Zippa D Doodah
<font color=red>Suffering from Fairy Alienation.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2003
We (me, DW, DD20, DS17) had a fantastic seven day trip. Just arrived back home a couple hours ago. Some observations...
1) We are now AP holders for the very first time. We made good use of many benefits (hopping; memorymaker/photopass; 10-20% discount on dining; 20% discount on merchandise; occasional shorter lines at gates). The APs made us feel like VIPs. We will be back for a week next June and certainly several shorter trips between now and then so I know it is a good investment for us.
2) Pop Century was just a little on the wild side because of the many dance teams, soccer teams, and tour groups using the resort. The main pool was always crowded. The food court was an unusable ocean of people, mostly in the mornings. Bus queues were often among the longest I have ever experienced in my six total stays at Pop through the years. We all had a positive attitude about things and just worked around all that, but no way in Toontown would I ever stay at Pop (or likely any value resort) again in July knowing that all those various groups basically take over the resort. We did experience some noise outside our room a couple of nights, but nothing persistent. It's just not what I wanted in a resort stay.
3) FOP is AWESOME!!!! No spoilers from me, but it is a "don't miss" attraction. Well done, imagineers! The rest of Pandora just seemed underwhelming to me. NRJ was OK, but could use about four more animatronics and a storyline. The bioluminescence at night just seemed like a whole land of black light effects. The drum circle show was unintentionally hilarious; it came across to us like a skit on Saturday Night Live. I don't really go for the whole nature worship, "we're all one" message of Pandora and AK, so keep that in mind as you weigh my opinion. YMMV
4) I'm a big fan of Wishes and have many happy memories associated with the show, but HEA blew my socks off. True Disney magic! It is worth a trip just to see it.
5) For those measuring such things, it took us about exactly 75 minutes to get to our room at Pop after landing at MCO using Magical Express. Got a text along the way saying room was ready, so we went straight there with our carry-ons and were riding rides at MK an hour later.
1) We are now AP holders for the very first time. We made good use of many benefits (hopping; memorymaker/photopass; 10-20% discount on dining; 20% discount on merchandise; occasional shorter lines at gates). The APs made us feel like VIPs. We will be back for a week next June and certainly several shorter trips between now and then so I know it is a good investment for us.
2) Pop Century was just a little on the wild side because of the many dance teams, soccer teams, and tour groups using the resort. The main pool was always crowded. The food court was an unusable ocean of people, mostly in the mornings. Bus queues were often among the longest I have ever experienced in my six total stays at Pop through the years. We all had a positive attitude about things and just worked around all that, but no way in Toontown would I ever stay at Pop (or likely any value resort) again in July knowing that all those various groups basically take over the resort. We did experience some noise outside our room a couple of nights, but nothing persistent. It's just not what I wanted in a resort stay.
3) FOP is AWESOME!!!! No spoilers from me, but it is a "don't miss" attraction. Well done, imagineers! The rest of Pandora just seemed underwhelming to me. NRJ was OK, but could use about four more animatronics and a storyline. The bioluminescence at night just seemed like a whole land of black light effects. The drum circle show was unintentionally hilarious; it came across to us like a skit on Saturday Night Live. I don't really go for the whole nature worship, "we're all one" message of Pandora and AK, so keep that in mind as you weigh my opinion. YMMV
4) I'm a big fan of Wishes and have many happy memories associated with the show, but HEA blew my socks off. True Disney magic! It is worth a trip just to see it.
5) For those measuring such things, it took us about exactly 75 minutes to get to our room at Pop after landing at MCO using Magical Express. Got a text along the way saying room was ready, so we went straight there with our carry-ons and were riding rides at MK an hour later.