POP Century~Unofficially the Grooviest FAQ Thread #8~July 2013

[chrishatton]

This morning Magical Express was easy I had my voucher in hand, they scanned it 3 times between entering the line and getting on the bus. No one even asked about magic bands. At check in they were ready and waiting! Also the wifi at Pop and right now at Animal Kingdom is working great(for Canadians and others who rely on wifi for access to MDE app on their phone or iPod).

That is great news, hope it continues. Have a great stay!

 

[kastoney]

That doesn't mean anything. There were several reports last month of guests receiving letters despite the fridge replacement being complete at their resort. I believe this is just Disney's way of trying to cover their behinds with a general letter to everyone.

Here now and our frigid broken but there are some sitting outside in the hallway. Will let ya know if we get a replacement while here.

 

[shyjade]

Here now and our frigid broken but there are some sitting outside in the hallway. Will let ya know if we get a replacement while here.

I'll cross my fingers for you!!

 

[Flynnismine]

Here now and our frigid broken but there are some sitting outside in the hallway. Will let ya know if we get a replacement while here.

What bldg and floor are you on if you dont mind me asking

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I just completed a survey regarding my stay at POP. Some of the questions were about the refrigerator. I also commented on the food court, including the menu and towel animals.

 

[sjhanksaz]

So if you sign up for a FP+ for a show like Fantasmic what actually happens?

Do they let you in first / early for a better viewing spot? If I don't have a FP for it I can still see it right?

 

[Liberator]

we returned home today after 16 nights in Orlando

our last three nights were at POP
I stayed at All Star Sports so I knew what to expect about the room in general.

we had a preferred pool view and stayed in room 5364 (3rd floor)

it was VERY noisy, yes. We knew when we booked it. But around 11pm the noise level gets down. We had no issues with people being too loud in the pool at night and slept very well. The beds were very comfortable.

Housekeeping did a great job, we had a lot of towels and the room was always clean.

we stayed at Wilderness Lodge before and thought that one should not compare resorts of different levels. POP is a different world than WL, there is nothing to compare. We love staying at POP, being so close to the food court when staying at a preferred pool view is very nice.

the best thing was that we were able to check in at about 9 am

love the loud music at the pool, they played a lot of Roxette etc.
you could here it in the room which I thought was great.

for people having issues with noises, stay away from this resort and especially preferred pool view. the food court and the front desk was like a busy mall everyday. but this was not a negative point for us.

there were a lot of love bugs at the bus stops...


At POP we saw many people driving around in scooters having obviously no mobility issues (getting off, walking around)...never seen something like this before. Is this only at Disney or a national thing with these scooters? It seemed to us that it is common courtesy to have a scooter. Got bumped by them several times in stores

200kg+ people sitting in a scooter, drinking a large coke and eating cupcakes and cheesecake were another thing. A pain for all the people waiting in line at the bus stops. I do not want to be offensive, but this is just what we noticed...especially at Pop.


all in all we would book this resort again! My mate was very amazed by this resort, he liked the pools and all the icons.

maybe I will post some pictures later

edit:
our fridge was not working. After the first day we had a new fridge in the room, they replaced them in the morning at all the rooms on our floor. But: it was not working as well. No problem for us as we had nothing to store in them.


forgot the most important thing:
MAGIC BANDS
our costumized bands were waiting at the resort as they do not ship international.
everything worked fine, we have had no problem with them. I made FP+ reservations before, used the kiosks in the parks to change some things last minute, everything was fine.

as stated above we stayed at the WL before, so we had the WL room keys, the POP room keys and the FP+ reservations.
With both room key cards we were able to get regular FP+, so we had a whole bunch of FP everday. We gave a lot of them to other people.

 

[rileyroo120]

I am curious too. When you have a FP+ for fantasmic, wishes, etc. How does that work?

 

[jaceraden]

32day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Us too!!!!!!!

 

[Susiec]

23 days

 

[heidihoho50]

Can you tell me how far out you are? I'm wondering when fireworks and parades will start showing up for me. TIA.

Yeah no parades or fireworks would come up. Although fantastic was there!

 

[puffingirl]

Was in a rush earlier and forgot to add that it was standard bedding (not the new triple sheeting thing) in our room. It was our first trip and I was concerned about the waits for buses but the transportation was very easy and waits were all reasonable.

 

[chrishatton]

Was in a rush earlier and forgot to add that it was standard bedding (not the new triple sheeting thing) in our room. It was our first trip and I was concerned about the waits for buses but the transportation was very easy and waits were all reasonable.

Transportation news is great. Hope the weather is with you, have a great visit!

