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

[olbear]

24 years!! Woo hoo!! We had such a great time. I cannot wait to go back for my birthday. We will be there for the yearly pin event as well.

So anyway, let me tell you about our anniversary weekend at WDW and evrything POP! When we arrived we went to put our baby, Paco at the TTC Kennel. Let me tell you, the new service people there are absolutely wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about them. It is so worth the extra money to keep them there instead of a kennel at home. Thay are so attentive to your baby, and just love them to death.

But let me tell you the neatest thing that happened when we were there. First off, I must share that our first pet was an orange kitty that I found when it was only about 3 weeks old. There has never been another pet like him. But of course we love all our babies we've had. But here lately I've been wanting another orange tabby. We even went looking at our local humane society just before we went on this trip. And they had a cute 5 month old one. But we thought we'd wait.

So we are checking our baby Paco in. And in walks this lady with a kitten that she found wandering in the middle of the road at WDW! Can you believe it. She turns around and it is the most adorable orange tabby kitten. I melted! I asked if I could hold it. And they said yes. I fell in love, so did hubby. I asked if we could have it, and the kennel workers said of course. They'd rather it go to a loving home than to the humane society. I asked what the charge would be to board it, and they said nothing! Woo hoo!!

So we named it right away. Since we were there to celebrate our wedding anniversray, we named her "Annie". For "Annie-versary"!! Get it??LOL
Gotta love it!

I'll continue in a bit..
Blessings,
Winnie

 

[catbertdave99]

Dave,
Glad you had a great trip and stay at Pop! Can you tell me what design refillable mug they have right now? Is it still the blue YOMD one? Just wondering if it is a new one that I can add to my collection. I love having my coffee in them here at home so I can just sort of pretend I'm at WDW!


Allyson

Allyson,

It IS the blue YOMD mug. They have either a blue handle, a black handle, or a gray handle, but otherwise they're all the same. (...and I do the same thing with my coffee at home, too!)

 

[Goofy22]

We just returned this afternoon from a 5-day, 4-night stay at Pop. First, I want to thank Buckeye Gal and all the rest of you who have posted on the Pop FAQ thread – this thread, particularly post #1, really helped me out as I planned.

First of all, POP is alive and well and a great place to stay! Now, a few notes:

It was me (almost 45), my DS17 and my DS14. We’ve stayed at WL, AKL, CBR (twice) and now Pop. This was a last-minute trip to use up some expiring frequent flyer miles.

I booked a standard room, no requests (we’re pretty easy to please) and got room 9411, 4th floor in the 80’s section, overlooking the Computer Pool. The room was clean, in good shape, Mousekeeping got us extra towels and fixed our hairdryer and took good care of us. Yes, for those who are interested, a towel animal greeted us, and another joined it later in our stay.

We never heard noise from adjoining rooms, other than the turbo-flush toilets, and we didn’t hear pool noise.

We had a 4-5 minute walk to the food court, and that at a normal pace. We found the food court to be great – lots and lots of good choices for our counter-service-preferring family! The tie-dyed cheesecake is amazing – someone HAS to tell me how they do that!

CM’s were all very friendly and willing to help in any way. The buses were frequent, and our longest wait was probably 15 minutes, but usually 5-10. We did all the parks and both water parks and also Downtown Disney. All the buses ran frequently. We had to stand about half the time, but we’re ok with that.

A note about the thermostats. I’ve read a lot about the Pop thermostats and not being able to override them. Ours was set at 69 when we walked in. That night it was cold, so I set it up to 72. The next afternoon when we returned, it was still at 72, and not quite cool enough for us at that point, so I set it back down to 69. It stayed there the rest of the trip. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything or have anything to do with the thermostat override issue I’ve read about, but I thought I’d share it. (No helium balloon or anything, either).

We really did enjoy Pop. If we wanted to be away from people, we just hung out in our room, and it was quiet. We really did enjoy the food court, and I think Pop has a really good gift shop as well. (Yes, we shopped there!)

I’d be happy to answer any current questions – there is a bounceback offer, but it’s just for select dates this fall and into December.

Thanks again to all of you for your comments and info on this thread – it was a great help!

Dave

Sounds great! Glad you enjoyed it we have 20 more days from tommorrow! Can't wait!!!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Dave, awesome review! Thanks for sharing!

...Can you tell me what design refillable mug they have right now? Is it still the blue YOMD one? ...

...It IS the blue YOMD mug. They have either a blue handle, a black handle, or a gray handle, but otherwise they're all the same....

