Pop Century Value Resort ???

[chaznabby]

Hello,

Planning on staying at Pop during our February 2006 trip. How do you rate this hotel? Pros and Cons? Is there a huge difference in standard view and preferred view, other than price? How are the rooms? How is the Disney Transportation? Thanks!!

 

[minnie61650]

Hello,

Planning on staying at Pop during our February 2006 trip. How do you rate this hotel? Pros and Cons? Is there a huge difference in standard view and preferred view, other than price? How are the rooms? How is the Disney Transportation? Thanks!!

I have never stayed at POP because I have had such fun experiences at the ALL Stars and such wonderful bus service I decided to I'd just rather stay there.
I have heard a lot of good things about POP. People love those giant icons.
At the value hotels the preferred rooms are in the buildings which are closer to the food couts and bus stops. They cost about $12 more a night.
You cannot book a certain view at the values. You can however request a certain building or floor or ask for a quiet area. These are just requests.

Pop is newer than The All Star resorts but the bus rides fom the All Star resorts are shorter than those from POP.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-POP buses---CBR buses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 25 min-----20 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 20 min-----15 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----12 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------15min-------20 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.
I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.
A lot of people feel the Magic at POP also.
Those huge icons are just PURE DISNEY!

The All Star resorts have 1960 rooms each.
Pop has 2,880rooms.
That means more people in the pools,food court and in line waiting for the bus at POP.
When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP and the 2 POPs will have the same # of rooms as the 3 All Stars.

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.


I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Have a great time at Disney!
Linda

 

[aubriee]

I was one of the people who didn't think I would like POP. However, I knew I was making four trips to WDW this year, so knew it made sense to stay at POP during my solo trip in May. The more I looked at those giant icons, the more I cringed. Finally I decided to rent DVC points for Sun-Thurs and then bookend the trip with two days at POP before and after my BWV stay. I was pleasantly surprised by POP. In fact, I fell in love with it. I had no problem or regret moving back over to POP after my BWV stay. The atmosphere there is just so happy and upbeat. Everyone there (guests as well as CMs) just seemed happy to be there.

The preferred buildings are the 60's, but I would not pay extra to be there. I requested 50's or 70's and got third floor Building 1 (Lady's) and got a corner room right next to the bowling pin stairwell. It was a perfect location. Because people with strollers had to walk on down to the elevators and because my room was on the end I never heard a soul while I was there. Using the stairs, my room was only 2-3 minutes from the main building. I was closer than just about anyone in the 60's Preferred building. I could stand outside my room and see the 50's bowling pin pool and the 60's Hippy Dippy pool, but both were far enough away that I never heard any pool noise.

The 70's would be a little closer to the buses though, as they are on the opposite end of the main building from the 50's. The only decade I would not want to stay in would be the 80's or 90's, as they seem a little distant. Buses were great. I don't think I ever waited more than 5 or 8 minutes and never had to stand on a bus. In fact the only time I remember anyone standing was one night after MK, but it was only a few people. POP buses come very frequently.

The rooms were OK--clean and fresh. I received towel animals every night I was there. I used DME, so since the resort knew we were coming they had alot of CMs on duty and check-in was quick. In fact I arrived about 11:00am and my room was ready. I dropped off my carry on and was eating lunch in MK. If you want a view facing the lake, you will be further from the food court and buses, but the view is nice. I loved walking out over the Generation Gap Bridge and just relaxing sitting on one of the benches over there. I will be taking my son and D-I-L to WDW in about three weeks and had planned to stay at POFQ, but after hearing me talk about POP and seeing my pictures we decided to stay at POP instead. For us it wasn't a financial thing, they just really liked the look of POP better.

 

[stemikger]

I stayed at Pop for the second time this year. And let me tell you - this place is keeping me from trying other hotels because our experiences have been so positive.

I have previously stayed in two Disney moderate resorts and they were both Disney quality and very good. So last year when I was going to try Pop I was a little abrehensive (because it was in the value category). I was very happy with this place, in fact, I liked it better then the moderates. It is more fun and festive and the food court, gift shop and Hippie Dippie Pool are what vacations are supposed to be. Fun, relaxing and great atmosphere to put you in a good mood.

The Bus service at this resort is outstanding. However, the bus coming back from the parks is always the furtherst, that is the only con. I never waited more then 15 minutes for a bus, in many cases it was usually there in 5 minutes or less.

The food court has lots of items to choose from and we are a family of two adults and one 10 year old usually spend around $20 for dinner.

I highly reccomend this place and hopefully will be back next year.

Good Luck.

 

[PrincessKitty]

We stayed at the POP one weekend last year, and will be staying this coming October and November. DH and I loved it. Everything is new, and the theming is really over-the-top in a fun, festive way. Bus transportation is decent, and the food court has many choices.

I personally would not pay more for a preferred room--we stayed in the 50s building and thought it was just great, plus you could see the Epcot and MK fireworks from the walkway outside the room.

