Port Orleans or Pop Century?

[srobinet]

My aunt, mom and I will be going on a girl's trip in Nov 2014. I am trying to decide which resort would involve less walking and be more convenient. My mom has had a knee replacement and needs the other one done but won't give in. My aunt has arthritis in her back and has problems with it. I also have a knee with arthritis in it that gives me problems from time to time.

My mom and I stayed at Pop this past November. At check-in I requested a room closer to the front if possible due to my mom's knee issue. I think we were in the 60's section. Come out of the food court past the main pool and the bldg was on the left. However we were on the back side and almost at the end so it was still a ways to walk.

1. In your opinion which resort would be the better choice and why?

2. We love Pop but how can you get a room that is closer to the main food court but not at the end of the buildings. Is there anyway to guarantee a room location? Would a letter from a doctor help?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

[CatelynnMarie]

imo I'd choose POFQ. It's smaller and there isn't as much walking. Also the you are guaranteed first seat choice on the buses.
I've never stayed at POP so i'm not too sure. I don't think there is a way to get any closer even if you bought the preferred pool view AND requested the room to be as close as possible. I mean i'm sure they'd give it to you if there was a room available, but you can never be so sure.

 

[swimfly]

I'd go with POFQ. You can pay extra for a room closer to the pool (ie closer to the lobby/transportation) at POP. However, POFQ is a small resort with adorable details. It's a quick boat ride away from many dining/shopping options. Additionally, the beds and noise levels at the value resorts are just miserable. To be fair, my last stay in a value was 2009 and I haven't been back.

 

[Disneylover99]

if you stayed at Pop, you would need to pay for a preferred pool room which would cost an extra $20 to be as close as possible to the main building. But it would be super noisy!

Stay at POFQ and request building number 4 to be close to buses and counter service restaurant.

 

[pinkerbell]

I'd go pop the resort is smaller overall, less distance between blgs. We get a pool view room (not preferred) and request the 50's section - research on the boards the resort maps in the resort section. These decisions are so personal - I hope this helps to find what you want to meet your needs :goodevibes:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/popcentury.htm

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/port.htm

we just stayed at pop again in april - our friends moved from the preferred pool view room because of noise to our section in the 50's. It is also a quiet pool - the resort was sold out (she had to wait 3 days to move) but it was very quiet (has a quiet pool) close to laundry - and even though both resort have the same number of rooms, the rooms are a bit smaller (yet still big enough for 3 adults) so the overall size of the resort is smaller. We also have a designated bus and only one stop at POP - when we havestayed at PO we would often have several stops at BOTH resorts??? guess it depends on how full they are. Ask any questions and I'll try to help


I just saw a discrepancy in the number of rooms at POP - they list two???? check out allears.net fact sheet for both resorts also

 

[disd55]

My aunt, mom and I will be going on a girl's trip in Nov 2014. I am trying to decide which resort would involve less walking and be more convenient. My mom has had a knee replacement and needs the other one done but won't give in. My aunt has arthritis in her back and has problems with it. I also have a knee with arthritis in it that gives me problems from time to time.

My mom and I stayed at Pop this past November. At check-in I requested a room closer to the front if possible due to my mom's knee issue. I think we were in the 60's section. Come out of the food court past the main pool and the bldg was on the left. However we were on the back side and almost at the end so it was still a ways to walk.

1. In your opinion which resort would be the better choice and why?

2. We love Pop but how can you get a room that is closer to the main food court but not at the end of the buildings. Is there anyway to guarantee a room location? Would a letter from a doctor help?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

1. POFQ is the best resort. It is a nice moderate resort, it is much smaller than any other moderate resort, even the farthest buildings (7 and 1 i think?) are not that far from the pool and food court.

2. A letter from a doctor may help, but do it less than a week in advance. If you do it months in advance, they're likely to forget it when assigning your room number to you.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

1. POFQ is the best resort. It is a nice moderate resort, it is much smaller than any other moderate resort, even the farthest buildings (7 and 1 i think?) are not that far from the pool and food court.

2. A letter from a doctor may help, but do it less than a week in advance. If you do it months in advance, they're likely to forget it when assigning your room number to you.

Check out www.portorleans.org and view the map & lay out for POFQ. You couldn't pay me to stay at Pop again especially with all the walking you would have to do. Either PO resorts would be good because u can get rooms really close to food court & buses. Both resorts are gorgeous & as said above the grounds are beautiful & you have boat transportation to DTD which is a lot of fun itself.

 

[digiMom]

We've stayed at POP with my mom who has knee issues. The last trip we booked a preferred room on the first floor. (DD is terrified of heights; if we were higher we'd never make it to our room ) So we ended up on the back- side of the Lady building pretty much in the inside corner. There were a lot of trees and plants there so we had no view really, but it was really quiet and the plants kept the room shaded and cool. It didn't feel long to our room, although I'm not sure if it was closer than you were or not. Here's a map that shows what options there are with each room category.

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/...read/PopCenturyMap2012RoomCategoriesFINAL.jpg

(Doing this from my iPhone so hope this works)

That being said, if we chose a moderate next time we'll try POR. We walked around there and POFQ (my mom rolled in her scooter). I like the theme better. My mom found using a scooter difficult at POFQ. She got up on the little sidewalk and had to go extra to get back off.

I'm not sure when you're going, but a DVC rental might deserve a little research to see if its right for you. Someone more familiar can give more info, but I'm thinking BCV or BLT might be a good fit for you; or maybe VWL.

 

[scrappymel]

Another vote for pofq. It's charming, and the walks are mostly shaded.

 

[srobinet]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Some of my decision will depend on discounts offered at the time. We would love to stay in a vacation home or one of the delux resorts but the budget won't allow it.

 

[maryj11]

I would stay at POFQ and book pool view room and request first floor.

 

[NewCrew42]

We have stayed at both and foundPOFQ to be smaller. Also, rather than standing while waiting or a bus, you can sit in the shade on a bench.