Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[OKWFan88]

For those that have a car when staying at POP... (I've never stayed there). Are the parking lots near the rooms? Is there a way to pre-pay the parking fee? I'm assuming there is a front gate with a guard? Do we need to go to the front desk when checking in to get a pass to put on the car?

 

[DuskKodesh]

I just spent one and a half hours on the phone line for Disney customer service because I was checking my tickets today and noticed they suddenly said 'Canadian resident'. Note: I've been doing weekly payments on our package since we booked and they'd never said that, so after all that time on hold with a very nice castmember who was herself communicating to guest services they tried to track down the error. She fixed my res and put me back on my gift of magic discount US resident and then my balance climbed up 200$...

Once again though, I make weekly payments I knew what I had left when I switched to the gift of magic and my balance has never jumped down unexpectedly. So I had to stay on the line while they pinpointed the error. Long and short of it is there was no guest error and no castmember error (I switched a few months back from ASM to POP and did so over the phone) and my reservation was part of a block of reservations that it seems were part of a recent system error that seems to have randomly switched the discount to Canadian resident. Yipes. They took off the 200$, and thank goodness because I'd have had to have debated that increase. So, I guess moral of the story is if you have a POP reservation right now please double check it! Leave it to me to be part of a computer error, the darn things hate me.

 

[kaytieeldr]

For those that have a car when staying at POP... (I've never stayed there). Are the parking lots near the rooms? Is there a way to pre-pay the parking fee? I'm assuming there is a front gate with a guard? Do we need to go to the front desk when checking in to get a pass to put on the car?

If you look at any map of Pop, you will see there are parking lots spell around ,he property. Each lot is labeled for a specific decade, but housing have to park in your number lot.

I think the only way to prepay for parking is to not put a credit card on file (if that's even allowed), and pay the $15 times X nights at the Front Desk when you arrive.

the Security CM at the gate should give you your parking pass.

 

[scrappinginontario]

If you look at any map of Pop, you will see there are parking lots spell around ,he property. Each lot is labeled for a specific decade, but housing have to park in your number lot.

I think the only way to prepay for parking is to not put a credit card on file (if that's even allowed), and pay the $15 times X nights at the Front Desk when you arrive.

the Security CM at the gate should give you your parking pass.

Guests may park in any lot they wish regardless of which decade/building they are staying in.

Have you tried to pay the full parking price when you check in? They don't normally allow pre-payment of any sort so I'm surprised if they do this with parking as it's added each night of a guest's stay. Please correct me if I'm wrong if they have allowed you to pre-pay.

The only time I needed a parking pass it was given to me at the front desk. Is it still available there or only from the gate attendant? I wasn't aware you could get it at the gate.

 

[Elle23]

@scrappinginontario, just curious - with the Skyliner in operation, do you think you might also ride over to Epcot for QS options there? (Assuming you have Hopper passes, of course)

That is totally doable!

When it warmed up, we got tired of carrying our jackets around Epcot, so we just hopped on the Skyliner, dropped our jackets off and hopped back to Epcot. It was a breeze!

 

[chelynnah]

I was looking at the QS options for Riviera's Primo Piatto and I can see us hopping over there to try some of their food also, especially their breakfasts!

OMGosh that just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for my trip.

I was gutted when I checked the Pop and AoA menus and saw so much had changed. I was looking fwd to the myo pasta. I enjoyed it at POFQ and thought it would be a good choice there.

I hadn’t even thought about the Skyliner QSs. The Riviera menu looks amazing

 

[DisLiss]

We went with a room only over free dining for our last trip even though free dining was a better discount and did not regret it at all. Not having to eat to the plan was so freeing and we ate so much less.

Since FD with a POP room would be counter service meals only, it actually works out well for us, since we prefer counter service at this stage in our family's lives. So for us, it is definitely a savings to get FD over a room discount. Especially since we go during a time when the rooms are considerably less already. So it really does depend on your group and your trip particulars. Since we plan on almost all quick service meals, the plan works with our eating habits instead of us trying to force our eating to match the plan.

That being said, we never, ever pay for the plan. It only saves us money if it's free.

 

[LSUmiss]

We stayed at Pop 11/17-11/25 and had a great stay!

Despite marking our location request during online check in and calling, we didn’t receive our request. I called and asked to be switched and they very kindly did (we had to wait for the room to be ready, but that was fine with us).

We loved the renovated rooms! They were designed so well. We loved all of the storage areas in the bathroom, the laminate flooring, the regular door instead of a curtain dividing the room from the bathroom, an actual shower door instead of a curtain...

