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Leaving Saturday for Disney World

Walt Disney World: Staying at Pop Century, a few questions about the hotel.

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted January 23, 2011 at 7:10 PM
My family of 6 is leaving for Disney World on Saturday. I've already gotten great suggestions on parks, but if anyone has any last minute suggestions I'm more than happy to read them =)

We're staying at the Pop Century resort in adjoining rooms and I was told we will be near the food court. Has anyone stayed here and been to the food court? What kind of food/ good quality and prices do they offer? Also, are there microwaves that we could use if we brought things like cup of soup with us? Lastly, how far is the food court from the bus pick up?

Speaking of buses, will the amount of time waiting for a bus be longer because it's off season or will we still have about a half hour or less to wait?

Thanks for all the help!


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From James Rao
Posted January 23, 2011 at 8:09 PM
Haven't been to Pop, but I do have one piece of advice: take it easy and enjoy your vacation. WDW will be there for years and years to come (provided the world doesn't end, of course), so don't put pressure on yourself to accomplish everything in one trip.

Have fun!

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted January 23, 2011 at 9:32 PM
I agree totally with that. We'll be there 7 days but are only going to Disney parks 4 days and Sea World once. 2 days of NOTHING here we come! Plus no crowds= no hurry to get everything done. Cannot wait!

From Anthony Murphy
Posted January 23, 2011 at 9:40 PM
The one positive about Pop Century (and the other value resorts) is they tend to have a few more buses going to and from the parks. I would say 20 minutes

From Tim Odom
Posted January 25, 2011 at 8:53 AM
I stayed at the Pop Century once a couple of years ago, pre getting into the DVC.

The food court (which is more akin to a large cefeteria) is ok, the food is nothing special. Prices are what you expect at Disney, aka a little high for the quality food you are getting, but overall not too expensive. They do have a nice selection, but the quality is not exactly top notch. Granted, I did get a little ill from a piece of cheesecake there, so I might be a tad bit biased.

I do not remember having a microwave in the room, but there are in the cafeteria. I think we had a coffee maker in the room though, again trying to go back through 2+ years of memories. One thing I do recommend, highly, is to buy the mugs they have there (if you do not have them already) as you get free refills for your entire stay.

The cafeteria is pretty much right next to the bus stop, so you will not have to walk far.

As for bus schedule, they usually hit the resorts fairly often, so I would guess around a 20-30 minute wait max, probably much less.

Hope that helps.

From Ray Schroeder
Posted January 25, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Pop is my resort of choice. Good value, great themeing, nice pools for the kids, large food court with OK food. Prices are Disney prices, not cheap. That's why I bring my own breakfast foods. Cheaper and faster. The food court gets crowded in the AM. Get the mugs for your free refills. There are no microwaves, coffee makers or fridges in the rooms. You can rent a fridge. Be flexible with the busses. If I'm going to MK and the EPCOT bus shows up I get on then take the monorail back to MK. If I'm going to DHS and the EPCOT bus shows up, I get on, go to EPCOT and take the boat(Near France) to DHS. You need a park hopper to do this but it makes trip an adventure. You're on vacation. What's the rush. Enjoy and have a good time.

From Brady Allen
Posted January 25, 2011 at 12:59 PM
I like to go to some of the differtent resorts for lunch. I think they have better selection then the value resorts for the same price.

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted January 25, 2011 at 3:15 PM
Thanks so much for all the information, it's great to know what to expect. We are paying for a fridge and we're getting some groceries delivered, so we'll have our own breakfast in our room every morning. One less thing to worry about.

From Frank Forrester
Posted January 25, 2011 at 7:57 PM
They do have microwaves in the food court that you can use. Like other people say the food court does get busy in the AM for breakfast. They do have a variety of food to choose from in the food court. The refillable mugs are nice and you can refill them as much as you want while there. They offer different coke products in the fountain machines and they also offer hot chocolate along with coffee & hot tea.

From Rod Whitenack
Posted January 26, 2011 at 11:04 AM
We stayed at the Pop Century Resort. The rooms are really small, but mostly you'll be just sleeping there. The kids will like the gigantic statues of retro toys and pop culture items from different decades.

It is indeed REALLY crowded in the cafeteria in the morning and everybody gets there at the same time so you're WAY AHEAD of the game if you're going to eat breakfast in the room. We stood in 30 minute queues just to get breakfast, but the park was at full capacity when we were there. The buses are right outside the cafeteria (again long queues). If anyone in a wheelchair comes up, double the wait time. (I have much sympathy for the handicapped, but this is a fact).

The person above is right; take the shortest queue line for either the Magic Kingdom or Epcot and just take the monorail to whichever one you really want to go to.

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted January 26, 2011 at 4:11 PM
does the monorail from epcot and mk leave from inside the park? if so where? thanks again for all the tips

From Tony Duda
Posted January 26, 2011 at 5:53 PM
Monorail stations are just outside the front gate at both Epcot and MK. The confusing thing for first timers is that there are TWO monorails, not one. To go between parks, you have to leave one monorail at the TTA (ticket and transportation area) and walk over to the boarding area for the other one. The Epcot monorail goes from Epcot to the TTA. The MK monorail circles around a lake and goes through the 3 deluxe resorts and the TTA.

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted January 26, 2011 at 6:38 PM
Wow that is confusing. But it sounds more fun than the buses.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted January 26, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Maybe I can explain it a bit better (probably not, LOL)

There are three monorail lines:

Transportation and Ticket Center to EPCOT
TTC to Magic Kingdom
MK Resort Line (Grand, Contemp, Poly, MK, and TTC)

The cool thing about the EPCOT line is that it actually goes into Future World and gives a quick tour of the area before the station which is outside the gate (think of it as a loop)

Other than that, another fun way to get to MK is by boat from the TTC.

All other resorts and parks can be done by bus from any starting point. The only trick is with MK where the resort buses are right outside of the gate vs the buses for DHS, EPCOT, and AK are at the TTC.

TTC is actually the parking for MK too. Disney thought it would be exciting to make the "trek" to to MK thus no driving up to the park.

Disney also has a transportation map given to you when you check in too!

I hope this helps!

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