Welcome, Foolish Mortals...to an October 2011 PTR! *Trip Report link is up, pg 71!!*

[jenbear123]

It's funny you mention that you added an extra day. I've had the urge to do this for the past week! I don't think I'll be able to extend our trip though. The cost to extend our air + extra cost of the hotel room would be too much $$$. I'm so happy for you that you extended your trip!!!! You'll love Pop. I've stayed there many times and love it. I always go for the 50s section with a lake view. The CMs at Disney reservations never seem to understand there's a lake view whenever I request. Just be persistent and they'll put the request on there for ya

 

[Lady Lallie]

I just read your whole PTR this morning after seeing you post on TK's trip report!! I'm joining in for the rest of the planning fun!!

 

[PixieMama]

Woohoo for double digits and adding a day!

I can't wait to stay at Pop! My family has stayed twice at ASMo and now I'm thinking we would have liked Pop better. It looks so fun and my DDs love the pics of the pools there.

 

[TanzUnited99]

on adding a day to your trip and it being DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!

That is great that you guys will get to stay at Pop. It sure looks like a fun resort! I could be wrong but I was under the impression that the 60s section had most of the preferred rooms.

I think you will enjoy the resort no matter where you stay - if it helps we have requested the 50s section.

I've been thinking the last couple of days of trying to extend our stay to take in the F&W festival but can't justify the cost Like you said we can always go again.

Still going with the MNSSHP tickets - will let you know if anything changes on that front

 

[IheartDDuck]

Yay, double digits!!!!!

 

[Stefy]

Yay for adding another night

Double digit dancing with you too

 

[PirateKate]

This is kind of strange- we've added a day to our trip, too. I haven't had the heart to reset my ticker, though. It's taken a long time to get it halfway there.

Last time we were at Pop, we got fifties, lake view, which I thought was very nice. I don't know if I'd request it, though. Sometimes, I think it's kind of fun to see what you get without a request.

If you're down to double digits and our trips start on the same day- 28th, right?- then that seems to suggest that I'm in double digits, too. I didn't even realize it.

 

[Nermel9]

Yay on adding a day!

POP is great! I love the resort. We did the same thing when we wanted to add days to our upcoming trip. Since it's the least expensive alternative, it's kind of a no brainer.

Definitely get the tie dyed cheesecake! It's a can't miss in my opinion. The POP food court is my favorite on property.

I know that some of the 60's and 70's buildings are preferred. I wouldn't know which one I would suggest. Honestly, I think that you should just request the building you like the best. Since you are only staying for one day, I don't think the distance will be a big deal.

Thanks!

I'm glad you like Pop! It's nice to be spending less than $100 to add a night!

I can't wait for that tie died cheesecake! I might have it for breakfast, if it's available!

I'm not sure if I'm going to do a request, since it's only one night...I'd like to, because I really like the 50's section with Lady and the Tramp, but I also like the 70's and 80's sections as well. We'll see!

Yay for adding a day!!!!!!!!

I've always wanted to try the tie-dye cheesecake, it looks so fun!

Yay!

Doesn't that cheesecake look awesome? It reminds me of Play Doh!

You will love Pop I really enjoyed it for my stay, even though I was hardly in the room But yay for adding on a day!

Yay, I'm so excited to try out Pop for a night, since if we do end up going in May, that's where we'll be staying!

No, Jack doesn't do meet and greets anymore. He used to, and I totally missed them for lack of knowledge. Grr.

You so can meet Tarzan at the party! He's at a meet and greet in Adventureland in a building near where you get the Dole Whips. You can't miss it, trust me, there will be a big line.

And yes.

I have stalked him. Once, I went, and he was off swinging in the vines, so to speak, and I asked the character handler when he'd be back so that I could get my picture taken with him.

Believe me, my mother had no issues waiting for Tarzan.

:::sigh::: Delightful. I'll have to see if I can find a photo for you.

I think we are both a little weepy lately! You can have the Tower of Terror, but I have a vested interest in the Wilderness Lodge. It is so my family resort of choice, I love staying there with my boys, so I feel you on that. Will you allow us to borrow it on occasion?

One of my very dear DIS friends got me some of the bath bombs as a gift, and OMG, they are DIVINE!!!! I highly recommend. Basin also has a great shampoo bar that I love, it's a grapefruit scent, and it cleans my hair so nicely.

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Congrats on adding a day! You'll love Pop Century, it's such a fun resort! I don't usually request any particular section. Be sure to stop in the shop there, I always love going there because they seem to have things I couldn't find elsewhere, although I felt that way about CBR on my last trip, so maybe it's a resort thing.

