Tell me that I will like POP!! April trip!

[tinkerrn]

Already planning a trip back to see the mouse in April. However, due to fiances, we will need to stay at either CBR or POP. I would love to save the extra money and stay at POP. We need 2 rooms, one for us and one for his 16 y.o. son. Won't be staying in the room all that much, short trip...like 4-5 nights. So, I beg of you please help me save alot of money...for our one year anniversary trip in Sept.. What is it like? What are the connecting rooms like? We just stayed at the Dolphin...din't care for it, and at WL...too expensive. How was transportation? We usually have a car, went to AK and MK that way this trip. So, thats not a huge deal. How are the pools, we go to the pool a lot! How about a bar pool? The atmosphere? What should I ask for when I make ressies?? Love to hear about any experiences...THANKS!!!

 

[horsegirl]

We loved POP! It was cheery and fun and happy and just well, GROOVY! No frills, mind you. However if you get to stay in the 50s or 60s it is especially groovy. The buses ran alot and we loved the music and the flower power pool. But it is definitely not a deluxe resort- not lots of frills. But heck, I would definitely save the bucks and give it a try! We did. We are staying at OKW in Feb and bought from a DVC member, and it is about the same price as the value resorts, so that is something you might consider too. I am sure it is scarey for many people, but there are some honest DVC members selling some points by listing on ebay. If you make sure of their feedback, you can be pretty sure ifs safe, and if you pay with paypal, you have even more security. We got our reservation within a couple weeks and are excited about the big room we will have there. But again we really enjoyed the cheery atomsphere at Pop even if there aren't amazing ammenities and services. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Luv4Disney]

Already planning a trip back to see the mouse in April. However, due to fiances, we will need to stay at either CBR or POP. I would love to save the extra money and stay at POP. We need 2 rooms, one for us and one for his 16 y.o. son. Won't be staying in the room all that much, short trip...like 4-5 nights. So, I beg of you please help me save alot of money...for our one year anniversary trip in Sept.. What is it like? What are the connecting rooms like? We just stayed at the Dolphin...din't care for it, and at WL...too expensive. How was transportation? We usually have a car, went to AK and MK that way this trip. So, thats not a huge deal. How are the pools, we go to the pool a lot! How about a bar pool? The atmosphere? What should I ask for when I make ressies?? Love to hear about any experiences...THANKS!!!

We did not like Pop as much as we wanted to. But that's just us. So many people have had such awesome experiences that you should definitely give it a whirl. The transportation had us wanting to hail taxis. We were by the bowling pin pool. It was cute. Lots of little details like bowling balls on racks and the laundry rooms look like a big shoe rack with the bowling shoes. The bar pool is by the Hippy Dippy Pool. It's cute, but pricey. I paid $6 for a Strawberry Daiquiri that came out of a machine, lol. The atmosphere is very nice, but it can be hectic depending on how many people are there. We didn't ask for anything (water view, etc.) but we got a waterview anyway (pool and the hourglass lake), so that was really nice. For us, we'll be going back to the moderates. However, we do have AP's so we get a price break. Just remember, it's just my opinions, and don't change plans or anything just because of them because they're all different on the boards here. So relax, have a great trip and a happy anniversary!

 

[jenimay]

We were just there, and it was clean and quiet. The food court was really busy every morning, so we tried to avoid that. I'd give it a try!

Jeni

 

[Stitch1404]

I have stayed at many Disney resorts from value to deluxe and Pop was one of my favorites. Yes, the rooms are rather small and only have one sink, but I feel that at a value you resort you get more of the Disney immersion feeling. I am not sure if it is just me, but with Pop I always felt like I was surrounded by Disney 24/7 whereas at other resorts although they were beautiful it just wasn't the same. I don't know how to explain it, but I just got the best feeling at Pop and will definitely be staying there on future visits! The main pool was crowded when we went, but the other pools were more or less abandoned and despite the crowds there were plenty of chairs for everyone. I would definitely recommend giving it a shot!

 

[riaesq]

FUN place! I must admit, when we left CS and checked in to POP, I was a bit disappointed-- it's a whole different feeling, not as "relaxing" or pretty as the mods. But after venturing out and having a look-see, I decided it was definitely a great place to be. There are so many cool visuals- I loved the bowling alley area (50's) pool! Be sure to go look at all of the buildings and "artwork", including the collections in the lobby. "Reading" all the buildings is like taking a nostalgia trip thru your life- well, for some of us who can remember that far back anyway lol! Thought the food court was pretty good too. We had a car so I can't comment on the buses, although I keep hearing since it has its own system it's pretty good.

