Pop or Port Orleans? Help us decide!

[_Sarah_]

My husband and I are trying to pick a resort for the first half of a split stay trip with our 4 year old (second half is AKL). I want to do Pop to save money, but we are also looking at Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed at Pop once and my husband didn’t like the double beds. We both thought they were hard, and our air barely worked. I stayed there another time with my mom and while the beds were hard, we both enjoyed the stay. Since the rooms have been refurbished with queen beds, I was thinking we could give it another try. (We have stayed at Riverside in the Alligator Bayou section, and enjoyed it.)

How comfortable are the Pop beds since the refurbishment? Do you feel like the rooms are cramped? I’ve read some complaints that there isn’t much space when the Murphy bed is down. We do enjoy spending time at the resort, so I can’t decide if Riverside would be worth it just for the amenities. I’ve never used the pools at Pop, but we do stick to quiet pools since our son is so young.

Thank you!

 

[piratepride]

I personally love POR. The food court of one of the best on property. I found the beds to be comfortable all three times we've stayed there. Have a great trip!

 

[CinderellaDream]

In the past, my preference for queen beds always made me avoid POP (and all values) and POR has been our favorite moderate. With the POP renovations, I would be willing to give it a try if I was trying to save money. For someone who enjoys resort time though, I would recommend POR.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Since pop now has queen beds, and since its a bit cheaper, in your shoes i'd be tempted to book pop. However since you spend a lot of time at your resort i'd just go with POR. Its such a pretty resort. So serene.

 

[supitscarrie]

Much as I love all the moderates, I'd go with POP! I love the renovated rooms and I don't feel like they're too cramped at all even with both beds down. The beds are also super comfortable - the murphy bed included! I slept like a dream on the murphy bed the last time I was there. Your kid will probably love the larger-than-life icons around the resort and other kid-themed activities at the pools too. At this point I'd consider POP the best bang-for-your-buck on property, and given that I think (correct me if I'm wrong) ALL of the moderates are undergoing construction/renovations, Riverside might not be as serene as it usually is.

 

[Sue M]

The Pop beds were very comfy. I can’t say how it was with Murphy bed down, I didn’t use it. My last trip was in Nov/Dec and wasn’t planning much Resort time. I went with a friend, and we had our own rooms, so I had plenty of space in my room, lol.
Having said that, while I loved the new rooms, it was still a value resort, huge, and our room was far away from busses and main Hall. I much prefer one of the POR resorts.

 

[luvdisney73]

I prefer POR over POP . The resort is amazing! I think it is the best moderate resort for the money. The rooms at POP just seem smaller and it is missing the lush gardens that POR has.

 

[Shellyb84]

The new queen beds at Pop we found to be very comfortable. The rooms are smaller, but we didn't really feel cramped until we had been there for about 3 days and our suitcases had "exploded" lol. We like to spend a good bit of time at our resort and Pop is no exception. The grounds are very nice, the giant icons are fun and we like the pools. The Hippy Dippy pool is our favorite but we also like the Bowling Pin Pool. We had a similar decision for a split stay this summer. We had AKL booked for the first part, but decided to save some money and choose between Pop and POFQ. Pop won!

I have not stayed at either PO resort, but have stayed at the other moderates and know the difference in amenities. When it came down to it, for just 5 nights the extras at a mod just wasn't worth the extra cost, especially since we are moving to BC afterwards so will have the deluxe amenities for the majority of our trip. Now, if it was a longer stay and not a split stay I would probably go with a moderate, we do enjoy having the pool slide and hot tub.

 

[_Sarah_]

Thank you all for the replies! You have really helped. I'm relieved to hear that the beds are more comfortable at Pop. Both times I've stayed there, those old double beds were just too firm!

I should have mentioned that we are doing 5 nights at the cheaper resort, and 3 nights at AKL... so the majority of our trip will be at either Pop or POR. Traveling with a four year old means lots of extra stuff and a stroller, which takes up so much room! But, I can't do Disney without it because at some point his little feet get tired and the stroller is a huge help!

I do also love that boat at POR to Disney Springs. We land at 3p, on our first day, and it would be nice to go to dinner at DS since it will be too late to go to the park after traveling all day. It's such a hard decision!