The GROOVIER New Pop Century FAQ Thread Chapter 4! ~ Posts #1, #2 & #3 are MUST sees!

[mommy2mrb]

sorry your kiddos got sick, but happy you had a fun trip anyways!

 

[jakeybake]

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.

Hated the theming (I thought it was tacky). Really disliked the layout (too spread out). The food court was madhouse and the place was crawling with smokers.

I was originally placed in room 3438 in the 50's section. The walk from the parking lot (I rented a car) to the upper level room was way too long. I asked to have my room changed and I was placed in room 8401 in the 90's section. Though this room had a much better location to the parking area I felt it was a long walk (especially in the cold weather we encountered last week) to the main building and food court.

To put it best, it had a motel type feel to it, not a resort feel at all. I'm a huge lover of the resorts. I like to spend time hanging out in the resort and enjoying where I am staying. At the Pop I did all I could to avoid being there as much as possible. It was basically a place to just sleep.

Never again. I will only stay at the Beach Club in the future. At least there I can hang out in the lobby and people watch, or hang out by the pool or the Boardwalk area and enjoy my surroundings.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

J

 

[elle bell]

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

J

Wow...just wow!

 

[Minnesota!]

Stayed 11 nights and was a bit worried after reading some of the stuff on the boards about the size, noise, etc. But I have to say we all were pleasantly surprised and glad we didn't spend the extra $$ to upgrade.

Especially for our first trip - we weren't in the room much and there weren't too many days you could go in the pool - especially the last week! Brrr it was cold!

We didn't get our room request at check in, but I asked to change to a top floor facing the lake and they switched it no problem. It was quiet, didn't hear people running or toilets flushing, etc. We had 70s section (Building 6)and it wasn't as far from everything as I anticipated.

The room size was fine for our family. We did bring a single air mattress and the kids fought over who's turn it was to sleep "on the floor" LOL. As for the drawers, dh and I had one each and hung some stuff up. Kids shared one plus I brought a couple of baskets to put into the cubby holes to put more clothes in. We still had a lot of room for more stuff, I thought. The hooks held all our jackets and the privacy curtain was great to have in the morning while kids were still sleeping.

Everyone was friendly and helpful. Didn't encounter one bad CM or notice badly behaved guests. Maybe we were in our own magical happy world. LOL

Food court wasn't too bad, but we didn't eat there too much and never when we were in a rush. The 2 CS credits for the large pizza to go was a great use of credits after a long day at the parks.

Mousekeeping was great - we only had them come in every 2nd day and there were always towel creations.

Maybe we lucked out, but we didn't have one single problem during our stay. Everything was great, and I definately would stay there again and spend the extra $ saved on golfing, shopping and other fun stuff!

Sounds like an awesome vacation!!!!

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.

Hated the theming (I thought it was tacky). Really disliked the layout (too spread out). The food court was madhouse and the place was crawling with smokers.

I was originally placed in room 3438 in the 50's section. The walk from the parking lot (I rented a car) to the upper level room was way too long. I asked to have my room changed and I was placed in room 8401 in the 90's section. Though this room had a much better location to the parking area I felt it was a long walk (especially in the cold weather we encountered last week) to the main building and food court.

To put it best, it had a motel type feel to it, not a resort feel at all. I'm a huge lover of the resorts. I like to spend time hanging out in the resort and enjoying where I am staying. At the Pop I did all I could to avoid being there as much as possible. It was basically a place to just sleep.

Never again. I will only stay at the Beach Club in the future. At least there I can hang out in the lobby and people watch, or hang out by the pool or the Boardwalk area and enjoy my surroundings.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

J

Did you not see pictures of Pop before you booked? You would have been able to tell from them that it was "tacky" (in your opinion) and that it was open air like a motel. While I am sure a great deal of people do book Pop because of the pools or whatever, a good portion of us do it, too, because it IS just a place to sleep. Why spend $350/night to sleep when you can spend $85?

Sorry you didn't like it - just frees up space for those of us who do

 

[Scubee]

Just returned from our first stay at Pop (a quickly-planned four-night Christmas trip).

The positives: The room was as expected. Due to the temps, we weren't able to play in the pool but they looked nice. Grounds were well kept and clean. The food selection was better than our previous stay at CBR. The walk to the food court wasn't bad at all especially when compared to the pirate rooms at CBR. I liked how there was only one bus stop for the entire resort. Once you were on the bus, you were off to the parks with no other interruptions.

