The thrill of making my first reservation at Pop Century

[CanadianEmily]

Just booked a standard room at Pop Century for February 2020. It was exciting to finally be making plans! Most of you here are so experienced, but I'm learning a lot and hopefully taking the right approach. I was 10 years old the last time I was at Disney World. Animal Kingdom didn't exist. We visited MGM Studios, not Hollywood Studios. Buying tickets at the gate was the normal thing to do. Characters wandered around the parks with short lines to get a picture. I was afraid of pretty much every ride, haha.

I know there's a thread already on price increases. If anyone is wondering, it was $1,236 for a 5-night stay in February. The All Star resorts were substantially cheaper. I guess the gondola has a lot to do with that? The Hippy Dippy pool is probably going to be under refurbishment when we're there, though, so it's too bad there wasn't at least a bit of a discount for that. I assume there's no chance they will grant pool access to AoA because of the refurbishment. That would be awesome. In any case, it was still a bit cheaper than the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, which was the only other hotel I was really considering. We usually stay at Hiltons, but I thought we better try one of the Disney resorts first.

 

[Dug720]

Allowing the pool thing is unlikely as there are still 2 pools that will be open.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Allowing the pool thing is unlikely as there are still 2 pools that will be open.

Yeah, I know. Plus it's February, so who really needs to swim anyway? I'll be happy with just wandering around AoA to check out the theming.

 

[tgree9369]

Just booked a standard room at Pop Century for February 2020. It was exciting to finally be making plans! Most of you here are so experienced, but I'm learning a lot and hopefully taking the right approach. I was 10 years old the last time I was at Disney World. Animal Kingdom didn't exist. We visited MGM Studios, not Hollywood Studios. Buying tickets at the gate was the normal thing to do. Characters wandered around the parks with short lines to get a picture. I was afraid of pretty much every ride, haha.

I know there's a thread already on price increases. If anyone is wondering, it was $1,236 for a 5-night stay in February. The All Star resorts were substantially cheaper. I guess the gondola has a lot to do with that? The Hippy Dippy pool is probably going to be under refurbishment when we're there, though, so it's too bad there wasn't at least a bit of a discount for that. I assume there's no chance they will grant pool access to AoA because of the refurbishment. That would be awesome. In any case, it was still a bit cheaper than the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, which was the only other hotel I was really considering. We usually stay at Hiltons, but I thought we better try one of the Disney resorts first.

Pop (for a Value Resort) is IMO the nicest value resort (although they just got done All-Star Movies - which the rooms are identical to POP minus the themeing). Anyway, we stayed there 2 years ago and actually enjoyed POP better than AoA. You will enjoy this resort. The Quiet Pools are very nice and my kids preferred them over the main pool due to them being less crowded. We were in the 80's building and it was a walk to the main lobby but no more than 10 mins. They are pretty strict on the non-sharing of pools with AoA. The Skyliner will be a nice feature, as it was just being started when we were there. Have a wonderful trip and enjoy POP!

 

[CanadianEmily]

Pop (for a Value Resort) is IMO the nicest value resort (although they just got done All-Star Movies - which the rooms are identical to POP minus the themeing). Anyway, we stayed there 2 years ago and actually enjoyed POP better than AoA. You will enjoy this resort. The Quiet Pools are very nice and my kids preferred them over the main pool due to them being less crowded. We were in the 80's building and it was a walk to the main lobby but no more than 10 mins. They are pretty strict on the non-sharing of pools with AoA. The Skyliner will be a nice feature, as it was just being started when we were there. Have a wonderful trip and enjoy POP!

Thank you! I wasn't aware they just renovated the rooms at All Star Movies. I might have booked that instead, since it was about $50 less per night. I said this to my husband, though, and he said to not change my mind after months of trying to pick the perfect place to stay, haha. My son would enjoy the theme more at All Star Movies, I think, but I was concerned about the potential noise level. He has a hard time sleeping when we're away from home, so I've requested a lake view room in the 50s building at Pop Century. I'm hoping it's pretty quiet, and maybe we'll get lucky and be able to see Epcot. I guess it might be the location of the "main" pool while we're there, though. Hippy Dippy and that area will be closed, so the bowling pool will probably be the busiest pool. It's February though. I don't suspect it will be very busy at the pools in general. I'm from Canada, so I might be able to tolerate swimming at that time, haha.

I like the proximity to AoA even if we're not staying there, so we can walk over to check out all the big iconic characters. My son will love that. Maybe we'll check out their food court, too. I heard they have a few more options than Pop, but I like what I see on the menu at Pop, too. We won't be looking for anything fancy with a 5-year-old in tow.

 

[tgree9369]

Thank you! I wasn't aware they just renovated the rooms at All Star Movies. I might have booked that instead, since it was about $50 less per night. I said this to my husband, though, and he said to not change my mind after months of trying to pick the perfect place to stay, haha. My son would enjoy the theme more at All Star Movies, I think, but I was concerned about the potential noise level. He has a hard time sleeping when we're away from home, so I've requested a lake view room in the 50s building at Pop Century. I'm hoping it's pretty quiet, and maybe we'll get lucky and be able to see Epcot. I guess it might be the location of the "main" pool while we're there, though. Hippy Dippy and that area will be closed, so the bowling pool will probably be the busiest pool. It's February though. I don't suspect it will be very busy at the pools in general. I'm from Canada, so I might be able to tolerate swimming at that time, haha.

I like the proximity to AoA even if we're not staying there, so we can walk over to check out all the big iconic characters. My son will love that. Maybe we'll check out their food court, too. I heard they have a few more options than Pop, but I like what I see on the menu at Pop, too. We won't be looking for anything fancy with a 5-year-old in tow.

AoA's Landscape of Flavor food court is pretty good, not that POP's isn't but you are correct - they offer some more things and the food is pretty good - you get alot! We stayed at AoA last summer. I think you made the wise choice in POP over All-Star Movies - and yes, walk around AoA - the themeing is awesome! And you can always use the Skyliner to get around!

 

[Anne Ritchey]

Just booked a standard room at Pop Century for February 2020.

Definitely congrats. I tried all morning EDT (after the booking site was finally running) and could not get a standard room at any value resort for Jan or Feb. We did our first onsite at Pop. After that, and as we're locals, whatever was the cheapest.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Definitely congrats. I tried all morning EDT (after the booking site was finally running) and could not get a standard room at any value resort for Jan or Feb. We did our first onsite at Pop. After that, and as we're locals, whatever was the cheapest.

Oh wow. I'm glad I booked when I did! That was just lucky. I checked when I got up this morning and the site was down. I went out and did some things and got back shortly before 10am ET and was able to book it around then.