POP Or Caribean?????????????

[adona72001]

Hello,

My wife and I are have reservations at POP for OCT 7-12 but we were unable to get a king bed and are considering switching to Caribean. Is it much more relaxing at CAR, we hate huge crowds and I've read a bit about POP being just absolutely packed with lots of long lines.

 

[Davefrompgh]

POP is definetely more family oriented and busy with families and small children. I would definetely switch to CBR. It has been a long time since I have been to CBR and I am not too sure about the transportation. Pop, I believe has close to 2300 rooms and although it is spread out, it will be much more hectic and chaotic at Pop, then CBR.

 

[Inga]

We have stayed at both (DH and myself, two adults) and frankly I prefer POP to CBr. We found CBr very sprawled out, it took forever to get to the main lobby or to the bus. POP is fun and a good price and for the time we are at the resort it fits the bill.

FYI our favorite moderate resort is POFQ...

Inga

 

[brooke1]

we stayed this past OCT and POP is no busier than another resort and by far they have the best bus transportation.....

brooke

 

[Aimeedyan]

CBR will be much more resort like, quiet, and less people. It's spread out and quite romantic. Pop is crowded, motel like, and loud. Course we didn't have a good stay there, so I'd never return, but according to what you're looking for - Pop def isn't it.

You could also consider POR, we are staying there next trip due to numerous reports of it being quiet and romantic.

 

[Golf4food]

I have heard too many bad stories about the value’s being over crowded and noisy. My wife and I stayed at CBR our last trip and loved everything about it. Of course, we were only at the resort and awake on the day we arrived and our last day before checking out. The rest of the time it was up before the sun and at the parks before they opened, get back to the room after the parks were closed and fall into bed. But if you request a room in one of the buildings next to Old Port Royale or directly across the bridge/island from OPR, it isn’t bad at all – in fact, it makes for a nice romantic walk together.

We are considering staying at a value if we go down for Christmas since it would be just for overnight and leave the next morning – no real stay so all we really care about is having a roof over our heads near the MK. Our next long trip down we will probably stay at Port Orleans or Coronado Spings just to try them out, but we definitely will be back at CBR in the future (unless we win the lottery, in which case we’d probably upgrade to the Grand Floridian or Polynesian, haha).

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

Love CBR, like others have said though, be sure to get in a building close to OPR. We loved staying in Jamacia...the short stroll across the bridge was always really nice. I can't speak for POP, trying it in a couple of months to see what I think.

 

[DisneyFan09]

I've stayed at both and prefer Pop Century hands down. The transportation is sooo much better, CBR just has too many bus stops and it takes 10-15 minutes just to get out of the resort. And unless you pay for a preferred location at CBR you could get stuck in Barbados like we did and have a 20 minute walk to the food court to refill a mug!

We loved Pop and were in the 70's building. It took all of 2 minutes to get to the food court and bus stop. The disco music that they play in the courtyard is so much fun and just gets you in a great frame of mind. If you want quiet request a room on the back side by the lake. It was very quiet and surprisingly lovely back there, I did not feel like I was at a value resort. I was leary about staying at a value but I was so pleasantly surprised that unless a decent discount comes out I will not spend the extra money to stay at a moderate.

 

[gigi1313]

I've stayed at both and prefer Pop Century hands down.

DITTO!

 

[marc1477]

CBR gets my vote

 

[CleveRocks]

I've stayed at both and prefer Pop Century hands down. The transportation is sooo much better, CBR just has too many bus stops and it takes 10-15 minutes just to get out of the resort. And unless you pay for a preferred location at CBR you could get stuck in Barbados like we did and have a 20 minute walk to the food court to refill a mug!

20 minute walk from Barbados???!!!

Just how slowly do you walk??? Unless you have some sort of disability or are elderly or are walking on your hands, I would imagine a 20 minute walk from Barbados would be exaggerating just a bit.

CBR does have a lot of bus stops. The trade-off there is that you're never a far WALK from a bus stop.

In other news ....
Of course CBR is more expensive than Pop, but CBR's rooms are bigger. In fact, CBR's rooms are even bigger than the rooms in other Moderates.

I've never been to Pop, so I can't compare, but I loved CBR both times I stayed there, August 1990 and May 2005.

-- Eric

 

[disneyfan61]

We stayed at CBR last year & although the resort is lovely we will never stay
there again because of ALL the bus stops!!! Next year POP is our choice!

 

[marc1477]

CBR has alot of stops, I agree with that. I have walked around the lake on the paths before and it took me about 45-60 min. Again, I was walking slow too. From Jamaica it was only about 5-10 min walk from OPR.

 

[scoutsmom99]

I have never stayed at POP, but I have stayed at the All-Star resorts and I would take CBR over a value any day.

Having more stops does not mean it takes busses that much longer. Basically, the bus pulls up and drops people off and then those waiting to board get on and you are off to the next stop it maybe takes 6-10 minutes to go around to all of the stops.

This quote is from Chip 'n Dale Express who is a former tranportaion host on a thread about bus service from moderates awhile back on the Transportation board and I fully agree with what he said.

It takes 8 minues from CSR to MK, and 11 minutes from POR to MK. If 11 minutes is really considered "awfully long" and if 3 minutes is really going to make that much of a difference, then one might want to reconsider their vacation destination.

Here is a link to that thread if you care to see it
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=869644&page=1&pp=15

 

[tae1218]

We stayed at POP on our last trip. We had a great time and really enjoyed everything about the resort. DD loved the pools. We did not have any problems with transportions or anything else, but on our next trip in May 2006 we are staying at Caribbean Beach. You will have a great time no matter were you stay. Enjoy your trip.

 

[ceecee]

With no kids we would choose CBR. More kids at POP and it is very busy at times.

 

[DisneyFan09]

Having more stops does not mean it takes busses that much longer. Basically, the bus pulls up and drops people off and then those waiting to board get on and you are off to the next stop it maybe takes 6-10 minutes to go around to all of the stops.

That's true but you also have to figure in time for people loading and unloading.

CleveRocks - As a matter of fact, my dd's and I did walk rather slow after long days at the parks. Plus we were in the farthest building in Barbados and our room was on the parking lot side so it did take us 20 minutes give or take a minute or so.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

I really can't believe I would say this but I really enjoyed staying at the Pop. We have stayed and the best hotels on property and the values. The only difference is the beds and the room size. Other then that they are all the same. As far as noise levels families are at Disney with their children. That is the point of being in Disney. When I was at 1900 Park Fare I noticed some very stuffy people. They were staring at my sister and I because our 2yr old's were becoming a little vocal. We both agreed that at least at that Pop people seem to be more relaxed and the resort was more family orientated. When I go to Disney I know this is a place for crying,over tired,fighting kids as well as parents. If I need a quite vacation I will go to a more adult themed destination.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We have stayed at both and of the 2 I prefer CBR. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and it was so huge that it seemed like the resort was empty. There are alot of bus stops, but when we went it seemed that we got to and from the parks faster on the CBR buses than POP buses. If you plan on spending some time relaxing at the pool, I'd definately say CBR, b/c it was deserted. Not the main pool, one of the "quieter" ones. The POP pools were always crowded with little ones any time of day or night.

 

[HeathyChanJellicle]

I personally cannot say what is better because I have never stayed at Pop, only driven through it. I have stayed at Caribbean Beach though. I loved it there, the pool area, food court and just the entire theme was wonderful. It was always so peaceful there.

Pop has its good points from what I here... I like their theme too.