 

[Disneylover99]

So if you sign up for a FP+ for a show like Fantasmic what actually happens?

Do they let you in first / early for a better viewing spot? If I don't have a FP for it I can still see it right?

I am curious too. When you have a FP+ for fantasmic, wishes, etc. How does that work?

For Fantasmic you get a 15 or 20 minute window, so I think mine was to show up between 7:55 pm - 8:15pm for the 8:30pm show. We showed up at 8:15 and we were brought to the seating area right in the centre of the show. We were literally the only people in our entire section. This was in August though so I'm sure it's much fuller now. All of the other sections were packed.

You can certainly see Fantasmic without FP+ but you would need to line up earlier.

MSEP and Wishes also had a 15 minute window to arrive and great viewing. Totally worth it IMO.

 

[heidihoho50]

Thats awesome. I'll warn you though, it's maddening. I've been switching my FP's around for the past 2 weeks and just when I think I have them perfect, something new is added for me to pick from (Fantasmic, Illumntns, princess fairytale hall) and then its back to reworking them around the new option.....I just want it to stop, LOL.

Thanks for the warning!!

 

[heidihoho50]

So if you sign up for a FP+ for a show like Fantasmic what actually happens?

Do they let you in first / early for a better viewing spot? If I don't have a FP for it I can still see it right?

There will be a special line for fast passes. There is a special section reserved for seating. Apparently the seats are better then Fantasmic dining package!

 

[aym4Him]

You can change or add fp+ at kiosks in the parks. Check to see if different times are available as well. You should be able to do all of this now.

Thanks! We'll probably be the ones changing them from w/in the parks

So, no one has any suggestions for room location? I did do a search last night and it turned up a few threads on the topic. Just trying to go through this massive thread again is daunting!

When I called (in July), I said 50's or 60's b/c that's just what a friend had told me (she's stayed in those bldgs before). I didn't know you could say what floor or request close to transportation, etc. DH says 1st floor (we will have a stroller so definitely would want to take an elevator up and down at the beginning and end of the day) but I wondered if that would be crazy noisy (though we don't have a pool view, so would it matter?).

The question is, do I leave it up to chance or do I call or do online checkin and put requests on there?

Confession: I'm not big on having choices b/c I am afraid of messing up.

 

[sjhanksaz]

For Fantasmic you get a 15 or 20 minute window, so I think mine was to show up between 7:55 pm - 8:15pm for the 8:30pm show. We showed up at 8:15 and we were brought to the seating area right in the centre of the show. We were literally the only people in our entire section. This was in August though so I'm sure it's much fuller now. All of the other sections were packed.

You can certainly see Fantasmic without FP+ but you would need to line up earlier.

MSEP and Wishes also had a 15 minute window to arrive and great viewing. Totally worth it IMO.

Great info

Do they have a regular FP machine I could use? That way I could save my FP+ for the rides

 

[dansdad]

Great info

Do they have a regular FP machine I could use? That way I could save my FP+ for the rides

Not for Fantasmic. It's currently FP+ only.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Thanks! We'll probably be the ones changing them from w/in the parks

So, no one has any suggestions for room location? I did do a search last night and it turned up a few threads on the topic. Just trying to go through this massive thread again is daunting!

When I called (in July), I said 50's or 60's b/c that's just what a friend had told me (she's stayed in those bldgs before). I didn't know you could say what floor or request close to transportation, etc. DH says 1st floor (we will have a stroller so definitely would want to take an elevator up and down at the beginning and end of the day) but I wondered if that would be crazy noisy (though we don't have a pool view, so would it matter?).

The question is, do I leave it up to chance or do I call or do online checkin and put requests on there?

Confession: I'm not big on having choices b/c I am afraid of messing up.

Well since no one else has stepped up to offer advice, here is my opinion. I spent 38 nights at POP earlier this year visiting DD (CM). I always stayed in the 50's or 60's and on ground floor. I was usually in a std rrom but sometimes was upgraded to a preferred. I NEVER had a problem with ground flr being too noisy and I was there in Jan (MLK jr & marathon weekend which were 100% booked- prob the busiest of all my stays), March (around spring break), May, June, and July (week of the 4th). I stayed in the 50's way more than 60"s....I LOVE the 50's section!!! It is an awesome location!! If you don't need to stop to refill your mug, you can walk around the front of the bldg to get to the bus stops pretty quickly.
I always call in my requests....I don't care much for online checkin and have never found it to save any time. Sometimes that line is longer, sometimes it's not. I don't put charging privileges on my room key, so I definitely don't like how it wants a CC#! But that is just me.
So there's my opinion/advice. Good Luck! Hope you have a great trip!!