Allyson, there's a link to a picture of it in Post #1. Just do a search for "refillable mug" when you're on the first page. ( [Ctrl] + [F] )

....But let me tell you the neatest thing that happened when we were there.....in walks this lady with a kitten that she found wandering in the middle of the road at WDW! ..... I asked if we could have it, and the kennel workers said of course......Since we were there to celebrate our wedding anniversray, we named her "Annie". For "Annie-versary"!! Get it??LOL
Gotta love it!

Winnie, first of all, congrats on your anniversary!

I'm not a cat person (primarily because I can't breath when I'm around them), but that is the sweetest story!! I LOVE the name and the reasoning behind it, too! What a wonderful story to come home with! She'll always be a memory of your anniversary trip!

 

[olbear]

Winnie, first of all, congrats on your anniversary!

I'm not a cat person (primarily because I can't breath when I'm around them), but that is the sweetest story!! I LOVE the name and the reasoning behind it, too! What a wonderful story to come home with! She'll always be a memory of your anniversary trip!

Thank you, it was such a wonderful trip! And we love our kitty!
Blessings,
WInnie

 

[olbear]

OK I'm back.

So after adopting our kitty, I took hubby to get his Anniversary present. I bought him the "Rookie" Richard Petty driving experience. My 2 niece's and the one niece's family came to watch.

DH had the most awesome time. And I just could not let my niece's hubby just hang out, so I bought him the "Ride Along". They were both just estatic about their experiences. And I even got to ride around the track with my niece Beth and my other niece's kids, who are 9,6, and 4. They were just thrilled, and they each got a free wallet photo of them in front of the Richard Petty Car. Before we left I bought each of the guys their pictures on a nice plaque for them to keep, and I also ordered DH a DVD of his rookie experience.

After all that fun, it was time to head to POP to get checked in and grab a snack at the food court. AFterwards we had planned to go swimming but time was ticking and we needed to get ready for dinner. But on the way to our room, I made a suggestion. So we let the kids get cooled of at the Goofy fountain. They had such fun playing there. It was cute to watch. But we had to get ready for dinner at Kona Cafe. One of our favorites.

So we got ready for dinner and headed to the Poly. I asked the front desk on the way in if I could have some lei's for my family as we were celebrating our anniversary. He happily said sure! So I then scooted upstairs where the family met me. And I greeted each one with a lei and a loving "Aloha"! Dinner was so much fun. We laughed and shared some wonderful memories and a great meal. They broughts DH and I out some yummy puff pastries filled with chocolate. They wrote Happy Anniversary on the plate. It was pretty and very yummy!

We finished dinner about 9PM I think. Not sure. But what I didn't know was that DH heard the fireworks beginning for "Wishes". So he made a quick right, I had no idea why, and headed into the wedding pavillion parking lot. He then proceeded to park at a perfect angle so we could watch "Wishes". It was just awesome!! So is my DH!!!

Next up, "Now who's idea was it to let Josh sleeps with us???"

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[kevin75]

my wife and i just decided 2 days ago that we are going to go again in december and our budget (and the PIN code email we got) being what it is, we decided to try staying at POP. we are trying to decide whether or not to sign up for a preferred room. our concerns are this:

a. we would like a king bed, but my wife read that all of the king beds are in connecting rooms so we are worried about the noise bleed through.

b. it looks like on the preferred room map that none of them are lakeview rooms. is that correct?

c. i had also read that the distance to the bus stop and food court from a preferred room is not always that much shorter than a standard room.

 

[marciemouse]

24 years!! Woo hoo!! We had such a great time. I cannot wait to go back for my birthday. We will be there for the yearly pin event as well.

So anyway, let me tell you about our anniversary weekend at WDW and evrything POP! When we arrived we went to put our baby, Paco at the TTC Kennel. Let me tell you, the new service people there are absolutely wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about them. It is so worth the extra money to keep them there instead of a kennel at home. Thay are so attentive to your baby, and just love them to death.

But let me tell you the neatest thing that happened when we were there. First off, I must share that our first pet was an orange kitty that I found when it was only about 3 weeks old. There has never been another pet like him. But of course we love all our babies we've had. But here lately I've been wanting another orange tabby. We even went looking at our local humane society just before we went on this trip. And they had a cute 5 month old one. But we thought we'd wait.

