Renovated Pop Century room review from our "no kids" trip

julesdamom

Julesdamom
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
My husband and I just returned this morning from a fabulous whirlwind trip without our kids! It was a last minute trip, so we decided to book Pop Century, and requested a renovated room, not knowing if we would actually get one.
I was thrilled when our MDE showed a room in building 8, before our flight had even left from Ohio! it was a wonderful magical beginning to our vacation!

We arrived at Pop around 6:30 p.m. and went straight to our room, having heard that if we had our magic bands, we could get in the room. However, our bands weren't activated yet, so we had to walk to the check in line and have them activate our bands so we could get in the room. Just a minor inconvenience which didn't damper our excitement.

Since we had reservations at Le Cellier at 8:00, we quickly put our things in our room and got in line for the bus to EPCOT. We arrived at EPCOT a few minutes before our reservation and our table was ready quickly. We both ordered the filet which was one of the best steaks either of us had ever tasted. Even better than Ruth's Chris filet. We were too full for dessert, and since it was now 9:00, we stopped to watch Illuminations from outside the restaurant.

We then took a bus to Animal Kingdom to check out the new Pandora land. While walking into Animal kingdom, we first got to see the Tree of life color changing show which is really cool to see. We then walked toward Pandora. It is amazing to see this at night! we didn't see it during the day, but it's a must-see at night! The lights, colors and sounds are awe inspiring! After walking around for a few minutes, we talked with a cast member at the Navi River Journey attraction about Pandora. She explained about the two attractions and other things to do in Pandora. She said we really should try to do the Avatar Flight of Passage because it is so different from other rides. The wait was 120 minutes, so we said thanks for her help, but we probably wouldn't wait that long for it, and walked away. She ran up to us a minute later and asked if it was just the two of us, and upon saying yes, she handed us a fast pass for Flight of Passage! Pixie Dust and Disney Magic abound!!!! We were so excited! She was right about the ride: it's probably the best theme park ride i have ever experienced. You are really flying with the blue people through the land of Pandora! I would highly recommend a fast pass for this one. (we booked our trip last minute, and were too late to get fast passes for either Pandora attraction). On our last night we did wait in line for the Na'vi River Journey. The sign said 65 minutes, but we timed it, and it only took 35 minutes. This might have been because it was on July 4th, so many people were at the fireworks at other parks, and also the River of Light show was at that time, so I'm guessing people with fast passes were probably holding them to use after the show. This ride was pretty, and cool, and restful, but not much different than Pirates or Small World as far as the ride itself. The visuals are nice though, but i'm guessing after the hype dies down, the lines won't be that long.

We returned to our fabulous newly renovated room at Pop in the 90's section. The rooms are clean, functional, and don't have much decoration, but it's so functional that it doesn't matter how much Disney stuff is in the room. Outlets and USB ports are everywhere that you might need one. This is a huge improvement!!! Also, the TV is huge and bright. The curtain separating the sink area and bedroom has been replaced with a sliding door, which helps with privacy, but not much with sound. The drawers are small and not very deep, but enough for several days at Disney, and the small closet area has room for shoes or other storage under the hangers.
The sink area has tons of storage. The shower is still a tub, but there is a sliding glass door instead of curtains, which is probably much easier to clean. The vent/fan seems to run continually, but isn't loud.

My favorite part of the renovations is the coffee maker and mini fridge in the room! This is huge for a value resort! There is a stand for these appliances with a drawer to hold the coffee and fixings. There is additional storage above the coffee maker. It's one of those dual cup Cuisinart makers with the pods, so not a Keurig, but very nice to have.

Also, the room has 2 Queen beds instead of double beds! There is one Queen regular bed, and the other is a pull down bed, but has the same wonderful queen mattress, so no one should feel bad about not getting the "good bed". :)

Days 2 and 3 were wonderful, with us getting in all the rides and shows we wanted without having to wait, even over the July 4th weekend. I cannot stress enough how important it is to plan your fast passes and use all the tips on this Disboard to help with planning to make your trip efficient. Use the My Disney Experience app to add another fast pass as soon as you use your third one, and then add another as soon as you've used that one, etc.

The only issue that was disappointing was the wait for buses to get to some of the parks from Pop. It was probably because of the high number of visitors over the holiday weekend, but a couple of times we had to wait over 20 minutes for a bus to Animal Kingdom or EPCOT. It seemed the buses to Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs came very often, but the other parks weren't as regular. If I had to say one negative about this trip, that would be it. And it's really no big deal, but kind of a bummer when you are waiting.

One surprise show that we really enjoyed was the Music of Pixar show at Hollywood Studios. The music is wonderful and if you like the pixar movies, you will love this show.

And while planning is important, also don't forget to be a little flexible and go with the flow if something else interesting comes along. We stumbled upon several little shows which we really enjoyed but hadn't planned in our schedule, so feel free to vary your itinerary as needed.

If you want to be efficient, get there at rope drop, no matter how much you would love to sleep late. Believe me, it's totally worth it! You can get in 3 or 4 major rides in an hour if you hit the park at rope drop, when sleeping til 10 or 11 will get you huge lines. We got there at rope drop, then were basically done with all our major checklist of rides by lunch. After lunch, we went back to the resort and took a 2-3 hour rest, then we were rested and ready to go before dinner time, and could enjoy evening extra magic hours without getting too grumpy.

Another thing we enjoy is eating a table service meal once a day. We usually do a nice dinner, but sometimes change it up and have a table service lunch instead, then a quick dinner. Especially when it's so hot, and you have walked all day, it's sooooo nice to sit down in a nice, cool restaurant and have someone bring food to you instead of waiting at a counter and trying to find a table somewhere. Most table service restaurants are comparable in price to similar restaurants outside the parks, so it's worth it to us.

Anyway, these are my suggestions from our experience as a couple without kids at Disney over the 4th of July weekend. We would definitely stay at Pop Century again in the renovated rooms.
 
My husband and I are doing a trip just like this in early December without the kiddo. We're hoping for a renovated room at Pop also, and I hope by then, there will be more buildings complete with a higher likelihood that we'd get one. Sounds like y'all had a wonderful trip, even on a busy holiday weekend!
 
we are going end of Sept and praying we get renovated rooms! a queen bed makes a huge difference when you're sharing!
 



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