Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[ilovetotravel1977]

If I needed a mini van size vehicle, what would I ask for? We will need transportation for 6, including luggage from Pop to Cabana Bay.

 

[dina444444]

If I needed a mini van size vehicle, what would I ask for? We will need transportation for 6, including luggage from Pop to Cabana Bay.

You would need to request an Uber XL.

 

[Sue M]

We have stayed at many different deluxe and moderate resorts. This past fall was our first time staying at POP and while we absolutely loved it (I love it more than most of the moderates), there are a few things to consider. As everyone has said, the beds are smaller but the thing that would affect a summer trip the most for us would be the loss of the hot tubs and pool slide. My boys have grown to love Disney pool slides so we likely would not stay at Pop in the summer. Just our opinion.......

Good to hear everyone's positive experience at Pop. I've only stayed at Pop for a night a couple of times before switching resorts the next day. But this trip with the terrible exchange rate for Canadian dollar, I'm booked at Pop 10 nights late Nov/Dec. I will miss not having a hot tub. I don't swim that time of year, but I enjoy going in the hot tub.

 

[LucyBC80]

Hello everyone! We're looking at POP for our vacation in December. I never stayed Value before, POFQ is the only Disney hotel I know after 8 trips, it'll be a nice change of pace for us and we're looking forward to that. My only concern is the size of the resort. Right now we're booked at a Preferred room and I've been looking at the layout and saw the preferred rooms are scattered around 4 buildings. Is there a way to request a specific building? Does POP accept requests faxes like POR/POFQ does? How do we go about that?

Thanks!

 

[HopperFan]

Hello everyone! We're looking at POP for our vacation in December. I never stayed Value before, POFQ is the only Disney hotel I know after 8 trips, it'll be a nice change of pace for us and we're looking forward to that. My only concern is the size of the resort. Right now we're booked at a Preferred room and I've been looking at the layout and saw the preferred rooms are scattered around 4 buildings. Is there a way to request a specific building? Does POP accept requests faxes like POR/POFQ does? How do we go about that?

Thanks!

Do not be afraid of size, POP is not a large resort. End to End it's not much different than POFQ.

The number of rooms is in four stories so it can absorb more numbers. The preferred rooms are all very close. NOW if you do online check in you can do some requests. The red on the map is Preferred so choose the decade you want that is preferred.

 

[karly05]

Hello everyone! We're looking at POP for our vacation in December. I never stayed Value before, POFQ is the only Disney hotel I know after 8 trips, it'll be a nice change of pace for us and we're looking forward to that. My only concern is the size of the resort. Right now we're booked at a Preferred room and I've been looking at the layout and saw the preferred rooms are scattered around 4 buildings. Is there a way to request a specific building? Does POP accept requests faxes like POR/POFQ does? How do we go about that?

Thanks!

Hi, Lucy. I'm a big POFQ fan (4 stays there) and this year I stayed at POP for the first time. POFQ is still my fave, but I like POP and plan to stay there again next year.

I booked Preferred and requested the 70s during online check in. I got an awesome location, ground floor of building 10, facing the courtyard, on the end closest to the food court. I really like the 70s section and definitely recommend it for proximity to food and buses.

I don't know about faxes like at the PO resorts, but people here have used Touring Plans' site for requests and had good luck.

Rule #1 when staying at POP: be sure you take time to walk over to AOA to take pictures and check out their food court. The day I had breakfast at AOA, it was much less busy than Pop's.

 

[LucyBC80]

Do not be afraid of size, POP is not a large resort. End to End it's not much different than POFQ.

The number of rooms is in four stories so it can absorb more numbers. The preferred rooms are all very close. NOW if you do online check in you can do some requests. The red on the map is Preferred so choose the decade you want that is preferred.

I've never done online check in before because I'd always fax my request to POFQ so this is all new to me! Thanks for the insight on the process, I'll probably pick the '60s or the '70s, not sure about that yet.

Hi, Lucy. I'm a big POFQ fan (4 stays there) and this year I stayed at POP for the first time. POFQ is still my fave, but I like POP and plan to stay there again next year.

I booked Preferred and requested the 70s during online check in. I got an awesome location, ground floor of building 10, facing the courtyard, on the end closest to the food court. I really like the 70s section and definitely recommend it for proximity to food and buses.

I don't know about faxes like at the PO resorts, but people here have used Touring Plans' site for requests and had good luck.

Rule #1 when staying at POP: be sure you take time to walk over to AOA to take pictures and check out their food court. The day I had breakfast at AOA, it was much less busy than Pop's.

