Tell me the good, bad and ugly about POP

[mudpuppysmom]

I got one of the postcard discounts and one day my sister was here looking at it.

She wanted to see what we could get a room for and both of us take our kids. Well, I contacted MJ and got quotes and of course the values were the least expensive which is what my sister can afford, but I'd like to stay somewhere different.

Can someone convince me that it's not going to be THAT bad staying there? I'm used to staying in a large room at SOG and having two queen beds and a lot of room to move around.

This trip will be in December (10-16) and I"ll also have an infant with me!

I know the fridges are extra, but do they have pack n play's too? And, will there really be enough room for myself, a six year old and an infant and all our "junk"?

Someone reassure me!

[disneymom15]

We've many times had 2 adults, our daughter and one of her friends staying in a value room. We had no problems, yes it can be a little tight but we manage. We're not in the room all that much anyway. I'd suggest putting your clothes in the dresser drawers and stowing your luggage by the sink vanity. Also, the table and chairs can be moved by the window perhaps to give you more room for pack n play.

[tiaramom]

Let me put your mind at ease....
Pop is Awesome on so many levels.
Though the rooms are small/
I fit myself. grandma and a Pak and play ( toddler) . It always feels a bit tight- but its really not that bad. The room is super clean, themed adorable , the kids love it here.
The pools are great- 3 hudge pools. Witha really cool adult slushy bar. YUM!
That food Court is with out a doubt the very best on Diseny Property- ( I dont know anyone who will argue this). The choices are many- tons of kids eats!!! ( and parents too) There is an inside lounge for adults too- a kiddie arcade- and a tv room at the lobby for the kids. The shopping here is awesome- Have fum shopping - until midnight..
The refill mugs- sell apple juice! a big added bonus! The bus transport to the parks is also the very best , faster most direct besides a monorail. The buses get super full- ( wait for the next) That is the issues always with Diseny buses being too full. Though there is one pic k up and one drop off point and they go direct to the parks in a jiffy. I stay here several times a year- we are staying at animal kingdom in a few days- it better be as good. Only down side is the grounds arent really geared towards relaxing- its super wild and fun - ( loud- not in rooms) its where the action is at all times-
Its bright icons bring you in and make everyone happy-
Have fun
Its a real blast- Its worth it- and I feel its so muc h better than its made out to be.

[wedway76]

We love the Pop. If it is just the 3 of you, you can try to get a room with one king size bed. It would leave plenty of room for the pack n' play.

There are just 3 of us also, but we are all adult sized and we have plenty of room with 2 double beds.

One of the knocks that a lot of people have with the Values is that there is only one sink, but with only one adult in the room, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you.

And another thing that you hear people complain about with Values is crowds at bus stops, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem during the second week of December.

[pox24]

We are Dvc members and stay at POP when we drive up late and just need a bed and we don't want to use up additional points for only a short overnight. The rooms are small and noisy.No amenities at all. Very clean however like all WDW hotel rooms. We usually check out early and move on to our DVC hotel. These value locations typically are extremely crowded and noisy. Its a cattle call everywhere. But for a small budget vacation alot of folks take great advantage of them. The pools are very large and it is very well themed. It cost us $ 53.00 last Wed night. We arrived at 9:30pm. and used the Fla. Res. special. You cannot beat that for a short night. Hope this helps.

[IloveDisney71]

I''ve stayed at values, a moderate, and a deluxe. I really enjoyed the POP. I only had one complaint. We went in June and on two occasions opted to drive rather than wait in the really LONG line of people waiting to catch the bus to the MK. We would have missed ADR's if we had tried to wait for a bus. Ohter than that, we loved it. It is busy but once we were in our rooms we were able to shut out the activity and noise. Even with the crowds, we never waited long in the food court and were always able to find a place to sit and eat.
The theme is bright, colorful, and fun.
We didn't mind the size of the rooms because we were hardly ever there except to sleep or shower.

[DizneyRox]

You mention the good, the bad and the ugly, well here it is...

Good is it's cheap and relatively new.

The bad (which can depend a lot on the time you go) is the sheer amount of people they need to pump through that place. While I was there, we waited in lines to check in, the eat, to get to a park, to return ro the resort, etc. One night, the line for MK was three busses long. We took a bus to Epcot and rode the monorail over to TTC and then to MK, figured it was faster.

We had a bad experience at check-in that was never really resolved with Disney. We straightened it out between ourselves, the hour and 1/2 it took to check us in was just too much to bother having them redo everything.