There were 3 of us (1 adults and 2 teens) and we had the Murphy bed down the whole time and felt like we had plenty of space. Being able to store our suitcases under the bed made a big difference.

We loved the Skyliner!

All of the CMs were extremely kind and accommodating (minus a few grumpy food court cashiers....I swear those same grumpy food court cashiers are at every Disney hotel food court! ).

My only real gripe is about the food court itself. The food just wasn’t great. We stayed at Pop in 2017 and the food was much better then. We even thought of running over to AoA for something different, but when I looked at the menu, it was the same ol’ stuff. I though AoA was known for its eclectic menu?

All in all, we had a great week and would gladly return again!

Is the Murphy bed mattress the same as the other bed?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Guests may park in any lot they wish regardless of which decade/building they are staying in.

Yeah, thanks. I typed "you don't" ; I have no idea how it became "housing".

Have you tried to pay the full parking price when you check in? They don't normally allow pre-payment of any sort so I'm surprised if they do this with parking as it's added each night of a guest's stay. Please correct me if I'm wrong if they have allowed you to pre-pay.

No, I would have included that in my response. To clarify: PP can (1) not apply a credit card to the room, plus (b) go to the front desk and ask or offer to pay the $15, or $30, or $45... right there at the Front Desk when they arrive.

Is the Murphy bed mattress the same as the other bed?

Identical.

 

[Elle23]

Is the Murphy bed mattress the same as the other bed?

I slept on it all week and it was super comfortable. I actually preferred it to the regular bed because it was lower to the ground and easier to get on and off.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Since FD with a POP room would be counter service meals only, it actually works out well for us, since we prefer counter service at this stage in our family's lives. So for us, it is definitely a savings to get FD over a room discount. Especially since we go during a time when the rooms are considerably less already. So it really does depend on your group and your trip particulars. Since we plan on almost all quick service meals, the plan works with our eating habits instead of us trying to force our eating to match the plan.

That being said, we never, ever pay for the plan. It only saves us money if it's free.

Free Dining isn’t really free because you have to pay rack rate for the room plus I believe you have to add park hoppers.

 

[LynnS]

My adult daughter and I are checking into Pop on Sunday morning. I broke my ankle a few days ago and have booked a scooter. I tried calling the number listed for Pop to try to ensure I have a first floor room and possibly get connecting rooms just in case I need my daughter's help at some point. The number listed as Pop's direct number took me to housekeeping. He then transferred me to the "front office" which was experiencing high call volume so I think that was the general reservation line. Is there a better way to request this? I checked on listing them as preferences in my reservation online but those weren't options.

TIA for your help!

 

[dansdad]

My adult daughter and I are checking into Pop on Sunday morning. I broke my ankle a few days ago and have booked a scooter. I tried calling the number listed for Pop to try to ensure I have a first floor room and possibly get connecting rooms just in case I need my daughter's help at some point. The number listed as Pop's direct number took me to housekeeping. He then transferred me to the "front office" which was experiencing high call volume so I think that was the general reservation line. Is there a better way to request this? I checked on listing them as preferences in my reservation online but those weren't options.

TIA for your help!

There is no way to contact Pop directly. The Main Reservation line is the best way to add that request.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yeah, thanks. I typed "you don't" ; I have no idea how it became "housing".

No, I would have included that in my response. To clarify: PP can (1) not apply a credit card to the room, plus (b) go to the front desk and ask or offer to pay the $15, or $30, or $45... right there at the Front Desk when they arrive.

Identical.

Unfortunately it is not possible to do this. Disney will not allow you to run a credit on your account and Disney charges parking each night of a guest's stay, not up front. I've tried to put a credit on our account as I take gift cards with us to cover tips, etc. They will only accept payment of amount due up until you get to the counter to make a payment. After that, new charges accrue and you need to pay those off at a later time.

Free Dining isn’t really free because you have to pay rack rate for the room plus I believe you have to add park hoppers.

It's free to me! The normal price of a room at Pop during our stay is around $175/night which even at a 20% discount is $34.50. A room discount at a value resort is normally 15% so even less of a savings than that. There is no way possible I can feed our family for $34.50 a day even if we shared snacks and meals. We love park hopping (especially now that the Skyliner adds to the ease of that) so we pay for that anyway. Free Dining is free for our family because of our touring styles at Disney.

It may not be beneficial to all but you cannot make a blanket statement. As many have said, each family/person tours and eats differently so each family must run their own numbers to find out what is best for them.

