Pop--Preferred or Non Preferred room?

[Disneyatic]

We are still trying to decide what hotel to book for our Dec 2008 trip.
Our first trip we stayed at Pop in a preferred room in the 60's building on the backside and had a view of the lake and the fireworks at either EPCOT or MGM (I can't remember which!) I loved this room and view! On our last trip we booked a preferred room again and requested the same room #. When we checked in we were told that they changed the preferred room location and it was now based on distance only. So we were unable to get the room or view we wanted.

So I am wondering if we book Pop for this next trip, should I even worry about paying extra for a preferred room or should I just take the chance and book non-preferred and request a room/area and cross my fingers??:confused:

Sorry for the long post!
I appreciate everyone's thoughts and input.

[Strmchsr]

POP is very popular and no room request is guaranteed, so I'd say it's just up to you how important your room location is. If you're going to be devastated by not getting a specific location then go preferred. If it's one of those "it'd be nice but I don't really care" kind of things, then make your request and just see what happens. It's not worth the extra money unless location is really important to you.

[LONESTAR]

I stayed at POP in Jan. of 05 and me and the DW wished we would have got the prefered room .But its just because we got tired of all the walking. We bought the refil mug and i drink alot of coke so I was refilling alot. I thank we were in the 50'S I know we over looked the bowling pin pool. have fun when you go Ive got 21 days and I will be in FW camp grounds.:mickey3:

[Disneyatic]

Our first trip I really loved the room location and view, it made it feel less "value" and more "deluxe" if that makes sense.
But, I didn't realize that I felt this way until this last trip when we got a room looking across at another building and that was all we could see.

So I think it is moderately important to me, but we paid the preferred pricing both times and the 2nd time around I don't think it was worth it because the room was close but the view was UGH.
That's my dilemma. DH really wants to stay at Pop to maximize our $$, but I would like to try a moderate or deluxe because I want more atmosphere.

[Strmchsr]

If you can do a moderate it's definitely worth the upgrade. There's not a bad view at any of the moderates.

[Tink#64]

We've always gotten a preferred room location. Our first trip a friend stressed that it did make a difference in location to the food, bus stops, ect. I have to agree. Our first stay at Pop we were in building #4, the 60's section, with a great view of Hour Glass Lake, & from the end of the walkway (we were 2 rooms from that end of the bldg) we could see Spaceship Earth & some of IllumiNations. We love that location & have requested it for the last 2 trips as well, and luckily we got it!
Pop is a large, spread out resort & I think I'm a frugal person, but the convenience of being closer to everything is definitely worth it to us. We don't have a car while at WDW so we use the food court alot & ride the busses everywhere.

We've considered moving up to the mod's but we all really like Pop & have always been happy with our room local & the view. :thumbsup:

[Vinny]

To me, the standard and preferred rooms at POP are exactly the same except obviously for the view. We stayed in the 60's section during one of our first stays at POP and ended up getting a fourth floor room at the furthest end of the hallway with a parking lot view.

Since then we have requested and have stayed in the 70"s section (either behind the big wheel or the Mickey phone). We have never had any problems getting around POP from there. Have a fun trip!!

[January-2007]

After our last trip, we will never pay for a preferred room again. At check in the CM tried to give us a room in the 50s Tramp building, which is where we have stayed both trips prior, even though we paid the extra money to have a preferred room. I had to do a lot of finangling to get a good room and the room we got was still in the worst shape out of all the rooms we've stayed out there in terms of being worn and what not. From now on we're just requesting to be near the parking lot. Live and learn. I think they try to get away with a lot and people to just not question it. Paying for a preferred room does not seem to guarantee in any way that you will actually be given a preferred room.

[disneydad04]

We have stayed there a number of times with or without preferred rooms. Our choice is preferred, it saves a few steps at the end of the day. Recently stayed at Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach and actually prefer POP Century. The food court is open earlier and closes later with better selections, and the bar is a little cheaper (if that is a concern). Both the mid range hotels had decent views and CBR had a nice view of Illuminations from the Port Royale area. We are going back to POP in Dec and March. Price and convenience to all locations and we don't spend alot of time in our rooms.

[MyDisneyworld]

The last time we stayed there we got a non preferred room closest to the bus stop and we loved it. It was in the 80's building by the rubix cube facing the parking lot. We did not spend much time in the room except to sleep so at the time it did not make much difference. We now have 2 children so a better view would be nicer as we have to spend nap time there. Have a great trip and good luck with the room decision, remember planning a great trip to Disney is half the fun.....:mickey:

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

We paid for a preferred room @ POP in September but definitely felt that the "preferred" location that I was given wasn't actually preferred. Was too tired to complain or ask to be switched so we lived with it for the 3 days we were there. Had a view of absolutely nothing in the 60's. For January trip we're trying ASMu once again using AP rates - POP was just too busy, noisy and had too many wild kids running everywere with no supervision, so I'm opting for a smaller value resort. :mickey: