Pop Century March 2017 Never again....

[LindsaySue2]

I was recently in Orlando for a conference. Since Disney World is my favorite vacation spot ever I thought I'd spend a few days on my own at DisneyWorld after the conference. Since it's just me I didn't need anything fancy I thought I'd do a value resort. I stayed at one of the All Stars before so i thought I could give Pop Century a try. I regret it. Very much so.

Check in was a crazy long line. Even with online check in it was close to 5 before I got my room. The grounds were nice and well themed, a little tacky but in a cute way. I was in the 50s area near the bowling pin pool. It's a nice pool btw, I enjoyed it. But the room...it smelled musty, the bed was not comfortable, and it was so noisy. So very noisy. I have stayed at the All Stars before so I know it's a magnet for teams and big groups. But Pop Century is particularly noisy. And the baseball team that stayed in my area shouldve had more respect for other guests. After midnight I expect people stop partying and to shut it down and it's a shame the grown ups in charge of them didn't do that. But Disney should have put a stop to it .

And the worst was the transportation. Luckily I had a rental and only used the buses twice. It is ridiculously long wait for buses for this resort. I went to Magic Kingdom until close and watched other resorts have two buses show up at one time for them but the Pop Century bus line was 5 rows deep and not only did we wait longer than any other resort for our buses, we had to wait for 3 buses before being able to get on and get to the resort. When you have to get up early to catch a flight getting back to the hotel 2hrs after you leave the park is a little excessive. I think from now on if I stay on Disney property it's going to at a Moderate or higher because this was not magical.

 

[disney4life2008]

Lol

 

[21stamps]

I know it doesn't help now, but here's my advice for any future trip- Uber.

I never understand when I read people waiting a long time for a bus. There's an app for that

 

[AndrewsJ]

I was recently in Orlando for a conference. Since Disney World is my favorite vacation spot ever I thought I'd spend a few days on my own at DisneyWorld after the conference. Since it's just me I didn't need anything fancy I thought I'd do a value resort. I stayed at one of the All Stars before so i thought I could give Pop Century a try. I regret it. Very much so.

Check in was a crazy long line. Even with online check in it was close to 5 before I got my room. The grounds were nice and well themed, a little tacky but in a cute way. I was in the 50s area near the bowling pin pool. It's a nice pool btw, I enjoyed it. But the room...it smelled musty, the bed was not comfortable, and it was so noisy. So very noisy. I have stayed at the All Stars before so I know it's a magnet for teams and big groups. But Pop Century is particularly noisy. And the baseball team that stayed in my area shouldve had more respect for other guests. After midnight I expect people stop partying and to shut it down and it's a shame the grown ups in charge of them didn't do that. But Disney should have put a stop to it .

And the worst was the transportation. Luckily I had a rental and only used the buses twice. It is ridiculously long wait for buses for this resort. I went to Magic Kingdom until close and watched other resorts have two buses show up at one time for them but the Pop Century bus line was 5 rows deep and not only did we wait longer than any other resort for our buses, we had to wait for 3 buses before being able to get on and get to the resort. When you have to get up early to catch a flight getting back to the hotel 2hrs after you leave the park is a little excessive. I think from now on if I stay on Disney property it's going to at a Moderate or higher because this was not magical.

Why oh why did I open this thread

 

[The_Bellringer]

The values are themed motels and terribly overpriced, IMO.

A giant rubicks cube outside your door does not substitute for no coffee pot in the room which is UNBELIEVABLE.

 

[The_Bellringer]

I know it doesn't help now, but here's my advice for any future trip- Uber.

I never understand when I read people waiting a long time for a bus. There's an app for that

But one of the "perks" that is heavily advertised by Disney is the free transpo to and from the parks. Even though Uber is convenient, waiting 2 hours for your free hotel shuttle is not something I would consider a perk, especially one that you are paying premium for.

 

[DisneyRoy]

The transportation situation at Pop is one of the best on property. It has its own dedicated bus line (it doesn't share) and only one bus stop. The all stars frequently share buses between them. And the moderates have multiple stops. And if you wait at a stop that's not the main stop (i.e. Lobby) then the bus is likely full and passes the other stops without picking you up. I agree with you on the noise. But what are you gonna do? It's teams and kids and they like to play. I've asked them to be quiet before and they usually listen. For my money I will never stay at anything other than a value. I'm in the room to shower and sleep. I'm not gonna pay exorbitant prices for that privilege when I can get the same experience for a fraction of the cost.

