The Groovy New Pop Century FAQ Thread!

[TCKK]

Glad you enjoyed them. You will have great time at Pop.

By the way, declansdad we were wondering what are the towel animals or toys that you had pictures of? Where did they come from?

 

[Groucho]

I second that! One night the Mom's Night Out special was Turkey dinner, so I thought I'd try it.

I was afraid I wouldn't have time to get a Mom's at all, and I was able to get it twice. The first time was chicken - very, very good... the second time was pork, and it wasn't quite as good. Not bad, but the chicken was definitely better. I didn't get a chance to have the turkey but maybe I'll have to make a special trip to Everything Pop on a future trip to check it out. (I just bought into the DVC so probably won't be staying at Pop next trip!)

Oh, and the chocolate chip cookies were very good, too! Mom's Night Out + cookie for dessert is a great use of a counter service on the Dining Plan!

 

[declansdad]

By the way, declansdad we were wondering what are the towel animals or toys that you had pictures of? Where did they come from?

Those are the towel animals that mousekeeping made for us during our stay.

 

[bbutters]

What is this Mom's night out?? Is it only with the dinner plan??

LOVE the term mousekeeping.....

I'm off to check my 10 weather forcast.....TODAY i'll be able to see the weather for our ENTIRE TRIP!!!!!

5 days....5 days......so much to do.....so little time!!!!!
SO EXCITED!!!!!!

 

[Groucho]

Anyone can get Mom's Night Out but it's very easy to miss if you're not looking for it. (And if you don't have the dining plan, you might change your mind once you get there - I added it on before we left and I'm very glad I did!)

The food service area in Everything Pop has (IIRC) four counters, with the desserts inbetween. Each has a different menu above it (some items are repeated) with pictures of different items. The counter on the far right has the Mom's Night Out, and it doesn't have a picture. There are different meats on different nights - the menus at AllEarsNet tell you what is on what night.

You can find pictures of it in the food pictures thread.

 

[Kimmycan]

We leave for POP on the 13th!!! I booked POP back in December in hopes of saving a few $$....it was somewhat of a last minute splurge idea for us to do this but we are all really excited! ANYWAY, i'm so glade to have found this site....although we were there off site for our honeymoone 10 years ago, traveling with 2 kids this time is a whole different ballpark!! My therory on the Value resorts is 1) how bad could it be with Disney's name on it and 2) we basically just need a place to sleep and relax between parks! I do have a couple of questions.

1. is there internet service in the rooms? Wireless or dial up?

2. is milk and juice included in the refillable mug purchase?

3. how do you think the crowds will be in mid-feb??

4. can i mail some snacks to the resort ahead of time? (should probably do it monday!)

5. any other advice for this disney novice family?

THANKS!!!

we just returned from 7 nights at Pop. We too went on our honeymoon 14 years ago (stayed off site) & this time we took our kids (11 & 12) & decided to make it even more magical by trying to stay on site. Got a great deal & we made it happen. It was amazing. Very magical but a little tiring. We booked too many days at the parks & I wished we had spent more time at the resort. Definitely take the time to walk around, enjoy the pools. (weather was great when we were there 75 - 80 degrees) Of course we are Canadians so we even tried the ocean - a little chilly.
Surf this site - it's amazing & I learned so much here.
your questions:
1) internet service available on dial-up - we did bring our laptop but didn't bother connecting cause I didn't want my husband or I doing work
2) you can refill your cup with pop & juice, coffee
3) there were very few line ups - I think we fast passed 2 or 3 rides & then walked right in - we timed it though by using the advice on this site combined with magic hours. longest wait we had was for my daughter to meet Ariel (40 minutes) and the Princessess in Mickey toon land (40 minutes)
4) sorry don't know if you can ship snacks. recommend you pack really light. we had one suitcase each & our kids have little clothes so I packed snacks in there. there are also laundry facilities on site (bring detergent)
5) a little advice, keeping in mind I am not a disney expert like most here - this is just from my one time experience & things my family liked or would do a little differently.

