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

[msmith07101]

Just got back today from first stay at Pop. Overall, we liked it. Didn't spend too much time at the resort...short stay. I phoned in my room request a couple days before arrival...asked for lake view, 4th floor bldg 3 or 4. Request honored...got 4th floor, lake view of bldg 3. Nice quiet location where we could see fireworks from Epcot. Not too far from main bldg with food court.
I thought the food court had a good selection...we had breakfast there every day and dinner one night...fried chicken for "moms night out" on saturday night is good! And yes...Everything Pop is a crazy place full of commotion and people everywhere! In spite of that, we never really waited long to get food or to pay. We had the QS DP and thought it was more than enough food...you can certainly share that big breakfast platter..we did! Came home with a couple QS credits left...used all the snack credits. We used the last few credits last night to grab some breakfast items for this morning since we had to leave before the food court opened. Used the ice bucket to keep the milk chilled...but those are about the tiniest ice buckets I have ever seen. Better idea would be to use the sink and fill it with ice.
Buses...no issues here. All were prompt. Only thing I noticed is it seems like they have different routes for going to and coming from the parks and dtd. Seems like going somewhere it would take maybe 10 minutes and then coming back would take 20...as an example. I can understand why they would do this...but it seemed like 2 different nights going to dtd took 2 very different times to get there. That's my only bus gripe.
I've read complaints about smokers at Pop. Most of the smokers seemed to stay in the designated areas. But I encountered a couple who just think they can smoke where they want and rules don't apply to them...saw this in one of the parks as well.
My only real frustration with Pop...and it probably isn't really Pop...was Magical Express this morning. The letter I received yesterday said to be out front at 5:15 AM...actually said to be there 15 minutes early. I will admit, we didn't make it out there early. But were there somewhere between 5:15 and 5:20 AM. We didn't have a bus show up until nearly 6:00 AM. Still made the flight in plenty of time, and that wasn't ths issue...I knew we wouldn't have a problem with that so early in the morning, but I sure would have loved to have slept a little longer. I think they messed up something because some other people showed up and I asked them what time they were supposed to be picked up. They said 5:45 was ontheir letter, but apparently it was wrong...they were supposed to be there at 5:15 AM. I told them I'd been there that long, and no bus. Never did find out what the delay was. And this is not on Disney i guess, but the ME driver asked for a tip...I don't like that. Sorry....but a tip is not guaranteed to be given to you and it's just rude to ask. I was able to use the airline check in service at Pop and get my boarding passes printed, so that was helpful. If you are checking luggage, you need to do this at least 3 hours before your flight leaves.
Pools...they looked nice, and they were heated, but we didn't swim. It was a little chilly in the evenings when we were back at the resort, so we didn't swim. But there were plenty who did, so the water must have been warm enough.
All in all, it was a great stay at Pop and if I do need a value resort again, this is probably the one I would choose.

 

[jcarwash]

And this is not on Disney i guess, but the ME driver asked for a tip...I don't like that. Sorry....but a tip is not guaranteed to be given to you and it's just rude to ask.

Wow, that is really interesting. I always plan to tip the DME driver but I don't expect them to say anything about it. I suppose if I did not have any luggage underneath I may not tip, but I always have, and so I go ahead and tip them. I can't recall ever being asked by any baggage handler anywhere if I would tip them.

 

[msmith07101]

Wow, that is really interesting. I always plan to tip the DME driver but I don't expect them to say anything about it. I suppose if I did not have any luggage underneath I may not tip, but I always have, and so I go ahead and tip them. I can't recall ever being asked by any baggage handler anywhere if I would tip them.

I certainly think it is expected to tip if they handle your bags...and I do usually tip, but in this case I was not even thinking about it...it was very early and I was very tired and just not thinking about it. She helped with our 2 small duffle/carry on bags...not that it matters what size the bags were. Regardless of whether it's expected or warranted to receive a tip...a tip is just that...a tip...and no one should feel obligated to tip and shouldn't be asked for the tip. We encountered the same thing in Italy this summer...where they do NOT tip like we do in the states when dining out. Our waiter made sure to tell us that the cover charge on our bill was not his tip when we went to pay. We would have tipped regardless...but this waiter knew we were tourists and he expected it from us. Italians do not tip like we do...if they do, it is a small amount...because servers there are paid differently is my understanding...so I was told. Anyway...rude to ask...no matter what.

 

[dmoore718]

Holliedd...we are coming in from Philly. We won't be on the ME bus since we have a private pick-up (we wanted to make a special trip to grocery store.) Hopefully we will see each other throughout the week. I will be with DH and three DS 13, 11, 5. If you see us say HI!

I am from Philly too!! Flying down on Jan 26th, staying at POP!! I have pics on my Pre trip report of myself with my girls. I have 3 girls ages 5,4, and 18 months. Hope to see you all there!!!!

 

[holliedd]

I am from Philly too!! Flying down on Jan 26th, staying at POP!! I have pics on my Pre trip report of myself with my girls. I have 3 girls ages 5,4, and 18 months. Hope to see you all there!!!!

Oh that is so cool..it seems like we are all running away from the PA cold to hopefully some Flordia sun...hopefully we see you around my dd3 would love to have buddies

 

[TammiDZ]

Thats crazy..again what a small world...I really hope we get decent weather I don't want to bring the heavy winter coat!...maybe we will run into you there..just look for the stressed out looking mom yelling at her dh to get moving and running after her crazy mickey obessed dd3

And the same to you......just look for the stressed out mom, also yelling at her husband to stop lolligagging and move faster with an Ariel obsessed 5 year old!

