Should I be worried about "quality" at Pop?

[DisneyRN]

I was REALLY excited about booking our stay at Pop Century. But, to be honest, we have always stayed at the deluxe or moderate. My one night I have spent at a value wasn't the greatest.

So, I am REALLY nervous now that I have read some bad reviews about small, dirty rooms, loud pools at all hours, uncomfortable beds, etc.

So, now I am worried that it will not be all I had hoped based on bad reviews I read of someone else's experience.

Any advice?

[retiredfigment]

We have stayed at WL and various moderates. On our last trip we stayed at POP. There are plusses and minuses, but overall I was pleasantly surprised and will stay there again in 4 DAYS!. The beds are comfortable, but lets face it, it is not my bed. The room is smaller, but seldom spent time there. It was clean, and pleasant around the room. The day we were at the pool, there was no one there. I am sure it gets noisy and busy during the summer. I loved the Food Court. And, a pleasant surprise, was how efficient the bus service was. This being said, I have no doubt someone will post with the exact opposite opinions

[darthmacho]

That's a good question. You will not be able to help yourself, you will find yourself comparing resorts and finding flaws, but, I think you should rest assured. WDW value resorts are just that, a great value that gets you to WDW when you might not otherwise get there.
I stayed at a deluxe resort (WL) for my first trip and had to downgrade to a moderate (CSR) in order to afford the next one. It was definitely a downgrade, but I still loved the resort and had a great time. Meanwhile, I vowed that I'd never go so far as to stay at a value. Guess what? The next trip we stayed at a value (ASMu) and we were just so happy to be at WDW that we loved it! It wasn't perfect, and definitely a downgrade, but we were at WDW, and happy.
Now, after going moderate (POR) last year, we're going to go with Pop Century in order to get there next year. While I don't expect Pop to have the cozy appeal and amenities that POR has, and it certainly isn't the comfort of the Wilderness Lodge, I do think I can accept it for what it is, and will enjoy it. The theming looks fun, they have multiple pools, and they'd probably honor requests to be as far from the noise as possible. Sure there are some bad reviews, but I bet there are 5 great ones for every bad one. Read the positive ones.

I hope that helps.

Other things you might like at Pop:

• Tie Dye Cheesecake.
• "Pop" Waffles for breakfast.
• Fun theming for almost any age.
• Transportation gets good ratings.
• You'll be in WDW!

[IfYouHadWings503]

I agree with the other posters...while the POP is not a luxury hotel, it is a great value that let's us visit WDW every year without breaking the bank.

There are plenty of rooms that are nowhere near the pool, and the only pool that I have felt could get loud is the one in the 60's wing...we always stay in the 50's section. We love the grounds and the food court...we find something new every time we stay there. My daughter is obsessed with the tie-dyed cheesecake.

The beds are not plush and luxurious, but are clean and comfortable. The room is slightly smaller than the moderates, but we're only there to sleep, so that's never been an issue for us. I have a 280 lb. husband that's 6'3", so the bathroom is a little snug for him, but none of the above even come close to offsetting the fact that it's affordable and really fun!!!

[disneymaniacswc]

Just got back from a 10 day stay at POP. Obviously it's not luxury, but we got to spend 10 days at Disney! We have stayed at AKL and while the room and bathroom were bigger, we weren't in them enough to make it worth the cost. The rooms are perfectly fine for sleeping and showering. The pools are busy, but I'm sure if you want to be away from the noise they will do what they can to honor your request. Transportation was ok, except for MK. There were 2 buses for every other park before one would come for MK. They apparently didn't add any extra buses to get people to MNSSHP either. We thought we were leaving early enough, but when we didn't have a bus we got there a lot later than we wanted. That was the only negative I had though. I would stay at POP any time, just to be able to stay in the magic.

[disneydeb]

We love all things about POP! You will have a great time. Remember to get some tie-dye cheesecake!

[Crow]

true it might not b a deluxe, but as others have said it makes it a little more affordable to go to WDW. I have stayed at all levels also. Pop is fine in order to save$. and not in the rooms as much anyway. I have split several stays, starting at a value then a night or so at mod or deluxe.
most of the resorts i have found the buses worst from MK esp at closing than at the other parks.

[SandmanGStefani24]

I love POP also, and love staying there. That said, let's face the possible negatives head on.

1. Small rooms. Yep, no way around it, they are small. Still, we never have had any issues with that. We always have what we need. They have also always been pretty clean. There may be the occaisional missed corner, but I mostly chalk that up to the sheer number of rooms and time constraints. We haven't really had any issues.

2. Noise. I don't know about the pool noise, as we always stay in a non preferred room which faces away from the pools. The real noise factor for me is the noise from other rooms. If you are a light sleeper this will bug you. A white noise machine, noise cancelling headphones, or another choice might be helpful. I love POP and the All Stars, but this is a real problem there.

That's pretty much it for me. I found the rooms comfy, all amenities working (except for the door locks, so keep BOTH key cards with you!) and the stays pleasant. These aren't luxury hotels by any stretch, they are fun hotels. If you keep that in mind you should do well. I write hotel reviews for another website and you can usually tell when someone has a legitimate issue or was simply expecting too much. Still, if it was really that bad would there be so many fans of the resort?

