POP Century~Unofficially the Grooviest FAQ Thread #9~November 2013

[Disneylover99]

Had to switch from AoA to Pop to take advantage of FD. This is our second time at POP and will be staying 12/23-12/30.

We will be staying at Pop (hopefully) for our second time the same week as you. I say hopefully because our trip depends on getting reasonable airfare.

 

[missouripapa]

Just booked my 7th stay at Pop. It'll be me, my son, and my granddaughter who is turning 6 during the trip. Free dining tilted the balance in favor of booking. We love Pop, its staff, location, and transportation.

 

[Day-Day]

Just returned from POP. We had room 8303 which is in the 90's building and overlooks the pool and roof of the laundry room. This is a king-size room with a bath tub (i.e. not handicap room).

What I liked about the room:
Close to parking lot (we had a car and used it frequently).
Very quiet area (also not a high volume time of year so this may vary).
Near elevator and ice machine.
The pool in our section was not crowded during our afternoon visits (again, lower season for crowds anyway).

The room is a pretty good distance from Classic Hall but we only visited the food court a couple of times.

Regarding POP in general:

I had requested a room with a tub as #1 and a king-bed as #2 and got what we asked for. I don't remember the buildings I asked for during on-line check-in but I did ask for upper floor; I think I asked for 80's building or lake view or both (can't remember the options).

We like using our car for visiting parks but used the bus a couple of times. We did not have long waits at POP or the parks for any transportation including the trams in the parking lots.

We visited the MK using the bus and also the car and found that we prefer the car. Time wise there is proabably not much difference but the long bus ride standing on a bus loaded with folks is not any fun.

We made it from POP to Tower of Terror in about 20 minutes using our car to DHS parking lot and catching a tram with about 1 minute till it left.

We didn't have refillable mugs. We visited the grocery and bought our own drinks to keep in the refrigerator. We also brought a small cooler which we kept drinks iced down in and usually put it in the car when visiting the parks so we would have a cold drink on the way back to our room (another advantage over taking the bus).

The 1.3 mile path around the lake between AOA and POP was very convenient for running; the best I've found at the various places we have stayed at WDW.

We checked in at about 12:15pm last Saturday and the lines were long but went quickly. We were met in line by a CM with a handheld device and she checked us in and brought us our packet (we did online check-in). Our room was available when we arrived.

We decided to eat in the food court before heading to AK after we checked in. We bought a drink cup ($3) at the food court with our meal...what a pain. When I was filling my drink I let up on the fill button and used up one of my credits for half-a-drink. I got the message that I could refill again in 2:45 minutes. When we ate at the food court a couple of other times, we brought cold drinks from our room.

We prefer POR but wanted to try POP since we had never stayed there. The $300 savings was nice but not the driving factor. I think we made the right decision but wonder how we would feel during a crowded time of the year or if we had not been given a king-bed room.

 

[MissDisney12]

I am wondering about the policy for having people visit you while staying in resort? Is there anything special our family will need to show at the gate when they arrive?

 

[stitchlovestink]

I am wondering about the policy for having people visit you while staying in resort? Is there anything special our family will need to show at the gate when they arrive?

Nope. Technically the only thing "your guests" aren't really supposed to do is use the pools. The pools are 'supposed' to be for actual hotel guests. But personally (and I have stayed at POP tons!! 118 nights worth) I don't think it is that big of a deal if your guests are using the pool with YOU provided you are only talking about a handful of people and not a party or family reunion! That's my opinion and I know it is technically against the rules but if you are following the pool rules and not bothering anyone, the CMs there really could care less. It's when people are bothersome to other guests that it becomes problematic.

 

[Day-Day]

We had to show the guard a photo ID (my driver's license) when we arrived at the gate. We told him we were checking in and he went inside the guard shack and maybe checked a list.

 

[stitchlovestink]

We had to show the guard a photo ID (my driver's license) when we arrived at the gate. We told him we were checking in and he went inside the guard shack and maybe checked a list.

I have had that happen and then this past March, I went over to POP to visit my CM friends there and they didn't ask for anything. I just told the guard at the gate that I was there to visit some friends and check out the resort and they started to tell me where to park...I politely interrupted (since I knew where to go there was no reason to hold the line up unnecessarily) smiled and told them I have been there MANY times and was incredibly familiar with the resort. They said have a 'magical evening' and dismissed me to drive away. I have found in my experience when you are staying there that is when they tend to check IDs because they actually have a list to check it against but if you are there for other purposes, they pretty much have to take you at your word. And since resorts are not exclusive to just guests staying there, they don't really have a choice but to take people at their word and just look for clues of suspicious behavior.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Refrigerator/Beverage Cooler in the room.