I have vowed to never stay at a value again, it's just not my cup of tea. For the record, I don't like the GF too much either...

[Nascfan]

It'll be you 3 in a room? You, the 6-yr old and infant? I'd suggest what someone else said and try for one of the king-sized if you want. And utilize the space like the dresser. I don't know the sq ft difference between SOG and Pop, but I think you'll do fine. It's a beautifully themed resort, take a walk around with your 6-yr old with the baby in a stroller and take in the icons.

Depending on the time of day, yes, it CAN get crowded in the food court or at the bus stops, but we solve that by getting down a little earlier in the morning. And I've seen just as long or longer lines for many Moderates at the park stops. So that's not something unique to Pop or any of the Values. The 2nd week of Dec shouldn't be too bad. When we went in 12/05, we stopped back at Pop in the middle of the day. I saw two, yes, two other guests. That's it.

Respectfully disagreeing with pox24, the only time the rooms are noisy is if the people inside the rooms are noisy, or if there are some really loud people right next door. But all resorts at Disney are built to the same code, Value or Deluxe, the walls are the same thickness and type.

So, go with an open mind, try to hit the food court at just slightly off main eating times, and you should be fine.

[ltam16]

We loved Pop. There was 4 of us--me, DH, and 2 kids ages 6&8. I hate to sound super organized, but that is the key to a small room especially with kids and all the clutter that usually comes with them!

We used the dressers and stored the luggage by the sinks. We stores extra snacks and toys on shelves by tv and on top of tv area. We tried to keep the table fairly empty. Dirty laundry was stored on top shelf of closet in a bag. By keeping everything organized and giving it a home, it made more space.

I agree with another poster, getting up early or having meals at off times to avoid the crowd was easy. My kids loved the meal choices and they are very picky. They loved that the table areas had tv's to watch while they ate. They also liked the shows in the lobby. They loved the pool and the splash/fountain pool too. The big icon and decorations were exciting for them too. They liked to walk around and see them all.

We had no problems with buses and we were there at busy times. Yes there were some waits. But I left extra time for ADR's. I planned 1 to 1 1/2 hour time to get to ADR's. Epcot I think we left 2 hours because getting to the countries can be a trek!

I have stayed at Poly & Cont. and would love to again. But you cant beat the value at Pop. We were able to go 3 times in 3 years because of our choice to stay there instead of a more expensive place!

[mreinventtt]

:hi: I have stayed at Pop a few times and I like it.
We are hardly ever in the room and we are a family of 4 and we had plenty of room. And my kids are 13 and 9.
This last time we went in August we stayed at Carribean Beach resort and I think we waited longer for a bus to go to the parks at this resort than we did at Pop. :bus:
The only thing that is bad is that it seems to be a longer walk to the bus stop at the parks to go back to the resort, it is farther away.
:twocents:
By the way, I cant even believe for a minute that it took someone and hour and a half to check in at Pop Century resort. And I have been there at the most crowded times of the year. :jaw:

Missy
:rocker:

[Marker]

Can someone convince me that it's not going to be THAT bad staying there?

If I may, based on the way that question was asked, I think it may well be difficult. I may be mistaken, but to me it sounds like you're already convinced it will be bad. If that is indeed the case, then it's going to be difficult to see anything good about the resort.

Attitude means a lot in forming an opinion, and if you already have a negative opinion, you're likely to only see the bad things. However, going in with an open mind and a positive attitude. is much more likely to result in a favorable experience.

Obviously I may be wrong.

[mudpuppysmom]

I don't have a negative attitude about it, in fact I think the kids are going to love the resort.

I am used to having a much larger room....about 485 sq ft and the room sizes at Pop are 260 sq ft, so that is what I meant......basically the room size is what has me in a bit of a tizzy.

[thrillme]

My DS and I stayed in the Pop and found it to be plenty of room. But then neither of us are too demanding on space. When we stay it's only for a week and we're never in the room unless we want to take a bath and go to sleep.

Next trip my boyfriend (well he'll be a hubby by then) will be joining us. For the life of me I can't imagine it being any tighter. I'm perfectly satisfied with the Pop. Felt there was plenty of room (unless I wanted a big dance floor :dance:).