pack nutritious snacks for the park (granola bars, tangerines, water) - we under budgetted there
make reservation or whatever they call it - depending on the age of your children - I highly recommend the sci-fi rest't as it's just like being at the drive-in - very cool! could be scary if your kids are little.
if you have time do the waterpark - our kids loved it & we did too!
definitely comfy shoes & take regular breaks
if you are a coffee drinker bring a coffee maker because Pop does not provide one.
when you get there - request a room close to what's important for you - for us it was the pool & buses. we stayed in the 50's - top floor - really quiet!
we found the pop rest't expensive & enjoyed the food & the expereince more at the parks, however the Mom's special at the pop rest (far right wall) was really good. Large portions so my kids often shared a meal or a couple times I ordered a kids meal & it was plenty.
And finally, we purchased a new digital camera before we left for our vacation & we are so pleased with the pics & video - it's the only way to go. But sometimes I would get so caught up in the magic I would forget to take pictures
Our fav rides & attractions - if time is a factor - don't miss...
• MGM Fantasmic light,music and fireworks show (get there early)
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Tower of Terror
• Rock N Roller coaster (goes really fast & you get tossed around alot)
• Splash Mountain
• Thunder mountain
• Space Mountain
• Kilimanjaro Safari
• Blizzard Beach (pretty much all of it but especially the kid's area - sorry it may be closed for upkeep)
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have. Enjoy your holiday - may it be magical - tossing some pixy dust your way!!

 

[bbutters]

we just returned from 7 nights at Pop. We too went on our honeymoon 14 years ago (stayed off site) & this time we took our kids (11 & 12) & decided to make it even more magical by trying to stay on site. Got a great deal & we made it happen. It was amazing. Very magical but a little tiring. We booked too many days at the parks & I wished we had spent more time at the resort. Definitely take the time to walk around, enjoy the pools. (weather was great when we were there 75 - 80 degrees) Of course we are Canadians so we even tried the ocean - a little chilly.
Surf this site - it's amazing & I learned so much here.
your questions:
1) internet service available on dial-up - we did bring our laptop but didn't bother connecting cause I didn't want my husband or I doing work
2) you can refill your cup with pop & juice, coffee
3) there were very few line ups - I think we fast passed 2 or 3 rides & then walked right in - we timed it though by using the advice on this site combined with magic hours. longest wait we had was for my daughter to meet Ariel (40 minutes) and the Princessess in Mickey toon land (40 minutes)
4) sorry don't know if you can ship snacks. recommend you pack really light. we had one suitcase each & our kids have little clothes so I packed snacks in there. there are also laundry facilities on site (bring detergent)
5) a little advice, keeping in mind I am not a disney expert like most here - this is just from my one time experience & things my family liked or would do a little differently.

pack nutritious snacks for the park (granola bars, tangerines, water) - we under budgetted there
make reservation or whatever they call it - depending on the age of your children - I highly recommend the sci-fi rest't as it's just like being at the drive-in - very cool! could be scary if your kids are little.
if you have time do the waterpark - our kids loved it & we did too!
definitely comfy shoes & take regular breaks
if you are a coffee drinker bring a coffee maker because Pop does not provide one.
when you get there - request a room close to what's important for you - for us it was the pool & buses. we stayed in the 50's - top floor - really quiet!
we found the pop rest't expensive & enjoyed the food & the expereince more at the parks, however the Mom's special at the pop rest (far right wall) was really good. Large portions so my kids often shared a meal or a couple times I ordered a kids meal & it was plenty.
And finally, we purchased a new digital camera before we left for our vacation & we are so pleased with the pics & video - it's the only way to go. But sometimes I would get so caught up in the magic I would forget to take pictures
Our fav rides & attractions - if time is a factor - don't miss...
• MGM Fantasmic light,music and fireworks show (get there early)
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Tower of Terror
• Rock N Roller coaster (goes really fast & you get tossed around alot)
• Splash Mountain
• Thunder mountain
• Space Mountain
• Kilimanjaro Safari
• Blizzard Beach (pretty much all of it but especially the kid's area - sorry it may be closed for upkeep)
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have. Enjoy your holiday - may it be magical - tossing some pixy dust your way!!

THANK YOU for all the GREAT advice!!! I really appreciate it!!! We are taking a suit case each and then packing snacks and breakfast items within that luggage and we are taking one extra suitcase (small) for food and misc. stuff. I'm going to start to pack tomorrow!!! I'm SOOOO exctied!!! I am fully expecting to come home exhausted since we really only have 4 FULL days there, one evening and one day that is a go home early day. SO, we are going to try to do as much as we can without exhausting ourselves too much. (yeah, right! ) I have made a very loose, flexible iteniary of what we are doing each day with breaks and trips back to the resort for some R & R especially on our Magic Kingdom and EPCOT days....I figure they are open to 8-9 p.m. each night and we can go back!! Plus I am not doing those days back to back. I have already requested a perfered room which is by the pools and buses. And we do have a digital camera....which is probably why we'll take our laptop because when we shoot on our highest setting we can only get about 60 some pictures so we'll need to download them. If I get on the internet it will be just a quick check-in with our MOMS back home! We also got a GREAT deal and just made it happen (although I'm hoping some checks don't clear till the 15th!! LOL) I just want it to go smooth and I want us to have FUN!!!! Secretly hoping that the magic of Disney will put an end to my 2 year infertility issue.... SHHHH.....don't tell!!

Thanks again for your help!! If I come up with any questions before Monday (OMG!!! I LEAVE ON MONDAY!!) I'll be sure to ask!!

 

[Groucho]

The only thing I would add is that breaks are not as easy as one might hope. Remember that WDW is absolutely MASSIVE. Getting back to your hotel room can chew up a good chunk of time.

For example, let's say you wanted to stop back at your room for a break around mid-day. MGM is the only park small enough where it's not a real big deal to walk back to the entrance if you're not already nearby... otherwise figure 5-15 minutes (or more) of walking back to the bus stop. We got lucky with bus timing (usually 5-10 minutes), but of course there's the time waiting for the bus to unload, then load everyone, before it finally takes off - it's not unrealistic to figure that it could talk half an hour from when you get to a busstop until you're on your way.

Pop Century is furthest away from Magic Kingdom, so that's a good 15-minute bus ride. The other parks are under ten minutes. If it's a busy time of the day, there's a good chance you'll be standing. Then once you get to the resort, you might be looking at another 5+ minute walk to get to your room... and when you're done, you need to retrace all the steps, plus add on the time it takes to get your bags checked and your ticket and fingerprints read (and the fingerprint readers are pretty flaky!)

Ultimately, a break will probably involve an hour or so of extra time, plus a fair amount of walking especially if your room isn't near the busstop or you're deep in a park when you want to take a break. What we did was count a table-service restaurant as a rest... it gives a chance to relax and get off your feet for an hour or more, without having to go through all the work of travelling back to the resort (which can be exhausting by itself!)

If you don't want to stop at a restaurant... well, all the parks have plenty of places to sit down and relax for a while and check out the theming and do some peoplewatching. Just make sure you're in the shade.

Everyone has different strategies, but for me, Pop is just too far away from the parks to make in convenient for a quick stopoff. The good news is that because Pop is so huge, there are dedicated busses, so you don't have to worry about extra stops along the way.

One other option you can consider is to just hop over to a nearby resort other than Pop. For example, if at MK or Epcot, take the monorail to one of the resorts on the monorail line and relax in the seats in the lobby. The resorts are all interesting to visit and usually have plenty of places to sit and relax for visitors, and you'll always have plenty of people and theming to look at while you're sitting there.

 

[Kimmycan]

THANK YOU for all the GREAT advice!!! I really appreciate it!!! We are taking a suit case each and then packing snacks and breakfast items within that luggage and we are taking one extra suitcase (small) for food and misc. stuff. I'm going to start to pack tomorrow!!! I'm SOOOO exctied!!! I am fully expecting to come home exhausted since we really only have 4 FULL days there, one evening and one day that is a go home early day. SO, we are going to try to do as much as we can without exhausting ourselves too much. (yeah, right! ) I have made a very loose, flexible iteniary of what we are doing each day with breaks and trips back to the resort for some R & R especially on our Magic Kingdom and EPCOT days....I figure they are open to 8-9 p.m. each night and we can go back!! Plus I am not doing those days back to back. I have already requested a perfered room which is by the pools and buses. And we do have a digital camera....which is probably why we'll take our laptop because when we shoot on our highest setting we can only get about 60 some pictures so we'll need to download them. If I get on the internet it will be just a quick check-in with our MOMS back home! We also got a GREAT deal and just made it happen (although I'm hoping some checks don't clear till the 15th!! LOL) I just want it to go smooth and I want us to have FUN!!!! Secretly hoping that the magic of Disney will put an end to my 2 year infertility issue.... SHHHH.....don't tell!!
Thanks again for your help!! If I come up with any questions before Monday (OMG!!! I LEAVE ON MONDAY!!) I'll be sure to ask!!

