Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[BorderTenny]

Just waking up after the first night after our first ever stay at Pop Century. Arrived about 8:30pm with no room ready text. Checked in with a CM from our home state, so we got a little chatty with her. She hands us the map with the room location. Building 7. I figure we'll see how it is before making a fuss. Get to the room and discover neither request was granted (lake view, shower only). Took me a while to register we were actually upgraded to a pool view room!

I went to grab us something to eat while DH started to watch the State of the Union. I've been salivating over the Benedict burger since I first learned of it. Turns out they had changed that stations menu 2 days prior, getting rid of that and other interesting options. Wound up getting the chicken sandwich, which had a nice mild kick.

DH keeps commenting on how much he likes everything in the room, other than finding the mattress a tad soft.

Overall though, so far, we're definitely liking it here.

 

[DisLiss]

There are many people with very negative thoughts about the Skyliner right now, so at least in the very beginning, I don't anticipate Disney raising the prices for Pop or AoA based on the Skyliner alone. Now, if the Skyliner is a big hit and more people start wanting rooms at Pop or AoA because of it and they wind up consistently turning people down who want rooms there, then it seems to me that Disney could very well view that as a good reason to raise the rates.

It's a time will tell situation for everything regarding the Skyliner. I, for one, am excited about it. But I admit to crossing my fingers that it won't make it more difficult to get a room at Pop in the future, because Pop is definitely our resort of choice right now.

 

[KikiFan]

So i just discovered I may be able to make a trip to WDW first week of Dec. Of course I raced to Disney site to check prices and kept getting “no rooms available” how is that possible?? Don’t they allow booking 1 year out? Has that changed? Is Pop Warner taking over Pop? Any info? Pop is absolutely my favorite resort and can’t imagine staying elsewhere

 

[wed100105]

I have been a "deluxe girl" for a few years now. And then, in December I booked our mother/son trip at POP (Had never stayed there before) because it was an awesome price with AP discount. We absolutely fell in love with POP, I kept gushing to my husband about it when we got home. He said "why don't you change spring break from AKL to POP then?" Of course, I'd gotten a great AKL price, and POP was no longer available for the length of our stay. However, it ended up being cheaper to fly in on Sunday night than Monday morning, even after adding a night at POP to the beginning of the trip to accommodate our earlier arrival. So excited to return! (But DH still won't experience it because he won't be joining us until Tuesday night). I am thinking we will definitely be booking some more stays at POP in the future! And I am thinking I will take DH over there one evening to check it out....and get myself a Dole Whip!

I'm so excited to read your post. I've stayed DVC for the past 7 trips to WDW, and due to our travel dates I booked POP for this summer. I've been hem-hawing back and forth. It's great to read a positive review!

 

[mikegood2]

I’m guessing it’s mostly due to SW Galaxy’s Edge opening sometime in late 2019.

 

[Haley R]

So i just discovered I may be able to make a trip to WDW first week of Dec. Of course I raced to Disney site to check prices and kept getting “no rooms available” how is that possible?? Don’t they allow booking 1 year out? Has that changed? Is Pop Warner taking over Pop? Any info? Pop is absolutely my favorite resort and can’t imagine staying elsewhere

I would guess pop warner is a huge impact of that. I haven’t checked dates so I don’t know when it starts this year but I’m guessing they flock to all of the values and some of the mods

 

[evlaina]

So i just discovered I may be able to make a trip to WDW first week of Dec. Of course I raced to Disney site to check prices and kept getting “no rooms available” how is that possible?? Don’t they allow booking 1 year out? Has that changed? Is Pop Warner taking over Pop? Any info? Pop is absolutely my favorite resort and can’t imagine staying elsewhere

I just checked Dec 1-7 (I'm super busy at work as you can see...) and I'm seeing both Standard and Standard Pool. Maybe try looking in Incognito or Private mode? That changes what I see on Disney's site and it seems to work better that way.

Also, Pop Warner could be a week later this year. It's usually not the week after Thanksgiving, it's usually the week after THAT....Thanksgiving is really late this year (11/28) so I would guess Pop Warner could be the week of the 8-14.

 

[Ds4angels]

Pin Board? All the info I find is a few years old. Anyone know when the trading pin board is out at Pop? And is it still in the gift shop?

 

[bpadair32]

I adore the buses.

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that before.

 

[Haley R]

Pin Board? All the info I find is a few years old. Anyone know when the trading pin board is out at Pop? And is it still in the gift shop?

