Honest opinions: Pop Century

We are DVC members so usually stay at a DVC resort. Due to bad planning on my part, I completely didn’t take into account that there is a Run Disney event during our dates and all DVC properties are booked up. I’ve set up a waitlist but not holding much hope for that so have booked a 3 night stay at Pop Century.

So, my question is will I be disappointed with Pop? I’ve stayed at Deluxe and Mods so am now worried that pop will feel a bit of a let down. Honest opinions would be appreciated.
We are in the same boat. DVC members usually staying at poly or AKL now. We stayed in values years ago, but not in a long while. We used up all of our points in April and then my family (parents and sisters) booked free dining at POP for fall. My kids really wanted to go with their cousins. The problem is it’s not really in the budget to go back that soon, but after running numbers, we figured out we could if we stayed at POP. So we decided it’s better than not going at all and are keeping our expectation low. I figured we will have a new appreciation for our DVC membership by the end of the trip:rotfl:
 
I've stayed at all levels, including CL at Poly. I choose to stay at whatever level resort not because of the level, but rather whichever resort I "feel" like for a certain trip. Pop is always on the list of choices. I'm staying there in about a week, so that should reflect my honest opinion. It's Disney, it's fun, it's bright and busy, it has a nice food court, etc... I don't expect Pop to be the Grand Floridian, I'm glad neither one is a twin of the other, or else what's the point? If someone likes it or not is a matter of subjective opinion, and that's ok. When I go to a new place, I don't bring any particular expectations apart from safety and cleanliness, and then I evaluate based on my tastes and I'm not surprised or angry when others disagree on subjective judgements. lol I hope everyone trying out Pop for the first time has a great trip!
 
We just stayed there for the first time a few weeks ago. We loved it. Our previous stays were AoA family suites, and then DH & I did a split stay with AKL/Contemporary, so this was our first "true" value room. The renovated rooms are really nice. With the extra bed put up, the room was plenty spacious. The pool is nothing special but we had a blast in it; any pool is cool when it's 90*. We liked it so much DH & I are planning a couples trip in November!!

Don't get me wrong, I loved AKL and Contemporary and I oh so desperately wanted to stay in an Epcot area resort for this trip, but we wouldn't be going at all if we had to pay those prices. A 7 day trip at a Value beats a 0 day trip at a Deluxe any day for us. :D
This is exactly how I’m looking at it. This is a bonus trip to see toy story and go with family, and it’s better than not going at all. We were just there in April for 10 days. The fact is It’s pop or nothing. We will be back at AKL next year. I’m actually seeing the advantages of values. We are big quick service people and we are looking forward to the huge food court. Also the bus lines. I hate how the deluxes just cluster everyone together at bus stops, then everyone shoves to get on buses. So there’s some......
 
I'm usually a mods person (CSR is my preferred), deluxe is a little too rich for my tastes/budget, haha! I've stayed at Pop twice for short (4-day) trips, once before the refurb and once since, and I'll be staying there again for a full week this November. I enjoyed the resort pre-refurb and I LOVE it since they upgraded all the rooms!

The new beds in the rooms are super comfy, and I haven't had any issues at all as far as cleanliness, noise, bugs, or any of that. DH and I are very much park open-close folks, though, and we typically don't spend a ton of downtime at the resorts themselves. Pop for us is the most bang-for-our-buck as far as staying on property is concerned, since by saving $1000 or so on a trip over staying at the moderate level means we can either stay longer or have more funds for nicer dining experiences.

Pop is, at the end of the day, a value resort. But for us, that's fine - we're not at disney to have a fancy time in an expensive hotel, we're there to enjoy the parks! Pop provides a fun Disney atmosphere "inside the bubble" that helps continue the fun and colorful vibes of the parks throughout the day.

Worth keeping in mind is that DH and I are both in our 20s and are childfree. This means we either get a king bed room or keep the murphy bed up, which means that the rooms "feel" bigger than they actually are (though even having the murphy bed down on a different trip didn't feel cramped).
 
We have stayed in all levels and love POP. Yes, it is basic but we think the bus service is the best. The food court has everything you could want. There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles but it’s a great resort for the money.
 
Bonus trip here, also. POP is exactly what we expected for what we paid, and so staying there again on this summer's trip will work out great for us. We enjoy mods and deluxe properties, but found the service at POP was just as good as the service at other Disney resorts. The rooms at the values are small, but we will be doing four park days in a row and then flying home.

Switching to a mod right now would actually double our lodging cost. There is nothing available through DVC, either. I have already put aside money to pay for the trip, and am just happy to be going back to DW!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top