oh you made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to bust a gasket or something. I won't tell - it will remain our little secret. About tripping back to Pop. Count on AK being a short day. So you may want to put that between MK & Epcot. loose/flex itin., is good. We only made a couple reserv., & basically ate when we were hungry & sat when we were tired. CHeck when the magic hours are for MK & epcot - resorters can go early to the parks or stay late those days. Its great for rides that are fairly busy. that's all I can think of - during the ride there just let it all go - you've done everything you could - sit back & enjoy (it might help that other pss psss secret thing too). PS Don't forget to walk around the resort. Awesome sites there too! And I wish we would have taken the monorail - I think the kids would have enjoyed it. The dis photographers will take pics with your camera - be sure to do that - otherwise you will have no complete family pics.
ok I'll shut up now!
Blessings Kimberly

 

[Camping Griswalds]

We just got back from an 11 night stay at POP. We were in the Lady building on the 3rd floor facing pool. Really enjoyed our stay. It was our first time in a value, so we were a little concerned, but really this resort is just an awesome "bang for your buck!!" Any questions ???

 

[Andrew_Lubow]

Yes, you can ship food to the resort either as something you send out yourself from home or a service like http://www.netgrocer.com or http://www.gardengrocer.com/ I've used Netgrocer for several years without a problem. Your resort will hold your package at Bell Services till you arrive to pick it up

 

[bbutters]

The only thing I would add is that breaks are not as easy as one might hope. Remember that WDW is absolutely MASSIVE. Getting back to your hotel room can chew up a good chunk of time.

For example, let's say you wanted to stop back at your room for a break around mid-day. MGM is the only park small enough where it's not a real big deal to walk back to the entrance if you're not already nearby... otherwise figure 5-15 minutes (or more) of walking back to the bus stop. We got lucky with bus timing (usually 5-10 minutes), but of course there's the time waiting for the bus to unload, then load everyone, before it finally takes off - it's not unrealistic to figure that it could talk half an hour from when you get to a busstop until you're on your way.

Pop Century is furthest away from Magic Kingdom, so that's a good 15-minute bus ride. The other parks are under ten minutes. If it's a busy time of the day, there's a good chance you'll be standing. Then once you get to the resort, you might be looking at another 5+ minute walk to get to your room... and when you're done, you need to retrace all the steps, plus add on the time it takes to get your bags checked and your ticket and fingerprints read (and the fingerprint readers are pretty flaky!)

Ultimately, a break will probably involve an hour or so of extra time, plus a fair amount of walking especially if your room isn't near the busstop or you're deep in a park when you want to take a break. What we did was count a table-service restaurant as a rest... it gives a chance to relax and get off your feet for an hour or more, without having to go through all the work of travelling back to the resort (which can be exhausting by itself!)

If you don't want to stop at a restaurant... well, all the parks have plenty of places to sit down and relax for a while and check out the theming and do some peoplewatching. Just make sure you're in the shade.

Everyone has different strategies, but for me, Pop is just too far away from the parks to make in convenient for a quick stopoff. The good news is that because Pop is so huge, there are dedicated busses, so you don't have to worry about extra stops along the way.

One other option you can consider is to just hop over to a nearby resort other than Pop. For example, if at MK or Epcot, take the monorail to one of the resorts on the monorail line and relax in the seats in the lobby. The resorts are all interesting to visit and usually have plenty of places to sit and relax for visitors, and you'll always have plenty of people and theming to look at while you're sitting there.

Thanks for the pointers on breaks and stuff. My concern is mostly tired/overwhelmed kids. DH and I would be fine and our 9 year old would probably be able to troop most of the day also....it's the 3 year old I'm concerned about. Even if we just find a quiet corner somewhere to sit and have a snack for a while that will be good. I will have to remeber about the closer resorts also!

Finger prints??

Off to clean up and then START PACKING!!!!!

 

[bbutters]

oh you made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to bust a gasket or something. I won't tell - it will remain our little secret. About tripping back to Pop. Count on AK being a short day. So you may want to put that between MK & Epcot. loose/flex itin., is good. We only made a couple reserv., & basically ate when we were hungry & sat when we were tired. CHeck when the magic hours are for MK & epcot - resorters can go early to the parks or stay late those days. Its great for rides that are fairly busy. that's all I can think of - during the ride there just let it all go - you've done everything you could - sit back & enjoy (it might help that other pss psss secret thing too). PS Don't forget to walk around the resort. Awesome sites there too! And I wish we would have taken the monorail - I think the kids would have enjoyed it. The dis photographers will take pics with your camera - be sure to do that - otherwise you will have no complete family pics.
ok I'll shut up now!
Blessings Kimberly

heee...heeee....glad I could make you laugh!!! But I'm really SERIOUS about some Disney Magic going on!!! I WANT A BABY!!! The darn drugs aren't working so I'm hoping Disney world will!!! Did you ever see the commercial with the mommy and her "little souviner" That's all I need to bring home. It won't take up ANY room in my suitcase!!