I wouldn't worry, have a blast, save plenty of bucks for gifts and food at the parks and if it's not your cup of tea, put it on the list of "things I've done at WDW" and remember it for next time. Have fun!

[Katzateer]

We have stayed at several places on property and I really like POP. If you ask for a high floor and are facing parking lots ( usually a view of trees) it isn't too bad with being noisy. Last December we were with a group at Riverside and for the difference in price, I would stay at POP.

The food court and the buses are great!

[mrmcgiv]

We stayed there in Aug and have stayed at one deluxe (akl), one value (sports) and moderates (CBR and CSR) in the past. We were pleasantly surprised. Liked pop much better than sports. It was clean, nicely themed comfy beds (but I missed the queen beds). Kids missed the pool slide, but oh well! I liked the food court better then most others I have been to. The pool was crowded in the evening, but it was Aug. During the am and afternoon pool was not crowded (we only went to bowling pool). We were on ground floor facing pool, but down towards the end so the noise did not bother us. My one complaint is that the walls were thin and our neighbors talked loud. I would not worry at all!

[princessgirls]

The Pop... Stayed there for the first time in December of 2009 because it was our second Disney trip that year, and we were looking at value over cost.
I wasn't that optimistic going in, I must admit. I love my "moderate" resorts!!
Our most recent visit was for 10 days this past August. 10 days at the Pop!!! It was all good!

First...MY KIDS LOVE THE POP!!
Second...The Pop is fun! The arcade, food court and gift shop and all really nice.
Third...I saved the BEST for last. I LOVED THE BUS SERVICE AT THE POP!! Way better than any other place I've stayed. I like organization, and the busing here is organized. One line for each park, and lots of buses coming! My husband was impressed with the busing. He hated the buses at the Port Orleans, too many stops, and lots of times buses passed us people staying in the back of the resort because they were full.

Yes...the room is small. Better you know this going in. But it's clean, the bathroom is enough space, and really...how much time are you spending in the room?????

I did not hear other people around me, just some toilet flushing here and there. Mostly when all was very quiet.

The Pop was one of those pleasant surprises in life! We always enjoy our stay there!
Julie

[jarajam]

we have stayed at the Poly, PORS and POP. The Poly is my all time fav, but we loved the Pop. We stayed in bld 10 which is very covenient to bus and food court. No, its not as luxuious as a deluxe (obviously!) or as convenient (monorail), and the food court is only ehh in my opinion, but it is a fun resort and terrific for the $$. We will definitely stay there again...when we travel with 4 or less. At least until the new value opens, and we have to try it!!

[joonyer]

We have stayed at POP two times and really have no major complaints. You can always find minor flaws at any hotel, even the deluxe ones, but for the money, it's really a great place to stay for a WDW vacation. Really good bus service and food court, too.

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I stayed at POR and CBR when they were the cheapies. Since then we have stayed in the values, ASMu, ASMo, and lastly, Pop. In WDW, for us at least, a room is simply a place to shower, sleep, and keep our stuff. We don't spend much room time at any hotel. Last trip was a 1 BR at BLT. We still spent very little time in our room.
Pop has some of the best bus scheduling of any level of resort.
And don't forget, you are in Walt Disney World!

[brownie]

We really enjoyed our stay at Pop Century after Thanksgiving last year. We didn't find it to be loud. The rooms are small, but we had enough room. We don't spend a lot of time in our room when we're at Walt Disney World, though.

The bad reviews tend to get the most attention. I think you'll find there's plenty of good comments about Pop Century, too. Everyone is different and everyone is going to have a different experience, so you're going to find a mix of good and bad comments and reviews. I would start worrying if all, or a vast majority, of the comments and reviews were negative.

[wdwfan]

I stay at Pop every year with friend for girl only trip. Have never had any problems actually it's a great trip. Rooms have been rehabed. I will say I miss having coffe maker, so I bought a small one that I pack for us, so fixed that. I've also stayed at BC with dh and it was not the greatest and we spent double + for the price compared to Pop. When traveling with dh we always stay in deluxe but staying in mod or value is no problem for me. except all stars, to many kids....

[japhilli]

We spent 2 weeks a Pop this past July and loved every minute!!!!!

The food court is great - my 16 year old son loved the pasta dishes.

We had wonderful bus service - never waited long.

From our room door we could see the hour glass lake and the bowling pin pool. It was very peaceful. We never had outside noise.

Our room was always very clean. The beds were comfortable.

There is not one thing that we could complain about.

We go to WDW every year and have stayed at all levels. It's all in a positive atitude and a bright outlook.

[Buttercup]

Well it's not a moderate or a deluxe room - it's a Value. So it's smaller, but there's nothing wrong with it. I've stayed at many Values over the years and never experienced anything dirty or smelly or anything out of the ordinary.

[TiggerDeb]

We just returned from our 5th visit to POP and we love that resort. The food court is great, there is some pool noise but not enough to disturb us and the busses are awesome. As far as beds and room size, we are not in the rooms all day and we have found no problem with the bed when sleeping.

[coneheads]

If you are an early riser take your cup of coffee down to the lake, I bring my own pot too their coffee is terrible. Almost every morning you can see about a dozen hot air balloons taking off across the lake. It's very peaceful and watching the balloons reflected in the lake is a great way to start a Disney day.

Andy