 

[Moliphino]

Since FD with a POP room would be counter service meals only, it actually works out well for us, since we prefer counter service at this stage in our family's lives. So for us, it is definitely a savings to get FD over a room discount. Especially since we go during a time when the rooms are considerably less already. So it really does depend on your group and your trip particulars. Since we plan on almost all quick service meals, the plan works with our eating habits instead of us trying to force our eating to match the plan.

That being said, we never, ever pay for the plan. It only saves us money if it's free.

I definitely agree with you there. It's way too much food for me to ever pay for it. We did FD for about 8 trips in a row before this past trip when we skipped it. I don't know if I could go back to the dining plan. The freedom to eat whatever we wanted was intoxicating and I didn't constantly stuff myself to the point that I dreaded food by the end.

 

[sky13]

we were thinking of taking the Skyliner over to CBR to try their QS options. I know it's a big resort, need to do some research to see how far it is from the Skyliner station.

I decided to go walking around CBR on my recent trip. I felt like it was a bit of a trek between the Skyliner station and the main part of CBR (?Old Port Royale? - the part with check in and the gift shop and I guess dining). Didn't time my walk but I would estimate it at around 10-15 minutes, it was definitely long enough that I was getting worried I was walking in the wrong direction (I wasn't). I know there are internal buses so that might make getting around CBR easier, it's really quite a big resort!

Riviera may be much easier as the Skyliner station is right outside of the Riviera building which is far more compact! Don't know what the dining options there are like though.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Riviera looks to have a lot of great dining options! The options (especially for breakfast) at their Quick Service looks to be delicious! We're planning on going there at least once on our upcoming trip.

 

[mom2rtk]

I decided to go walking around CBR on my recent trip. I felt like it was a bit of a trek between the Skyliner station and the main part of CBR (?Old Port Royale? - the part with check in and the gift shop and I guess dining). Didn't time my walk but I would estimate it at around 10-15 minutes, it was definitely long enough that I was getting worried I was walking in the wrong direction (I wasn't). I know there are internal buses so that might make getting around CBR easier, it's really quite a big resort!

Riviera may be much easier as the Skyliner station is right outside of the Riviera building which is far more compact! Don't know what the dining options there are like though.

Topolino's Terrace opens at Riviera when the resort opens. We have an 8:30 AM ADR on Marathon morning. I did that because the idea of using the Skyliner to get there from Pop when the roads might be congested from the marathon was very appealing. Now after a couple months of reports on unreliable service on the Skyliner, and not having a predictable opening time, I think I might have to cancel the ADR. I'm not willing to chance a no show fee because the transportation is unreliable. And I'm not willing to spring for Uber on top of the pricey breakfast.

 

[sky13]

Topolino's Terrace opens at Riviera when the resort opens. We have an 8:30 AM ADR on Marathon morning. I did that because the idea of using the Skyliner to get there from Pop when the roads might be congested from the marathon was very appealing. Now after a couple months of reports on unreliable service on the Skyliner, and not having a predictable opening time, I think I might have to cancel the ADR. I'm not willing to chance a no show fee because the transportation is unreliable. And I'm not willing to spring for Uber on top of the pricey breakfast.

I stayed at Pop for two weeks in October/November, and the Skyliner was generally fairly reliable then... but it did stop running in bad weather, and on my last night/last morning the Epcot line wasn't running. So the shutdowns can be unpredictable.

However, when the Epcot line was down, it was replaced by a bus service running between the stations - if I'm not wrong they had a shuttle service running between the Boardwalk (for the Epcot station) and the CBR Skyliner station, so that people could still transfer at the CBR station to either the DHS or the Pop/AoA line. However the shuttle service would be far slower and less pleasant than the Skyliner.

I suspect that if you are late for your ADR because the Skyliner is down that it might be possible to get the no show fee waived, but this would be up to Disney...

 

[billlaurie]

Free Dining isn’t really free because you have to pay rack rate for the room plus I believe you have to add park hoppers.

The dining plan isn't free, per say, but it does save money. For example, I priced our trip next week with the room discount and no park hoppers compared to the FD offer with hoppers, upgraded from the QS to regular DP, and the FD offer was about $300-400 cheaper, can't remember exactly, for two adults. So you can get more for less with the FD offer. We are excited because we have never splurged before for park hoppers so feel like we are getting a bonus. It would have saved more with the QS but we love the regular dining plan. The TS restaurants are part of the experience for us. It is a lot of food, but you don't have to eat it all and can use snack credits to bring treats back for people.