Yes, I'm crazy.....Anyway!!!! As I have it planned now (I'm such a control freak! I think I need therapy!) We are gettinig there on Monday evening and heading to MK for fireworks. Then Tuesday we are going to EPCOT....hoping the kids will have more of an appreciation for it if we do it first. Wednesday MGM, Thursday MK and Fri AK. Would like to pick one of the "warmer" days for a stop at the waterpark one afternoon and am trying to keep Friday night OPEN so we can go back and do any of our favorite things. As of now I don't have any reservations for meals but would REALLY like to do the sci-fi drive-in....I think the boys would really like that.....hoping to call while we are down there and get in during a non-busy time.....if not, oh well I suppose....not there for the food this time (I can't believe I just said that.....as my DH always says "It's all about the food for Bec!" LOL! He's right!)

I'm so exctied!!! After my morning chores are done I'm going to get the laundry goning and START PACKING!!!! I've been looking forward to this day ALL WEEK!!!!! Perhaps I should switch to Decaf!

Have a great day!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU for all you help!!!

 

[Groucho]

Thanks for the pointers on breaks and stuff. My concern is mostly tired/overwhelmed kids. DH and I would be fine and our 9 year old would probably be able to troop most of the day also....it's the 3 year old I'm concerned about. Even if we just find a quiet corner somewhere to sit and have a snack for a while that will be good. I will have to remeber about the closer resorts also!

You might want to consider a stroller for the three-year-old, for when (s)he gets tired, they can just sleep in that, or at least rest the legs.

I'd recommend hitting '50s Prime Time Cafe (MGM) and/or Whispering Canyon (at Wilderness Lodge), for fun restaurants that the kids will really enjoy.

Have a great time!

 

[freediverdude]

Is Chip n Dale Express ever still on here? I met him during the opening week at Pop Century, and wondered if he likes being back in the purple pants, or what has happened since then.....

 

[bbutters]

You might want to consider a stroller for the three-year-old, for when (s)he gets tired, they can just sleep in that, or at least rest the legs.

I'd recommend hitting '50s Prime Time Cafe (MGM) and/or Whispering Canyon (at Wilderness Lodge), for fun restaurants that the kids will really enjoy.

Have a great time!

The stroller issue has been a dilema...the two light weight ones we have are too worn out to use and I really didn't want to have to buy one if we were only really going to use it this once. DH and I have decided that it will be well worth it to pre-pay for a rental at WDW....then we don't have to fight the airport, bus, etc....

Thanks for the restaurant pointers!!! I LOVE FOOD!!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Is Chip n Dale Express ever still on here? I met him during the opening week at Pop Century, and wondered if he likes being back in the purple pants, or what has happened since then.....

Lets just say that I went back further in time than just 1950.........

 

[DisneyMom5]

Lets just say that I went back further in time than just 1950.........

Ooooh, so vague and mysterious....
LOL

 

[lovesdumbo]

Just finished reading this entire thread. I just made a reservation for 4 nights in May to celebrate my DD's 7th birthday. I let her choose the resort (told her no to GF and Poly). I showed her pictures from All Ears Net and she asked to see CSR, Pop, ASMo. I thought she would choose ASMo because I stayed there without her last Aug. Then I thought she'd pick CSR because of the pool/playground but she picked Pop. And not because of all the cool icons which I'm sure she'll love but because she like the decor of the rooms here better than at ASMo. I think she may have been swayed by the photo on All Ears net that shows Mr Potato Head parts at the store.

I called and was able to get AAA discount for 5/19 to 5/23 for a total of $375 for the 4 nights. Hoping to change that to AP when released but I'm very happy with that if AP's don't come or aren't available for my dates. I asked for 50's Lady and the CM at CRO said that was prefered. I said no it is 60's that is prefered. He put me on hold and came back and said well I've been telling a lot of people the wrong thing. I was actually confused when I asked for Lady. I think I'll call back and ask for Tramp, lake view.

Thanks to all for this great thread. I can't wait to try Pop! (My current ticker is for an adult only trip May 1 to 4 to celebrate MY birthday at POFQ-looking forward to trying that too!)

 

[bbutters]

Thank you, Thank you for all the great tips and advice about POP and Disney. WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!!!