We will be unable to bring as much stuff down this year as compared to previous years and therefore have to buy some milk locally.

Will a 1/2 gallon jug fit in the fridge? The pictures lead me to believe that I could fit one on the door.

Is the fridge able to keep milk cold enough to last for a few days? We used to only put Cokes in there and we left our milk in a cooler during previous trips.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience. We arrive in one week!

 

[JennyMP03]

I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks, with my stay at Pop starting Tuesday, June 3rd. Since we're driving in, I impulsively decided to buy a night at a cheap hotel nearby on Priceline for the night of June 2nd; this way, we'll do all of our driving on Monday and have a full day at MK on Tuesday!

We're staying at Destiny Palms, which Google Maps says is a 15 minute drive from Pop Century. Does this plan sound reasonable?

--Up at 6, check out of Destiny Palms and on the way to Pop Century by 7 AM (we're two 20-something adults so we can manage this)
--Check in at Pop and catch the bus to MK for rope drop (or close to it) at 9.

I understand we're allowed to check in even if our room isn't ready. We'll be checking in before 9 so I assume it won't be. But can we bring our suitcases in for them to hold and deliver to our room when it is ready?

 

[shyjade]

Refrigerator/Beverage Cooler in the room.

We will be unable to bring as much stuff down this year as compared to previous years and therefore have to buy some milk locally.

Will a 1/2 gallon jug fit in the fridge? The pictures lead me to believe that I could fit one on the door.

Is the fridge able to keep milk cold enough to last for a few days? We used to only put Cokes in there and we left our milk in a cooler during previous trips.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience. We arrive in one week!

Yes & yes. We always buy milk at the resort and keep it in the fridge for cereal in the mornings. Never had a problem with it lasting the week.

 

[Pikester]

I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks, with my stay at Pop starting Tuesday, June 3rd. Since we're driving in, I impulsively decided to buy a night at a cheap hotel nearby on Priceline for the night of June 2nd; this way, we'll do all of our driving on Monday and have a full day at MK on Tuesday! We're staying at Destiny Palms, which Google Maps says is a 15 minute drive from Pop Century. Does this plan sound reasonable? --Up at 6, check out of Destiny Palms and on the way to Pop Century by 7 AM (we're two 20-something adults so we can manage this) --Check in at Pop and catch the bus to MK for rope drop (or close to it) at 9. I understand we're allowed to check in even if our room isn't ready. We'll be checking in before 9 so I assume it won't be. But can we bring our suitcases in for them to hold and deliver to our room when it is ready?

We had one trip that we did the early check in. We stayed at a Super 8 in Kissemee, checked out of there and was at Pop by 7:30a. We were able to check in and get our room. Unloaded our luggage, dropped it off in the room and freshened up. Drove our car to MK parking, took the monorail to MK and was there to see the opening ceremony. It worked out so great! And that was with two adults, a teen and a preteen.

 

[Day-Day]

I have had that happen and then this past March, I went over to POP to visit my CM friends there and they didn't ask for anything. I just told the guard at the gate that I was there to visit some friends and check out the resort and they started to tell me where to park...I politely interrupted (since I knew where to go there was no reason to hold the line up unnecessarily) smiled and told them I have been there MANY times and was incredibly familiar with the resort. They said have a 'magical evening' and dismissed me to drive away. I have found in my experience when you are staying there that is when they tend to check IDs because they actually have a list to check it against but if you are there for other purposes, they pretty much have to take you at your word. And since resorts are not exclusive to just guests staying there, they don't really have a choice but to take people at their word and just look for clues of suspicious behavior.

This has been the same for us at other resorts but I think we have been asked for a driver's license even if they just looked at it and didn't make any notes.

Refrigerator/Beverage Cooler in the room.

We will be unable to bring as much stuff down this year as compared to previous years and therefore have to buy some milk locally.

Will a 1/2 gallon jug fit in the fridge? The pictures lead me to believe that I could fit one on the door.

Is the fridge able to keep milk cold enough to last for a few days? We used to only put Cokes in there and we left our milk in a cooler during previous trips.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience. We arrive in one week!

Our fridge was pretty cold; plenty cold for milk. We like our drinks very cold so we iced them in our ice chest. The fridge will hold 1/2 gallon jug in the door and I think in the back as well.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Sounds about right from what I recall having stayed at Destiny Palms. Not much of a hotel just an FYI.

I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks, with my stay at Pop starting Tuesday, June 3rd. Since we're driving in, I impulsively decided to buy a night at a cheap hotel nearby on Priceline for the night of June 2nd; this way, we'll do all of our driving on Monday and have a full day at MK on Tuesday!