Many years ago when I was 19 a friend of mine and I stayed at this very OLD styled hotel. It supposedly was for 3 people (even though it was only she and I we figured it was going to be cheap and plenty big). HA HA...the place was an "antique". The room was clean but OLD. On one side of the room (I've seen bigger jail cells). Was a double bed the other had a twin and the distance between the two was EXACTLY one night stand. The closet was so small a coat hanger couldn't fit in horizontally. The bathroom had one small free standing sink (no room for a counter), commode and a shower stall. The pipes on the shower stall vibrated and "sang" when the water flowed thru...

We LAUGH about that room today. So I guess I'm not real picky.

[PetefromRI]

We just returned from our second trip to the Pop so it can't be to bad.
THE GOOD-theming is awesome,if I were 6 years old this resort would be my favorite on site.The rooms and resort as a whole were clean,clean,clean/Great Arcade/good food in foodcourt/huge pools/nice grounds with a lake/unbelievable AP rates/great CM's/quick check in both visits.

THE BAD-buses were alittle crowded/the foodcourt can get quite busy

THE UGLY-the drink area for the refillable mugs were kind of gross although there was a CM cleaning it up a few times and I noticed that the soda had a funky taste to it,I think the machines needed cleaning.

It really is a nice resort though and I think for us,when the weather is cool and we don't spend alot of time there,it fits the bill.I think at a busy time it could be quite the zoo though so that's why we like mods or deluxes when the weather is warm and we intend on using the resort ammenities.
The rooms aren't to small for a family of four either.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

The Good:
Clean rooms, good food options at the food court, cheery atmosphere

The Bad:
Buses can be very busy at times but, that is true of all Values, the beverage stations in the food court as someone else mentioned, were messy all the time when we stayed there. First time I have ever seen them that way in WDW.

The Ugly: (this is just our opinion remember)
The size of the resort!! The place is huge which of course means lots and lots of people everywhere. The food court was chaos at all times of the day. When I say size I don't mean walking around, we love SSR which is a very large resort, I just mean the amount of people that are staying there.

I will admit I am in the minority when it comes to Pop.:blush: It wasn't that we hated it, it just wasn't for us. Also, we were there during the Free Dining time frame which made it more busy then other times.

I hope you have a great stay. We will be there 12/7-12/13 so, maybe we'll see you around the parks!;)

[GrmGrninGost]

We've spent several vacations at POP with myself, DW, DS and DD. We always have a blast! I can't say I don't prefer the moderates or even the deluxe resorts, but sometimes money is an issue. I have never been dissatisfied with POP! It's always an enjoyable stay! :mickey:

[Young@Heart]

We stayed at POP for our last visit (all 5 of us!) and we were very comfortable. We had previously stayed at moderates, and I didn't even notice the difference in the room size. It was me, DH and children 12, 9, and 2.

This year, we let our DC choose between a room at AKL, POR, or POP, and guess what they chose? :mickey: We'll have to get 2 connecting rooms now, since DD is 4, but I'd do it again w/ 1 room if they'd let us. :blush:

[wifey5794]

The bad is the rooms. They are small and with just full size beds. Not much storage. I did bring a lot of hangers and hung as much as I could. The pool was closed at least ONCE the 4 days we actually went swimming because of an accident in the pool. The food court was chaotic! You could not possibly have a hot breakfast because it takes so long to check out.

Now, I have stayed there twice (just to make sure my first experience wasn't an exception) and both experiences were horrible.

I have to say that GF is my favorite but I have stayed at the moderates too and NEVER have I had that same experience. POP is the only place I have ever seen so many people at a resort. Even at Mods I've stayed at the food court area is never insane like it is at POP.

Just my opinion - but I think you just need to weigh what you are there for. If you spend time enjoying the resort - you may not like it. But if you are there to sleep and shower it was fine.

[Hull-onian]

We have stayed at the POP and found it to be okay. It was clean. We liked the giant ICONS. It was fun to take photos of them. Food court is a food court. Bus service, okay. Going back at night it was okay. For the money, it was all good.:thumbsup:

[MickeyChick]

Just got back from seven days at Pop. We were in a preferred room in the 50s buildings... the first room on the corner of the building where Tramp is...

The Good:
1. The theming is great, my kids loved it.
2. It's CLEAN. I thought it was raining one morning and it was just the staff power washing the building.
3. The variety of awesome food at the food court
4. The gift shop has most of the stuff you see in the shops in the parks

The bad:
1. It's popular, so it's crowded and that means lines for the bus, lines for food, lines for concierge.

The ugly:
There was nothing so bad to me that would keep me from staying there again and we had two adults, a four-year-old and an almost-two-year-old, 5 large FULL suitcases, a stroller, a fridge and a pack-and-play in the room.

