The GROOVIER New Pop Century FAQ Thread Chapter 2! ~ Post #1 is a must see!

[JerseyJanice]

My family just returned from Pop Century this past Tuesday. I just had to post and say what a great experience we had with this hotel. We stayed at Carribbean Beach Resort on our last trip three years ago, and Pop wins by a landslide. We would never go back to CBR if we have Pop as a choice. We arrived around 2:30 PM on Tuesday, April 28th, and did not have to stand in line for check-in for very long. We had not requested a location, only connecting rooms which was very important to us. We were given our rooms and they were on the backside of the furthest 50s building. We knew immediately that this was the furthest away, and after some discussion we decided to go back up to the counter and see if we could be moved a little closer as we were travelling with two young children. The cast members were very accomodating and spent some time trying to find us connecting rooms again. We ended up in Rooms 6226 and 6227 in the Mickey Mouse phone building near the elevators. This was a great location for us.

Bus service the whole time we were there was great. Actually, the worst bus wait we had was at the Wilderness Lodge when we had eaten there and were trying to get to Epcot and waited about 20 minutes! We stayed one night at MK until after Wishes and upon arrival at the bus stops at MK, the empty spot #17 and Pop's #18 were both being used for Pop. We only waited about ten minutes or so for a bus and at one point there were two buses at each stop loading for Pop.

We cannot sing enough praises for this resort. We decided to downsize from a moderate this trip to save money, and I am pretty sure that the only way we won't stay here again is if we can afford a deluxe! Thanks for all the good information on this board that helped make my decision where to stay! Also, if you have any questions about things there currently, feel free to ask.

I felt the same way after my stay in Pop as you, Pollyanna. We were very pleased with most aspects of Pop and found it full of Disney magic.

Glad to hear that you had a great trip and loved Pop.

 

[Tamdude]

Pollyanna: Glad to hear you had such a great trip! I was just wondering, how did you find the crowds in the parks? We leave tomorrow YeAy! and I am nervous that the parks night be crowed...what did you think?

Thanks!!

 

[jenseib]

Thanks pta-mom and others.

I did have a blast.

jenseib - I am the non Asian one teehee - if that makes sense.

Gotcha! LOL!
Your partner is making some funny faces in the video. Like "Oh my another video, lets hurry this part up" LOL!
It won;t be long and you'll be back in the states!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

I have edited together a 2 minute overview of our first ever trip to WDW and popped it onto You Tube for those who are ....

Okay...it's been said before, but I couldn't pass by without saying this is an amazing video montage! Please let us know if you make more!

 

[anewmac]

I have edited together a 2 minute overview of our first ever trip to WDW and popped it onto You Tube for those who are interested.

I have included a bit of the big jukebox at Pop Century where we stayed, and I hope to add more of the resort in the coming days. So this is WDW from the past 2 weeks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nk4ryaaqNY

OMG thats amazing! I love the scrapbook type edits. How did you do that? Would love to see more of your work!

 

[DreaGirl]

Geeg, amazing video! It gave me the chills and made me miss WDW so bad!

 

[pktbMouse]

Im back!!!!!!!! After a wonderful week at POP...despite me asking for a room near the baby pool, getting it then they go dig it up and its closed all week!!!!!! didnt I tell ya I have no luck with rooms...we had to laugh the first day we were like alrightttt finally a pretty view..the next day all hell broke loose with jackhammers and dust. Pop is such a wonderful place..I would stay here in a heartbeat again over any disney hotel..I will post my trip report over at the boards for that. I cant say enough about it...its in a different class to the all stars...the pools, the cms, the food court/food, the beautiful gardens, mousekeeping (4 towel animals!!!)...everything was wonderful. We didnt want to come home...oh and for those of you who I told the story to...I got my silver dubloon!! yay

 

[pollyanna30]

Pollyanna: Glad to hear you had such a great trip! I was just wondering, how did you find the crowds in the parks? We leave tomorrow YeAy! and I am nervous that the parks night be crowed...what did you think?

Thanks!!

Tamdude - We were at Pop from Tuesday, April 28th - Tuesday, May 5th. We did not feel the crowds were too bad. We definitely saw an increase on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday due to weekend crowds but still did not feel it was unbearable. We used fastpasses for most of the major rides and never waited more than about 15-20 minutes for anything. In fact, we walked onto multiple rides on the non-weekend days including Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Small World, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Philharmagic, Spaceship Earth, the Land, and Norway and Mexico. There were the usual increased waits for Soarin' and Toy Story Mania, but we saw those as low as 30 minutes and never higher than 60 minutes. We did get into the parks as close to rope drop as possible and did not always stay late into the evening as we were travelling with small children. We did watch the early show of Fantasmic one night and were able to get in line about 45 minutes before the start and still get decent seats. Also, we never found the Food Court too overcrowded either. We did have to stand in lines for our food and to pay, but never for too long. We used the laptop pool a couple of evenings and did have plenty of room to move around. Hope all of this information helps. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Please forgive me if this question has been asked, as I didn't go through and read 182 pages. In the FAQ, it says you cannot get a rollaway cot, but I could have sworn I read in another thread someone saying that they got one. It's going to be extremely tight in that room with my 3 kiddos, but we really wanted to try POP out before the little guy is 3 and POP isn't an option. So, can we count on renting a cot or should I start looking for a twin size air mattress to bring? Thanks!!!

 

[ZeroToHero]

Please forgive me if this question has been asked, as I didn't go through and read 182 pages. In the FAQ, it says you cannot get a rollaway cot, but I could have sworn I read in another thread someone saying that they got one. It's going to be extremely tight in that room with my 3 kiddos, but we really wanted to try POP out before the little guy is 3 and POP isn't an option. So, can we count on renting a cot or should I start looking for a twin size air mattress to bring? Thanks!!!

You can get a playpen sort of thing for him, but not a cot.

 

[jenseib]

Im back!!!!!!!! After a wonderful week at POP...despite me asking for a room near the baby pool, getting it then they go dig it up and its closed all week!!!!!! didnt I tell ya I have no luck with rooms...we had to laugh the first day we were like alrightttt finally a pretty view..the next day all hell broke loose with jackhammers and dust. Pop is such a wonderful place..I would stay here in a heartbeat again over any disney hotel..I will post my trip report over at the boards for that. I cant say enough about it...its in a different class to the all stars...the pools, the cms, the food court/food, the beautiful gardens, mousekeeping (4 towel animals!!!)...everything was wonderful. We didnt want to come home...oh and for those of you who I told the story to...I got my silver dubloon!! yay

so they tore up the baby ppol? Was this even scheduled? Or did something happen to it? Are they replacing it?

Please forgive me if this question has been asked, as I didn't go through and read 182 pages. In the FAQ, it says you cannot get a rollaway cot, but I could have sworn I read in another thread someone saying that they got one. It's going to be extremely tight in that room with my 3 kiddos, but we really wanted to try POP out before the little guy is 3 and POP isn't an option. So, can we count on renting a cot or should I start looking for a twin size air mattress to bring? Thanks!!!

No cots at all in any of the Values, Pop included.

 

[marciemi]

Also, an air mattress will not fit between the two beds. It is possible to get it in the space by the door, but you'll need to move it (in a 2 double bed room) to get in and out. I've seen a lot of folks recommend the portable bed/sleeping bag combos (look online at Target to get an idea), but these would probably only work for your middle child.

When we went to All Star Sports when my youngest was not quite two, we got the crib. But he refused to sleep in it, so I shared a bed with him, DH did with one of the other boys, and the oldest just pulled the "mattress" part out of the crib (they're pack and plays) and slept on the floor on that (we called for an extra sheet/blanket). When we went back before youngest was 3, we just brought a small sleeping bag for him and he did the same thing, being too "old" for a crib in his mind. I know these days space (if you're flying) is tight, so just asking for the sheets, etc. would probably be easier.

 

[Tamdude]

Thanks for the report Pollyanna!!! I'll be sure to give my update when we return!

 

[mickeystoontown]

My family just returned from Pop Century this past Tuesday. I just had to post and say what a great experience we had with this hotel. We stayed at Carribbean Beach Resort on our last trip three years ago, and Pop wins by a landslide. We would never go back to CBR if we have Pop as a choice. We arrived around 2:30 PM on Tuesday, April 28th, and did not have to stand in line for check-in for very long. We had not requested a location, only connecting rooms which was very important to us. We were given our rooms and they were on the backside of the furthest 50s building. We knew immediately that this was the furthest away, and after some discussion we decided to go back up to the counter and see if we could be moved a little closer as we were travelling with two young children. The cast members were very accomodating and spent some time trying to find us connecting rooms again. We ended up in Rooms 6226 and 6227 in the Mickey Mouse phone building near the elevators. This was a great location for us.

Bus service the whole time we were there was great. Actually, the worst bus wait we had was at the Wilderness Lodge when we had eaten there and were trying to get to Epcot and waited about 20 minutes! We stayed one night at MK until after Wishes and upon arrival at the bus stops at MK, the empty spot #17 and Pop's #18 were both being used for Pop. We only waited about ten minutes or so for a bus and at one point there were two buses at each stop loading for Pop.

We cannot sing enough praises for this resort. We decided to downsize from a moderate this trip to save money, and I am pretty sure that the only way we won't stay here again is if we can afford a deluxe! Thanks for all the good information on this board that helped make my decision where to stay! Also, if you have any questions about things there currently, feel free to ask.

Thanks for your report! We are CBR lovers (3x) but are staying at Pop this year. One of our greatest worries is room size and transportation. It's always nice to hear from someone who has stayed at a moderate and then at Pop AND know that they were fully satisfied with their Pop stay.

I agree with you about the WL transportation. We took a bus over to WL just to have a look around and then took the bus back to one of the theme parks (I can't remember which one). We waited longer for the WL transportation than we did our CBR transportation.

 

[pollyanna30]

Thanks for your report! We are CBR lovers (3x) but are staying at Pop this year. One of our greatest worries is room size and transportation. It's always nice to hear from someone who has stayed at a moderate and then at Pop AND know that they were fully satisfied with their Pop stay.

I agree with you about the WL transportation. We took a bus over to WL just to have a look around and then took the bus back to one of the theme parks (I can't remember which one). We waited longer for the WL transportation than we did our CBR transportation.

Mickeys Toontown - I think the best thing for us transportation wise at Pop vrs. CBR was the fact that once you are on the bus, there is no more stopping for other people to get on and off. We didn't realize what a difference that would make to us but it was huge! In turn, it felt like you got to and from the parks much quicker. Also, it was nice to be in a line for the buses at the resort so that no one could just walk right up to the stop and hop on a bus when others had been waiting for much longer.

We did notice that the rooms were a bit smaller, but not enough to matter when most of the time was spent in the parks anyway. The biggest thing that we missed was the CBR refridgerators. We rented one, but it just wasn't the same. We felt the food courts and gift shops were comparable and actually used Pop's more due to the fact that the walk was much more doable.

I hope you are as pleased with Pop as we were!

 

[beaniejawa]

Can anybody tell me the pool hours at the Pop? I'm staying there in June.

 

[Pikester]

Can anybody tell me the pool hours at the Pop? I'm staying there in June.

open from 7:00 am - Midnight
quiet time at pools from 10:00 pm – Midnight
lifeguards are on duty from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
Three main pools include Hippy Dippy Flower, Computer, and Bowling Pin pools

• all are heated and maintained at 82 degrees Fahrenheit/28 degrees Celsius
• edges of each pool are shallow and become deeper as you get to the center, getting no deeper than 4'9"
• no diving in any pool is permitted

* This information was found in the very 1st post. Just want to give credit where credit is due.

 

[pollyanna30]

open from 7:00 am - Midnight
quiet time at pools from 10:00 pm – Midnight
lifeguards are on duty from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
Three main pools include Hippy Dippy Flower, Computer, and Bowling Pin pools

• all are heated and maintained at 82 degrees Fahrenheit/28 degrees Celsius
• edges of each pool are shallow and become deeper as you get to the center, getting no deeper than 4'9"
• no diving in any pool is permitted

* This information was found in the very 1st post. Just want to give credit where credit is due.

On our recent trip, both nights that we used the laptop pool the lifeguards made their announcement and went off duty at 8:00 PM. I don't know if this is a new policy. Just thought that information might need to be updated.

 

[sunny1016]

subscribing

 

[jenseib]

On our recent trip, both nights that we used the laptop pool the lifeguards made their announcement and went off duty at 8:00 PM. I don't know if this is a new policy. Just thought that information might need to be updated.

I know that the life guards were there later than 8 in March. I think till 10. maybe that is just for the hippy Dippy Pool?