 

[TammiDZ]

Okay - I say all us Philly people (or south Jersey in my case!) going down the end of January/beginning of February all meet up for a quick swim!

 

[holliedd]

Okay - I say all us Philly people (or south Jersey in my case!) going down the end of January/beginning of February all meet up for a quick swim!

I am all for that..we better get nice enough weather to swim!!

 

[crashbb]

My only real frustration with Pop...and it probably isn't really Pop...was Magical Express this morning. The letter I received yesterday said to be out front at 5:15 AM...actually said to be there 15 minutes early. I will admit, we didn't make it out there early. But were there somewhere between 5:15 and 5:20 AM. We didn't have a bus show up until nearly 6:00 AM. Still made the flight in plenty of time, and that wasn't ths issue...I knew we wouldn't have a problem with that so early in the morning, but I sure would have loved to have slept a little longer. I think they messed up something because some other people showed up and I asked them what time they were supposed to be picked up. They said 5:45 was ontheir letter, but apparently it was wrong...they were supposed to be there at 5:15 AM. I told them I'd been there that long, and no bus. Never did find out what the delay was. And this is not on Disney i guess, but the ME driver asked for a tip...I don't like that. Sorry....but a tip is not guaranteed to be given to you and it's just rude to ask. I was able to use the airline check in service at Pop and get my boarding passes printed, so that was helpful. If you are checking luggage, you need to do this at least 3 hours before your flight leaves.

It sounds like you could have actually missed the bus you were supposed to be on (since it left at 5:15am - which is why they say that you need to be there 15 minutes early). Thus, you ended up waiting for the next bus (which was still late, since it should have been there about 5:45am).

Glad to hear an overall good report for POP! And I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

[TammiDZ]

I am all for that..we better get nice enough weather to swim!!

Look for the room that is all Dis'd out! I got my Mickey shapes for the windows last night! My daughter LOVES to help me decorate the window!

 

[holliedd]

Look for the room that is all Dis'd out! I got my Mickey shapes for the windows last night! My daughter LOVES to help me decorate the window!

That sounds like a really neat idea..my daughter would love that as well..where do you get the stuff to decorate at?

 

[englishrose47]

I had a problem with ME in October !! Being used to ME times for pick up I was surprised when our p/u time was less than 3 hours before our flight time !! I was travelling with a group of Dev. Disabled and had 2 different flightd to handle !!Soo when the ME was 45 minutes late and YES we were there ahead it really put a lot of stress on us !!Next time I am gonna request a minimum of 3 hours p/u time !!

 

[Minnesota!]

It sounds like you could have actually missed the bus you were supposed to be on (since it left at 5:15am - which is why they say that you need to be there 15 minutes early). Thus, you ended up waiting for the next bus (which was still late, since it should have been there about 5:45am).

Glad to hear an overall good report for POP! And I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

Ditto! Pick up time was 515, so you needed to be there by 5am. Sorry you missed your bus...but glad you had a great time!!!

I just needed to reply so I could see my ticker

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

We had a problem with ME as well when we were leaving last week. Our 5:15p.m. showed up at 5:45(we had been waiting for it since 4:45) and was overbooked by 20!! The 5:45 bus showed up at 6:15 and we ended up on that one with the 5:45/6:15 folks. We still made it on time, but it was a lot tighter than I had wanted. I had anticipated feeding my 2 boys dinner at MCO, but ended up feeding them Nutter Butters(leftover snack credit) and chips on JetBlue, not that the kids minded though!

 

[wendylk]

We also had a problem with ME back in October. We were over a half an hour early, so I know we did not miss our bus. The bus for our scheduled time did not show up until over a half hour late and was also overbooked and several people could not get on. Definitely needs some improvement.

 

[yankeefan46]

Hi all! I was just wondering if the refrigerators at POP the same size as the fridges at the mods. I know they cost an additional $12 plus tax per night, and I've heard they're "dorm size" but we're going with a large group and are trying to see if only one room can rent a fridge to keep milk and water cold, or if we'll each have to rent one - which is not at all what we want to do.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

 

[my4girls10]

We will automatically have adjoining rooms since we have 4 minors and only 2 adults. It will be nice and I think we'll be spoiled after this!

Thanks for the heads up about making room requests. I don't usually do that anyway, but just wanted to ask!

We are sooooo close! I'm trying to be patient.

 

[crashbb]

We will automatically have adjoining rooms since we have 4 minors and only 2 adults. It will be nice and I think we'll be spoiled after this!

Thanks for the heads up about making room requests. I don't usually do that anyway, but just wanted to ask!

We are sooooo close! I'm trying to be patient.

Just a warning. There have been quite a few reports of people not getting adjoining (and, I assume you are actually thinking connecting - rooms with a door between them), even if they had 4 minors and 2 adults. And, even though the reservation person (and even the reservation) said that it was guaranteed. In the end, they were told that they could put an adult and two kids in each room - so there was no need for connecting rooms.

I think it generally does work (i.e. they get connecting rooms), but just a wanted to warn you.

 

[justakrazymom]

yep..we were told they only "guarantee" them to someone that is traveling ALONE with 4+ minors.. we have requested connecting rooms and that is one thing I will ask again at the desk for if we don't get them automatically..but since we have 3 adults and 4 minors the world won't end if we don't get them.

 

[boys27]

Since I have 3 boys it should be easy to find us...especially with the all the Phillies and Eagles gear on. A Philly-Pop gathering pool side sounds fun!