The negatives: The dining area was a madhouse for breakfast. We ate there once and vowed not to return during that part of the day. I encountered more rude guests than ever before. That could be pure luck of the draw, but it was a daily occurrence. The bus stop has no overhead protection from the elements. I knew that going in, but I still have to count it as a drawback. Buses certainly did NOT run every 20 minutes. The longest wait was 35 minutes with two more approaching 25 minutes. Again, I know that could be luck of the draw.

 

[hammie59]

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.

Hated the theming (I thought it was tacky). Really disliked the layout (too spread out). The food court was madhouse and the place was crawling with smokers.

I was originally placed in room 3438 in the 50's section. The walk from the parking lot (I rented a car) to the upper level room was way too long. I asked to have my room changed and I was placed in room 8401 in the 90's section. Though this room had a much better location to the parking area I felt it was a long walk (especially in the cold weather we encountered last week) to the main building and food court.

To put it best, it had a motel type feel to it, not a resort feel at all. I'm a huge lover of the resorts. I like to spend time hanging out in the resort and enjoying where I am staying. At the Pop I did all I could to avoid being there as much as possible. It was basically a place to just sleep.

Never again. I will only stay at the Beach Club in the future. At least there I can hang out in the lobby and people watch, or hang out by the pool or the Boardwalk area and enjoy my surroundings.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

J

My first thoughts after reading this is that one, I'm surprised you had no idea what the theming was like given the info on this site and any pictures you may have seen from Disney. And two, if you're used to the Beach Club it's no wonder Pop wasn't your style. It's like apples and oranges.

 

[yankeefan46]

Hey Poppers! Staying at Pop for the first time in late February...CAN'T WAIT! Quick question, does anyone know if I can purchase the full size H2O products (shampoo, conditioner, lotion) in the Pop gift shop? I know Pop provides the shamp/cond combo to all rooms, but my mom fell in love with the products at CSR and we'd like to get her a stash of the full size products to use while we're at Pop! Thanks for any and all help !

 

[bear_mom]

Just returned from our first stay at Pop (a quickly-planned four-night Christmas trip).

The positives: The room was as expected. Due to the temps, we weren't able to play in the pool but they looked nice. Grounds were well kept and clean. The food selection was better than our previous stay at CBR. The walk to the food court wasn't bad at all especially when compared to the pirate rooms at CBR. I liked how there was only one bus stop for the entire resort. Once you were on the bus, you were off to the parks with no other interruptions.

The negatives: The dining area was a madhouse for breakfast. We ate there once and vowed not to return during that part of the day. I encountered more rude guests than ever before. That could be pure luck of the draw, but it was a daily occurrence. The bus stop has no overhead protection from the elements. I knew that going in, but I still have to count it as a drawback. Buses certainly did NOT run every 20 minutes. The longest wait was 35 minutes with two more approaching 25 minutes. Again, I know that could be luck of the draw.

I'm surprised, we were there at the same time and had great bus service. Buses often pulled up within minutes of us getting to a bus stop. We only had one 30 minute wait for a bus, and that was leaving MK one night.

Hey Poppers! Staying at Pop for the first time in late February...CAN'T WAIT! Quick question, does anyone know if I can purchase the full size H2O products (shampoo, conditioner, lotion) in the Pop gift shop? I know Pop provides the shamp/cond combo to all rooms, but my mom fell in love with the products at CSR and we'd like to get her a stash of the full size products to use while we're at Pop! Thanks for any and all help !

Yes, you can. Dh pointed them out to me.

Emily

 

[Colleen27]

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.

Hated the theming (I thought it was tacky). Really disliked the layout (too spread out). The food court was madhouse and the place was crawling with smokers.

I was originally placed in room 3438 in the 50's section. The walk from the parking lot (I rented a car) to the upper level room was way too long. I asked to have my room changed and I was placed in room 8401 in the 90's section. Though this room had a much better location to the parking area I felt it was a long walk (especially in the cold weather we encountered last week) to the main building and food court.

To put it best, it had a motel type feel to it, not a resort feel at all. I'm a huge lover of the resorts. I like to spend time hanging out in the resort and enjoying where I am staying. At the Pop I did all I could to avoid being there as much as possible. It was basically a place to just sleep.