My only suggestion would to ask for a room that's not near an elevator--our room was just a few doors down from the elevator and we had endless troups of running, shouting kids going by late at night and early in the morning. The sound really reverberates off of all the hard surfaces. We could have sworn it was noise from the floor above us, except that we were on the top floor! (That's how much the sound reverberated! )

 

[CheapMom]

Pros- You get great service, clean rooms, fun theming at a low price.
Cons- It is very big, you may have a long walk to the food court, bus stop, pool, etc. Bus lines may be crowded certain times of day.

I would stay there again but ASMO is our favorite value (actually it is our favorite of all the Disney resorts!)

 

[!@#$%]

JMHO. Been there (pop) 3 times this year already, & 2 times at All Stars. I like them almost equally. Pop has the SHUSHY MACHINES!!! Great if you have the refillable mugs (yes we bring them back; no jailtime yet) AS dont (only softdrinks). Pop has the splash fountains AS dont. ASMovies has a better theme, (giant buzz & woody & all) and I like the ASMusic pool better than any of them. Just a better ambiance. Some of the Pop pools seem kinda boring. The hippie Dippie is cool. The computer (80s?) is always dead. (probably cause its boring).
The preferred room is a rip off in my opinion. I have always managed a great room. No complaints there! Never had to walk far. We always park at the same spot, & never park in our "designated" spot. I have found that if you park right beside the bus stop you can stop by, or check out your car on the way back from the park after the bus ride. Sometimes we want to get something we left in the car, & thats conveinient. We parked at the correct place once & it was MUCH further. We went back to ole faithful & snagged a spot.
If I were on a honeymoon Id splurge for a nicer place like maybe the Caribbean, AKL, or WL, but with two kids, one hyper 2 year old, & one Autistic 7 year old, both bouncing off the walls, plus all the walking & the heat & sweat & aching muscles after the 3rd day, romance is last on my list. I'll save that for back home, I just go to have fun with the kids. The wife's feelings are mutual. We agree on that one. Im a disney world nut allright, but if I want romance, I go to a beach or Gatlinburg TN.
As for the buses, we always go in dead season & I cant find anything good to say about ANY of the value resorts on that one. Ive waited almost 2 hours once at MK to get back to the room. I find no rhyme or reason. They all stink there. Ironically, I'll still rather wait on the value resort buses than ride quicker with snobs at the more expensive disney resorts. Weve had some of our worse experiences on the deluxe resorts buses with parents who "want their space". They think their children are too good to stand, give you dirty looks if your son accidentally squirts one of their hot sweating children with his water mister, & youd think the poor rich child is gonna melt away in pain. We like to chat with others from other states & countries, & share experiences & location lifestyles. I try to just listen more and talk less. I want to hear what its like to live on the other side of the country or world. The nicest people weve ever met were at the value resorts, usually on the cramped ride back to the resorts. Heaven forbid you try to spark up a friendly conversation with "Mr lawyer" or his snob wife. If a person is tired & dont want to talk, thats fine, but when they look down at you as if they are God and your a roach, that just dont set well with me. Especially when I know where I came from & where I am now. WDW is too much fun to act like that, they're wearing anti-pixiedust shields I guess.
Life is short, vacation often.

 

[minnie61650]

JMHO. Been there (pop) 3 times this year already, & 2 times at All Stars. I like them almost equally. Pop has the SHUSHY MACHINES!!! Great if you have the refillable mugs (yes we bring them back; no jailtime yet) AS dont (only softdrinks). Pop has the splash fountains AS dont. ASMovies has a better theme, (giant buzz & woody & all) and I like the ASMusic pool better than any of them. Just a better ambiance. Some of the Pop pools seem kinda boring. The hippie Dippie is cool. The computer (80s?) is always dead. (probably cause its boring).
The preferred room is a rip off in my opinion. I have always managed a great room. No complaints there! Never had to walk far. We always park at the same spot, & never park in our "designated" spot. I have found that if you park right beside the bus stop you can stop by, or check out your car on the way back from the park after the bus ride. Sometimes we want to get something we left in the car, & thats conveinient. We parked at the correct place once & it was MUCH further. We went back to ole faithful & snagged a spot.
If I were on a honeymoon Id splurge for a nicer place like maybe the Caribbean, AKL, or WL, but with two kids, one hyper 2 year old, & one Autistic 7 year old, both bouncing off the walls, plus all the walking & the heat & sweat & aching muscles after the 3rd day, romance is last on my list. I'll save that for back home, I just go to have fun with the kids. The wife's feelings are mutual. We agree on that one. Im a disney world nut allright, but if I want romance, I go to a beach or Gatlinburg TN.
As for the buses, we always go in dead season & I cant find anything good to say about ANY of the value resorts on that one. Ive waited almost 2 hours once at MK to get back to the room. I find no rhyme or reason. They all stink there. Ironically, I'll still rather wait on the value resort buses than ride quicker with snobs at the more expensive disney resorts. Weve had some of our worse experiences on the deluxe resorts buses with parents who "want their space". They think their children are too good to stand, give you dirty looks if your son accidentally squirts one of their hot sweating children with his water mister, & youd think the poor rich child is gonna melt away in pain. We like to chat with others from other states & countries, & share experiences & location lifestyles. I try to just listen more and talk less. I want to hear what its like to live on the other side of the country or world. The nicest people weve ever met were at the value resorts, usually on the cramped ride back to the resorts. Heaven forbid you try to spark up a friendly conversation with "Mr lawyer" or his snob wife. If a person is tired & dont want to talk, thats fine, but when they look down at you as if they are God and your a roach, that just dont set well with me. Especially when I know where I came from & where I am now. WDW is too much fun to act like that, they're wearing anti-pixiedust shields I guess.
Life is short, vacation often.