When we were there in October it was still in the gift shop.

 

[jennapens]

So i just discovered I may be able to make a trip to WDW first week of Dec. Of course I raced to Disney site to check prices and kept getting “no rooms available” how is that possible?? Don’t they allow booking 1 year out? Has that changed? Is Pop Warner taking over Pop? Any info? Pop is absolutely my favorite resort and can’t imagine staying elsewhere

Ugh, we are in the same boat. My husband just got his vacation approved for that week, and I went straight to the site to look at rooms. I chatted with a Disney rep yesterday (I know. Take that with a grain of salt), but he said that Pop Warner hasn't been announced yet for this year. He thought it may be just people booking in anticipation of Star Wars, but was stumped on why no other hotels were booked up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something opens up. We can't afford a suite, moderate, or deluxe this year, and we really don't like any of the other values.

 

[Ds4angels]

When we were there in October it was still on the gift shop.

Do you happen to know what times the board is brought out

 

[Haley R]

Ugh, we are in the same boat. My husband just got his vacation approved for that week, and I went straight to the site to look at rooms. I chatted with a Disney rep yesterday (I know. Take that with a grain of salt), but he said that Pop Warner hasn't been announced yet for this year. He thought it may be just people booking in anticipation of Star Wars, but was stumped on why no other hotels were booked up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something opens up. We can't afford a suite, moderate, or deluxe this year, and we really don't like any of the other values.

Have you checked on Priceline, orbitz, or undercover tourist? We don’t normally book through Disney anymore because we usually find cheaper rates elsewhere

 

[Haley R]

Do you happen to know what times the board is brought out

No I’m not sure, but I think usually they will let you look at it if you ask. That's worked for us at multiple resorts

 

[michellej47]

So just curious, which building would have the shortest walk to the buses? We requested early check-in, so at this point, I'm fine with whatever we get as long as we can get in early.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I just checked Dec 1-7 (I'm super busy at work as you can see...) and I'm seeing both Standard and Standard Pool. Maybe try looking in Incognito or Private mode? That changes what I see on Disney's site and it seems to work better that way.

Also, Pop Warner could be a week later this year. It's usually not the week after Thanksgiving, it's usually the week after THAT....Thanksgiving is really late this year (11/28) so I would guess Pop Warner could be the week of the 8-14.

What are your travel dates? Have you tried breaking your stay into different “blocks” of dates? Such as December 1-4 and 4-7. If you are able to find availability this way, as long as the room is the same category (standard or preferred, etc) for both sets of dates, you can call and explain the problem to the CM. They will be able to combine the dates into one stay so that you don’t have the chance of needing to switch rooms mid-stay.

Like someone else mentioned above, try using a private browsing window to search. I just looked for December 1-7, and standard was available.

 

[bluezy]

Ugh, we are in the same boat. My husband just got his vacation approved for that week, and I went straight to the site to look at rooms. I chatted with a Disney rep yesterday (I know. Take that with a grain of salt), but he said that Pop Warner hasn't been announced yet for this year. He thought it may be just people booking in anticipation of Star Wars, but was stumped on why no other hotels were booked up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something opens up. We can't afford a suite, moderate, or deluxe this year, and we really don't like any of the other values.

Yep, that CM was wrong. The 2019 Pop Warner dates are December 7-14. FWIW, my son was also having trouble trying to book a room at one of the Values (Movies, I think) for that first week of December even back in November (and he knew the dates for Pop Warner back then already because he wanted to avoid it!). He had to keep trying daily and finally, one day there was availability everywhere so he booked immediately. Out of curiosity, he checked the next day and there was nothing available again. I've noticed other people posting similar experiences over the last few months. So I'd say to just keep trying. People change their plans, rooms open up. I do think SWGE probably has something to do with it though.

 

[Haley R]

So just curious, which building would have the shortest walk to the buses? We requested early check-in, so at this point, I'm fine with whatever we get as long as we can get in early.

We were in building 10 and I thought it was pretty close to the buses. It kind of depends on what category you booked though

 

[rxbeth]

Forgot to mention! At Pop they are now doing the nightly campfire. It's new for February and want even on their rec calendar yet. Right by the surfer goofy

 

[CJK]

Forgot to mention! At Pop they are now doing the nightly campfire. It's new for February and want even on their rec calendar yet. Right by the surfer goofy

Awesome! Do they have marshmallows for guests?