 

[imahistorygeek]

We were also there in a March for a tech conference and stayed at Pop. We did online check-in and were notified via text when the room was ready. We didn't even visit the front desk. We received a text when our flight touched down in Orlando and we picked up our car and went straight to our room.

We almost always stay deluxe, but since this was on work's dime, we stayed value. It was a little noisy, but this was to be expected. As for the buses, they weren't terrible, but they were crowded as were the queues. The surrounding construction made for a very long ride to MK. We did get lucky one evening and a DCL bus picked us up from MK to return to Pop. That was the nicest ride.

 

[drizgirl]

You know it's spring break, right?

And we had noise issues at POR on a recent trip.It happens.

Surely you had seen photos of the iconic decor of Pop Century before staying there. If you thought it was "tacky" you should have booked a different resort.

 

[deeevo]

I was recently in Orlando for a conference. Since Disney World is my favorite vacation spot ever I thought I'd spend a few days on my own at DisneyWorld after the conference. Since it's just me I didn't need anything fancy I thought I'd do a value resort. I stayed at one of the All Stars before so i thought I could give Pop Century a try. I regret it. Very much so.

Check in was a crazy long line. Even with online check in it was close to 5 before I got my room. The grounds were nice and well themed, a little tacky but in a cute way. I was in the 50s area near the bowling pin pool. It's a nice pool btw, I enjoyed it. But the room...it smelled musty, the bed was not comfortable, and it was so noisy. So very noisy. I have stayed at the All Stars before so I know it's a magnet for teams and big groups. But Pop Century is particularly noisy. And the baseball team that stayed in my area shouldve had more respect for other guests. After midnight I expect people stop partying and to shut it down and it's a shame the grown ups in charge of them didn't do that. But Disney should have put a stop to it .

And the worst was the transportation. Luckily I had a rental and only used the buses twice. It is ridiculously long wait for buses for this resort. I went to Magic Kingdom until close and watched other resorts have two buses show up at one time for them but the Pop Century bus line was 5 rows deep and not only did we wait longer than any other resort for our buses, we had to wait for 3 buses before being able to get on and get to the resort. When you have to get up early to catch a flight getting back to the hotel 2hrs after you leave the park is a little excessive. I think from now on if I stay on Disney property it's going to at a Moderate or higher because this was not magical.

Yup... pretty much summed Pop up in your rant. All but the transportation. It is usually on point but just an FYI... if you are staying at WDW without the kids (and I have been able to do once) don't stay at a value if you can afford it. I love Pop for everything it is. It is where I cut my teeth with WDW vacations with my kids but we have moved on... lol

 

[21stamps]

But one of the "perks" that is heavily advertised by Disney is the free transpo to and from the parks. Even though Uber is convenient, waiting 2 hours for your free hotel shuttle is not something I would consider a perk, especially one that you are paying premium for.

To each their own. I would pay the $7 Uber fare before I waited two hours for a bus. Crowds happen.

 

[JusticeDisney]

As is generally the case with everything else in life, at Disney you get what you pay for.

 

[daisyduckie]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your stay at Pop. My stay was vastly different, but then, it wasn't over Spring Break either. I would expect every resort to be busy. As far as noise, I has my most noisy neighbors at deluxe resorts. It isn't that the values are noisy because they are values.

 

[Mickey5150]

The only thing I can say if it's too noisy for you is to spend more time at the parks so by the time you make it back to your room you are too tired to even notice anything. I stay at All-Star Sports all the time and I don't even realize there are other people there.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Did you let Disney know about the noise? If people don't complain to the front desk then they can't do anything about it.

Too bad about the bus, we have stay at all the values and at busy times and never waited 2 hours for a bus. That would have been frustrating.

 

[EOD K9]

We did get lucky one evening and a DCL bus picked us up from MK to return to Pop. That was the nicest ride.

