Would I like POP after only staying deluxe?

[balletgirl2]

I am planning my summer vacation now. I keep looking at pictures from POP, and I think it looks so fun. Some of the reviews have me nervous though. I am bit of a resort snob and I wonder if I should just stick to the original plan of going to Yacht club. I am afraid that when I get there I will :lookaroun and say dang it I should have gone to the Yacht club. The thing is I am on a mission to stay at all of the resorts. I do not have any kids yet and my husband thinks we should save the value resorts for when we have kids because he thinks they would love the decor there.

I do not know what to do and even part of me wonders if I should skip WDW this year and go on a cruise instead.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Even if you have a big ladder?

 

[dave1105]

We have stayed at both the Poly and Pop. We did Pop after Poly so it was a definate downgrade, however it certainly wasn't unbearable by any means. Since it was just DW and myself we requested a king size bed and that made all the diffrence for us.

We had stayed at ASM before and double beds are just too small for us. We still had a great time at Pop. Our room was away from the pool and pretty close to the main building.

 

[erstwo]

The only reason I would save the value resorts for when you have kids is if you need to for budgeting reasons.

In my opinion, deluxe resorts are easier with kids because the rooms are larger (especially at the Poly). And with the exception of AKL, the deluxes have an alternate form of transportation to at least one of the parks other than the bus (walking, monorail, or boat) which really makes it easier when you have kids with you. And while expensive, I like having room service available if needed.

Ditto. Kids will be happy anywhere, but when you have really little ones, you need the space, just for all the *stuff* they need - crib, diaper bag, etc.

We love Pop, but it's not for everyone. Hope you have a great trip no matter where you stay!

 

[jeffk410]

I say wait until you have children for the values.. Im not much of a fan.

 

[durangojim]

We stayed at Pop for the first time a couple weeks ago (we have two kids -- a 4 y/o and 1 y/o) and thought it was really nice. We were only staying there for one night before moving to the Beach Club for seven, but my 4 y/o thought everything was really cool. The food court was good. The pools looked nice although without much shade. Overall my wife and I decided we'd be happy to stay there for a short (3 nights or less) trip. The size of the room is much smaller than a deluxe, but everything was clean and bus transportation was excellent. We actually preferred it to PORS.

 

[Lynne M]

I am planning my summer vacation now. I keep looking at pictures from POP, and I think it looks so fun. Some of the reviews have me nervous though. I am bit of a resort snob and I wonder if I should just stick to the original plan of going to Yacht club. I am afraid that when I get there I will :lookaroun and say dang it I should have gone to the Yacht club. The thing is I am on a mission to stay at all of the resorts. I do not have any kids yet and my husband thinks we should save the value resorts for when we have kids because he thinks they would love the decor there.

I do not know what to do and even part of me wonders if I should skip WDW this year and go on a cruise instead.

I'm a deluxe snob, too, so much so that I bought DVC for my solo trips. I was also curious about the values, so I booked one night at Pop at the beginning of a DVC trip a few years back.

Was I pleasantly surprised? Yes. Would I have wanted to stay there for my entire trip? Nope.

The room was very clean and comfortable, the food court was great, and it was fun to spend an hour or so wandering around the resort and looking at the bright colors and big icons. If I could only afford to go to WDW if I stayed at Pop, I'd book it without hesitation.

But, I'd miss:

1) A balcony. The values are motel style, so you have doors that open to the outside along a concrete walkway. People walking back and forth past your window all day and night, so you have to keep your curtains closed.

2) Being able to walk, boat or monorail to a theme park. Buses only, everywhere.

3) A beach. Love the beaches at WL and GF.

4) Table service restaurants. None at the values.

5) Queen beds. The values have doubles.

6) Larger rooms. Value rooms are much, much smaller than deluxes.

I'd recommend booking a night at Pop at the beginning of your stay and then moving to the Yacht Club. It'll be fun to try something new, you don't have to give up your deluxe stay. And you can check out Pop to see if it might be something you'd like to do when you have kids.