We're staying at Destiny Palms, which Google Maps says is a 15 minute drive from Pop Century. Does this plan sound reasonable?

--Up at 6, check out of Destiny Palms and on the way to Pop Century by 7 AM (we're two 20-something adults so we can manage this)
--Check in at Pop and catch the bus to MK for rope drop (or close to it) at 9.

I understand we're allowed to check in even if our room isn't ready. We'll be checking in before 9 so I assume it won't be. But can we bring our suitcases in for them to hold and deliver to our room when it is ready?

 

[JennyMP03]

We had one trip that we did the early check in. We stayed at a Super 8 in Kissemee, checked out of there and was at Pop by 7:30a. We were able to check in and get our room. Unloaded our luggage, dropped it off in the room and freshened up. Drove our car to MK parking, took the monorail to MK and was there to see the opening ceremony. It worked out so great! And that was with two adults, a teen and a preteen.

Ah, that sounds perfect! I hope it works out that way for us.

Sounds about right from what I recall having stayed at Destiny Palms. Not much of a hotel just an FYI.

Heh, I figured it wouldn't be anything too snazzy since I got a room for a $35 bid! I figure we will arrive around 5, head to Downtown Disney for the evening, and just use Destiny Palms for a bed to sleep in and a continental breakfast before hitting the road.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks, with my stay at Pop starting Tuesday, June 3rd. Since we're driving in, I impulsively decided to buy a night at a cheap hotel nearby on Priceline for the night of June 2nd; this way, we'll do all of our driving on Monday and have a full day at MK on Tuesday!

We're staying at Destiny Palms, which Google Maps says is a 15 minute drive from Pop Century. Does this plan sound reasonable?

--Up at 6, check out of Destiny Palms and on the way to Pop Century by 7 AM (we're two 20-something adults so we can manage this)
--Check in at Pop and catch the bus to MK for rope drop (or close to it) at 9.

I understand we're allowed to check in even if our room isn't ready. We'll be checking in before 9 so I assume it won't be. But can we bring our suitcases in for them to hold and deliver to our room when it is ready?

They will not deliver your suitcases to an empty room UNLESS they are coming "pretagged" directly from Magical Express. If you leave your bags with Luggage Assistance, they will not deliver them to your room until someone is there in the room to accept the bags. Once you get back to the hotel, you can call and request delivery of your bags. But how quickly you get them will depend on how busy they are...like did a truck with ME luggage just arrive? They have to get that unloaded immediately so it can depart. You may get it immediately, but it could also take an hour. There is just no way to know. If it was me, I would just hold onto it myself....but that's me.

 

[disneydreamer23]

We will be there for our 10th anniversary and are hoping the same thing. Lol

We'll be there on the same dates also hoping for the same thing. lol

 

[RalphinSC]

I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks, with my stay at Pop starting Tuesday, June 3rd. Since we're driving in, I impulsively decided to buy a night at a cheap hotel nearby on Priceline for the night of June 2nd; this way, we'll do all of our driving on Monday and have a full day at MK on Tuesday!

We're staying at Destiny Palms, which Google Maps says is a 15 minute drive from Pop Century. Does this plan sound reasonable?

--Up at 6, check out of Destiny Palms and on the way to Pop Century by 7 AM (we're two 20-something adults so we can manage this)
--Check in at Pop and catch the bus to MK for rope drop (or close to it) at 9.

I understand we're allowed to check in even if our room isn't ready. We'll be checking in before 9 so I assume it won't be. But can we bring our suitcases in for them to hold and deliver to our room when it is ready?

We've done this very thing on each of our last two trips, no problem. The only restriction is the system doesn't rollover until 6:30am so you have to at least wait until then to check in (found that out the hard way, lol)

And on our last trip, they even had our room ready! Still had plenty of time to unload the car and go hit the MK for rope drop!

And for a note, we stayed at Motel 6 Maingate West, maybe only a 5-10 minute drive away. Under $40 a night too. Doing the exact same thing in 18 days when we drive down again...

 

[Dixielady908]

Ok, I need to ask a really stupid question here, its been awhile since I visited the parks, so can we use a debit card at the food court? Just trying to figure out how much cash to bring.

thanks,

we leave in the morning....nothing like waiting till the last minute

 

[TillyDe]

Question - If you reserve two rooms due to size of group going, can both rooms be put on your Magic Band? Just wondering.

Thanks

 

[dansdad]

Question - If you reserve two rooms due to size of group going, can both rooms be put on your Magic Band? Just wondering.

Thanks

As of 2 months ago it could not be done, MBs could only have access to 1 room.