That's sad that Jack doesn't do meet and greets. The least he could do is come out for the Halloween Party!

LOL, I will keep an eye out for Tarzan! Sounds like he's pretty popular! I'd love to see your pics, if you can find them! I'm sure I'll see him if he's near the Dole Whips, I know I'll be getting a few of those throughout the trip!

Yeah, I've been a little weepy lately, an emotional roller coaster, really! One minute I'm laughing, the next I'm crying! I guess that's to be expected.

You can definitely borrow the Wilderness Lodge! I could never deprive anyone of that resort, it's my favorite! There's just something about it that feels like home to me, I love it!

Ok, ok, you've talked me into it, I will buy something at Basin! It sounds too good to pass up!

I'm so happy we added an extra day! I need a nice, long vacation, and I need to be at Disney as long as I can possibly stay there. I can't wait to check out Pop! It looks so fun and colorful and happy, and just so Disney! I'm definitely planning to check out the store, I sometimes think you can find things in resort stores that they don't have other places too!

That's so cool that you added a day! We totally did the same thing so that we could have better flights and an extra day in Disney. Pop Century looks really fun.

Isn't it great adding an extra day and getting more time at Disney? Pop looks like so much fun, I can't wait to see it in person, I've just seen pictures of it!

You're so lucky! An extra night is perfect! I always thought taking a late-afternoon flight, eating a nice dinner, and relaxing at my resort so we'd be fresh for our first full day would be a great way to start a vacation.
I've never stayed at Pop, but only heard great reviews-- I probably wouldn't make a request and just see where they put you!

I've thought about doing the same thing, flying there in the afternoon and not doing any parks, but...I can't bring myself to actually do it! I have to be on the first nonstop flight out, check in, hope my room is ready, and then get to the parks! I think this year, though, we might be a little more casual, since we will be there for SO long!

I've heard great things about Pop too, so I'm sure I will love it! As of now, I'm leaning towards no room requests, just going to leave it up to fate, but that might change!

 

[Nermel9]

I love Pop Century!

I've never requested a section, but I've always been happy with location. Most recently I stayed in 90's. All together, I've stayed at Pop 4 or 5 times and it is still the resort I think of when I picture going to Disney.

Have fun re-working your schedule!

Yay, I'm so happy to hear that everyone who has stayed at Pop seems to love it!

I think, out of all the sections at Pop, I wouldn't want to be in the 90's section! If I do make a request, I should put "anywhere but the 90's, please!"

I can't wait to figure out what we will be doing that first night. I have lots of ideas already!

I can't believe you added a day and are staying at Pop. No fair

When I had Pop booked I requested the eighties section just b/c I wanted to be near RR and the computer pool. When we ate at Pop we took a walk over and it wasn't very far. Pop seems very compact so I don't think it matters where you stay. I'm surprised you don't pick 50's with Lady and the Tramp.

Is Brandon aware of this May trip? Are you going to actually get the AP's this time? If you do you can always go back next Sept. to get one more trip out of them. Or you can go in Feb. and do the Princess half.

I wasn't going to add a day, but I felt the first few days were so packed and we would be exhausted, now we can go at a more leisurely pace. I can't wait to see Pop! I'm thinking about requesting the 50's because of Lady and the Tramp, actually! Or the 80's for Roger Rabbit! I also like the 70's section too...I probably won't request anything, though, I just want to see where they put us!

Brandon knows I want to go in May, but it's not definite, I'm just thinking about it right now. It makes sense to get an AP, but I'm afraid I might try to take too many trips if I have one, and if we decide to not go in May, I don't want to be stuck with it. I guess I'll decide once our trip gets closer.

That Princess half is going to have to wait til 2013, I think, there's no way I could train for that by this Feb! I can't even finish the 3rd week of the Couch to 5K yet!

Hooray for double digit dancin'!

Yay!!!

YAY We LOVE POP! It is my home away from home at WDW, since its really the only thing in budget for longer trips for me right now I LOVE that resort and I think you will love it, especially for the price!! I can't believe its cheaper there than some of the shady hotels near me in VA!

I never ask for a certain section, because I tend to love them all, and last time I visited it seemed like all the rooms were refurbed! YAY!!

Yay, another person who loves Pop! Trust me, after this trip, it will be the only resort in the budget for me too, this is our last "expensive" trip (and by expensive, I mean deluxe resort, dining plan, and 10 days!) for a while. I hope I love it as much as you!

I hope all the rooms are refurbed, that's all I really care about, getting a nice, new room! I should go ask on the resort section of the DIS!