Everyone I know raves about Pop, I have a friend who's DVC at Beach Club and when she's out of points she always stay at Pop, so I'm excited to try a new hotel! I'll look into faxing POP using Touring Plans, I do have a subscription that I rarely use.

I visited AOA twice last visit, once to dinner and the other to see a friend but now I'm looking at their menu and I'll definitely have breakfast there at least once! The vegetarian options at POP are almost non existent so it's nice to have another food court so close by!

Thanks for the kind welcome everyone. I'm sure POP will be a good surprise and a nice change of pace for us!

 

[summerlady]

Hi! We're already booked at POR 9/10-9/16. With the latest FD rumors that POR will be excluded and only QSDP being offered at the mods, we're
considering switching to POP and upgrading to the regular dining plan if FD is available. I've been reading this thread since last night but I'm still confused not having stayed at POP before. I would definitely book preferred, are they only located in certain buildings? Can someone tell me of their experience with a ground floor room, the noise from above factor? What location do you consider best? And would I be able to request a refurbished room? How are the buses, I don't think the bus stops are covered? I know, a lot of questions! I apologise for that, and TIA!

 

[HopperFan]

Hi! We're already booked at POR 9/10-9/16. With the latest FD rumors that POR will be excluded and only QSDP being offered at the mods, we're
considering switching to POP and upgrading to the regular dining plan if FD is available. I've been reading this thread since last night but I'm still confused not having stayed at POP before. I would definitely book preferred, are they only located in certain buildings? Can someone tell me of their experience with a ground floor room, the noise from above factor? What location do you consider best? And would I be able to request a refurbished room? How are the buses, I don't think the bus stops are covered? I know, a lot of questions! I apologise for that, and TIA!

Quick answer to start you, look at map I posted above, red is preferred.

Refurbishing 8 now assume they'll work their way around.

 

[karly05]

Hi! We're already booked at POR 9/10-9/16. With the latest FD rumors that POR will be excluded and only QSDP being offered at the mods, we're
considering switching to POP and upgrading to the regular dining plan if FD is available. I've been reading this thread since last night but I'm still confused not having stayed at POP before. I would definitely book preferred, are they only located in certain buildings? Can someone tell me of their experience with a ground floor room, the noise from above factor? What location do you consider best? And would I be able to request a refurbished room? How are the buses, I don't think the bus stops are covered? I know, a lot of questions! I apologise for that, and TIA!

I had a ground floor room in bldg 10 (70s) in Feb and had no noise issues. I think noise is often a luck of the draw issue depending on your neighbors.

I had a Preferred room in the 70s, facing the courtyard and at the end closest to the main building; loved the location, very convenient to food and buses.

Great luck with buses. My only significant wait was trying to get back to POP from DHS at noon. Lines are not covered, but there are covered benches nearby. If there aren't a lot of people in the queue, you can sit on a bench until the bus comes or the queue starts filling up.

I'm sure you could request a refurbed room, but at the rate they're going, I'd bet in Sept the new rooms are all in the 80s / 90s and not Preferred.

 

[Rusty2rules]

Hi! We're already booked at POR 9/10-9/16. With the latest FD rumors that POR will be excluded and only QSDP being offered at the mods, we're
considering switching to POP and upgrading to the regular dining plan if FD is available. I've been reading this thread since last night but I'm still confused not having stayed at POP before. I would definitely book preferred, are they only located in certain buildings? Can someone tell me of their experience with a ground floor room, the noise from above factor? What location do you consider best? And would I be able to request a refurbished room? How are the buses, I don't think the bus stops are covered? I know, a lot of questions! I apologise for that, and TIA!

I've stayed at both and am booked at POP again. I initially reserved at POR but just couldn't justify the cost for this trip. That was before the FD rumors. One thing to keep in mind to start with is POR has queen beds while POP has double. At least the pre-refurbished rooms. I can't speak to ground floor rooms or best location. Best room is subjective. My best location might be different than yours. The food court isn't nearly as nice as POR, nor are the pool areas. You can request a refurbished room. I seriously doubt they would grant that but that's just a guess. The buses are great! That was the biggest reason I picked POP to begin with.

 

[Sue M]

Hi, Lucy. I'm a big POFQ fan (4 stays there) and this year I stayed at POP for the first time. POFQ is still my fave, but I like POP and plan to stay there again next year.

I booked Preferred and requested the 70s during online check in. I got an awesome location, ground floor of building 10, facing the courtyard, on the end closest to the food court. I really like the 70s section and definitely recommend it for proximity to food and buses.

