Disney's POP CENTURY RESORT Information & Questions

[Heelish]

Wow, you must pick the worst times of the year to go.

No

As many others have said, we have never had an issue at Pop food court. We've gone at all times of day and we stay there during peak travel times. There are so many places to sit in there.

There is basically 3 counters, 10 people in each line takes 15 minutes to make burgers or pizza. Pre-made breakfast goes pretty quick, why wouldnt it? When the parks are closed the line has 50 people in it. 30-45 minutes for food unless its already made meatloaf or something.

 

[scrappinginontario]

It can change but with the exception if only 1 trip out of 20+ trips we’ve always gone to AoA first then Pop second

 

[scrappinginontario]

There is basically 3 counters, 10 people in each line takes 15 minutes to make burgers or pizza. Pre-made breakfast goes pretty quick, why wouldnt it? When the parks are closed the line has 50 people in it. 30-45 minutes for food unless its already made meatloaf or something.

I hope you enjoy your stay at the moderate resort as it’s clear to those here (who are Pop fans) that your experience was not like the rest of us. Sorry you had a bad experience but what you’re sharing is not typical.

Also, depending on which moderate you go to, their food courts and lines can be very similar from my experience.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Always an issue. Gone different times of year.

Just curious, but if you ALWAYS have such a terrible time at Pop, why do you go back? Have you tried All Stars?

 

[tguz]

We had a great experience at the POP 2 weeks ago. We received the email about our room number and when it was ready so we never had to stop at the desk the whole vacation. The room was great and we got our room request. We did arrive back from our afternoon break and the room was not cleaned yet but we came back pretty early. It wasn't a big deal, one of the ladies gave us fresh towels and we were good. We only ate there once, the morning we left and we waited a few minutes for our food but that's normal. Our next trip will be our honeymoon so we won't be staying value but the trip after that, we will probably be at the POP again.

 

[Heelish]

Just curious, but if you ALWAYS have such a terrible time at Pop, why do you go back? Have you tried All Stars?

Pop is nice. I like it, would be staying there if it wasnt for the pool being closed. Price is what I can afford. Movies is almost identical to Pop. Just being honest about the mulitple horrible experience in dining. Pop is home to groups. Groups cause waits. Pop always has groups.

 

[Disneylover99]

Pop is nice. I like it, would be staying there if it wasnt for the pool being closed. Price is what I can afford. Movies is almost identical to Pop. Just being honest about the mulitple horrible experience in dining. Pop is home to groups. Groups cause waits. Pop always has groups.

While I’ve heard groups abound at Pop in July, I’ve never encountered any during our mid to late August stays.

There was a huge basketball group one year when I stayed between Christmas and New Years but I rarely saw any of them at the food court. They were placed in the 80’s/90’s section and designated charter buses picked them up each day from those sections.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Pop is nice. I like it, would be staying there if it wasnt for the pool being closed. Price is what I can afford. Movies is almost identical to Pop. Just being honest about the mulitple horrible experience in dining. Pop is home to groups. Groups cause waits. Pop always has groups.

Pop does NOT always have groups. We have never encountered any while there. Like I mentioned earlier you must pick the worst times to go. Try doing some research before you book your next visit. I bet you’ll be surprised by the difference.

 

[honeymo78]

We’ve never experienced long waits at the food court either, even in Jan with school groups for some culinary program and 15th birthday tour groups. We generally stick to the pasta/pizza station or the hot entree (pot roast/turkey) station and I can’t remember waiting more than 10 minutes at dinner time when the line completely filled the queue. We don’t stop in at park close for anything other than drink refills so maybe the lines can get longer at that time.

Also the only pool closed during winter 2020 (which definitely includes January) is the main one, the bowling pin pool and computer pool will still be open. Note that the pool bar will be closed during refurb (so we will be spending a bit more time at AoA in the evening).

 

[supitscarrie]

When it comes to just about everything re: Disney, I always take the attitude of "your experience is YOUR experience." Plenty of people have encountered large groups clogging the food court on every one of their Pop stays. Plenty of people have never had that issue. You can't apply your personal experience as a broad stroke across the board when it comes to any Disney experience.

Personally, having stayed for both short and long stays at Pop in different times of year (October, December, April), I've never had any problems with the food court or with large groups.

 

[tguz]

Maybe the last week of July that spills into August is a good time to go if trying to avoid groups. We have been at the POP that week the last two Summers and never saw any. We were in the 50's both years and if they were in the 80's maybe we just didn't see them, especially if they had their own busses. We also just used the bowling pin pool in our section.

 

[Funfire240]

We returned from POP a week ago. Had a great stay. We didn't get our room request text on arrival until 8 pm which I figured was because they new we were coming in ME and our flight landed at 7:30 p.m. so there were no problems. We received the requests we wanted, including connecting rooms with family arriving the day after us. No issues with the food court that wasn't expected. The longest waits were always the pizza line. All other lines went pretty quickly. I did notice that close to when the parks closed it was busier with people coming back and eating or getting snacks but was never too long of waits. We were in the 50's section 8/1 to 8/12. No groups noticed. Bowling Pin pool never overly crowded. The area around us was quiet and no problems.

 

[Disneylvr]

. Note that the pool bar will be closed during refurb (so we will be spending a bit more time at AoA in the evening).

Me too! I have to have my Pina Colava.

 

[LaDonna]

We received the requests we wanted, including connecting rooms with family arriving the day after us.

We have the same request I end up booking more family a few months after I booked mine so their initial booking I requested connecting rooms with me but I have no such request on my initial one because I didn’t know they were coming

Did you put in your request when doing online check-in or did you do it another way .

 

[DatDudeSG]

My next Pop stay is in January

Us too!! the 11th through the 18th!!

 

[citygirl27712]

I have stayed at Pop during at all different times over the years. Yes a lot of tour groups stay there and yes, the food court can be crazy. However, I have never found it to be unmanageable and the lines in the food court move quickly. At peak times in the morning with the buses, there is always another one right around the corner that is coming.

 

[bluezy]

Pop is nice. I like it, would be staying there if it wasnt for the pool being closed. Price is what I can afford. Movies is almost identical to Pop. Just being honest about the mulitple horrible experience in dining. Pop is home to groups. Groups cause waits. Pop always has groups.

We've stayed at Pop 3 times and AoA 4 times (always at the end of June, except for 1 trip that was in May). Never had any type of large group staying there when we were there (or at least none that we noticed). I know large groups do stay at Pop during certain times of the year, but my kids have been to Disney on band trips on 4 different occasions and they always stayed at one of the All Star resorts. And I know other kids who have gone on group trips there and have stayed at (or had the option to stay at) CSR, CBR, and POR. So it's not just Pop and not just the Values that get large groups.

When staying at Pop (7 nights each stay), we had lunch or dinner there every day of our stay. Never had a problem finding a table and never experienced crazy long lines. Did we wait a few minutes some times? Yes, but I don't remember ever waiting more than about 5 minutes. Even the year we were there in May and it rained almost constantly the entire 7 days and A LOT of people never left the resort -- we still never had issues with dining. When we stay at AoA, we still usually walk over to Pop for one or two meals during the week. Again, never had an issue with overwhelming crowds or crazy long lines for ordering or paying. In fact, it's usually quite the opposite when we're there.

You are far more tolerant than I would be. If I had "multiple horrible" experiences with dining at Pop (or any resort for that matter), I wouldn't be staying there again. If it was consistently bad on my first trip, I *might* chalk it up to bad timing on my part or possibly an issue (short staffed) on Disney's part. If it happened a 2nd time, I'd assume it was the norm and move on to another resort for my next stay. I would not continue to return to a place that I have major complaints about. That would not be a vacation I would look forward to or enjoy.

By the way, the All Star Resorts are typically $20-30/night less expensive than Pop, so you might consider trying those resorts the next time and hopefully avoid the horrible experiences you consistently have at Pop.

And please post your travel dates the next time you're staying at Pop, because I, and probably many others, want to make sure we aren't there during that time so we don't have to experience the overcrowding that seems to happen when you're there.

I hope your next stay is much better and maybe you can find a new "home" resort that better fits your expectations.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Me too! I have to have my Pina Colava.

Oh me too! I tried one for the first time last year. Delicious! I’ve been to WDW 17 times so far but always with my husband. This time my sister is going with me instead. It’ll be her first visit. I told her we’re heading to the pool bar for a piña colava as soon as we get there!

 

[Disneylvr]

Doesn't the Pop food court now have mobile ordering? That is a game changer IMHO. We used it all over the parks in May and it is WONDERFUL.

 

[CouponGirl]

We returned from POP a week ago. Had a great stay. We didn't get our room request text on arrival until 8 pm which I figured was because they new we were coming in ME and our flight landed at 7:30 p.m. so there were no problems. We received the requests we wanted, including connecting rooms with family arriving the day after us. No issues with the food court that wasn't expected. The longest waits were always the pizza line. All other lines went pretty quickly. I did notice that close to when the parks closed it was busier with people coming back and eating or getting snacks but was never too long of waits. We were in the 50's section 8/1 to 8/12. No groups noticed. Bowling Pin pool never overly crowded. The area around us was quiet and no problems.

What time did you arrive to pop using me? We have a flight arriving about that time.