 

[staci]

Well, Im right on the fence, trying to decide if I liked it or not.

I LOVED the resort, for a value. As far as the actual property goes,I like it much more than the allstars. IMHO the landscaping is better, much more of it than what i remember at the other values. , The main pool is so cute and themed great, the kiddie pool was great for my son, I loved the water playground for my ds. He wanted to play in it every time we walked by. Our room was a standard view, but we could see the lake, which made it seem like we were not at a value resort. The pool bar seemed nice, didnt go there, but it is right between the food court and the main pool. I really liked that this resort didnt seem as big as it was. We didnt walk around the whole thing, but I did walk around quite a bit and they did a good job of laying it out so that it doesnt seem as huge as it is. I really liked the air conditioning unit, it was quiet and I liked having the thermostate to set the temp myself. The quiet air conditioner did make it easier to hear those toilets though! We got two towel animal things, and the mousekeepers did a great job. Ds's stuffed characters were always arranged differently when we came back to the room.

Food court did get loud and slow with lots of guests, but that is often the case with any food court. Avoid it during the peak times and youll be fine. I liked how it was arranged in comparison to the allstars. The eating areas seemed to be broken down more and there were flat screen tv's on the walls. The cm's were very helpful, they were awesome at helping me with the dining plan and making sure we were getting everything that we could.

Our HUGE drawback (and I realize this changes depending on who assists you) was the service. I am a Motel6 kinda girl, so I really dont have high expectations. All of the mousekeepers were awesome, the food court cm's were great and informative, the people in Everything Pop (store) were fine. But checking in was a nightmare. Our original cm was polite, but seemed unsure of the process to check in, and needed to redo our room keys, and ask alot of questions to his supervisor (we had nothing unusual about our ressie). The next four people I talked to were short and to the point, 2 of them told me wrong info. The last person I had to talk to was a wonderful woman, but she assured me that the original cm had done everything wrong, that 2 of the next ones had given me wrong information, and when I asked to talk to the supervisor (who had helped cm #1 initially) he was less than courteous about the whole situation. Needless to say, after we got checked in, I avoided the front desk like the plague. We had a problem with a package delivered to our resort, and I called today to check the status of it. The front desk initially hung up on me, when I called back I got a cm that really didnt want to be there (ever heard someone say the words 'have a magical day' but really sound like 'please dont bother me right now). But once I was transfered to Everything Pop, I got a very helpful cm. She took my information, found my package that hadnt been shipped, and called me back promptly. So it just seems hit or miss with the service.

I would plan on using your car. The buses came regularly, but there was no way they were keeping up. We finally got on the FOURTH bus to MK one morning. This was right around 9 when everyone rushes over, but 30 minutes in that line was frustrating. I wish we would have had a car, we would have used it. During the non busy times, the buses were more than able to keep up. We never had to wait long for a bus to get anywhere, just had to wait to BOARD it because of the long lines.

Hope this helps you!

 

[Schmeck]

Just noting that with only three people in your party, you might not be able to get connecting rooms at any of the WDW resorts. There's a difference between adjoining and connecting. WDW usually only guarantees connecting rooms for families with more children than adults (like 2 adults and 3 kids over age 3, etc.)

 

[sarahsmom73]

We loved it so much for our trip in April we are headed back for Thnaksgiving!!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

read the POP faq thread i found it very helpful

 

[goofy4tink]

Dd, almost 12, and I stayed at Pop in August and really liked it. We enjoyed just walking around the resort...very nicely laid out, with some nice paths. We found our room to be fine..nothing special. We were in the 50's bldg (#2), so the furthest back of the 50's bldgs. It was very quiet as we were on the third level, at the very end of a hallway next to an exit stairway.
The pools were fun. My dd did miss not having a slide but since she has grown she doesn't enjoy the moderates slides anymore...much prefers the deluxe slides. We enjoyed our meals there. We try to eat at off times in the food court...much less crowded that way.
We did find check-in took a bit longer than at other resorts, but chalked this up to the size and numbers of people being there. The CMs that we had contact with were all fine. It's funny but the one thing my dd didn't like about Pop?? The 'uniforms' the CMs wore. She said they were very blah. Funny the things kids will notice.
We had no issues with the bus system. Only once did we have to wait for 20 minutes for a bus. It was for the MK run and we were just coming out of the bldg as the bus pulled away....hence the wait for the next bus. Other than that we had no waits.

We would stay there again no problem.