The GROOVIER New Pop Century FAQ Thread Chapter 3! ~ Posts #1 & #2 are MUST sees!

[willstewart]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

 

[lustergirl]

Hi,
My sister and I are booked for the Free Dining QSP at Pop in October. This will be our first stay there. Our second resort stay, we were at CBR in June and had a terrific vacation. Different this time since it will be girls only, at CBR we had all my family, sons, wives and grandkids there.

I am excited since we will be there for MNSHP too! We were there for it in 2007 and had a blast. That was a girls only trip too, but we stayed off property.

I am enjoying all the posts here from those Disers that are Pop fans and regulars. I think I can become a regular for the Pop from what I have read and seen in pictures. Looks like a really fun resort.

We are booked for Oct 18-24. I am ready to get busy planning.

CJ

Have a great trip. This will be our first time staying at POP as well but I know we will enjoy it. It screams of color and wackiness, all things I love. The Halloween party will be awesome. I enjoyed the parade the most. Are you going in costume? Many people do.

 

[lustergirl]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

You are always going to find the good and bad about every resort not just POP. There are members here that post negative reviews about the Poly or GF so don't let this get you down. Go in with a open mind and I am sure you will enjoy yourself.

 

[Sherrypooh]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

I just returned from 8 nights at pop on the dinning plan. You will always find people who will complain if their butter doesn't melt on their toast right. Go, enjoy and make your own opinions. What is right for one family might not be right for another. Always always always take this board with a grain of salt.

 

[marciemi]

Good Morning. Marciemi- are those your boys in the homerun pool at Sports? I love sports and it was the first resort we stayed at.

Yep - we stayed there on our first 3 trips, up until the youngest turned 3 and we could no longer stay at a value. That was back when they were little and cute - today the youngest started high school so I have all three in high school now. Which isn't nearly as scary as the fact that in 4 years I'll have all 3 in college!

One more Pop note I wanted to add was that I found the beds to be really, really comfortable. I guess I didn't notice how much until my first night back home when I suddenly realized how much less comfortable my bed was and that my shoulders/back ended up sore that night. I realize this is subjective, but I'd read a lot of bad things about the beds at Pop and wanted to let you guys know I didn't find this to be the case.

 

[Alesia]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

You will find mixed reviews for every resort, restaurant, ride, show...you name it!

As far as parking, it depends on what building you're in. There is a link to the resort map in the first post.

 

[debbiedana]

Does anyone remember what toiletries are in the room? I recall a shampoo/conditioner combo, but I can't recall for sure.

I just need to know how much conditioner to pack

 

[marciemi]

Yes, it was a shampoo/conditioner combo that didn't seem to have much conditioner. I used it as a shampoo with my own conditioner afterwards. You also had a bar of body soap in the shower and facial soap at the sink.

 

[Karlzmom]

I'm debating if its worth the call to "request" a room, any thoughts? We are only staying one night [arrival] and will just be eating dinner and hitting the sack. I really don't think it matters much, but I really don't want the 80's or 90's.....

Is there a trend to where they put the "just show up" people?

 

[carmie3377]

Is there a trend to where they put the "just show up" people?

Good question. I've never put in a request and have always been satisfied where they put me. I figure if I'm walking all around the parks all day, what's a few more minutes of walking. However, with MIL with us on the last leg of our trip and her having RA, I wander if I should put in a request for our last 5 nights (12/12-15). If I should, will they allow me to put in a request in person when I'm there a few days earlier with just the kids (12/1/-5)? I'll be cruising 12/5-12 and will be unable to fax in a request 4-5 days prior to check-in as suggested.

BTW -- 3 months from today I'll be checking into POP!! WOOHOO!!!!!

 

[cepmom]

I'm debating if its worth the call to "request" a room, any thoughts? We are only staying one night [arrival] and will just be eating dinner and hitting the sack. I really don't think it matters much, but I really don't want the 80's or 90's.....

Is there a trend to where they put the "just show up" people?

we've stayed at Pop twice now and never put in any requests for rooms or specific buildings. (except once where I requested a King room, but I had no floor preference, building location etc) The first time we were in the 80's section and the second time we were in the 50's section. I don't see the need to request a certain room, or building, floor, lakeside etc. for a resort the size of Pop....it's really not that big (compared to say POR or CBR) and the walk from the main building to just about any room on property really isn't that far. It just doesn't matter that much to me since we don't spend a ton of time at the resort anyway.

 

[jenseib]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

Does anyone remember what toiletries are in the room? I recall a shampoo/conditioner combo, but I can't recall for sure.

I just need to know how much conditioner to pack

Actually most reviews I've read are good. A few bad ones. I agree, some people love it while it's not for others. I have a really bad back, and the beds are wonderful for me. I've never had a problem thre with my back. There has never been bed bugs at Pop. They have had them at other resorts, but not Pop.
we never stay at luxury resorts when we travel. I would like to sometime, but we are on the go so much I can't justify the cost, so Pop is really cool for a value to me. the Icons make it so much more fun.