So we are checking our baby Paco in. And in walks this lady with a kitten that she found wandering in the middle of the road at WDW! Can you believe it. She turns around and it is the most adorable orange tabby kitten. I melted! I asked if I could hold it. And they said yes. I fell in love, so did hubby. I asked if we could have it, and the kennel workers said of course. They'd rather it go to a loving home than to the humane society. I asked what the charge would be to board it, and they said nothing! Woo hoo!!

So we named it right away. Since we were there to celebrate our wedding anniversray, we named her "Annie". For "Annie-versary"!! Get it??LOL
Gotta love it!

I'll continue in a bit..
Blessings,
Winnie

What a great story! I am SO a cat person, and I'm especially fond of the orange ones! I wish I could have a kitty in our apartment!

 

[marciemouse]

my wife and i just decided 2 days ago that we are going to go again in december and our budget (and the PIN code email we got) being what it is, we decided to try staying at POP. we are trying to decide whether or not to sign up for a preferred room. our concerns are this:

a. we would like a king bed, but my wife read that all of the king beds are in connecting rooms so we are worried about the noise bleed through.

b. it looks like on the preferred room map that none of them are lakeview rooms. is that correct?

c. i had also read that the distance to the bus stop and food court from a preferred room is not always that much shorter than a standard room.

We did not get a preferred room, as we don't think they are worth the extra money. We requested a lakeside king room in the 50's or 60's sections, and ended up in room 3153. It was PERFECT. Close to the main hall, bus stops, and pools, but also very quiet. We did not hear any noise from the connecting room. This was a "handicapped accessible" room, but it seemed completely normal, as it had a normal tub/shower combo and not a roll-in shower. It was huge, too!

I read a tip on here somewhere that recommended rolling up a towel and "locking" it on the floor between the connecting room doors to minimize any noise issues.

I wouldn't bother with preferred at Pop. Nothing is too far of a walk. Have a fun trip!

 

[disneychick0412]

We are checking into Pop on November 8th. Will we get to see the Christmas decorations??? I hope so! We are checking out on the 15th, so I hope if they are not up when we check in they are at least put up while we are there!!

 

[DisneyMom5]

my wife and i just decided 2 days ago that we are going to go again in december and our budget (and the PIN code email we got) being what it is, we decided to try staying at POP. we are trying to decide whether or not to sign up for a preferred room. our concerns are this:

a. we would like a king bed, but my wife read that all of the king beds are in connecting rooms so we are worried about the noise bleed through.

b. it looks like on the preferred room map that none of them are lakeview rooms. is that correct?

c. i had also read that the distance to the bus stop and food court from a preferred room is not always that much shorter than a standard room.

a) Have you looked at the room maps which are available in the first post of this thread? They will show you K rooms and preferred locations.

b) The whole point of preferred is distance to Classic Hall. So lake view would defeat that purpose, as the lake is on the other side of the resort from Classic Hall.
But, as the other poster said, nothing is too far, so if you want a few more steps for lake view, you still are not too far from everything.

c) There used to be standard rooms that were even closer than preferred, but then they changed their defintion of preferred. It is now all the rooms in close proximity to Classic Hall. BUT, if you book standard and request closest to Classic hall, you may only be a few feet further away than a preferred. We haven't felt it was worth the money either.

You may have decide which is more important, lake view, or closest to Classic Hall, as that might be a conflict. Though you could ask for "A lake view that is closest to Classic Hall." They are usually pretty good in filling requests.

Happy planning!

 

[olbear]

OK I'm back.

So after adopting our kitty, I took hubby to get his Anniversary present. I bought him the "Rookie" Richard Petty driving experience. My 2 niece's and the one niece's family came to watch.

DH had the most awesome time. And I just could not let my niece's hubby just hang out, so I bought him the "Ride Along". They were both just estatic about their experiences. And I even got to ride around the track with my niece Beth and my other niece's kids, who are 9,6, and 4. They were just thrilled, and they each got a free wallet photo of them in front of the Richard Petty Car. Before we left I bought each of the guys their pictures on a nice plaque for them to keep, and I also ordered DH a DVD of his rookie experience.

After all that fun, it was time to head to POP to get checked in and grab a snack at the food court. AFterwards we had planned to go swimming but time was ticking and we needed to get ready for dinner. But on the way to our room, I made a suggestion. So we let the kids get cooled of at the Goofy fountain. They had such fun playing there. It was cute to watch. But we had to get ready for dinner at Kona Cafe. One of our favorites.

