First time at Pop Century

[fizzle75]

Howdy folks, my wife and I will be staying at Pop Century for the first time beginning a week from tomorrow. We will be there from October 1st-10th, and I have a few questions. As DVC members we are used to staying at DVC resorts and we're not quite sure what to expect at a value resort. I know the rooms are much smaller, but will we notice a HUGE difference between Pop and say AKL Villas or Old Key West? Also, I have to sleep with a Cpap Machine and based on the room layout that I've seen, I'm concerned about having room on the nightstand for my Cpap and it being elevated to the proper height. We typically pack pretty heavy, how much storage space does a Pop room offer besides the closet? We will need a refrigerator for the room also, does anyone know how much it will cost?

Also, which building would you recommend as far as view and proximity to the food court/gift shop and bus stop? I have alot of trouble sleeping and the slightest bit of noise will wake me up, how noisy are the rooms at Pop?

The last time we were at WDW in October, it was for Celebration25 and it rained every single day and the heat/humidity was insane...should we expect more of the same this time? Do they still do the haunted hayride at Fort Wilderness?

In additon, I would just love to hear your reviews of Pop Century, both the pros and cons. Thanks in advance for your input! :wave:

 

[rock_doctor]

Love the pictures of the rooms Shere_Khan, but makes me homesick! ... Oh yeah...we are heavy packers

Yea me too, i had the urge to go turn on Stacy, although she is gone now. What is the new girls name? I have a copy of the new version of top 7 on my computer. Interesting that it is basically the same lines and locations but a different person.
The rooms are a good size (although, i think all of the value rooms are the same except for decor). We pack so much we actually bring our own hand truck to haul it back and forth plus we bring a 7ft tall xmas tree :xmas:.

Any building that is close to the main will be close to the buses (building 60s or 70s). The night stand works fine for a cpap, my brother uses one and there were no issues what so ever. There is an outlet just behind the nightstand. Anyway, you really do not hear too much noise, the occasional door slam but if you do get a room on the main pool you will hear they guys power washing the pool deck. It never bothers us but if you sleep in silence you will hear it. The "closet" is likely 2ft deep and 5ft long, plus you can put stuff in the corner of the room and in the furniture. Pop is our favorite hotel and it is the only place we stay. We have been staying there once or twice a year since it was built so we know it well and it is home when we are there. The food is ok, we never eat in Disney (just too expensive for us) we always have a truck with us so we just hit one of the hundreds of restaurants outside Disney.

If you need a doctor and have a car we have used Buena Vista Urgent Care, 8216 World Center Dr # D, Orlando, FL (407) 465-1110 ‎ it is about a 10 min drive from DTD. If you don't then there is a traveling doctor that will come to the room but the prices start at $200 to knock on the door. Good luck and if you have any specific questions ask.

Good luck and have fun. I'm jealous we are counting the days (91) till we leave.

 

[Princess Tiana]

I have stayed at Pop once after previously stating at the Wilderness Lodge. I was pleased with the experience and felt I got my money's worth as well as the Disney Magic. It was clean relatively quiet, however my visit was in the Spring. God Bless and have a great trip.

 

[maggiegrace1]

The Value resorts are on par with other budget hotel chains (Motel6, Days Inn, etc) as far as comforts and decor. You get what you pay for.
QUOTE]
I disagree that they are comparable to the chain hotels..not at all in my opinion.

 

[themoose]

I guess that it is about time for me to comment. I am staying at POP in Jan with a few friends. To start, I am a college student who comes from a middle class family. We opted for a value resort because we got another 4 days for the same price as a moderate resort. Plus, the value resorts are in no way comparable to days inn, red roof, etc. Disney resorts provide all types of transportation and real food options, unlike the other "comparable" hotels. Honestly, I would rather sacrifice an extra 20 square feet in the room for 4 more days in the parks.

 

[hsb1970]

I have a question about POP please, what buildings are the loudest? I've seen some people say that the 70's, 80's and I think 50's if it's the back are better. I'm not sure but maybe if I knew which ones were the worst I could remember that better. :shrug: We will be staying at POP 10/4/09-10/10/09. I am hoping that I can call and make the request ASAP. Thank you.

 

[maggiegrace1]

70's and 80's are farther back...50's and 60's are closer..

 

[TinkSassy]

The walk to the back can be quite hard after a day at the park. I actually like the 90s buildings. It's far away from the pool and you can walk across the parking lot to the buses or park close in the lot. I've found it really quiet.

In my opinion POP is one of the quieter of the value resorts. Much better than the All Stars for noise level.

In answer to the original poster - the fridge is $10 per day, they do not allow microwaves in the room you will need to use the one in the food court.

The one bus stop makes for long lines so just be prepared. I did CSR at Christmas and the lack of lines for the bus was a treat.

 

[Mikester71]

I agree with TinkSassy and think that the 90's buildings are probably your best bet taking everything you are looking for into consideration.

Don't recall seeing anyone answer you on the internet cost yet. It is $9.95 for 24 hours of consecutive service. If you get it at 10:00am on a Friday, it is off at exactly 10:00am on the Saturday. An ethernet cable can usually be found hanging in a bag or on a hanger in the closet and you just plug it into the jack over by the table and agree to the charges. Might not hurt to bring your own cable if you want a long one though as theirs tend to be pretty short.

 

[eroyee]

I have a question about POP please, what buildings are the loudest? I've seen some people say that the 70's, 80's and I think 50's if it's the back are better. I'm not sure but maybe if I knew which ones were the worst I could remember that better. :shrug: We will be staying at POP 10/4/09-10/10/09. I am hoping that I can call and make the request ASAP. Thank you.

