Pop Century Thoughts/ Preferred Rooms

[Rista1313]

We stayed in a preferred pool room, bottom floor, right outside the hippy dippy pool in May. When we shut the door, we could not hear the music or the screaming kids in the pool. I think they really have done a good job soundproofing. Plus the beds... OH the bed.. they are like pillows... so comfy! (we are going back in September!)

 

[Chernabog75]

Have stayed at POP 6 times and noise has never been an issue. In my opinion posted rooms aren't necessary for only 4 nights. On a longer stay I would start to regret not getting the preferred room.

One other bonus is being able to use the Art of Animation bus as well. Just a short walk across the lake to get back to POP.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We go out of our way to avoid noise, so after a little research, we requested the 70’s (not near the pool or food court.) We had a corner unit with some greenery outside, totally quiet - plus we love the 70’s! The theming is fun throughout.

 

[MaryMcMagic]

The newly renovated rooms make the very most of the space. The vanity area has storage for everyone's toiletries without being cluttered and there's plenty of room for hanging and putting away clothes. Possibly the best new addition is the raised platform bed and the ability to slide your suitcases underneath so they are out of the way. Getting rid of the carpet was a nice touch, too. I've always been a fan of Pop Century and there's even more to love!

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

As others have said, the bus transportation is really good compared to the All-Star resorts.

We've stayed at Pop and all three All-Stars many times......and we have yet to have shared busing at an All-Star. We were shocked the past December to have shared busing at AoA as they were sharing with Pop!

The bus service is objectively not great, but then again I don't think the bus service anywhere on property is great. I've had just as long wait times and cramped buses at AKL as I have Pop so I wouldn't let the bus situation deter you.

Busing at Pop is BETTER than those Epcot Resorts Deluxes as busing to AK/MK at those are always shared! DHS and Epcot is served by the water taxis, or the walk around the International Gateway......

Wow! Such great feedback, I think we shall be making a reservation for a stay at Pop!

Stay at Pop!! It is great and our favorite Resort, bar none!!

One other bonus is being able to use the Art of Animation bus as well. Just a short walk across the lake to get back to POP.

As noted above, Pop and AoA were sharing buses this past December......

 

[macsmom]

I went in August 2017, stayed at POP, and had a room that had not been refurbed yet. It was a handicapped room since I am in a wheelchair. Not a lot of room to get around. Fast forward to May 2018...Having the extra bed fold into the wall is such a great idea. I had so much room. I love the floors not having a rug.

 

[Rasstuss]

We were at POP last month as first timers so I don't really have anything else to compare it to. Overall it was fine but there were a couple things that irked me. One was the landscaping, I'm thinking they had to be using natural fertilizer because well it sure smelled like it. This might not just be a POP thing but I sure didn't smell it in the parks or any of the other resorts we visited. The other was the lack of service elevators. There were a few times we had to let an elevator pass us by because it was already full of housekeeping carts or the large carts they used to carry linens. I'm not sure if there was maybe a service elevator in our building that was out of service but I glanced over the fire escape schematic and didn't see where there was one.

There is no way we could have done 6 nights and added MVMCP tickets in our budget staying anywhere other than a value. I really couldn't justify staying elsewhere as our main draw for the trip was the parks not the resort. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to POP although I may just want to try something different next time for a different experience if available.

 

[monorail_mom]

We stayed in a preferred pool room, bottom floor, right outside the hippy dippy pool in May. When we shut the door, we could not hear the music or the screaming kids in the pool. I think they really have done a good job soundproofing. Plus the beds... OH the bed.. they are like pillows... so comfy! (we are going back in September!)

Hopefully you got the free dining too then!!?
We love Pop. It's our fave value!

 

[Rista1313]

Hopefully you got the free dining too then!!?
We love Pop. It's our fave value!

Yup... we did get free dining for the september trip...it was originally and end of oct/beginning of Nov trip... but when free dining came out, it wasn't hard to be flexible for us.. and it saved us 1k by changing the time, and the promotion.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Yup... we did get free dining for the september trip...it was originally and end of oct/beginning of Nov trip... but when free dining came out, it wasn't hard to be flexible for us.. and it saved us 1k by changing the time, and the promotion.

Does that mean, not being a FL resident or (I’m assuming) AP holder, you were going to pay rack rate for the rooms in your original trip? Is this typical? Are you ever able to apply “general public” discounts to your existing reservations after they are announced?

 

[Rista1313]

Does that mean, not being a FL resident or (I’m assuming) AP holder, you were going to pay rack rate for the rooms in your original trip? Is this typical? Are you ever able to apply “general public” discounts to your existing reservations after they are announced?

I did currently rack package rate set for my oct/nov trip, but as promotions come along, my TA could/would apply them. I did get a PIN code a couple weeks ago, but it's only good until the end of April. No worries... sometimes you just hold dates and then apply promotions later!

 

[Jon81uk]

We were at POP last month as first timers so I don't really have anything else to compare it to. Overall it was fine but there were a couple things that irked me. One was the landscaping, I'm thinking they had to be using natural fertilizer because well it sure smelled like it. This might not just be a POP thing but I sure didn't smell it in the parks or any of the other resorts we visited. The other was the lack of service elevators. There were a few times we had to let an elevator pass us by because it was already full of housekeeping carts or the large carts they used to carry linens. I'm not sure if there was maybe a service elevator in our building that was out of service but I glanced over the fire escape schematic and didn't see where there was one.

There is no way we could have done 6 nights and added MVMCP tickets in our budget staying anywhere other than a value. I really couldn't justify staying elsewhere as our main draw for the trip was the parks not the resort. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to POP although I may just want to try something different next time for a different experience if available.

I don't know you or your families circumstances, but when we stayed at the value & moderate resorts I don't ever remember using the elevator except first and last day with luggage. Given they are only three storey buildings we just took the stairs most of the time. Although I think if we were on the top floor we might have used the lift more often!
I would imagine this is why the designed the buildings without a large number of lifts, the expectation was that a majority of guests would use stairs.

 

[Rasstuss]

I don't know you or your families circumstances, but when we stayed at the value & moderate resorts I don't ever remember using the elevator except first and last day with luggage. Given they are only three storey buildings we just took the stairs most of the time. Although I think if we were on the top floor we might have used the lift more often!
I would imagine this is why the designed the buildings without a large number of lifts, the expectation was that a majority of guests would use stairs.

They are actually 4 stories because we were on the 4th floor plus we had a stroller so we were pretty much in the elevator every time. I definitely can see that not every guest on upper floors would use them but I'm sure most do. I guess one of the reasons it stuck out to me was that I previously worked in hotel management and every property I ever was ever at had separate elevators designated for housekeeping, most are hidden to where guests never see them. I think that would be part of the design of any property above the level of your standard roadside motel. I just would have thought even at the value level that is something Disney would have accounted for.