First time at Pop Century

[TexasPrincessAurora]

We'll be staying at Pop Century for the first time in October. Would love any suggestions/tips/info anyone would to share. Best buildings, pools, etc.

Will be DH, DS7 & DD4 and me.

[olivegirl]

WE love love love POP CENTURY!!! We are actually leaving Wednesday morning for our two week stay at POP!!!We have stayed there many times and love it more each time!! The grounds are BEAUTIFUL, the food is awesome and the rooms are clean and comfortable!!!! We were there last August and had a renevated room!!! Great is all I can say!! We usually get a room by Hourglass Lake!!! It is sooo quiet and peaceful!! The sunsets are just gourgeous!! The food court is large and has great food! We never had to wait more than 15 mins for a bus!! We love that we have a choice of pools!! Have a GREAT trip!!
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[AllDisney]

Pop Century is a really nice resort. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Have a great trip

[brownie]

Get a sundae from Everything Pop. If you're on the dining plan, it's a great use of a snack credit if they still allow it.

[brad192]

Pop is my first choice for a value resort. Granted, I'd love to stay at the Poly, but I just can't justify the $300+ a night pricetag for what is essentialy a bed, bath, and a place to store my luggage while I'm in the parks all day (and half the night LOL). By staying at Pop, I figure I save about $1400 per trip on accomodations.

Pop is a fun, family oriented resort with lots of great nostalgic things to see. The giant icons are worth the time to wander around & view. The lobby is packed with items in showcases that are a "blast from the past".

As for amenities, yeah, they're not on scale with a deluxe, but are quite good in thier own right. 1 big main pool (which can be noisy at times), and 1 or 2 smaller quiet pools. Can't remember if it's 1 or 2 - I'm not a pool person.

The food court is large & has many choices. All I've tried have been excellent quality, with some far exceeding my expectations. One word of warning though - it's absolutely INSANE in the morning for breakfast. Eat really early or late, or skip it altogether & have a meal in one of the parks.

There is also an arcade, a small poolside bar, and a nice walking/jogging path along Hourglass Lake with interesting trivia posted along the path.

The rooms are rather small, and a family of 4 would probably feel a bit crowded. It's just right for 1 or 2 though. They have the basic stuff - 2 double beds (or are they queen now?), single sink bathroom, hair dryer, ironing board & iron, small wall safe, small table with 2 chairs, one big dresser which also holds the TV. The rooms are very clean, and the beds comfortable (at least the ones I've stayed in). The walls are a bit thin & you can hear your neighbors sometimes, along with the occasional toilet flush. Oh - a word abouit those toilets - they are the indusrial-strength, heavy duty "turbo-flush" design & are very loud. First time I pressed the button it scared the hoo-ha out of me! Just sayin'.

If you're a park junkie like me, Pop will suit you just fine. Besides, you can always take some time to resort hop to the other resorts too! Enjoy your trip!

[TiggerDeb]

We love POP and on 23 days we will be there for 10days of magical memories. This will be our 5th time staying at POP. We love the food court, the pools, the nostalgia, and it is clean and comfortable.

You will hve a wonderful time...

[disneygnome]

Congratulations! We love going in October, the crowds always seem to be less then (except Halloween). Pop century is great! A few things:
1) Stop by the lobby at some point and check out the shadow boxes lining the wall across from the check in area. They are a lot of fun to look through but you will probably be too busy when you check in to notice. Go back later.
2) Room selection: you can add a room request (not guaranteed) to your reservation. If you want to pay extra for a preferred room, you will be located in the 60's building closest to Classic Hall which is where the food court, shopping and transportation is. However, if you don't want to pay extra, just take the standard room. Ask for one in the 50's or 90's sections if you want to be near the bowling pin pool or the computer pool. The hippy dippy pool is closest to the 60's building but that area is preferred. There are three pools total.
3) No matter where you stay, consider walking along memory lane which borders hourglass lake within the resort area. Look across the generation gap bride, they are building a new resort there. You will see them working on the Art of Animation resort.
4) You didn't mention how old the children in your party are but my daughter loves the Mickey waffles from the food court better than anything else.
Have a great time!

[Tink#64]

We love Pop! We have stayed in bldg #4 of the 60's section several times, preferred section, can have a view of the Hippy Dippy (main) pool or to the rear is Hour Glass Lake. But we've come to value the regular room sections in bldg's 9 & 10, these are still very close to the Main pool, even closer to the more quiet computer pool and the closest buildings to the bus stops! That's the best to us! We always take that midday break, so we're coming & going from the bus stops morning, afternoon & night! Far more trips to the bus stops than anywhere else on property! Also just steps away from Hour Glass Lake & the huge Mr & Mrs Potato Head icons arounds those buildings! From either of those, you walk out towards the parking lot & in front of Classic Hall & you are approaching from the end of CH where the bus stops are located! I also don't think it takes any long to get to Everything Pop or the Food Court from tht area!

You can do a search online & check out the resort layout & see what you think might best suit you! We've always been pleased with our accomadations at Pop! I read alot of negative reviews on here about Pop but we love it! It's a bright & fun atmosphere! The grounds of course are immaculate! Fun, huge, colorful, icons of so many things we've all grown up with! There are lots of quiet places at Pop, benches around the lake to sit & watch the ducks, many quiet, nicely landscaped courtyard type ares teaming with bunnies & those tiny lizards. Only during Memorial Day Weekend many years ago did we feel like Pop was loud & crowded! Now we just don't do holidays in WDW!

