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

[Marla1106]

Someone had said earlier in the thread that they couldn't get the room cold enough. Our room has been almost to cold. Lol. We had to set the temp for 75. Then when we come back mouse keeping must move it back to 68. Lol then it's freezing. But we keep our house warm anyway.

I have been incredibly impressed with the life guards also at the pool. They are constantly moving and counting ppl.

 

[merbobear]

sigh. yes, techinicaly, you are correct. having healthy options availableis great. doing away with the standard favorites in lieu of "healthy" items is not.
fried chicken is not healthy. fried chicken is delicious! and a definite "mom's night out " favorite.

the whole idea behind "mom's night out" was not the 90's . it was the dawn of the "tv Dinner"!.. a pop culture thing. in the 60s. (and they used to come in the aluminum foil container at the food court, just like in real life back then.)

and if I want to order a whole wheat bun that crumbles and falls apart, I should be able to. but not everyone wants one.

I did hear from Lindsey at guest communications, who is letting the "powers that be" know about me disappointment about the food court changes. if any one else would like some of the favorites to stay, be sure to communicate it to disney.. whenever they make changes (and nothing wrong with change in general) they DO want feedback from their loyal customers!

I am not saying I want your fried chicken to go away. We have never had the mom's night out dinners, but I think they are a fun idea, and I understand where they fit in the theming of the resort, however it only makes business sense for them to have a vegetarian option. Trust me, as a vegetarian I can tell you that often the veggie burger is the *only* hot meal vegetarian option at a restaurant, at Disney or otherwise. I also don't think the veggie burger is a direct replacement for fried chicken. Assuming that they fried it in-house, then they are using different cooking equipment for both of those options, and they could serve each alongside each other without them being in competition for cooking space.

 

[ShellieR]

Does anyone know if Everything POP sells locking pin backs?

 

[Megsie1000]

I just saw locking pin backs there yesterday afternoon - so yes.

Just got back from POP. We had a fabulous room location (especially considering we did not book preferred rooms). We had 5130, 5131 & 5132. Back side of building 5 (in the 60's) facing the lake on the ground floor. It was so easy to get to the building and buses and so quiet! And easy to get the stroller into the room since it was on the ground floor. I appreciated being able to go right out in the morning and spray the sunscreen on the kids so easily since it was ground floor. Loved it. It was my family of 5 in two rooms and my Mom in the other. The only weird thing was that they gave my Mom a connecting room with one of our rooms and the other room was not a connecting room. But no big deal we just switched rooms. We all had annual passes so our tickets were not connected to our room keys anyway.

We did not swim much (we did this trip commando style) but the few times we did the pools were great.

Crowds were weird. AK was incredibly crowded on Sunday but not until the afternoon as we were leaving. It was an 8am opening, which was tough for us to do, but I was so glad we did. Monday at the MK was not bad at all and I was expecting MUCH bigger crowds. Tuesday at Hollywood Studios had long lines for attractions (and long lines EARLY in the day) but it did not feel crowded in the park. Fantasmic was barely filled up at the early show but Rockin' Rollercoaster and ToT had huge queues by 11am. Very strange.

I stayed at POP once before with my Mom in October and really enjoyed the food. This time not so much. I was glad we were not eating there often. We got grocery delivery for breakfast (cannot stand the morning chaos at the food courts). But we did do one dinner (night of arrival) and one lunch (day of departure) in the food court and both were pretty disappointing. I noticed they changed the menu and it was just not good. My husband didn't do much of the parks with us so he ate there a lot more than we did and he had the same assessment. He also said there is somethign wrong with the "flow" and the workers just don't seem to be able to handle the number of people coming through there. Hopefully that is just the change and they need to get used to the new menu items?

Anyway, all in all we really enjoyed our stay. The bus service was outstanding. We had to stand about 1/3 of the time but that is not bad. And we could have waited for another bus to get a seat but we just wanted to get there or back. But I can't fault the bus service. Either we had really good bus karma or the bus service is just really efficient. Either way we were pleased.