 

[bgraham34]

Personally I have stayed there and like the resort. I don't like it enough to stay for a week. I will stay there for a day or too especially if i come in on a late flight and not want to waste points or money to stay at a DVC/Deluxe resort.

Would I stay there to have an extra vacataion, yes but I much prefer the deluxe resorts.

 

[Lisalyn]

I stayed at POP the whole week of Thanksgiving and although we weren't in our rooms much..the time we were I was not exactly yelling yahoo about! While the resort itself is "fun" from the visual aspect of it, the walls are too thin (I mean PAPER thin!), the safe was the size of a ream of paper, the bus service wasn't the best while we were there (long waits in huge lines), and the food court...don't even get me started on it!!! LOL But in the food courts defense, we did like the options of what was available.

Definitely trying a moderate resort next year...BUT we did have a blast as always at WDW.:sohappy:

 

[Tar Heel]

We stayed at POP in May after staying at GF a few months before, and while it was night and day we still had a great time. If you plan on not spending much time in the the room it will be fine. After staying at all three price levels in a year period we decided to join DVC just because we liked the delux resorts so much.

 

[smk]

If you are on a "mission" (as you said) to stay in all resorts then sooner or later you will have to stay at a value resort. Is POP the best thing since sliced bread, no. Is it clean, in WDW, have it's own bus service, smaller rooms and a food court....yes. There is nothing wrong with any of the values!

 

[GrannyJill2]

Money is always a problem with me, so I stay at POP. It's the best of the value resorts IMHO.

You will probably miss all the amenities of a deluxe if you stay at POP.
Why not split your stay with a couple of days at POP, finishing up at your usual deluxe?

Have a great time.

 

[balletgirl2]

I have never thought to split a stay before, so that may be a good option. That way I can get through these resorts faster, otherwise it is going to take me many more years to stay at every resort at least once. I do not want to do a repeat stay anywhere until I have stayed at every resort for at least 4 days (any less I don't think you get a true feel for the place).

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

This year we stayed at the Poly, Hard Rock Hotel and Kidanni village over the 17 days. Moving between Disney resorts is painless and IMHO adds something to the trip.

 

[dizzney]

We love the deluxe resorts, and when we stayed at a moderate we felt the difference, hate to say we're resort snobs but we like our comforts and restaurants and proximity to everything. Thats the reason we ended up buying into DVC, and have never looked back. DVC made deluxe trips affordable every year. And our kids abosultely love it also, cannot wait 8 days away from going home to BWV!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

After this last stay at POR, I can unashameably say that I am a resort snob. Not that POR wasn't nice, but I've decided that comfort and convenience is worth any price I have to pay. Put it down to getting older, I guess.

I did the Quick Service dining this trip since I was going solo, and it included a refillable mug. I could see the advantages of getting one when I was staying in the CR Tower, since the pop fountain was just a short elevator ride away, but it was a pain in the a-- to walk to the food court to fill up a mug that doesn't even hold a whole bottle of Coke. And don't get me started on the buses. Give me the monorail any day. Next trip I'm going to try the Boardwalk.

 

[captainbuzzy]

From a fellow resort snob, I would stick with the Yacht club. We stayed at Port Orleans and there was absolutely nothing to complain about, the resort was teriffic. But if you are use to a deluxe resort then you will miss, the proximity to everything. We love hopping on the boat, monorail or walking to the parks from our hotel.

My $0.02... if you are able to afford the Yacht club then I would stay there or else you will be kicking yourself once you get there.

 

[alanbrai]

**This is my opinion only**

What I missed:
The towels in the room were badly worn and hadn't been replaced in a long time. I just missed the comfortable, soft towels.

Both times I stayed at Pop I could not get them to not take my towels, i don't mind reuseing them again and again. But, every day when i got back to the resort from a wonderful day at the parks i had found that I was given a replacement for every towel i used.