[BelleBeauty]

Both times we have stayed at POP we have requested a room in the 50's section near, near the jukebox and the Bowling Pin pool. On the backside of that building on the 3rd of 4th floor you get a view of the new Animation resort, as well as Spaceship Earth and parts of IllumiNations. You have to step outside of you room onto the balcony, but if you will be home early I think it is great. It is also a very quiet section of the resort and close to a quieter pool. It is a little bit of a walk from the main building and bus top, but nothing terrible (5 minutes?).

[darthmacho]

Good choice! I haven't stayed, but I'm hoping to stay there next year, so I've really enjoyed this thread. I had serious doubts about staying there, as the theming doesn't entirely appeal, but you know what convinced me?

That's right: Tie Dye Cheesecake!

[disneydeb]

Try the tie dyed cheesecake!Enjoy ylur stay! We love it!

[Daisy'sMom]

POP is wonderful! We will not stay anywhere else. It is clean, great food court, nice pool areas, good store, and great theme decorations. The best thing-you get to save lots of money!

[JerseyDad]

....we love POP....and our 8th stay in 8 years will begin there...in a little over 7 days!!

....there's nothing really that I'd call "value" about the resort...meaning...it doesn't feel "cheap". Everything Disney touches seems to have a little something special associated with it. We always ask for the 60's Buildings...1st floor poolside. And 90% of the time...we've got our request granted. Many will say it's "noisy"...but I disagree. Most people are not in their rooms during the day...so pool / general activity noise isn't an issue. I really like to get those building / room locations because it's close to "the action"....and the bar!!

YES...the toilets ARE loud...but...if you put that same toilet in your home...it's noisy there too. They installed super low flow (water usage) toilets when they built the place...so...feel good every time you (or someone else) flushes. You're saving the environment......

The food court is top-notch with many tasty offerings. The bus service (not shared with other value resorts) is also very good...with never an unreasonable wait time. And my favorite thing...is the landscaping of the resort grounds. It feels "lush" for lack of a better word.....it's nice to be there (as we have done many times) when back home...all the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees.

[E-OR]

Happy to hear such positve comments about POP. We usually stay at ASmovies if we stay at a value. Planning a trip to WDW in May thinking of trying POP. We did stay here for one night a couple years ago. We flew in to Orlando late went to the hotel to sleep and then checked out first thing in the morning and moved to AKL. We never had the opportunity to get a real feel for POP. Excited to stay here and planning to get a preferred room in the 60's building.

[Lovin'ThatMouse]

Love, Love, Love Pop! I have stayed here several times and have never had a bad experience. I have stayed in the 50's, 60's and 70's section and I have to say I prefer the 70's section. It is close to the main building and some of them are standard rooms. Which equals cheaper. Also if you stay in the back part of the 70's section you can cut across the small parking lot and be at the bus stop in no time! That helps after a long day at the parks! Enjoy Pop and all of its magic!

[mrmcgiv]

and really loved it there. It was our first time at Pop and we were so pleasantly surprised. We had a car and drove to the parks and I wanted an easy walk to the parking lot and somewhat close to the pool. We wound up in room 2163 (50's bdg 2 - not preferred)) which was a GREAT location. We were on the 1st floor faing the bowling pool - but far enough down that we could not hear the noise. We were about 3 doors from the lake path to walk to the lot. A great easy stroll to and from the car. It was quiet, private and peaceful back there and honestly it was not too long of a walk to the main bldg. We did not use the refillable cups and only ate in the food court 3 times so it was no big deal. We were happy with bowling pin pool and never went to the hippie dippie/ When we did go to food court we liked it a lot. All food was good! Sundaes and milk shakes were snack credits. Tie Dye cheesecake was good. Service was good, rooms were newer and very clean. Beds and pillows comfy. My husband and I agreed it was our best stay yet and we have been at AKL. CSR, CBR and SPORTS. When we checked in I did not like the room I was assigned as it was far from parking so she told me what was available and I picked what i wanted. I would absolutely stay there again!

[princessgirls]

Just returned from a GREAT time in WDW staying at the POP!! WE LOVE THE POP!!!

We had a wonderful room location!!! Room 4139 facing Hourglass lake, off the main pool and Classic Hall. Quiet and Close...it was heaven!

Food Court was very good. Ate breakfast on our travel day home and dinner one night. Ran in and out with our mugs.

Gift store was adorable! The place is fun, lively, and the busing is the best out of any resort that I've stayed out. I like how the busing is set up out front. It's organized!!! I like Organization!!

Honestly, we hardly spent ANY time in our room. Early starts, late nights, water parks, we were off and running for 9 days. I did not hear noise from other rooms, other than the occasional toilet flush. I brought a dollar store portable laundry hamper and kept that in the way back by the sink which kept things neat and tidy (we did laundry twice) , used hangers for clothes and we brought a hard plastic cooler from home and filled it with ice to keep drinks cool. I had garden grocer deliver a few cases of water and breakfast items and we had a lovely stay in this resort!! You can't beat it for the price!!!!
Julie