[Llamaface23]

I am not a picky person -- and ultimately just to spend time in Disney, I am willing to sacrifice ambiance, space, and sit down restaurants at the hotel to save money for my trips. HOWEVER.....

I really did not like POP. My boyfriend and I stayed at POP this past August and we were both disappointed. We would have gladly overlooked the subpar front desk service but we simply cannot overlook the filthy foodcourt. Now this is not the Disney staff's fault entirely -- people are pigs especially when on vacation. What I couldn't seem to let go was how it always seemed to be dirty, morning, noon or night.

Also, it was almost impossible to make magic hours the way my boyfriend and I like to because there was HUGE line (sometimes 3 buses full) at like 7:00 in the morning.

The line and bus thing didn't discriminate against departing from the parks either.

Now, with all that said, I am a huge fan of AllStar Music and plan on staying there for my trip this summer. Although the All Stars share a bus line, it never seemed as big a problem as it did at POP (which is beyond my comprehension).

Maybe it was the particular week that made POP so ridiculously crazy, but I know that I won't be returning.

[BrerGnat]

I am going to be honest with you. I hated the Pop Century Resort. I stayed there for 4 nights in September 2005 on a solo trip.

About the only thing good about it is the price.

The buses were a nightmare. Waiting in an UNCOVERED chained line maze for the buses felt like the line at a Six Flags. It was blazing hot and there was NO respite from the sun in those bus lines (this was AT the hotel). The only areas to sit down while waiting for a bus are some benches, where people were CONSTANTLY smoking (I was pregnant). If you sat on the bench, you were NOT in line, and you wouldn't get on a bus.

The foodcourt/giftshop area was a zoo...literally. The din emanating from this place on a constant basis gave me a headache, and I wasn't too fond of the food either. :sick:

The people working the front desk were clueless and slow, on three different occasions.

The walls were thin. I heard toilets flushing, vacuuming, maids conversing to each other, etc. I was on the ground level. Regardless of what anyone says, I really believe the walls are not as well insulated at Pop, compared to other WDW resorts. The All Stars were quieter...

The beds felt like a rough sheet covering a trampoline. They were rock hard and super bouncy. I did not sleep well at all.

The rooms were in fine shape, mousekeeping was adequate, and the pool looked nice (although it was SO crowded, I was a bit turned off by the thought of going in the water).

I can't honestly recommend the place. I prefer the All Star Movies to the Pop. I had 2 enjoyable stays there in the past.

[Meghan]

I love Pop Century. Is it Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Grand Floridian? No. But it's still a fun place to stay. I've stayed there 5 times already, and I've never been disapointed. 4 times were 2 adults in the room, and 1 time was 3 adults. Even with 3 adults we were fine (though 4 might be pushing it). From rooms facing the water you can catch a pretty great view of Illuminations in the sky. Or if you don't have a room facing the water just walk over to the Generation Gap Bridge.

I really like the food court at Pop Century. One of my favorite food items on property is the delicious individual breakfast pizza they have. Mmmm.... so far I've only seen them at Pop and I could eat one every single day. Also one of your choices at the beverage island is frozen coke and frozen blue rasberry. That's an offering unique to Pop.

A good thing about Pop is that it doesn't share it's bus network with any other resort. On the other hand, Pop Century is HUGE. Even without sharing buses with a 2nd resort, they can sometimes fill up fast at the end of the day. I've never had a problem with buses except at Magic Kingdom closing.

[Cinderelley]

A lot of it will really depend on the amenities you enjoy at SOG. If you're at the parks mostly and just at your room to relax, you'll be fine. If you enjoy a lot of the amenities at SOG that aren't at Pop, you might not be happy.

But, we love Pop. The kids loved the theming, the water fountains, the playground, the Twister game, etc. I liked the central bus location. I hate the way they do it at the moderates where you have to wait for your stop. Yes, it creates a longer line at that one spot, but in the long run, I don't think the time is any longer.

The bad - the bus lines are unshaded. I don't know why they didn't put a cover over them like they do at the parks. :confused: It is a long walk if you're in one of the further outlying buildings. My favorite is a room in the 70s building near the water fountains.

The ugly - the food court can be a mad house, but we usually pack breakfast with us (poptarts, small containers of cereal, etc) and eat in the room. We do get the refillable mugs, but you don't have to stand in line to fill those up.