Never again. I will only stay at the Beach Club in the future. At least there I can hang out in the lobby and people watch, or hang out by the pool or the Boardwalk area and enjoy my surroundings.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

I'm curious, what convinced you to try Pop? It sounds like you really enjoy the things that make deluxe resorts deluxe, so why choose a resort so far off from what you like/are used to?

 

[rjmum]

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.
J

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay but it is like apples and oranges. They are 2 different creatures and can't be compared.

The comment on not understanding how anyone could enjoy the Pop was just rude.

Different people enjoy and can afford different things. That's one reason Disney offers 3 different levels of lodging. And I have to wonder what brought you from the Beach Club to the Pop in the first place.

We will be staying at the Pop for the first time in Jan. We stayed at CBR on our last trip and I loved it. But I couldn't see spending the extra money when we were pretty much just there to sleep. We spend most of our time at the parks. I am excited about staying at the Pop. The pictues remind me of an updated version of the road side motels we stayed at when I was a child back in the late 60's. It looks like a lot of fun. I do know (because I asked when I made my reservation) that I can change to a different resort during my stay if I want to as long as a room is available.

You have to walk a lot at Disney at all the resorts and in the parks. It's Disney.

I think you were upset and just wanted to vent and rant. And to pick the Pop board to do that is poor form.

 

[Scubee]

I'm surprised, we were there at the same time and had great bus service. Buses often pulled up within minutes of us getting to a bus stop. We only had one 30 minute wait for a bus, and that was leaving MK one night.
Emily

I don't hold it against Pop. I know it can be hit or miss with the buses. We may have just had a bad stretch. It was bad enough though that we drove to DHS especially considering the weather on Sunday.

 

[jakeybake]

I'm curious, what convinced you to try Pop? It sounds like you really enjoy the things that make deluxe resorts deluxe, so why choose a resort so far off from what you like/are used to?[/QUOTE

I chose Pop because I was down for a work conference and the Beach Club wasn't in the price range of what I could spend. The moderates were but I had read some glowing reviews on here so figured I would save the company a few bucks and give it a shot.

And to answer a previous poster, I had seen pictures of the resort so I knew in general what it looked like, though it was much tackier (is that a word?) in person. It wasn't so much the tackiness of the place as it was the zoo like atmosphere. Hords of people everywhere with little to no manners. Lousy food at the food court, smokers at every turn and no true feeling to the resort. It was like staying in a road side motel.

When you stay at a moderate or deluxe resort there is a feel to those resorts based on the theming and atmosphere. The relaxed, beach like feel of the Beach Club, the upscale nautical fee of the Yacht Club, the Victorian elegance of the Grand Floridian. Even the moderates have a feel. The down home southern feeling of the Port Orleans Riverside, the Carribbean feel of the Carribean Beach, the Southwestern feel of Coronado Springs.

Pop had no soul to it. It felt like a strip mall with rooms attached to it.

I'm not trying to insult anyone who likes it and enjoys staying there. To each his or her own. It just wasn't my cup of tea and the best part of these boards is when folks talk about their true feelings and experiences about a resort.

J
J

 

[jakeybake]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay but it is like apples and oranges. They are 2 different creatures and can't be compared.

The comment on not understanding how anyone could enjoy the Pop was just rude.

Different people enjoy and can afford different things. That's one reason Disney offers 3 different levels of lodging. And I have to wonder what brought you from the Beach Club to the Pop in the first place.

We will be staying at the Pop for the first time in Jan. We stayed at CBR on our last trip and I loved it. But I couldn't see spending the extra money when we were pretty much just there to sleep. We spend most of our time at the parks. I am excited about staying at the Pop. The pictues remind me of an updated version of the road side motels we stayed at when I was a child back in the late 60's. It looks like a lot of fun. I do know (because I asked when I made my reservation) that I can change to a different resort during my stay if I want to as long as a room is available.

You have to walk a lot at Disney at all the resorts and in the parks. It's Disney.

I think you were upset and just wanted to vent and rant. And to pick the Pop board to do that is poor form.

I don't understand your above comment on it being rude picking the Pop board? What other board would I pick if I have a comment to make on my experience at Pop Century? Obviously the place to post it is on the Pop boards.