I do think maybe the rooms need a spruce up. The tile in the bathrooms is looking old and tired (and not in a good retro way ) But really for the price we paid we felt like the amenities were really good.

 

[tracydeech]

Sounds like you had a great time!!!


You said rooms needed spruced up? I thought the entire resort just got refreshed this past year?

We are going this November and are very excited!

 

[EpcotBill]

Sounds like you had a great time!!!


You said rooms needed spruced up? I thought the entire resort just got refreshed this past year?

We are going this November and are very excited!

Pop's rehab was completed in late 2010, so it's already been two and a half years.

 

[wendylk]

Pop's rehab was completed in late 2010, so it's already been two and a half years.

Plus, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think any tile work was done in the refurb. We were there right after te rooms were redone and the tile looked pretty bad then.

 

[Megsie1000]

Sounds like you had a great time!!!


You said rooms needed spruced up? I thought the entire resort just got refreshed this past year?

We are going this November and are very excited!

It was mostly the bathrooms/vanity area that I noticed looked a bit tired. The bedroom/tvs were ok. My mattress was squeaky but since I had the bed to myself it didn't bother me too much.

The tile and grout are just looking old and tired. Not like "OMG this is disgusting" but more like it just looks dated and a little grimy, KWIM? Not dirty - more just like they need to redo them. I don't believe the 2010 rehab included new bathrooms but I could be wrong.

 

[jcarwash]

Plus, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think any tile work was done in the refurb. We were there right after te rooms were redone and the tile looked pretty bad then.

The tile and grout are just looking old and tired. Not like "OMG this is disgusting" but more like it just looks dated and a little grimy, KWIM? Not dirty - more just like they need to redo them. I don't believe the 2010 rehab included new bathrooms but I could be wrong.

The 2010 refurbs didn't involve the bathrooms. The work in 2010 involved adding the sink area privacy curtain, new flat panel TVs, new TV/dresser hardware, and (I think) -- new bedding, paint and carpeting.

 

[EpcotBill]

The 2010 refurbs didn't involve the bathrooms. The work in 2010 involved adding the sink area privacy curtain, new flat panel TVs, new TV/dresser hardware, and (I think) -- new bedding, paint and carpeting.

Yeah, I think that was about all. We were in a renovated room in September 2010 and there was mold in the grout.

 

[Megsie1000]

Now that I think about it the vanity area was OK. It was the bathroom itself.

And one of our connecting rooms had a bathroom fan that did not turn off. We put the kids in there and it provided a little bit of white noise for them, which was fine. But I can see how that would be annoying if you were bothered by the noise. The bathroom fan switches look original, if you know what I mean.

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

sigh. yes, techinicaly, you are correct. having healthy options availableis great. doing away with the standard favorites in lieu of "healthy" items is not.
fried chicken is not healthy. fried chicken is delicious! and a definite "mom's night out " favorite.

the whole idea behind "mom's night out" was not the 90's . it was the dawn of the "tv Dinner"!.. a pop culture thing. in the 60s. (and they used to come in the aluminum foil container at the food court, just like in real life back then.)

and if I want to order a whole wheat bun that crumbles and falls apart, I should be able to. but not everyone wants one.

I did hear from Lindsey at guest communications, who is letting the "powers that be" know about me disappointment about the food court changes. if any one else would like some of the favorites to stay, be sure to communicate it to disney.. whenever they make changes (and nothing wrong with change in general) they DO want feedback from their loyal customers!

I just sent a note to Guest Communications. I'm so sad that Mom's Night out isn't available anymore. I have very fond memories of eating TV dinners out of those tin foil containers as a child. I also mentioned my son's favorite, Shrimp Lo Mein. Hopefully, I'll hear back from them.

