Residence Inn vs. Pop Century

[stephbesel]

Hey Everyone!

We won a trip for 4 to Disney World!!!! YAY! We will be going in October! We are "first timers" and I need some help from the "pros!" Our choices of places to stay are Pop Century or the Residence Inn in Lake Buena Vista. What concerns me about the Residence Inn is that it is not on property! We will not be renting a car, so I need to know if it would be a problem. Will we be able to have access to everything staying at Residence Inn? What I like about staying there is having an "apartment" type atmosphere. We could cook some meals to save some $$$. Also if we stay there, they will pay for an extra day at the park! So, can you please let me here the pros and cons of staying at Residence Inn vs. Pop Century? Thanks!

Steph.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

no brainer for me stay at the INN and get the extra day big money savings on food and it is great to be able to go back to your room and relax. The parks close a little earlier in Oct or at least they used to so you will be able to go home to a nice place and keep a few snacks and also some meal type things like frozen pizzza in the freezer. Without a car, it will be a pain to get a pizza at midnight etc. I guess the pros of the park are that you have a food court but you re at the mercy of the park for food etc. I would go on line and check out the RI and its proximity to the park. I would bet they would run a shuttle just like most of the larger chains do.

 

[disneysteve]

If there are 4 of you, then I'd definitely pick Residence Inn. Cramming 4 people into Pop Century is not my idea of a vacation. For that matter, just for the 3 of us, I'd still pick RI. We all have a much better time when DD sleeps in a separate room from DW and I.

Why not rent a car? You can get one pretty cheap and considering your accomodations and park tickets are free, spend a few bucks and have the convenience of your own car. Depending on hotel shuttles is lousy.

 

[hercamore]

Yes,

the RI ishas lovely 2 br suites. Free hot breakfast, too.

However, they are out "in the boonies" a bit on Palm Parkway. Just far enuf where you can't walk anywhere for restaurants, etc.

Definitely rent a car. Don't depend on their transpo.


herc.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

yeah I agree on the car thing. With the money you save on food...plus the comfort you will enjoy it is worth it. Get an Entertainment Book(they are 10.00) now and there are tons of car deals. Check out Entertainment.com to see because there are also lots of off site restaurants and even a couple of Disney that offer buy one get one. The book expires in Nov but if you just rent a car from it you will MORE than make back you 10.00. NOt to mention there are coupons that are useful to anyone like Target, WalGreens. and Mc Donalds.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Originally posted by stephbesel
Hey Everyone!

We won a trip for 4 to Disney World!!!! YAY! We will be going in October! We are "first timers" and I need some help from the "pros!" Our choices of places to stay are Pop Century or the Residence Inn in Lake Buena Vista. What concerns me about the Residence Inn is that it is not on property! We will not be renting a car, so I need to know if it would be a problem. Will we be able to have access to everything staying at Residence Inn? What I like about staying there is having an "apartment" type atmosphere. We could cook some meals to save some $$$. Also if we stay there, they will pay for an extra day at the park! So, can you please let me here the pros and cons of staying at Residence Inn vs. Pop Century? Thanks!

Steph.

I am going to vote for POP since you are going to WDW for the first time without a car (I would stay on property. The rooms are small but there is nothing else like staying onsite and the POP is wonderful for kids. My son loved it!!! The themeing is really cool.

 

[CdnDisneyer]

Especially since it's your first time and you've WON the trip (congrats!) and it's only for four days - I would say stay at POP. Using a cooler in your room helps and we've even brought a toaster, to cut down on food expenses. You'll be at the parks all the time and not in your room - you won't have time to even notice how small the room is. You'll experience more of the magic that way and won't have to worry about how to get anywhere. Save your second trip for an offsite when you're a little more savvy on where you want to go and where you want to eat. Also, if you stay at POP, once you're there, you really won't have to worry about a car (although you'll be limited to eating on site though). I haven't stayed at the Residence Inn but I understand if you do, you'll need a car.

Whatever you decide - you can't lose - you're going to Disney!

 

[stacy6552]

we havent stayed at the residence inn, but we stayed not-with-dinsey ( I wont name names, but we call it the dungeon rather than the palace) and would stay at the pop century again over any other non-disney place. stay with Disney. They just know how to take care of you.

 

[missydisney]

Definately stay at the Pop. You will get all the onsite resort magic. Disney Transportation (no need for rental car) I would never consider staying off site unless it was only a couple of nights and only to save money if I absolutly had to. Disney Resorts are an experience all their own. We have stayed at Pop in December and are returning On July 4. Loved it.

 

[Vinnie The Pooh]

I too have heard good things about RI but there are a couple of things that you need to ask yourself.

How badly do you need the extra room of a suite?

The times that I have stayed in regular rooms I always wished I had a more comfortable place to stay but I have always stayed for 6 or more nights. We stayed at HIFS (Holiday Inn Family Suites) the last time we went and I absolutely loved being able to relax sitting on the couch watching TV while others were getting ready. My wife and I also liked being able to have our own bedroom, it let us have time to ourselves during the vacation which is nice and kind of relieving.
There is a certain magic to staying on site, however, especially if its your first trip, conversely, if its your first trip you won't know what your missing so it would not be an issue.

Bottom line on this is that whenever we have stayed on Disney property (2 out of 5 times) I have loved being on Disney property but I have disliked the rooms and did not like having the choice of either sitting on the edge of the bed or in an uncomfortable chair waiting for others to get ready. I often times would just go to the food courts to get breakfast for the rest of the crew while they were getting ready. Of the three times I stayed off property 2 of them were before I ever stayed on property (one being a suite) so I cannot judge and the last time at HIFS was fantastic, plenty of room, close to WDW, nice pool, nice atmosphere. I did not miss being on site as much as I thought I would.

How do you feel about not having a car?

I have always rented a car but have used the Disney Transportation as well and given the choice I would use my own car every time. I am the type who does not want to be bothered waiting on busses. Also (especially at park closings) you may have to wait for several busses and have to not mind being crammed onto them on occasion. Mind you that WDW does a great job with their transportation but I guess I am kind of a control freak. Its nice to be able to go and hop into your car as you wish or take a ride off site (if you stay on site) or to go resort hopping (sometimes its hard using the WDW transportation to get from resort to resort). I would consider a rental no matter where you stay.

Of course that's me and you may not be as Uptight as I am so just ask yourself these questions and try and determine how you would feel given these situations.

 

[poonchkie]

Did I read that right, they will pay for an extra day at the park for your entire family? If so, that is worth over $200 if you wanted to stay an extra day. Good point from that other poster, in Pop Century you will have no extra room for anything and that seems to be important to you. I think you will definitely need a vehicle staying at the Residence Inn, there will be plenty of times that you want to just pick up and go and you would not be able to staying there. You can probably find a good deal on a car out there, I think with the vehicle you can save even more on food eating out of the park.

 

[The Sweetness]

By all means! Rent a car if not staying onsite

 

[AJKMOM]

By the time you add up cab fare for trips you need to take and have no shuttle, you could probably pay for a small car. Don't forget tips for people handling your luggage, too. It is definitely cheaper in Florida to get a small car with unlimited mileage.

 

[allshookup]

I would stay at PC!!! I love the theme of the resort and we use Disney transportation all the time. We always have a car with us, but DH and I hate to have to drive on vacation. Downtown Disney is just a quick ride on the bus away and there are so many places to choose from to eat, shop, play! The Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Puck Express & McDonalds are great places to get an inexpensive meal. I agree with one poster to bring a cooler. We always do so we can have drinks at night, but you can bring milk & have cereal, donuts, etc. Buy a PC mug & have unlimited coffee & soda during your stay.