We stayed at AoA back in November for a large family vacation and didn't cruise...<sigh>
When we took DME back it was a DCL bus. That being said, I don't know if that is a nice surprise or a kick in the pants on the way out.

 

[334594]

I was recently in Orlando for a conference. Since Disney World is my favorite vacation spot ever I thought I'd spend a few days on my own at DisneyWorld after the conference. Since it's just me I didn't need anything fancy I thought I'd do a value resort. I stayed at one of the All Stars before so i thought I could give Pop Century a try. I regret it. Very much so.

Check in was a crazy long line. Even with online check in it was close to 5 before I got my room. The grounds were nice and well themed, a little tacky but in a cute way. I was in the 50s area near the bowling pin pool. It's a nice pool btw, I enjoyed it. But the room...it smelled musty, the bed was not comfortable, and it was so noisy. So very noisy. I have stayed at the All Stars before so I know it's a magnet for teams and big groups. But Pop Century is particularly noisy. And the baseball team that stayed in my area shouldve had more respect for other guests. After midnight I expect people stop partying and to shut it down and it's a shame the grown ups in charge of them didn't do that. But Disney should have put a stop to it .

And the worst was the transportation. Luckily I had a rental and only used the buses twice. It is ridiculously long wait for buses for this resort. I went to Magic Kingdom until close and watched other resorts have two buses show up at one time for them but the Pop Century bus line was 5 rows deep and not only did we wait longer than any other resort for our buses, we had to wait for 3 buses before being able to get on and get to the resort. When you have to get up early to catch a flight getting back to the hotel 2hrs after you leave the park is a little excessive. I think from now on if I stay on Disney property it's going to at a Moderate or higher because this was not magical.

I totally agree with this. My son and I stay at POP because of the price. In October 2016 and December 2016 we attended the Halloween and Christmas parties. The wait was awful. My son is autistic and has epilepsy. The wait is very hard for him. You are exhausted and when it seems as if the transportation people send buses to the other resorts but ours. Just as this previous blogger said they send two busses to one resort and there are 200 people waiting in the POP line. In December it was cold,babies were crying. It was incredibly bad service. By the time we got on the bus there was no one waiting in any other lines for any other resorts. We were the last ones.

 

[Flyersgirl17]

We loved Pop. Thankfully we never experienced anything of what you did. I hope your next trip is better.

 

[kimrn87]

I was recently in Orlando for a conference. Since Disney World is my favorite vacation spot ever I thought I'd spend a few days on my own at DisneyWorld after the conference. Since it's just me I didn't need anything fancy I thought I'd do a value resort. I stayed at one of the All Stars before so i thought I could give Pop Century a try. I regret it. Very much so.

Check in was a crazy long line. Even with online check in it was close to 5 before I got my room. The grounds were nice and well themed, a little tacky but in a cute way. I was in the 50s area near the bowling pin pool. It's a nice pool btw, I enjoyed it. But the room...it smelled musty, the bed was not comfortable, and it was so noisy. So very noisy. I have stayed at the All Stars before so I know it's a magnet for teams and big groups. But Pop Century is particularly noisy. And the baseball team that stayed in my area shouldve had more respect for other guests. After midnight I expect people stop partying and to shut it down and it's a shame the grown ups in charge of them didn't do that. But Disney should have put a stop to it .

And the worst was the transportation. Luckily I had a rental and only used the buses twice. It is ridiculously long wait for buses for this resort. I went to Magic Kingdom until close and watched other resorts have two buses show up at one time for them but the Pop Century bus line was 5 rows deep and not only did we wait longer than any other resort for our buses, we had to wait for 3 buses before being able to get on and get to the resort. When you have to get up early to catch a flight getting back to the hotel 2hrs after you leave the park is a little excessive. I think from now on if I stay on Disney property it's going to at a Moderate or higher because this was not magical.

We were in the same area over spring break with the baseball players! Worse experience ever! I think I will cross spring break off my list.

 

[ScottKC]

Overall I am a Pop Century Fan because I like the oversized retro decor. Our experiences have been mostly positive...but I have found the rooms on occasion musty(to be fair this seems pretty common for "affordable" Florida lodging). Once the ac just didn't quite clear it out, once there was no must and once it was musty but the ac cleared it out.