Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

Status
Not open for further replies.
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...
Are you saying there's a bus from Pop to Riviera if it doesn't open on time? That would help, but I still picture myself standing there wondering if it's going to open any moment, and having to bail in a panic at the last minute. It just sounds like a stressful way to start the day.

I think my greater concern is not being able to predict what the opening time will be. And am I right that they don't post it online anywhere in advance? I don't want to show up and find out it opens at 8:30 and my ADR is at 8:30. I never dreamed when I made the ADR that it wouldn't be predictably running to get me there for my ADR.
 
Are you saying there's a bus from Pop to Riviera if it doesn't open on time? That would help, but I still picture myself standing there wondering if it's going to open any moment, and having to bail in a panic at the last minute. It just sounds like a stressful way to start the day.

I think my greater concern is not being able to predict what the opening time will be. And am I right that they don't post it online anywhere in advance? I don't want to show up and find out it opens at 8:30 and my ADR is at 8:30. I never dreamed when I made the ADR that it wouldn't be predictably running to get me there for my ADR.
My understanding is that the Skyliner opens at 8:00 at the latest, unless it's closed for unforseen circumstances. I'm sure you'll be fine making your 8:30 reservation. Also, being late for a reservation is different than a no-show. We were once 90 mins late for our reservation at 1900 Park Fare because we were on the monorail when it stopped for an extended period of time. They were completely understanding and we were seated within a reasonable amount of time.
 
Skyliner typically starts running at 8, and hours should be available, it not online, at least at your resort.
 


Are you saying there's a bus from Pop to Riviera if it doesn't open on time? That would help, but I still picture myself standing there wondering if it's going to open any moment, and having to bail in a panic at the last minute. It just sounds like a stressful way to start the day.

I think my greater concern is not being able to predict what the opening time will be. And am I right that they don't post it online anywhere in advance? I don't want to show up and find out it opens at 8:30 and my ADR is at 8:30. I never dreamed when I made the ADR that it wouldn't be predictably running to get me there for my ADR.

I believe the replacement buses are meant to mimic the Skyliner route. I only experienced the break down of the Epcot line which is how I found out they had a Boardwalk to CBR (Skyliner station) replacement bus. Not sure what the replacement routes would be for the other 2 lines, but would be surprised if it wasn't something along the lines of DHS to CBR (Skyliner) and Pop/AoA to CBR (Skyliner).

They did have clearly signposted opening hours, and if any part of the Skyliner was down the CMs at the entrance were asking people where their destination was and alerting them to Skyliner issues if it affected them.

Also I was there not too long after the Skyliner re-opened (following the incident in October), and they were typically running around 8am-10pm ish... The CMs should be able to tell you what the opening hours are.
 
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 is "free" -- you're not paying for it. That's the definition of free. And it can be a much bigger savings than the room discount depending on your family size. We are a family of 5 or 6 adults/teens (depending on how many teen/adult kids travel with us); always buy parkhoppers; eat QS meals 99% of the time; always buy refillable mugs at the resort; and stay at Value resorts (where the room discounts have been a whopping 10-15% on our last several trips). I'll take that "free" dining over the room discount almost every time. The room discount has/would have only saved us ~$600-700 on the last few trips. Free dining has or would have saved us over $1100 on each of those trips without altering our eating habits or requiring us to buy a ticket option we wouldn't have bought in the first place. And we don't usually have alcoholic beverages with those meals. If we did, our savings would be even higher.
 


If your trip coincides with an Epcot festival eg fall Food & Wine or spring Flower & Garden those $10-15 offerings at the food kiosks are a great use of those snack credits. This is one of the big FD hooks for me when I attend F&W.
I can't wait to spend them on the Festival of the Holidays offerings at the food booths in 12 days! Some look fantastic!
 
Can I just bring my own luggage to my room from Magical Express rather than have it delivered? I'm arriving late and don't want to wait for my luggage?
 
Can I just bring my own luggage to my room from Magical Express rather than have it delivered? I'm arriving late and don't want to wait for my luggage?

If you collect your luggage and bring it on the bus with you, yes. If you use the yellow tags and let Disney get your luggage, no. Depending on how late you're arriving you may need to get your own bags, anyway (landing after 10pm).
 
Can I just bring my own luggage to my room from Magical Express rather than have it delivered? I'm arriving late and don't want to wait for my luggage?
If you don't put the yellow luggage tags on your baggage you will claim it at the Orlando airport and bring it with you on DME.

Our rule of thumb is that if we land at 5pm or later, we definitely bring our luggage with us ourselves and sometimes even if we land after 4pm we take our luggage with us.

DME says that they should get your luggage to your room 3 hours after you arrive at Pop but there is also no guarantee. I estimate 2 hours from landing until we get to Pop. (It often doesn't take that long but it has taken 2 hours more than once.) Add 3 hours to that for luggage delivery. Personally, I don't want our luggage arriving at 10pm (or later). By that time on a travel day I want to be heading to bed, not starting to unpack suitcases.

As with many things, this is personal choice though. Other families may not pack 2 huge suitcases for 2 people. :rolleyes1
 
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. 😄
Totally agree!
 
Can I just bring my own luggage to my room from Magical Express rather than have it delivered? I'm arriving late and don't want to wait for my luggage?
We never use the tags no matter what time we arrive. I’d rather take care of my own luggage and have it with me when we arrive.
 
I suppose it's semantics of interpretation, but the promotion literally is "...dining plan free".
They advertise it as “Free” only because you’re not paying outright for it like you normally would, but it’s not really free because you are having to pay rack rates for it plus buy park hoppers. Now if they gave it to you along with a room discount and regular park tickets, THAT would be Free.
 
We always get park hopper anyway but even if we didn’t, the free dining offer saves money over a 25% room discount off rack rates. A rule of thumb is always take the free dining if you are a party of 3 or more over a room discount at a value or moderate. Unless your family shares meals, skips meals, and doesn’t buy snacks.....or does some other extreme option to save money on food.
 
We always get park hopper anyway but even if we didn’t, the free dining offer saves money over a 25% room discount off rack rates. A rule of thumb is always take the free dining if you are a party of 3 or more over a room discount at a value or moderate. Unless your family shares meals, skips meals, and doesn’t buy snacks.....or does some other extreme option to save money on food.
That’s right. Don’t just jump on it when you see “Free” Dining. It all depends on how many in your party, where you’re staying, and how much you eat. Do the math.
 
Riviera looks to havea 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.

That menu looks great! That Tomato-Mozzarella Wrap just might take the edge off of my disappointment of losing the Caprese Sandwich at AoA. I will definitely keep that in mind for our trip next summer. The Skyliner makes it so easy to jump over there from Pop/AoA.
 
The "free dining plan" is free because you do not have to pay for it. That's literally the definition of free. :) But yes, there are conditions you have to meet to be allowed to have the dining plan itself at no additional cost. Again, this is where it varies by family. We always buy park hoppers. We're already planning to be at POP. We already eat CS almost all of the time (because one of our kids is very anti-table service restaurants right now :) ).

The free dining doesn't force us to eat any differently because it's the type of food we'd already be buying and because I don't feel the need to use every credit because I am literally not paying anything for those credits. :) Even if we use only half the credits, the money we save not paying for those meals or snacks will still exceed the amount we would save on a room discount. So, for us, it works. :) We'll do everything exactly as we planned, but not pay for some of our food. :) You just have to figure it out for your particular trip in order to know if it works for you. You know, provided it winds up being offered, that is. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top