I'm sorry you are insulted that I didn't follow suit and rave about the resort but my opinion, whether good or bad is just as valid as the folks who love the resort.

Are you saying that this thread should be entirely positive with no one adding an alternate opinion? There are people who have posted how much they dislike the Beach Club. Doesn't bother me a bit. I love it, some hate it. That's the way of the world.

If I can't comment on Pop on the Pop thread then please tell me where you think a better place to comment would be because I'm not getting your logic??

J

 

[rjmum]

I don't understand your above comment on it being rude picking the Pop board? What other board would I pick if I have a comment to make on my experience at Pop Century? Obviously the place to post it is on the Pop boards.

I'm sorry you are insulted that I didn't follow suit and rave about the resort but my opinion, whether good or bad is just as valid as the folks who love the resort.

Are you saying that this thread should be entirely positive with no one adding an alternate opinion? There are people who have posted how much they dislike the Beach Club. Doesn't bother me a bit. I love it, some hate it. That's the way of the world.

If I can't comment on Pop on the Pop thread then please tell me where you think a better place to comment would be because I'm not getting your logic??

J

The Pop thread I believe is a good place to state your opinion, positive or negative on the Pop. What i stated was that your comment on not understanding how someone could like the Pop was rude.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.
J

The last half of your post came across as a rant and vent because you were not happy. That is different from an opinion. Ranting about the Pop is what I felt was not nice.

 

[lucigo]

Pop had no soul to it. It felt like a strip mall with rooms attached to it.


J

No soul, yikes. I respectfully disagree. I have stayed at many Disney resorts and Pop definitely has magic, at least for our family. I have a teenage son who can solve a Rubik's cube in 19 seconds, and a hyperlexic 7-yo with autism who gets quite a high from sitting in the numbers and reading the giant words. Grandma (my mom) and I love to stroll down memory lane, eat tie-dye cheesecake and reminisce about how she met my father.

But hey, the good thing about Disney is there are lots of resorts to choose from, and next time you can try somewhere else!

 

[Colleen27]

I chose Pop because I was down for a work conference and the Beach Club wasn't in the price range of what I could spend. The moderates were but I had read some glowing reviews on here so figured I would save the company a few bucks and give it a shot.

And to answer a previous poster, I had seen pictures of the resort so I knew in general what it looked like, though it was much tackier (is that a word?) in person. It wasn't so much the tackiness of the place as it was the zoo like atmosphere. Hords of people everywhere with little to no manners. Lousy food at the food court, smokers at every turn and no true feeling to the resort. It was like staying in a road side motel.

When you stay at a moderate or deluxe resort there is a feel to those resorts based on the theming and atmosphere. The relaxed, beach like feel of the Beach Club, the upscale nautical fee of the Yacht Club, the Victorian elegance of the Grand Floridian. Even the moderates have a feel. The down home southern feeling of the Port Orleans Riverside, the Carribbean feel of the Carribean Beach, the Southwestern feel of Coronado Springs.

Pop had no soul to it. It felt like a strip mall with rooms attached to it.

I'm not trying to insult anyone who likes it and enjoys staying there. To each his or her own. It just wasn't my cup of tea and the best part of these boards is when folks talk about their true feelings and experiences about a resort.

I agree - I enjoy getting different perspectives, which is why I always jump into the resort-specific thread when we're planning a stay. And your post caught my eye partly because it hit upon some of the things I'm most concerned about with our upcoming first value stay.

Spread out I can handle - Caribbean Beach is massive, but it is among my favorite resorts (just behind Beach Club, actually). And tacky, well, my 9yo is the one who talked me into switching and I'm pretty sure that what might seem tacky to me is going to be very cool in her eyes. But I am concerned about some of the issues I've read with the food court, the buses, and the overall atmosphere. And I really want to like it, because as a family of five the suites they're building at the unfinished half of Pop are one of few options we'll have once our youngest turns 3.

 

[jenseib]

I got back last Thursday from my trip.

I have to say that I really, disliked Pop and will never, ever stay there again.

Hated the theming (I thought it was tacky). Really disliked the layout (too spread out). The food court was madhouse and the place was crawling with smokers.

