Booked Pop Century- Now I'm Regretting It

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Never stayed there before. What are the pros and cons?

 

[Gaston's gal]

I stayed at POP for the first time this year and absolutely loved it! It is my new favorite Value resort and would definitely would stay there again.

 

[The Colonel]

I love POP. The refurbed rooms are nice. Nice to have the food court open till midnight. Nice pools. Great transportation. And now the Gondolas! I had a choice of SSR on points or POP for cash, I chose POP.

 

[cmoliver68]

Thanks for the photos! It looks great, actually.
We've stayed at Caribbean Beach years ago, Sports, Port Orleans Riverside, and Saratoga Springs. Each was good in their own way, but honestly, I don't like the theming of Pop. It makes sense for this trip for other reasons, namely who we are traveling with. Long story. How are the pools? Is the food good at the foodcourt?

Thanks everyone for all the responses. Very helpful.

Food is good at the food court but if you want other options it is only a short walk across the bridge to AoA. I thought food options were better there.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

^^ Thats what I'm thinking too.

 

[Nottamus]

Our second trip to WDW was a week at POP. Just the two of us,...no kids. I thought it was a fun place with all the neat little trivia pieces everywhere.. No fancy Schmancy, but a nice little place to stay. It was the only value we've ever stayed in.

 

[Plowboy]

We've stayed at Pop 5 or 6 times and have loved it every time. We're going to be there again the fall.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Pros of Pop:

The refurbished rooms did almost everything right (my only quibble is general room lighting, but if that's my only quibble, it's excellent).

Their bus stop isn't on a loop or shared with any other resort (except very late at night it might be shared with Art of Animation), so, direct access to where you're going. Of course, that's going to be for MK, DS, and DAK. The gondola will service DHS and Epcot. And if you're heading back to Pop from DS, MK, or DAK, you can take AoA if it shows up first and just walk over the bridge to Pop.

Inexpensive without being cheap. (Yeah, I know some people view a motel set-up as beneath their standards, but for a motel set-up, it's excellent).

If you want quiet, ask for top floor (no one above you making walking noises) and lake view.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The price is reasonable (pre-gondola),

There has been no indication, as of yet, that Pop prices have gone up due to it being a gondola resort. It's recent price hike was similar to all resorts' price hikes.

So, if there's going to be a premium price for gondola resorts, it hasn't show up... yet. Prices go to the end of 2019.

Keep in mind that guests already pay a premium for transportation. And the money those resorts were 'paying' for bus transport to Epcot and DHS will now go to the gondolas. So... it's possible there won't be a price hike for a gondola resort.

 

[Jamie77]

Pop is great. It is our go-to value resort. The price is reasonable (pre-gondola), the rooms are nice, the buses come often and the food court is large. At times, the grounds can get a little noisy but we have never had an issue; it was just something we noticed while walking around.

The music is great. We are in our 40's and grew up listening to all of it.

The only thing that I do not like about Pop is the the front desk/reception area. That whole experience is bad; worse than at other resorts IMO. It is really dim there so it doesn't generate a lot of excitement when you come in for the first time. And the staff is painfully slow.

Last time I was there (solo), I was third in a line of 20 people waiting to check in; for some reason housekeeping was behind and most of us did not have a room ready, even after 3 o'clock. Again, I was third in the line... while I was waiting to be helped, two more Magical Express buses arrived dumping 30 more people into the line for check in. So 50 of us were all lined up waiting for news of our rooms. It wasn't a great way to start a vacation and the staff didn't show much concern or add more cast members to help the process. This wont happen often enough to be concerned but sometimes I vent that story.

I had the same complaint 10 years ago. Apparently, not much has changed.