As for toiletries....theyre is the shampoo/cond. combo which absolutely sucks. I am a hair stylist and I wouldn't touch the stuff. DH, who could care less what he uses, hates the stuff. It's just awful and drying. I would bring your own. they also have soaps.

 

[CharacterFan]

Why are there so many mixed reviews for this place? Been reading up on it and whilst a lot of people think it's the best place on Earth, there seem to be loads of others mentioning everything from bed bugs to rude staff to bad hygeine standards etc.

Also, how far is the car parking area from the various buildings?

Pop and other values seem to have a love/hate thing about them.

We used to love Pop would recommend it to everyone. We just got back from a 3 night stay. It's the 2nd "bad" stay we've had. After 7 or 8 good stays. This stay our bed had huge dents in it like it had been slept on so much they really needed to be replaced. Our room was in the 60s and walk to the parking lot was awful. You have to walk past the 50s buildings to get to the parking lot. We had booked preferred and had a view of the lake and dead buildings across it. We never care to look at such a sad view.

Our next few trips we're going to retry the All Stars if we don't like them we'll most likely give Pop 1 last try before moving on to mods or renting dvc points full time.

 

[mom2val]

Our room was in the 60s and walk to the parking lot was awful. You have to walk past the 50s buildings to get to the parking lot. We had booked preferred and had a view of the lake and dead buildings across it. We never care to look at such a sad view.

I did not think any of the 60's preferred had a lake view. I booked preferred and I do not want a lake view.

 

[CharacterFan]

I did not think any of the 60's preferred had a lake view. I booked preferred and I do not want a lake view.

It was a slight lake view our room number was 6463. It was 3 from the lake. If we looked straight ahead we saw the other 60s building, looked to the right we saw the lake and to the left we saw the kiddie pool.

We had faxed a request to be close to classic hall and ended up all most as far as you could be in a preferred room. I don't think the room should be considered preferred with how far away it was, but we were told it was classified as one.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

It was a slight lake view our room number was 6463. It was 3 from the lake. If we looked straight ahead we saw the other 60s building, looked to the right we saw the lake and to the left we saw the kiddie pool.

We had faxed a request to be close to classic hall and ended up all most as far as you could be in a preferred room. I don't think the room should be considered preferred with how far away it was, but we were told it was classified as one.

I'm not sure if you meant you were in a 60's bldg, but the room number is a 70's bldg and would not be a preferred location. A 60's room with that number would be very near Classic Hall and the stairwell.

Here is a map of where your room would be - not preferred as you can see(Pref is hi-lighted in yellow):http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24451290&postcount=1246

Perhaps you were in bldg 4 - room 4463? This would fit the description exactly, except that it is a wonderful location, 3 mins from Classic Hall - nearly perfect in every way. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24421892&postcount=1219

Of course, every preferred location cannot be directly next to Classic Hall... some of the 50's preferred would have been farther - but nothing at POP is far anyway. I like where your room is on the map though - it's very close to everything.

 

[jenseib]

I was thinking it was a pretty good location too. I think it's harder to get really close to Classic Hall. Did you ask if you could move?

 

[CharacterFan]

I was thinking it was a pretty good location too. I think it's harder to get really close to Classic Hall. Did you ask if you could move?

We never received a text message about our room being ready, so by the time we found out our room number it was 8 or 9pm and they said they were sold out. We could come down the next morning and look into moving, but it was such a short trip it would have been a pain to move for just 2 nights.

I was pretty annoyed when we went to find out about our room number the person thought we were checking in or out or something. It took about 15 minutes to even get the information. I don't know if it was just the perfect storm of problems at Pop this trip, but I find it really hard right now to recommend it to my friends and family who are starting to book their trips for my wedding next year.

 

[CharacterFan]

I'm not sure if you meant you were in a 60's bldg, but the room number is a 70's bldg and would not be a preferred location. A 60's room with that number would be very near Classic Hall and the stairwell.

Here is a map of where your room would be - not preferred as you can see(Pref is hi-lighted in yellow):http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24451290&postcount=1246

Perhaps you were in bldg 4 - room 4463? This would fit the description exactly, except that it is a wonderful location, 3 mins from Classic Hall - nearly perfect in every way. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24421892&postcount=1219

Of course, every preferred location cannot be directly next to Classic Hall... some of the 50's preferred would have been farther - but nothing at POP is far anyway. I like where your room is on the map though - it's very close to everything.

Sorry it was 4463. It didn't feel close and again I don't like even being able to see the lake. It just makes me sad. I'd rather look at a parking lot. If they someday open Legendary Years then a lake view would be cool, but it just is depressing to look at before then.

 

[jana616]

I thought I would ask this on the POP thread, since different resorts may have different answers. We want to make sure we are in the park, ready to ride, by 9 am every morning. But of course we don't want to wake up any earlier than necessary either! So I am wondering from you other rope droppers on here, what time do you think we need to be at the bus stop to achieve this goal?

Thanks!