Great news!!! All Stars Movies has splash fountains now also. They are located near the cool kiddie pool.

Also if you like a "cold" room when you get back from the parks. Stay at All stars set the temp low and room will cool when you get back. POP has motion detectors on their AC so if no one is moving in the room the AC shuts off.

Actually the rides from the All Stars are shorter than from POP.
It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM,or AK and 20 min to the MK.

Pop buses take 15 min.to get to MGM and AK. 20 min.to Epcot and 25min to MK.

Linda

 

[!@#$%]

The main buses flaw I noticed on my trips to All Stars is that they have to stop at each resort to fill the bus, and that takes time. Probably more time than the extra travel minutes. If you go in high season, they might not do this (?) never been in high season, only value season. I imagine if you know which resort bus is last it wouldnt be as bad. The stops mean more people squeezing by, and more stroller repositioning at each stop. Not fun. The pop you just load and go. I definately like that better.
I like the tip about the AC!!! We like an ice cold room too! I think the All Stars is better for younger kids, (movies in particular, but all 3) the Pop is better for teens. Just my opinion. Glad to hear about the fountains! My son LOVES those things! He can stand there for hours just swinging at the water. We usually have other things to do, but he'd stay there all day if we let him.

One note too, I noticed that the original post called it a "hotel". Judging by the number of posts, and the word "hotel" my assumption is that youve never seen a Disney resort. They arent hotels, they are DEFINATELY resorts! ANY OF THEM! I think your going to be in for a pleasant surprise no matter where you go!
You stated your going in February. If you go the first two weeks it should be low attendance, and All Stars attracts large amounts of cheerleaders in conventions this time of year. This means little teens running everywhere, and the pool full of cheerleader bodies. Good or bad depending on your view of it.

 

[minnie61650]

A WORD ABOUT All Stars BUS SHARING:


It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

Also remember POP has 2880 rooms and All Star has 1960 for each resort.
The rbus ride times to the parks are also longer from POP.
A lot of people love POP just as much as I love the ALL Stars. I offen think we(those who stay at the values) are the truley lucky ones because the values have more of the Disney Magic and fun themeing than any of other resort!
When we drive up and I see those huge icons I know I'm at Disney
Linda

 

[Mcmouse]

I have stayed in POP twice and ASMo twice. I really liked POP best. I love the 60's section and the hippity dippity pool (sp?). The bright colors and all. If I had to pick a value resort, I'd go with POP!

On the other hand, the value resort rooms (all of the them) are a bit tight. We have 4 in our family and if someone is opening a drawer and someone else is trying to walk around, it gets congested easy.

We don't spend much time in the hotel (yes we're park commandos) so I can get by with it, but if you spend any real time in the room and have 4 people, you may want to spring for a moderate resort.

To sum it up, "I Love POP" I just wish the rooms were a bit larger.

Mike

 

[allaboutmm]

We just booked the PC yesterday ! It was between that or the ASSP. Last year stayed @ the ASSP and liked it, but this year when we went to book our trip, cheaper rate for PC through AAA. The only thing I am a little nervous about, is that I heard that some of the cheerleaders from the Pop Warner championship might be staying. Now don't get me wrong, I was a rah,rah girl, just think it might be a little crazy! But for the extra $ we are saving by choosing PC, and how much time do you really stay in the hotel room, we think it will be F-I-N-E-!

 

[rinkwide]

...Everyone there (guests as well as CMs) just seemed happy to be there...

That just might be the highest compliment ever paid to a value resort. It even makes a DVC snob, like myself, want to try a night or two there sometime.

 

[sarsah]

We stayed at POP in June and I really liked it. It was a last minute trip for us and we were trying to save money (hahaha -- ended up buying APs, so now we *have* to go back at Thanksgiving and in May 2006).

One thing I did notice is that the rooms are SMALL. We are a family of 4 (our kids are ages 5 & 2) and we felt cramped in the room.

The main thing I didn't like is that it seemed like there were quite a few children (early elementary school age) at the pool who appeared to be unsupervised. You would see an adult or sibling come by and 'check' on them every now and then, but they did not stay for long. For the most part, the kids were fairly well behaved (they played well with my 5 year old DS), but I personally would never leave a child that young unattended at the pool.

We were in the 50's building facing the bowling pin pool. I paid for a regular room, so I don't know if we were upgraded for free or not. I think the 50s section is a good location -- not right in the middle of everything, but not super far away either.

My DH was a little less than thrilled with POP, but he is used to staying at nicer hotels for business. He also didn't like the number of unsupervised children. I don't know if that is a problem specific to POP -- we've not experienced it at any of the Moderate or Deluxe resorts, but that's not to say it doesn't happen there either.