Yeah for adding a day and being in the double digits.

Pop is fun. I have stayed there several times (twice in the same room - no lie - couldn't planned that if I tried).

I like to request 70's facing the lake or 50's facing the lake. Both are lovely locations and close to everything.

Enjoy!

Yay, I'm so happy to be in double digits! It seemed like it would never get here!

I can't believe you stayed in the same room twice! Did you like the room?

I'd like to have a lake view room, I think, but I'm wondering if I should even bother with a request for one night...we'll see!

It's funny you mention that you added an extra day. I've had the urge to do this for the past week! I don't think I'll be able to extend our trip though. The cost to extend our air + extra cost of the hotel room would be too much $$$. I'm so happy for you that you extended your trip!!!! You'll love Pop. I've stayed there many times and love it. I always go for the 50s section with a lake view. The CMs at Disney reservations never seem to understand there's a lake view whenever I request. Just be persistent and they'll put the request on there for ya

Thanks! Awww, that's too bad that you can't add a day to your trip! If I couldn't get Pop, I wasn't even going to bother, there was no way I could have added a day to our package, it was just too much $$. 50's section with a lake view seems to be the way to go, maybe I will request that! I do love Lady and the Tramp!

 

[Nermel9]

I just read your whole PTR this morning after seeing you post on TK's trip report!! I'm joining in for the rest of the planning fun!!

Yay, ! I've lurked on a few of your PTR's/TR's a few times, I'm happy you're here!

Woohoo for double digits and adding a day!

I can't wait to stay at Pop! My family has stayed twice at ASMo and now I'm thinking we would have liked Pop better. It looks so fun and my DDs love the pics of the pools there.

Yay!! Double digits is always a nice milestone to hit! I like 10 weeks even more though!

Doesn't Pop look like so much fun??? We have stayed at ASMu, and we liked it, I'd stay there again, but I think I will like Pop better too!

on adding a day to your trip and it being DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!

That is great that you guys will get to stay at Pop. It sure looks like a fun resort! I could be wrong but I was under the impression that the 60s section had most of the preferred rooms.

I think you will enjoy the resort no matter where you stay - if it helps we have requested the 50s section.

I've been thinking the last couple of days of trying to extend our stay to take in the F&W festival but can't justify the cost Like you said we can always go again.

Still going with the MNSSHP tickets - will let you know if anything changes on that front

I can't wait for Pop, it's going to be such a fun little stay there before we check into WL for the week!

Yeah, I got the 60's and 70's confused with the preferred sections. I'm not sure if I want to do a request...I really like all the sections (not really the 90's, but the rest!) so I'm not sure if I could decide, and I'd like to leave it up to the Disney gods to pick my location for me, see if it's a good one! Although, the 50's section looks fun! They all look fun, though! I'm not sure I could pick a section!

I hope you can extend your trip to go to Food and Wine, it is so much fun!

Yay, double digits!!!!!

Yay! Love being in double digits!!

Yay for adding another night

Double digit dancing with you too

Woo hoo, thanks for joining in the double digit celebration! I'm so excited for this trip!!!!

This is kind of strange- we've added a day to our trip, too. I haven't had the heart to reset my ticker, though. It's taken a long time to get it halfway there.

Last time we were at Pop, we got fifties, lake view, which I thought was very nice. I don't know if I'd request it, though. Sometimes, I think it's kind of fun to see what you get without a request.

If you're down to double digits and our trips start on the same day- 28th, right?- then that seems to suggest that I'm in double digits, too. I didn't even realize it.

LOL, well of course you guys have added a day, since we're taking almost identical trips! I had to reset my ticker, it would drive me crazy knowing it was a day off! I was so excited that mine had finally reached halfway too, but it will move faster, now that the trip is closer!

I think it would be fun to see where we would be put without a request, too! And it might make it a little easier to have a room ready when we check in, that's my main concern, having our room ready early! If it's not, it's not, but I think having no requests will help!

Yay for double digits for you too! Our trip starts the 29th, we're going from 9/29-10/8 now! It was starting the 30th!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I need to change my ticker too but it's so depressing to go back to the beginning! haha

 

[Dugette]

Woo hoo for double-digits!

I remember stalking the Disney Food Blog before going to Food & Wine last year! They had pics of all the menus and most of the food...very helpful!