 

[smidgy]

I just sent a note to Guest Communications. I'm so sad that Mom's Night out isn't available anymore. I have very fond memories of eating TV dinners out of those tin foil containers as a child. I also mentioned my son's favorite, Shrimp Lo Mein. Hopefully, I'll hear back from them.

thanks! actually, the mom's night out is still available. just not the FRIED chicken.
they also did away with the shrimp lo mein, and the chicken penne alfredo.

not sure what else. I haven't been there since the changes. we must have caugth the tail end of the "good stuff" the end of APril!

to express your disappointment:
wdw.guest.communication@disneyworld.com

 

[Erinmc3]

Someone had said earlier in the thread that they couldn't get the room cold enough. Our room has been almost to cold. Lol. We had to set the temp for 75. Then when we come back mouse keeping must move it back to 68. Lol then it's freezing. But we keep our house warm anyway.

I have been incredibly impressed with the life guards also at the pool. They are constantly moving and counting ppl.

TOTALLY agree about the lifeguards!! We commented many times at what a great job they were doing. Like you said...constant movement and counting.

 

[stitchlovestink]

thanks! actually, the mom's night out is still available. just not the FRIED chicken.
they also did away with the shrimp lo mein, and the chicken penne alfredo.

not sure what else. I haven't been there since the changes. we must have caugth the tail end of the "good stuff" the end of APril!

to express your disappointment:
wdw.guest.communication@disneyworld.com

YUP you did!! you got in on the tail end before the changes!! The changeover took place effective May 1st.

 

[smidgy]

TOTALLY agree about the lifeguards!! We commented many times at what a great job they were doing. Like you said...constant movement and counting.

ITA! what a great bunch of kids. I say "kids" cause they look so young to me, but they are SO!!! professional! well trained.

can you imagine how hard it must be to just stare at the pool and the people in it for such a long period of time? and not get distracted?

I saw 2 separate instances this last april trip. at pop, in the bowling pin pool there was a grandma sitting near the steps onthe end nearest the food court . 2 granddaughters were in the pool. about 4 and 7. no life jackets, but the 7 year old obviously didn't need one. but the 4 year old (ages are my guesstimation) abviously did. the water came up to her chin where she was at, and she was struggling.. the grandmas was calmly teling the older girl to help the other one! the grandma didn't get in at all! a life guard dove in IMMEDIATELY and swan to the girl.. the girl was fine, but it only takes a few seconds to drown. and it's usually not with a big fanfare, usually very quietly!

if you saw your granddaughter strugging at all in the water, wouldn't you walk over and help?

then at the nemo pool at AOA, similar scenario.. parents trying to get the little one to realize whe is ok.. she was NOT ok! giving the older one(in the water) a life jacket to
give to the little one, struggling.. ok, not strugglin a LOT, but still struggling. the parents were, like, "you'r eok, just take the life jacket, you'll be fine" huh?
again lifeguard to the rescue.
what kind of "teaching moments" were these? if the life guards hadn't been there I would have jumped in in either situation!

 

[musicmom3331]

5 sleeps 'til POP!

 

[sweetpea29488]

Just had to say that we are so excited. We'll be there on Sunday!!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

We are arriving on Sunday too! So excited to go to Disney, it has been 2 years since our last trip.

I am glad to hear about the lifeguards being extra vigilant. My kids love the pool but I get so anxious trying to watch them.

 

[EpcotBill]

We are arriving on Sunday too! So excited to go to Disney, it has been 2 years since our last trip.

I am glad to hear about the lifeguards being extra vigilant. My kids love the pool but I get so anxious trying to watch them.

In August 2011 my nephew get kicked in the teeth in the bowling pin pool. He was crying and it was obvious he was bleeding from the mouth. The lifeguard did NOTHING. I swam over to my nephew and got him out of the water. My wife asked the lifeguard why he didn't do anything and he said "kids cry in the pool all the time and it didn't seem like he was drowning". He wasn't going to do anything but my wife insisted he call for medical help. He reluctantly did while rolling his eyes and never getting off his chair. My nephew lost one tooth, another was loose and he needed stitches in his lip.

Don't depend on the lifeguards to watch or help your kids.