of those 3 trips took place in late June and one was in late May -- fairly busy times as far as crowd levels go. On 2 of those trips, we had 4 "adults" (DH & I along with our 2 sons who were both over the age of 18 but listed as "adult children traveling with the family" on our reservation) and 2 or 3 "kids" (ages 4-8 at the times of travel). I think if that's the only request you make, you'll have a good chance of getting them. Plus, I've read that Pop has the highest number of connecting rooms of all the resorts (probably due to the sheer number of rooms they have). When we checked in on our June 2011 trip, they had us assigned to the exact same rooms that we had been in on our May 2009 trip -- but the rooms weren't ready yet (we arrived around noon). I had mentioned in passing that my youngest daughter had been sick for the entire 2-day car ride to Disney. As soon as the CM saw that our rooms weren't ready yet, he said "Let me see if I can find you something that cleaned and ready so your daughter can lay down and rest." (I didn't mention that my sick child was the one running through the lobby screaming "I want to go to a park!!!! despite having a fever.) I told him that having connecting rooms was really, really important as it was just DH & I with the 3 "little" kids on that trip and we didn't want to split up if we didn't have to. The CM said he understood and found us connecting rooms in a different section. Only one of the rooms was ready at that point, but at least we could get in to that room and let the "sick" child get some rest. So even at a busy time, there seemed to be a few options for connecting rooms.

I will say that I have seen a few people post that they did *not* get connecting when requested though I don't remember all of the details that may have contributed to that happening (time of year, resort, etc.). However, several of them said that the check-in CM was able to get them connecting rooms for the next day (and told them that at check in).

 

[lovesdumbo]

And regarding the question about converting counter service credits into snacks... This is the answer I received... Disney's official policy is that this is not allowed. HOWEVER, if on your CHECKOUT DAY you have CS credits left, if you go to one of the food court mgrs, they will allow you to convert one CS credit to one snack. Not a wise use of your CS credits but it beats letting them expire and getting nothing for them. This is POP's decision and goes against Disney's rules, but they are allowing it. So don't expect it anywhere else. And it MUST BE on your CHECK OUT day.

Can't you use CS credits for a breakfast with 2 sides and a drink-like say a pastry, fruit and drink? Its been a while since I've used DDP. That would seem like a much better deal if you had some CS credits to "burn" on your last day.

 

[Jacoby 46]

We leave Friday!!! I can't believe it is finally here!!! Thanks to everyone here who helped with questions for us, I really appreciate it!! I am so excited!!

 

[KELLY]

We leave Friday!!! I can't believe it is finally here!!! Thanks to everyone here who helped with questions for us, I really appreciate it!! I am so excited!!

Have a great trip!!!