We just got back from our trip to WDW. We checked in at the Pop Century Resort on 02/08/04 about 4:00 PM. The check-in went well. We didn't have to wait in a line and the front desk guy (Jonathan) knew how to do his job. Although, we did notice that Jonathan was being shadowed by a senior CM (more on this later).
We were assigned to the 70's (A) building in room 6337 at the end of the wing. Had a great view of Hourglass Lake! We didn't ask for any particular building so we suspect that they knew who we were and gave us the best they had at the time. Or, it could have been just good luck. Having all ready seen the layout of the resort, we surely did not desire to stay in the 50's or 60's buildings (inadequate or nonexistent parking) or the 80's or 90's buildings (too far from Classic Hall). In short, because of the lake, this resort has terrible parking facilities. You really should consider using Invero and his coworkers for baggage transport!
Speaking of Invero, I attempted to look him up but alas, he was on leave for the week. I did meet one of his coworkers, Brian (a very nice young man). And, all of the staff at Pop Century were very nice. Such sayings as, "Hi there" and "How are you", were common to hear from the staff. Everyone was very upbeat and smiles were on every face! (Report more later).
Jonathon was honest and told us that the 70's parking lot was not even remotely close to our room. He gave us explicit and exact instructions as to the proper parking area in the 80's parking lot. Even with his expert (and correct) advice, the walk with luggage was not fun. To reiterate, if you are driving a car, then let the baggage guys haul your luggage to the room or make sure you have those roller bags!
Well, the Pop Century has 27" TV's! This is good news because Disney got a very low price on these RCA/Thompson TV's http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/115272-3370-102.html However, there is a problem in that the TV's are bolted into the cabinet! You can't swivel the TV's as you can with the 19" Sony TV's at the All Stars. However, in practical terms, I only watch the news and the weather channel when I am at WDW, so TV viewing is not a priority for me.
Classic Hall is where the front desk, gift shop, food court, bar and arcade are located. It's very similar to any one of the All Stars facilities except that Classic Hall is on steroids! Everything is bigger! Some of you may recall that at the All Stars, if you desire to buy a small bottle of milk, it's less expensive to buy the milk in the gift shop rather than the food court. The gift shop in Classic Hall is now combined with the food court so there is not a separate cooler in the gift shop for milk, beer, etc.
The bus stop is top notch at the Pop Century! "Cattle Shoots" (metal switchback railings) are built at each bus stop so there is no confusion as to where the line begins and ends. During our stay, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus. On several occasions a bus would fill up with guests and then leave. Within just a few minutes, another bus would pull up to pick up the rest of the guests in line.
We stayed at the Pop Century for three nights (8th, 9th and 10th) and then relocated to the Contemporary for the meetings on the 11th and 12th. As I said before, all the staff members went out of their way to be very friendly. We also noticed a lot of senior CM's that were "hanging out" and watching carefully as the junior CM's performed their jobs. On several occasions the senior CM's stepped in or took over when we had questions that the junior CM's couldn't handle. As an example, we noticed that at the security gate entrance to Pop Century, there are three gates. The first gate (closest to the security shack) is for ID check. The middle gate is for registered guests. When you stop at this gate, there is a card reader. You just slide your room card into this device and the gate opens up. The third gate is for buses. Having stayed at many other Disney resorts with room card readers, we knew how this worked, but we wanted to verify this with the CM's at the front desk. None of the junior CM's knew anything about the room card readers, however a senior CM (lurking in the background) quickly jumped in and verified my inquiry.
Also, the Pop Century is right on the edge of Disney property so it's very easy to hop in the car and drive down to Publix (grocery store) to buy film, beer and other things you may need rather than to pay the inflated WDW prices.
Well, I could go on, but that's enough for this post. Just wanted you to know that Pop Century is really great and I encourage you to visit. I'll be glad to answer any questions.
We were assigned to the 70's (A) building in room 6337 at the end of the wing. Had a great view of Hourglass Lake! We didn't ask for any particular building so we suspect that they knew who we were and gave us the best they had at the time. Or, it could have been just good luck. Having all ready seen the layout of the resort, we surely did not desire to stay in the 50's or 60's buildings (inadequate or nonexistent parking) or the 80's or 90's buildings (too far from Classic Hall). In short, because of the lake, this resort has terrible parking facilities. You really should consider using Invero and his coworkers for baggage transport!
Speaking of Invero, I attempted to look him up but alas, he was on leave for the week. I did meet one of his coworkers, Brian (a very nice young man). And, all of the staff at Pop Century were very nice. Such sayings as, "Hi there" and "How are you", were common to hear from the staff. Everyone was very upbeat and smiles were on every face! (Report more later).
Jonathon was honest and told us that the 70's parking lot was not even remotely close to our room. He gave us explicit and exact instructions as to the proper parking area in the 80's parking lot. Even with his expert (and correct) advice, the walk with luggage was not fun. To reiterate, if you are driving a car, then let the baggage guys haul your luggage to the room or make sure you have those roller bags!
Well, the Pop Century has 27" TV's! This is good news because Disney got a very low price on these RCA/Thompson TV's http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/115272-3370-102.html However, there is a problem in that the TV's are bolted into the cabinet! You can't swivel the TV's as you can with the 19" Sony TV's at the All Stars. However, in practical terms, I only watch the news and the weather channel when I am at WDW, so TV viewing is not a priority for me.
Classic Hall is where the front desk, gift shop, food court, bar and arcade are located. It's very similar to any one of the All Stars facilities except that Classic Hall is on steroids! Everything is bigger! Some of you may recall that at the All Stars, if you desire to buy a small bottle of milk, it's less expensive to buy the milk in the gift shop rather than the food court. The gift shop in Classic Hall is now combined with the food court so there is not a separate cooler in the gift shop for milk, beer, etc.
The bus stop is top notch at the Pop Century! "Cattle Shoots" (metal switchback railings) are built at each bus stop so there is no confusion as to where the line begins and ends. During our stay, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus. On several occasions a bus would fill up with guests and then leave. Within just a few minutes, another bus would pull up to pick up the rest of the guests in line.
We stayed at the Pop Century for three nights (8th, 9th and 10th) and then relocated to the Contemporary for the meetings on the 11th and 12th. As I said before, all the staff members went out of their way to be very friendly. We also noticed a lot of senior CM's that were "hanging out" and watching carefully as the junior CM's performed their jobs. On several occasions the senior CM's stepped in or took over when we had questions that the junior CM's couldn't handle. As an example, we noticed that at the security gate entrance to Pop Century, there are three gates. The first gate (closest to the security shack) is for ID check. The middle gate is for registered guests. When you stop at this gate, there is a card reader. You just slide your room card into this device and the gate opens up. The third gate is for buses. Having stayed at many other Disney resorts with room card readers, we knew how this worked, but we wanted to verify this with the CM's at the front desk. None of the junior CM's knew anything about the room card readers, however a senior CM (lurking in the background) quickly jumped in and verified my inquiry.
Also, the Pop Century is right on the edge of Disney property so it's very easy to hop in the car and drive down to Publix (grocery store) to buy film, beer and other things you may need rather than to pay the inflated WDW prices.
Well, I could go on, but that's enough for this post. Just wanted you to know that Pop Century is really great and I encourage you to visit. I'll be glad to answer any questions.
:lol: :lol: 