[Taja]

The rooms at PC are smaller than you're accustomed to at SOG--but so are the standard rooms at most of the deluxe resorts!

I've stayed at PC four times since December 2004. We usually travel off season (October or early to mid-December), so we don't experience most of the horrendous crowds. Although we were there during free dining in October, 2006, and it took nearly 3 hours to check in! Missed our ADR, but Concourse Steakhouse accommodated us at 9:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m. The entire resort computer system was down when we arrived, which accounted for the incredible check-in time. It's usually 15 minutes or less from arrival to walking out of Centennial Hall to our room. :thumbsup:

Our stomachs usually are in a different time zone the first few days of our WDW visits, so we eat off-peak times. Seriously off-peak! No crowds, for the most part. Even after we adapt to the time change, we still eat a bit early or late to avoid the crowds.

Other than park closing, I haven't had any really bad experiences with buses to/from PC. I always wait until I can have a seat, due to serious foot and leg injuries. Even when I'm in good shape, I'm not willing to risk further injury by standing on a moving bus!

[wdw538884]

The Good: Your going to Disney.

The Bad: The buses are crowded.

The ugly: Tourist wearing black socks and sandals:thumbsup:

[Crow]

ill get to compare...
Pop for 3 nights Feb 26, then SOG for 2 night Feb 29, then Pop again for a night March 2nd....
the food court does seem bad in the am..and the buses to MK
but otherwise ill enjoy it

[Disney Lynn]

I have mixed feelings after this latest trip. The price is right, but....! We asked for a room away from the pool- even verified at check-in that we did not face a pool (and were told that we would not face a pool or be anywhere near a pool). Needless to say, after dragging all our stuff up to the 3rd floor (they no longer have luggage carts for you to use- carts are only for the employees of the privately-contracted luggage service), we discovered that we directly faced the middle of the bowlingpin pool. We were so exhausted by then that we figured it couldn't be that bad all the way up on the 3rd floor! Wrong! It was noisy every night until well after midnight. A small card in the room said that quiet time started at 10 PM and that the pools closed at midnight. But when we complained, we were told that quiet time at the pools started at midnight and that the pools never closed. We ended up calling security every night around midnight to check on the screaming (and other very loud noises like pool chairs being thrown around) from the pool area. Finally, after several nights, we asked for a white noise machine (which they don't have) and were given a fan- it did help drown out the noise. Ear plugs helped initally, but fell out during the night- and the screaming sometimes was until 2 am.

As for the Food Court- we only ate there once; it was OK (better than the POFQ). We only bussed to the MK- the wait was similar to the wait at the POFQ. We drove everywhere else. The room was clean & the bed was comfy- but the walls are thin!

[Turk82]

I personally LOVED pop. I went with 3 other adults and 4 children (all family) with a connecting room in the 70's building. We went in October (which I know is a slower time), but it was always WONDERFUL. As we would get closer to the pools/main resort we would see more ppl and it would be noisier. Prior to our arrival I was very concerned about staying in a Value resort at all, but especially POP, but the $ was what made my decision for me. But after we parked our car and walked by the pond/lake to get to our rooms we saw rabbits and other wildlife and it was just so quiet and peaceful, that right then, my doubts were removed and I knew I was going to love it.
When we checked in, there was no line at all, and the CMs were amazing answering my many ?s and getting us started enjoying our vacation.
After the kids were in bed at night, my older brother and I went back up to the resort to shop and grab a late dinner and it was SO NICE. I wished I had done that every night! It was pretty vacated and peaceful. The shop was well-stocked and clean.
We didn't use the food court much (we ate breakfast in our room on the days we didn't Character breakfast and were in the parks for lunch). I did like the pizza delivery.
If I go back, I will probably stay there again (this time not only due to $). But, I would probably not go during peak times. (Wow....I really didn't mean to ramble so much!!)

[mudpuppysmom]

I just realized and confirmed that Pop Warner will also be going on while we are scheduled to be there........NOW what do you all think!

We're thinking of changing resorts......

[Disney Lynn]

mudpuppysmom- Do you know the dates for Pop Warner? (I thought I'd read 12/7-12/13?) Also, do you know where they stay? I would avoid their resort, if I were you! I wouldn't change my dates to visit WDW, but I imagine that they'd make the Food Courts more crowded.

[luvdiznee]

We stayed a POP a couple times. First, there was 2 families and we loved the connecting rooms. Second, the only problem was they left the garbage in the room one day. But other than that enjoyed our stay and would do it again. :mickey: