POP Century~Unofficially the Grooviest FAQ Thread #7~Sept 2012

[KuyaJeff]

Originally Posted by lovesdumbo

Kuyajeff-thanks for your review. So sorry about your checkout experience. I too think you should write Disney a note. Disney needs to know they have a manager speaking to their guests like that.

Loved all your photos. How did you do the panoramic one?

Thanks for the kind words about my pics. I took all my pics in my phone with the camera on here. There's an option to take panorama pics that took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. If it matters, my phone is an HTC One X.

I'm strongly considering writing Disney about the whole checkout experience I had.

Sent from my HTC One X using DISBoards

[merbobear]

o_O I can't believe how poorly you were treated over the credit card issue! It's not like that situation is unheard of, especially when on vacation. You might have figured this out already, but often if you call the card company and verify your personal info/identification, they will lift the hold.

I would write to Disney about how you were treated, because it is not right at all. I work in retail/customer service and that is one of the number one rules - NEVER accuse the customer of any wrong-doing (theft, fraudulent card usage, etc). Seems that manager needs to be retrained on the fine art of customer service!

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

H & I stayed at Pop from 1/24-27. Our only room request was a king and we didn't get it. It wasn't earth shattering, but we would have appreciated a bigger bed. H and I were spoiled by the AoA suites and he's since said we're never staying anywhere but AoA. As for cleanliness, the room was clean, but it looked run down. In fact, it reminded me of a motel down the Jersey shore. It worked for our short 3 night stay but we cold never have fit 4 people in that room.

The resort was huge and we got lost twice in the dark. I also walked to the store for some tums around 6:30 on Friday morning and a rat - not a mouse, a full grown rat - ran across the path right in front of me. I know it's no reflection on the hotel, that there is wilderness around, but it really freaked me out.

There were tour groups and dancers/cheerleaders there. I never saw much of the tour groups around Pop, they used their own bus, but I had my fill of preteen girls and their non-attentive "chaperones." Riding the buses with them in the evening was torture. I felt so bad for the parents with sleeping children because these girls were out of control and the adults they were with never once asked them to quiet down.

We really did have a great adult only trip, but I don't think we'll go back to Pop, if its ever just H and I again we will do a mod. In this instance, we got what we paid for - a place to shower & sleep on the property.

[KNovacovschi]

Originally Posted by Janet B

The values are included The BB we rec'd earlier this month were 35% Deluxe and Deluxe Villas, 30% moderates, 25% values. States "offier valid for most nights highlighted in the calendar" -- which are noted below.

Dates
2/1-2/12/13
2/24-3/9/13
4/14-5-21/13
5/28-6/8/13
8/4-10/5/13
10/20-11/2/13
11/17-11/23/13
11/30-12/4/13
12/15-12/19/13

Note: Did not include the January dates

I booked a couple of days ago for 11/17-11/23 and was not aware of the offer. In order to qualify do you have to be given a pin or something? We were there in October and not advised of any BB offer for this year.

[bluezy]

Originally Posted by KuyaJeff

Everything had gone great until the time of our checkout. Apparently there was an issue with the card we had on file for room charges. Something about it being put on hold because of charges being made out of state(we're from California). So we received a note on our door the night before checkout to just see the front desk to resolve the issue before checkout. We showed up the morning of our departure and talked to the front desk. Their system was down(this happened quite a few times during our stay while asking to get a print-out of charges made to our rooms so far).

[/B]

Sorry you had such a rough time at checkout with the credit card issue. That's a great reminder for everyone to notify their credit card companies that they will be traveling so they can put a notice on your account. We nearly had a similar situation happen to us on our last trip. The day before we left for Disney I had used our card to fill up the gas tank on the van at a local gas station; my husband had to make a business purchase in CA (we're in PA) and it was over the phone so the charge showed up as actually being made in CA -- not online; and my husband also takes care of all the IT stuff at our church and had ordered 3 new computers so they would be ready for set up by the time we got back from vacation. Then we left for Disney the next morning -- driving through more states and making food purchases along the way. Needless to say, this looked "suspicious" to the credit card company (and I totally understand why). They called our house 3 times (obviously, we weren't home.) and sent e-mail notifications saying if we didn't contact them by 5:00 that afternoon, they would put a hold on our card due to suspected fraud/theft. Luckily, my son wasn't with us on that trip and he got the phone message when he got home from work. All it took was a quick phone call to the credit card company to straighten it out, but it could have been a disaster if my son hadn't been at home to relay the message. We now make sure to notify the credit card company before we travel (never had a problem with it before that incident) *and* we added our cell phone numbers to the file so they can contact us more quickly.

Glad the rest of your trip was great!!

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by KNovacovschi

I booked a couple of days ago for 11/17-11/23 and was not aware of the offer. In order to qualify do you have to be given a pin or something? We were there in October and not advised of any BB offer for this year.

Bouncebacks are promotions that are offered to guests staying on property, as incentive to come back or "bounce back" to Disney at a future date and must be booked by the last day of your vacation. In October, this bounceback was not available.

Often times, public codes will include some BB dates, and since Thanksgiving is later this year (11/28) your dates will surely be included for some promotion. Free dining has been offered before Thanksgiving, so that is another option too.

For future reference -- Disney is now including the bounce back information in your booklet that you receive at check in. Much better system than the previous one, thus ensuring that all guests are given the information.

[jcarwash]

Originally Posted by Janet B

For future reference -- Disney is now including the bounce back information in your booklet that you receive at check in. Much better system than the previous one, thus ensuring that all guests are given the information.

I'm glad someone figured this out. I did not enjoy missing my free dining bounceback last time. After I got home I called twice and they did not want my $$$. So I went to Disneyland instead.

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by KuyaJeff

So with everythng said and done...for the most part, we enjoyed our stay at Pop Century. That last day however left a big enough impact on us filled iwth embarassment and stress that it almost overpowers the memories we made over a week at WDW. I probably won't be staying at Pop anytime soon because of it unfortunately. Not because of the lack of quality at Pop, but because of the memories that may associated with our last day of this trip.

KuyaJeff, thank you for your review, your pix are amazing!! Love your mousekeeper's sense of style with your room. Alien green dudes are favorites of mine. (Perhaps the rodents were .... mice?? )

Happy you enjoyed your stay at POP, and wish the ending could of been so much different. I do hope you follow up with Disney and explain how you were treated, Disney needs to know what there managers are doing. It would please me if Disney was able to make amends in some way to you. And just think, by you taking the initiative to report this manager, it may impact the way this manager may handle this same issue for future guests.

Again, thank you for your mini review. I enjoyed reading it.

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by jcarwash

I'm glad someone figured this out. I did not enjoy missing my free dining bounceback last time. After I got home I called twice and they did not want my $$$. So I went to Disneyland instead.

Well Disney World lost out!!!

And it took how long for Disney to do this?? We been booking FD since 2007 ... this past August our great housekeeper went in search for our FD BB flyer (she is a treasure ) But we knew to ask for it... how many others lost out booking early over the years? True Disney offers the public FD later on, but with the BB it's nice to have your guarantee in advance of the public offering. Plus, FD BB historically begins a week early than the public FD offers.

And the BB is so nicely presented in the booklet. You'll see on your next visit.

[SwimBikeRun]

Oh, the king cupcake! My kids would love that!

Is it a dessert or snack on the dining plan?

3 weeks and a day til vacation!

[Janet B]

Originally Posted by SwimBikeRun

Oh, the king cupcake! My kids would love that!

Is it a dessert or snack on the dining plan?

3 weeks and a day til vacation!

On August we redeemed a snack credit for the KIng .

But I know other snack desserts can be used for desserts using the DP. Has anyone done this?

[SwimBikeRun]

Awesome! Wonder if they can get it for dessert! I will ask!

[babygirlamg]

arriving at Pop April 9th for 7 nights ....so excited....hoping for nice weather and not to crazy crowds

[Pudding mum]

Nearly in single digits for our first wdw trip we are going to try and do most breakfasts in the room so I was wondering is it worth doing garden grocer for milk, cereal and snacks or just get them from pops shop we can't bring anything with us and are relying on disney transport

[Coyotesweat]

We are still enjoying our stay at pop. Have figured out which the register to use if the giant tour groups are present. Room clean and in a far but quiet location, which was our preference. We got lucky and we got a king bed, which is comfy. The tub does drip a bit, but quietly. I was so busy and tired that I didn't being it to their attention until tonight, but they promise to fix it up tomorrow.

It's nice to go by the pool bar and get a nightcap.

Buses have been prompt and courteous. Never had any tour group on same bus. Even got pixie-dusted with a free pic on Buzz Lightyear in honor of our 17th anniversary. And got my pic taken with The Beast in Be Our Guest. Not the best pic but it was taken with iPhone and free!