I was originally placed in room 3438 in the 50's section. The walk from the parking lot (I rented a car) to the upper level room was way too long. I asked to have my room changed and I was placed in room 8401 in the 90's section. Though this room had a much better location to the parking area I felt it was a long walk (especially in the cold weather we encountered last week) to the main building and food court.

To put it best, it had a motel type feel to it, not a resort feel at all. I'm a huge lover of the resorts. I like to spend time hanging out in the resort and enjoying where I am staying. At the Pop I did all I could to avoid being there as much as possible. It was basically a place to just sleep.

Never again. I will only stay at the Beach Club in the future. At least there I can hang out in the lobby and people watch, or hang out by the pool or the Boardwalk area and enjoy my surroundings.

I told my wife that I couldn't imagine how anyone could like the Pop and enjoy staying there.

J

Sorry you didn't like it. I know everyone expects different things, but it does sound like you might not have doen enough reserach. Pop is one of the least spread out resorts of all of Disney. Thats not just my opinion, that is fact. Ity is in some of the guide books. Also Pop's foodcourt is rated as one of the est on property, again listed in guidebooks.
The look can be tacky, but to mee it screams Disney. I would love to stay at a deluxe, but one of the downfalls to me is the lack of screaming Disney items. LOL! Also we do alot of park time, so we don't need luxary. If our trip was planned differently, then we might look at a deluxe or moderate. But for the price and what we need, Pop is great. And we have a small child (she just turned 6) who loves all the tackiness of Pop. LOL! I do too though for that matter.
Pop is a glorified Motel. No doubt about it, but that doesn't bother me at all. The food court is a madhouse in the morning, but I never eat in there. If we get breakfast, we get it to go and eat in our room or by the pool. We emjoy doing that more anyways, and I would do it even if the food court wasn't packed.
I have heard recent complaints about smokers. Since I haven't been there in almost 2 years, I can't really say if it has gotten worse or not. It never seemed to be a problem when I went before though. We always stick to the smoking section, but I do think the CM's are lenient about it. I asked one year where the sections were, and they told me, plus they said anywhere along the lake path...which by looking at the resort map, there is actually only a few spots designated along the lake, not the whole path.
Not every one reads or researches though,(like us on Dis) so they may not have any clue about the smoking policies at the resorts.
Everyone is different, so not everyone will like Pop. But thats OK. I have read good and bad about all the resorts.
I hope your next stay at Disney, where ever it may be, will be more magical for you.

 

[jakeybake]

Sorry you didn't like it. I know everyone expects different things, but it does sound like you might not have doen enough reserach. Pop is one of the least spread out resorts of all of Disney. Thats not just my opinion, that is fact. Ity is in some of the guide books. Also Pop's foodcourt is rated as one of the est on property, again listed in guidebooks.
The look can be tacky, but to mee it screams Disney. I would love to stay at a deluxe, but one of the downfalls to me is the lack of screaming Disney items. LOL! Also we do alot of park time, so we don't need luxary. If our trip was planned differently, then we might look at a deluxe or moderate. But for the price and what we need, Pop is great. And we have a small child (she just turned 6) who loves all the tackiness of Pop. LOL! I do too though for that matter.
Pop is a glorified Motel. No doubt about it, but that doesn't bother me at all. The food court is a madhouse in the morning, but I never eat in there. If we get breakfast, we get it to go and eat in our room or by the pool. We emjoy doing that more anyways, and I would do it even if the food court wasn't packed.
I have heard recent complaints about smokers. Since I haven't been there in almost 2 years, I can't really say if it has gotten worse or not. It never seemed to be a problem when I went before though. We always stick to the smoking section, but I do think the CM's are lenient about it. I asked one year where the sections were, and they told me, plus they said anywhere along the lake path...which by looking at the resort map, there is actually only a few spots designated along the lake, not the whole path.
Not every one reads or researches though,(like us on Dis) so they may not have any clue about the smoking policies at the resorts.
Everyone is different, so not everyone will like Pop. But thats OK. I have read good and bad about all the resorts.
I hope your next stay at Disney, where ever it may be, will be more magical for you.

Thanks. I appreciate your comments. Like I said, to each their own. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

J

 

[mommy2mrb]

just want to share...............


we are 100 days until we leave

 

[Minnie Lor]

just want to share...............


we are 100 days until we leave

Love my Pop! Congrats on tomorrow's double digit dance!