SO we got ready for dinner and headed to the Poly. I asked the front desk on the way in if I could have some lei's for my family as we were celebrating our anniversary. He happily said sure! So I then scooted upstairs where the family met me. And I greeted each one with a lei and a loving "Aloha"! Dinner was so much fun. We laughed and shared some wonderful memories and a great meal. They brought DH and I out some yummy puff pastries filled with chocolate. They wrote Happy Anniversary on the plate. It was pretty and very yummy!

We finished dinner about 9PM I think. Not sure. But what I didn't know was that DH heard the fireworks beginning for "Wishes". So he made a quick right, I had no idea why, and headed into the wedding pavillion parking lot. He then proceeded to park at a perfect angle so we could watch "Wishes". It was just awesome!! So is my DH!!!

Next up, "Now who's idea was it to let Josh sleeps with us???"

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[olbear]

Hello again,

I will try to post some pictures later. I got some wonderful ones of our trip.

So, when last I left this report, we had just finished watching wishes by the wedding pavillion. Now DH actually drove right up to the pavillion itself and turned and parked the car facing the MK. It was a perfect spot for viewing.
So if you're ever there, but not at the MK but drivng around close, try it!

Now we make our way back to POP. We are pretty tired. It had been an exciting but long hot day. Especially at the track. SO weall get ready for bed. 2 of our rooms were connecting, so that made it nice for our family. Especially the 3 kids who went back and forth. Josh the 4 year old decided he wanted to sleep with us in our king bed. I figured, no problem. He's a skinny little thing and it's a king, so plenty of room.

My goodness, he was all over the bed. And all night long. One time he shot straight up and screamed for daddy 3 times. DH just cuddled him and patted him and he back off to dream land. The later on he started bobbing his head on his pillow. Up and down, up and down! DH once again, just cuddled him and patted him and he settled down...again! LOL!

It was quite an adventurous night. But we survived it.
Next up day 2!

Blessings,
WInnie

 

[mickeyfan1226]

Ok well in a little less than a year I will be posting notes on our POP stay. I just got done booking everything. We decided to go with the dining plan. I have my name in a fridge swap so we can have snacks and breakfast foods. I can't wait until we can make our reservations for our dining experiences. We are a grand gathering so I am looking forward to some of the extra things with that. We will be celebrating my niece's birthday. It was to be an all girls trip but my sister broke down and decided to bring her husband,son, and infant(not looking forward to the infant) Actually I am because they live in NC and us in KS so that may be the only time I would be able to see it. I will have a new grandbaby in Dec and the Niece of nephew is due in Feb. 2 blessing within a year. Enough blabbing.
Michelle

 

[goofy57]

Dave,

Thanks for the great trip report on POP. You really eased some of our concerns about noise issues that we have read about at POP.

Stan

 

[schaery]

My HD and myself will be at the POP Dec 7th--14th with my daughter and son-inlaw with two grandsons 11 and 7. We are hoping to get the "50" building too. We were there in "06" as well. We like the fact that POP has it's own bus. I can't believe it's right around the corner.

Hi! I'll be there with 17YO DD the same week as you. 1st time at the Pop, and can hardly wait. (It's only 125 days til Dec. 7. )

 

[jenseib]

We are checking into Pop on November 8th. Will we get to see the Christmas decorations??? I hope so! We are checking out on the 15th, so I hope if they are not up when we check in they are at least put up while we are there!!

From what I read they usualy don't go up till after Thanksgiving.

 

[Goofy22]

We are checking into Pop on November 8th. Will we get to see the Christmas decorations??? I hope so! We are checking out on the 15th, so I hope if they are not up when we check in they are at least put up while we are there!!

Well when we were there in October 2005(the very end of October that last week!) in MGM there were decorations up! They were not yet Lite up or anything but they were definitely there! We were sitting in Cars Stunt show and I said OMG look they have Christmas Decorations up already! I was like wow! I thought it was definitely impossible for Disney to just flick a switch and be lite for christmas! LOL! But they were definitely there just not lite as I said! You may actually still see Halloween decorations! those are pretty cool too!!!

 

[jackdis]

We were there last Thanksgiving. We arrived on Thanksgiving Day. We were at the Pop. The lobby was decorated. The parks we went too were beautifully decorated. We even saw the Osbourne Lights at MGM. We were only there from Thursday - Sunday (Short trip, teacher here!!) but a lot was up at the time. I hope you see some too. It is so amazing.

 

[disneychick0412]

From what I read they usualy don't go up till after Thanksgiving.

I was hoping they might have started putting them up since the first MVMCP is on November 10th.