We just returned from our 10-day stay at POP. We were in building 4, 4th floor, lake view (I have added the specific info to the room thread). We received exactly our requests, and couldn’t have been happier with the location. It was very quiet and the view was really lovely. We loved the new room. With just us 2, we kept the 2nd bed up all the time, and found it nice to have so much space. I can imagine if you keep both beds open all the time, it would feel pretty cramped. Not having the 2nd bed down means we didn’t have any issues with hitting our shins on its frame, though my husband kept walking into the main bed. I never did, I think it’s just how differently we move around furniture, and I kept making fun of him for it.
We declined housekeeping and received the $90 gift card by email. We applied it to our room charges later on. We didn’t find the floor dirty, we walked barefoot or with socks and it was fine. We were careful to remove shoes when we entered the room and kept them on a towel by the door, which might have helped. I called about mid-trip for extra towels, just pressed the Guest Services button on the room phone, and said we would like a few extra towels. We came back to the room later to find 9 big towels, 3 hand towels and about 12 washcloths on the table. When we had too much trash, we would just empty our trash in the garbage can by the ice machine. Being just the two of us, and not eating much in the room, that was not much of an issue, either.
We had two security checks while we were in the room, both times in the afternoon, around 2 or 3 PM. Once we were napping when they knocked. I was groggy from sleep, so just opened the door with my messy hair and sleepy face. Lady was very friendly, smiled and said she was doing a security check. I opened the room wider, she looked into the room, saw my husband in the bed, said hello, thanked us and left. The second time, I was in the bathroom. My husband opened the door, told them I was in the bathroom. Again, he says she just looked from the doorway, thanked him and left. Both times the “room occupied” sign was on.
We enjoyed the food court, options were varied, portions were big and we almost always shared one meal with an extra side. We ate at the outdoor tables a few times, as the food court can get pretty noisy.
We also enjoyed the Hippy Dippy pool a few times. I do wish some of the chairs had a bit of shade. This whiter-than-white northern Canadian girl cannot sit for any length of time in the Florida sun without some shade. I was lucky the one time I wanted to stay longer I was able to grab one of the two tables with a parasol that are at one end of the pool. I would have liked to try the Bowling Pin pool but it was closed when I wanted to go. Construction on buildings 1 and 3 facing the pool were in full swing.
We were mostly lucky with buses, usually didn’t have to wait too long. POP is truly very centrally located, and getting to any of the parks was very easy. Coming back from DHS at closing is the worst, though. The Skyliner construction at the entrance of DHS really messes with traffic flow and getting out of there after park closing took a LONG time. We also closed MK one evening, while it was pouring rain, and it took at least 3 articulated buses before we could get on one. Because our room was very close to the bridge to AoA, we sometimes got on that bus and walked across. We loved walking around AoA and POP, the landscape is very nice around the lake.
We only encountered friendly CMs, both in the parks and at the resort.
POP is a very nice resort, but after staying at Riverside our previous two trips, I do think we’re more moderate than value kind of people. It wasn’t anything very specific, more of a general feeling. And while I liked the little decade fun facts around the lake, and the items in the lobby, we felt the resort had issues with its theming. From the ‘50s to the ‘90s is such a long period of time to cover, it was difficult to get a distinctive feel of the theme. I also wish the rooms had different theming inside, depending on the decade of their building.
All in all, a very nice stay at POP, now I just wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow!
