RETRUN OF THE POP/MLKers!! Weeeeee're Baaaaaack!

[fangritter]

All in all I would have to say it wasn't a "perfect" trip. I'm used to NO CROWDS in January. Even though the longest waits were never more than 10-15 minutes, its just not as nice as the usual January "No Lines" like we've had before. I would never make it at Christmas or in the summer!!!

The PC was pretty good. Check in for us took 45 minutes - and there was NO LINE - that was just checking ME in! We got NONE of the requests we wanted (king bed connecting to doubles, or a pool or lake view). So it started of bad, but got much better. We enjoyed the food court for snacks, never ate meals there (late night runs for cheescake!) I thought the maid service was wonderful, (we requested flatter pillows) and she did a great job on our room everyday.
Even though the rooms seemed smaller than All Stars, they were adequate. We had 5 in 2 rooms. I liked the little things - 3 hooks on the back of the bathroom doors, 3 wastebaskets, a shelf by the sink mirror, shower curtains that match the wallpaper, and the shower massager! FYI We were in the 80s "B" Bulding, exactly 2 minutes and 35 seconds to walk to bus stops. Very short distance.

We did MGM Wednesday - ended with a meal at Prime Time. Great fun.
Thurs - Epcot till 2, then Blizzard Beach (tourists!!), followed by Mini golf.
Fri - MK - also crowded. Nice view of Wishes from the (closed) Plaza Pavilion - comfy in our own chairs and tables!
Sat - Animal Kingdom (way crowded!) I also saw construction for new roller coaster in Asia. They need something else for people to go to first thing besides Safari!
Sunday - Back to MK in the rain for favorites again. No crowds, just wet die hards like us!!

If you have any questions, please ask.
Would love to hear what other Pop/MLKers did!

 

[Armadillo4]

fangritter, thanks for your quick report!!! I'm back from the POP/MLK weekend myself and posted in the original POP/MLK thread. I'm a notorious thread-killer, so I didn't even want to chance starting a new thread as my ego would have taken a if I had zero replies in a thread that I started. LOL!

Highlights of this trip: staying at POP (of course!), seeing Fantasmic for the first time (wow!), taking the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (two thumbs up!), going to IOA for the first time, and surprising some friends in Orlando who didn't know I was coming to visit. A great trip overall!!!

 

[travelin' tigger]

Just adding my experiences:

We checked in at 9pm Thurs. with only a short wait. They told us they were completely sold out that weekend so we didn't get any of our requests, BUT for DBF's birthday we did get a king bed which was great!!! Ended up in the 90's, but was a short walk across the parking lot to busses/food court and very close to the pool.

Thought the parks were fairly busy but we got there early and managed to get everything we wanted to do done in 4 days. MK Sat. nite was a zoo, but the 2nd showing of Spectro was great. - hardly anyone there!!!

Used both car and bus transportation to the parks. The car was great when going to multiple parks in one day!!!

Went to PI Monday nite and it was quiet. Did CW then spent the rest of the nite at AC. Kungaloosh!!!

 

[fangritter]

I wanted to do late Spectro Sat night, but the rest of the gang was just too tired. So we opted for EE at MK on Sunday. Hearing that no one was there I wish now I had gone! I bet it was wonderful!

 

[IvyandLace]

Just wanted to say that we're back too!! My DH and I checked in around 10pm on Thursday (already a week ago??!)-our towncar drove us up and unloaded our five bags plus groceries to find...no luggage service??? My DH was not a happy camper...kept saying "At All Stars they ALWAYS have people standing around waiting to take your luggage!" I *shushed* him as best I could, but I was disappointed as well. Not the best "first impression". There was quite a line for check-in and we had to drag all our belongings with us. We ended up waiting only ~10 minutes and while we were waiting, we flagged down a manager who was handing out information on the hotel and she managed to get us a handcart ~15 minutes later. Check in was very quick and we were thrilled to find we had a king-sized room...with a refrigerator (free of charge!!!)-it was a handicapped room which my DH prefers so he was happier. We were on the third floor in the 50's section...only about a 3 minute walk to the food court/bus stops which was sooo nice after staying in All Stars and walking what seemed like hours to our rooms last trip! I did notice more noise here though since we had a pool-view...especially the first night!! Since my DH and I slept in this trip (we usually are up at the crack of dawn for early entries), I think we noticed the noise in the mornings more and heard alot more kids than we usually do. We LOVED the lobby with all the shadow boxes filled with memorabilia and spent time just enjoying those (many pictures!!) The food court seemed small for all the "hype" about how "big" it is...but we didn't eat in it...just filled up the ole mug and went on our way. LOVED the fact that you can get frozen cokes with your mug!! Great idea!! The gift shop was filled with really themed items so that was fun to look around as well. DH was the only one to swim (while I napped the first day) and his only complaint was that the pool was shallow (only 4 feet at the deepest!)-this was in the bowling pin pool. Thought that the hotel was more...sheltered...from the All Stars; that is, we didn't have any parking lot views in the 50s section at all. Very nice! Housekeeping was great...except for the time that they knocked on our door at 9am ready to clean!! (We weren't sleeping...just getting ready for the parks.)

The very best thing about POP (besides the theming and value, of course!) is the location!!!! I loved the fact that we were so close to Epcot and MGM and...for those of you who love your PI, DTD!! It was so nice to be able to enjoy DTD late at night and not have to endure a looong trip back to the All-Stars! Excellent!!

I thought that the park crowds were deceiving...for example, there were hoards of people entering MK on Friday (16th), but we got right on rides in Fantasyland at 11am!! I don't know where all the people went to, but they were obviously NOT where we were...thankfully! The weather was gorgeous...had rain on Sunday morning for early entry MK, but that just made the crowds even less!! I would definitely go in January again! It was sweatshirt and shorts weather for us most of the time.

Wishin' it was last week this time,
IVY

 

[richiebaseball]

We're just back from a combo PC/BCV MLK trip. I enjoyed our stay at Pop Century. The location is great.
Except for the rain on Sunday, weather was pretty good. MK parade was cancelled on Sunday and as soon as it was cancelled, out comes the sun. Figures.
We found the crowds to be okay. We were a little surprised that Tuesday after MLK day at MK was rather busy. We thought the crowds would have left but apparently quite a few of them stuck around.
I did manage to get in the hot seat at WWTBAM on Sunday the 18th. I missed on the 125,000 point question.

Richard

 

[Harambe]

Glad everyone had fun! We stayed at AKL but wanted to agree with Richard about MK on Tuesday! Jeeeeeeeeeez! It was crowded! I also thought everyone would be gone. We still did a lot, but after MK on Thursday (Jan. 15) we were spoiled and couldn't stnad to what in any lines!

Oh well! We had a great day on Sunday. We went to AK in the rain and enjoyed everything! Family even got me on Dinosaur!

 

[luvsTink]

We had a GREAT time! Of course, being our first trip we have little to compare it to, but we are definatley HOOKED!

Checking in at 11:00 pm on Fri was pretty good. We got our connecting smoke free rooms but no King But, we were on the first floor. Overall loved the resort.

Found the rain on Monday to be a serious annoyance, but we survived. On a scale of 1 - 10 I would give it an 8.5 only because of the rain.

I will do a full trip report on that board soon....oh, and by the way...Kungaloosh!!!

Anne