I don't know about faxes like at the PO resorts, but people here have used Touring Plans' site for requests and had good luck.

Rule #1 when staying at POP: be sure you take time to walk over to AOA to take pictures and check out their food court. The day I had breakfast at AOA, it was much less busy than Pop's.

We were in 70's too, ground floor non preferred facing inner courtyard. We were in the last room closest to the lake and it wasn't far to the to the food court. And it was quiet. Less foot traffic going by room. Thought it was a great location!

 

[Sue M]

Hi! We're already booked at POR 9/10-9/16. With the latest FD rumors that POR will be excluded and only QSDP being offered at the mods, we're
considering switching to POP and upgrading to the regular dining plan if FD is available. I've been reading this thread since last night but I'm still confused not having stayed at POP before. I would definitely book preferred, are they only located in certain buildings? Can someone tell me of their experience with a ground floor room, the noise from above factor? What location do you consider best? And would I be able to request a refurbished room? How are the buses, I don't think the bus stops are covered? I know, a lot of questions! I apologise for that, and TIA!

I had a ground floor, no noise issues. It all depends on if you have inconsiderate neighbours or not.
FD sure isn't the deal it once was. For us it hasn't been worth it for a long time, and that was when we stayed at POR with full plan. The QS plan doesn't save any money IMO. It's just that some like to have meals paid for ahead of time.
I calculate the cost of what DDP would cost and put that amount on a Disney gift card on arrival. I always have $ left over. And we eat well. So now I put less on card. I prefer using a gift card for food rather than charging to room because it's easier to track what I've spent.

 

[Sue M]

Need a little input here...

Hi, All!

First post...long time forum reader. We took our first family WDW trip last summer and stayed at POFQ. Needless to say, we are hooked. We are currently booked at the Wilderness lodge in early June for 10 days, 9 nights. Here is my dilemna... Been doing a bit more research and it looks like we could switch to Pop Century and potentially save about $1500 for the same amount of nights. We have me, my wife (sorry...I don't know all the Disney acronyms yet) our two sons (age 13 and 8).

With only one stay under our belt, really need some of you seasoned veterans to chime in and let me know what you think. Should we just stick with WL or switch over to Pop? It would give us a lot more $ to spend in the parks.

FYI, our plan is to spend most of the mornings and early afternoons in the parks, rest for a bit and then return in the evenings. We have the dining plan and all of our FP and ADR already done.

I appreciate your input!

I love WL! Personally, I think Pop rooms will be small for a family of 4. WL rooms will give you more room and a balcony. 2 sinks as well. And a boat to MK! I also love sitting on the beach at WL and watching the Electric Water Parade go by.
I've only stayed at Pop for a night or 2, and only when it's just 2, myself & 1 daughter. This Nov I'm staying at Pop, it's just me. I'm traveling with a friend and we get seperate rooms.

Of course $1500 is a considerable savings, it's a trade off. What's worth it to you will be different to what's worth the trade off to someone else. Maybe consider a split stay, 4 nights at Pop then switching to WL for the next 5 nights. That will give you some savings.

 

[summerlady]

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Elsaalltheway]

Uber is a great service! The only problem is when they charge "surge" pricing. In essence, when demand is high, their rates go up so the $10 you may have paid to go somewhere could cost you up to twice as much or more to come back. Uber says it's to entice more drivers to hit the road and pick up the influx of opinion but I think it's a bit on the price gouging side personally. The good thing is that when you open the app, it will tell you before you book the trip. You can also set a notification to have the app alert you when the price goes down some. It's a chance to go back in a place and have another drink while you wait!

I've never used Uber at WDW but I plan on it this trip. I would think they use surge pricing when parks close but it could be a life saver either way going between POP and intended destinations. I'm sure someone else could let you know if they do but I just wanted to let you know that was a thing if you didn't.

Disney is in the process of creating their own Uber Lyft type transportation.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Disney is in the process of creating their own Uber Lyft type transportation.

Are they? I'd love to hear about it

 

[Elsaalltheway]

Are they? I'd love to hear about it

Just a rumor at this point, but they have seen that they have left money on the table.

 

[DaniMoon]

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/04/walt-disney-worlds-uber-like-transportation-service-slated-begin-soon/

 

[tchull]

I noticed that the Touring Plans room finder has an option for a king/double room at Pop. Does anyone know if these rooms are still available in the non-renovated rooms? We are booked at POP for September and I'm not sure the new room layout will work for us. Thanks!