We always request 70's building, top floor, overlooking the lake. Its wonderful up there and quiet and close to the food court and busses....

 

[krankenstein]

I have a question about POP please, what buildings are the loudest? I've seen some people say that the 70's, 80's and I think 50's if it's the back are better. I'm not sure but maybe if I knew which ones were the worst I could remember that better. :shrug: We will be staying at POP 10/4/09-10/10/09. I am hoping that I can call and make the request ASAP. Thank you.

70's tend to be quieter because of the lack of a pool. Also, any room that overlooks the hourglass lake is going to be quieter.

The 60's, while closest to Classic Hall, are in what is usually the loudest area of the resort.

 

[Dwarful]

Ok, back on track here. You might want to pack extra hangers. I don't know how much you will be packing, but we never have enough storage space at the resorts with the hangers they provide. At the values its a bit of a gamble on getting extra hangers delivered to your room. The drawers are shallow so they don't hold a whole lot of adult clothes. But I found this to be true at the Boardwalk resort as well. What is up with the shallow drawers??? I like the room to stay neat and organized so I always bring a pop up hamper with me as well to store the dirty clothes.

I know it won't be the same as the deluxe resorts but it will be a new experience! So just think of it as one more resort to check off the list and enjoy your trip to WDW!

 

[Dwarful]

I meant to add that we actually prefer the bus stop set up at the values to some of the other moderate and deluxe resorts. At the values they are clearly marked and there is an area to line up.

 

[calicommando]

We generally stay at Pop when we stay on property. Earlier this month, we stayed in the back side of the 60's building on the 3rd floor and that was our favorite spot so far. We had a pretty view of the Lake. It was quiet. But it was still close to the pool and the main building. The best of both worlds IMO.

Also, we had a refrigerator in our room. I'm not sure what you need it for, but if it's for medication (which ours was), Disney will give you a fridge free of charge.

We also like the bus situation at Pop because Pop gets it's own bus. A lot of other resorts (including Poly, Contemporary, and GF) have to share buses from some of the parks.

 

[Minnesota]

We just got back from pop thursday. The rooms are a lot newer then ASMo and I did like the bright food court. But boy was it busy there all the time. They ran double busses for Pop everynight and am. Forget trying to get a snack after the parks closed, lines 10 deep. I loved the decorations there but way too many people for me. I am sure free dining did not help. I think we will go back to the ASMo, if you stay in the mighty ducks wing you can ride the ASMu bus, it is almost closer to the rooms. One quick question. Has anyone else noticed people leaving the buffets with food shoved in the pockets and bags? I was floored over this.

 

[fizzle75]

Thanks again everyone for all of the great input...well, ALMOST everyone. :animwink:

. Having said that, I am one of those wierd and wacky folks that actually likes to spend time at our resort, we usually set aside a day to wander our resort taking pictures and just enjoying the charms offered by each individual resort. One of our favorite things to do is resort hop. My wife and I fall squarely into the middle class category and we both make decent money, but we made some really bad financial decisions early on in our marriage and it all came down on top of us earlier this year. We are DVC members and almost always stay at Deluxe and DVC resorts, not just because we love the larger rooms, but because we love all of the "extras" they offer. I am also a huge fan of some of the amazing theming at the Deluxe resorts and could spend hours wandering around them checking out every little detail...and frequently I do just that.

Thanks to good old fashioned hard work and the help of the brilliant financial advisor Dave Ramsey, we have paid off alot of debt this year, partially by selling our SSR DVC points...that was a HARD decision to make. We still own points at our favorite resort, AKL, but in order to keep chipping away at our debt we have decided to take one trip each year using our points and then another trip in the fall/winter taking advantage of the Free Dining Promotion. We are by no means snobby rich folks, we both come from very poor families, but we have worked hard to get where we're at and it burns me up that someone automatically thinks I'm snooty upper class just because we stay at a deluxe resort! :fork:

I guess for us it boils down to this...Yes, a WDW vacation is all about Disney's amazing parks, but we also LOVE spending time at Disney's resorts, your experiences there can be just as magical as they are in the parks. I'm actually really looking forward to our stay at POP for the aforementioned reasons, I look forward to wandering around the resort checking out all of the massive icons, wandering down Memory Lane and snapping pictures all along the way! :wave:

 

[Dwarful]

fizzle75- staying at WDW...you'll be better than you deserve!



sorry I just had to throw that out there! My in-laws gave both of our girls FPU Jr. when they were around 7 yrs old. Dave is very popular in our family! Just remember when you are at Pop you will be 'living like no one else, so some day you can live like no one else' and in those years you'll be living it up at the deluxe resorts each trip!

 

[PryncessLace]

It seems that nobody has answered your questions about weather. Being a Florida resident, I can tell you that unless you get REALLY lucky, it will still be humid & in the the upper 80's to the upper 90's. It doesn't really cool off until November at the earliest and December at the latest. Halloween we are usually sweating our booties off trick or treating and last December it was still in the upper 80's for half the month.

 

[lilclerk]

I am also a huge fan of some of the amazing theming at the Deluxe resorts and could spend hours wandering around them checking out every little detail...and frequently I do just that.

Ahh well one of the best parts of WDW is touring all the resorts you're not staying at!

 

[lighteningqueen]

I would love to stay at one of the mods some day... But that will be way off if this economy does not get better for my business.At least I can go. Thank heavens for the values and the great themeing they do. I think they, all the values have the most closest themeing to what Disney is and that is all about their movies and the characters that are in them. And to think it all started with that tiny little mouse....