Awesome for adding an extra night at Pop! We love it! We've done multiple first-night-at-Pop trips (and one all-Pop trip). Our standard requests are: refurbished, 3rd floor (supposedly less noise), and King bed. Love the refurbed rooms! Make sure to take some time to walk around Pop and check out all the icons and the lake/bridge. It's a fun place. Also, if you choose to use the service, they have done a great job of transferring our luggage for us too! A quick call to the desk, leaving our luggage in the room by the window, and it shows up in our next resort! They've been better than the deluxes with that, actually. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[afwdwfan]

Congratulations on the extra day, and on the double digit milestone! That's exciting! I personally love Pop Century. I don't think I'd request a section, because they're all really fun and interesting and you'll want to walk around and look at everything anyway. Pop is a good choice and for a value, I really like the food court there.

 

[TarzansKat]

See what I'm talking about?

 

[Nermel9]

I need to change my ticker too but it's so depressing to go back to the beginning! haha

LOL, I know, it is annoying to go back to the beginning, but I look more at the countdown underneath than the actual ticker, so I don't care that much! I like knowing exactly how long I have til my trip!

Woo hoo for double-digits!

I remember stalking the Disney Food Blog before going to Food & Wine last year! They had pics of all the menus and most of the food...very helpful!

Awesome for adding an extra night at Pop! We love it! We've done multiple first-night-at-Pop trips (and one all-Pop trip). Our standard requests are: refurbished, 3rd floor (supposedly less noise), and King bed. Love the refurbed rooms! Make sure to take some time to walk around Pop and check out all the icons and the lake/bridge. It's a fun place. Also, if you choose to use the service, they have done a great job of transferring our luggage for us too! A quick call to the desk, leaving our luggage in the room by the window, and it shows up in our next resort! They've been better than the deluxes with that, actually. Hope you enjoy it!

I'm so excited for the Food and Wine menus to come out! I know it should be in July sometime, but I hope it's early July rather than the end of the month, I can't wait that long!

Yay, I'm so excited that you love Pop! I will definitely look at all the icons, I'm so happy we will be there for a night! I'm still not sure if I will put in a request or not, I'd like to leave it up to fate, unless I do some research and really get my heart set on a certain section!

Congratulations on the extra day, and on the double digit milestone! That's exciting! I personally love Pop Century. I don't think I'd request a section, because they're all really fun and interesting and you'll want to walk around and look at everything anyway. Pop is a good choice and for a value, I really like the food court there.

Thanks! It seems like everyone likes Pop, I can't wait to try it for myself! As of now, I'm leaning towards not requesting a room, but that could change! I'm excited to try the Food court, it looks pretty good!

See what I'm talking about?

LOL, yep...I see...however, I'm not sure I could meet some half naked man...I'd feel soooo stupid!

 

[TarzansKat]

LOL, yep...I see...however, I'm not sure I could meet some half naked man...I'd feel soooo stupid!

Oddly enough, I have no issue meeting the half naked man.

Although there was some question of where exactly you put your hands when you're taking a photo with Tarzan. This was actually a whole chapter on one of my trip reports. Tarzan is quite the gentleman, and he will take your hands in his so there's no confusion.

 

[therussells08]

So I know I already told you this through text, but YAY for adding an extra day!

I think you'll really enjoy POP. We had a great time staying there in December. It was SO much better than the other value resorts in my opinion. We stayed in a preffered room and ended up in the 60's section. I didn't know which sections where preferred, but I really wanted to be in the section with the giant Lady and the Tramp. Which one is that, 50s? Anyway, we had a pool view room and it was nice because it was really close to the food court.

Under 100 days!! Woo hoo! It will be here before you know it!!

 

[KatMark]

Congrats to you on an extra day and for double digits.

 

[Nermel9]

Oddly enough, I have no issue meeting the half naked man.

Although there was some question of where exactly you put your hands when you're taking a photo with Tarzan. This was actually a whole chapter on one of my trip reports. Tarzan is quite the gentleman, and he will take your hands in his so there's no confusion.

Well, if he's a gentleman, then maybe I might be able to find the courage to meet him. I do like meeting rare characters! I really have to watch Tarzan, my friend let me borrow it weeks ago, and I haven't gotten around to it...

So I know I already told you this through text, but YAY for adding an extra day!

I think you'll really enjoy POP. We had a great time staying there in December. It was SO much better than the other value resorts in my opinion. We stayed in a preffered room and ended up in the 60's section. I didn't know which sections where preferred, but I really wanted to be in the section with the giant Lady and the Tramp. Which one is that, 50s? Anyway, we had a pool view room and it was nice because it was really close to the food court.

Under 100 days!! Woo hoo! It will be here before you know it!!

Anytime I do anything Disney-trip related, you're the first person I think to text about it! Well, after I get the ok from Brandon, of course! I'm so excited for the extra day...do you know that I was looking at our itinerary the other night, and I thought "wow, I hope this isn't TOO many days in Disney!" No such thing, right?

I think I will like Pop too, I'm glad we get to try it for a night, because IF we do go in May for a few days, it's going to be a quick, CHEAP trip and it will most likely be at Pop! Lady and the Tramp is the 50's section, which I think is so cute, but...I hate 50's music! Don't they play music from each decade in whatever section you're staying at? I guess I could deal with it for one night if we end up there, but I couldn't take a whole week of it!

Soooo excited for double digits! I'm more excited for 10 weeks, I think once we get to 10 weeks, time will FLY by like it did last year!

Congrats to you on an extra day and for double digits.

Thanks! Sooooo excited about both!

 

[Nermel9]

Arrival Day Plans!

Hi everyone! I've decided to start doing my day by day plans, even though it seems a little early for that, I figured why not?

I'm a little annoyed with Jet Blue right now. Our flight home was supposed to be at 7:55 at night and they changed it to 6:35 pm! I called and asked for a refund so I could just rebook with SW, but they said I could only get Jet Blue credit or move my flight to the next day. This was the day after I added a day at the beginning of our trip, so there was no way I could add another day at the end! So now we have to go home an hour and half earlier. We have 1:00 Le Cellier reservations that day, and I didn't think we'd have enough time to eat and get to the airport, so I was able to change it to 11:30. I guess we'll have steak and cheddar cheese soup for breakfast that day!

I also had to change around a few other ADR's. Instead of our no park day being Wednesday, it will now be Tuesday because again, I was able to change our Le Cellier ADR to Wed. at 11:30. I'm going to keep stalking that one, to see if I can get a later time, though. And I changed our breakfast at Grand Floridian Cafe to Tuesday morning instead of Wednesday. I figured by Tuesday, we are going to need a break from the parks!

Oh, and one more thing before I start...I LOST 3.5 POUNDS THIS WEEK!!! That's 6.5 all together, if anyone is keeping track! When I lose 10, I'm buying myself something for this trip. Not sure what yet, but something!

Arrival Day 9/29

It's going to be one of those pre-Disney nights with very little sleep! Our flight is at 6:35 am, so I'll have to be up at like, oh, I don't know...2:30 to get ready? I want to be out the door by 3:30 am, although I know Brandon will push it to 4, because he hates how early I want to leave for the airport. It's a battle we have every single time we go to Disney.

Hopefully around 4:30 am we will arrive at Bradley International Airport

and have breakfast at that very McDonald's you see in that picture!

We will have an uneventful flight and arrive at MCO!

We will then pick up our bags and hopefully go over to the Alamo rental car kiosk and pick up our car (I say hopefully because Alamo prices are crazy right now, but I'm assuming they will go down as our trip gets closer!)

We will then finally be ready to drive to Disney World! We'll drive over to Pop and check in

where I'm HOPING our room will be ready! If it is, we will probably go in and rest for a while, and take a nap.

Once we are rested, we will head to Epcot!

I'm so happy we added this extra day and can start our trip at Epcot! It felt weird that if we arrived on Friday, we would have been starting with MNSSHP at MK! Now things are back to normal!

At Epcot, I don't think I'll really have anything that must get done that day, I'll be happy to just wander around and take it all in, but I'm sure I will check to see how long the Soarin wait time is!

I made an ADR for dinner that night at Rose and Crown

however, I'm not sure we will keep it, since these plans are kind of up in the air. It all depends on if our room is ready or not, and we can get some rest before going into the parks!

After our dinner, I'm HOPING to hop over to DHS for a little while

for 2 things.

1. A quick ride or two on the Tower of Terror!

2. Fantasmic!

Now again, I'm not sure it will happen, it might be too much to try to do 2 parks on our first night, but this is what I would like to happen! I haven't seen Fantasmic since 2008 so I'd like to try to see it again, but if we don't, it's not a big deal! It's nice that they are showing it every night in September now, so hopefully there won't be huge lines to get a decent seat!

After Fantasmic, we will go back to Pop and probably go straight to bed, depending on how exhausted we are! I'd like to walk around and explore Pop at night a little, but I might be on my own for that!

There you have it, our arrival day! Like I said, this is more what I'm hoping will happen, not what has to happen. I'm just hoping our room is ready when we check in, which is why I'm thinking I won't make a room request, because there might be a better chance of having a room ready at 11:00 in the morning!

Have a great weekend, everyone!