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"The Resort itself inside and out was very clean.My room was
located in the 60's building on the first floor close to the pool
and food court.I liked the room alot i'm planning to go back in
july 2004.I recommend this resort to anybody
who is planning on going to stay on Walt Disney World Property.It's
a fun-filled Resort.
The food court is very big.They have a wide selecion of food at
the food court.The busy times at the food court are from 8:00 am-11:00am
for breakfast,12:00pm-2:00pm for lunch
and 5:00pm-9:00pm for dinner.The name of the gift shop and food
court is called "Everything Pop" it is open from
6:00am-12:00am everyday.I also recommend going to the food court
to eat.
Service is great!!!The Cast Members are very very friendly.
If you ask a Cast Member a question they are more then happy to
answer it for you.The Resort itself is always very clean and tidy.The
pool is heated and clean.The resort has three pools.Transportation
service is very very good!Buses run every 20 minutes to all theme
parks,water parks,and downtown disney." (3/04) Shane Bickum
"The approach to Pop Century “Remember When” immediately
puts you in the nostalgic frame of mind. The lettering on the signs
at the approach, the frequency of the signs and the messages contained
on them, all work to evoke a bygone day. Some of the signs proclaim,
Color Television! Heated Pool! Are We There Yet? Remember when indeed.
The parking lot nearest the entry door was quite full and it took
some minutes to find a parking place. Entering the main registration
area in Classic Hall, the similarities to the All Star Resorts are
pretty obvious. The place is larger than life and memorabilia from
the represented decades (‘50’s-’90’s) decorate
the walls both in the common area and behind the registration desk.
The memorabilia is grouped by decade and is representative of the
most stereotypical examples from each. For example, there is disco
for the seventies, flower power and peace signs for the sixties
and roller skates and poodle skirts for the fifties. The space program
is represented as are various 80’s groups, and Johnie’s
favorite, Big Wheels. There are no particularly significant photos
with the exception of Mick’s back, behind the registration
counter.
The registration desk is one long counter with the left side designated
for registration and the right side designated for guest services.
I took my place at the end of a very long line. It was prime time
for check in so it was not surprising to see such a long line. I
spend 15 minutes on line before reaching the desk where Allica verified
my confirmation number, printed my room key and explained how to
get to the building that housed my room. She did not ask me for
my AP. As I was staying on an AP rate, I found that a little surprising,
but no matter. She was pleasant enough, but nothing overly Disney.
I miss the welcome home of the DVC resorts, just a little.
I had spent ten minutes at the desk registering. As I left the
area, I noticed a room off to the side with a television and several
folks watching something, I presume a Disney show? Looks like a
handy place to park children when checking in.
Back to the car to move it to the ‘50’s parking lot.
I’d been assigned room 3236. Finding a spot to park was a
bit of a challenge, but I was prepared for that thanks to Ray.
The walk to the room was a bit long, but truly no longer than walking
from the parking lot of the Boardwalk to a villa. It seemed a little
longer because most of the walk was outdoors and the C building
that housed my room was behind the A building. The cobblestone walkway
in the courtyard made pulling the suitcase noisy. I wondered how
it would be to have to traverse this space in a wheelchair or ECV.
I am happy to discover there are elevators. I wish I had made that
discovery before I lugged the first load up the two flights of stairs
to my room!
The room had a full view of Hour Glass Lake and included the other
as yet unfinished half of the resort. The traditional years will
encompass ‘00’s-40’s. There is a nice walking
bridge that connects the two areas. Once finished, this will be
a massive resort.
I am inordinately pleased to notice that the outside wall color
is that of my Mother’s once favorite ice cream, black raspberry.
Picture a pronounced orchid and you’ve about got it! Everything
is overstated and brightly colored. Kitschy, but too much fun!
The door plate for the room number is decorated with a bowling
ball. The door to the room opens smack into the bed. With full arms
your only choice is to dump the armload on the bed and let the door
close before proceeding into the room. It seems smaller than the
All Star Resorts, but that may be due to the set up of the room
which differs a bit from that resort. It could simply be that it’s
been awhile since I’ve been in an All Star room.
The interior is surprisingly soothing after the brightly colored
outdoors. In tones of cream, green and deep purple the room works.
There is a wall border up high near the ceiling. It depicts scenes
from each era and is banded in a deep cream. The rug is dark purple
with tones of blue. There are black, green, brighter purple and
cream V’s in groups of four with points facing inward to form
a pattern.
The bathroom is in two parts with the sink outside the door. The
bathroom proper tiled in cream with accents of a pale green is small,
but not impossibly so. The wall paper echoes those colors and is
printed with circles, squares and circular Mickey’s. The shower
curtain picks up on the squares in shades of green and cream. There
are no bars inside the shower area to hang wet towels or wet washcloths,
but there is a little clothesline that could be used for wet clothing
or swimsuits.
The soaps are in paper wrap instead of boxes. There are a couple
of plastic wrapped plastic cups and a small bottle of shampoo. The
supplies (soap, shampoo and cups) were not replenished by housekeeping
the next day. The towels are four bath, four washcloth and four
hand towels.
As there are no pool towels a sign tells you to take the room towels
to the pool and call housekeeping should you need more. There are
no hairdryers. There is an iron and an ironing board.
The furniture is clean with simple lines, evocative of the modern
movement that evolved out of the Art Deco of earlier decades. It
is in dark honey tones with accents of black. There are six drawers
in the case piece that also houses the television. Three of the
drawers are smaller than the others. There are also a couple of
shelves in this piece. One night stand between the double beds (there
are some rooms with king beds) is the same in style as are the headboards
and the small table with two chairs. The chairs have circular cutouts
on the back.
The closet area is at the right of the sink as is the suitcase
rack. There are some wooden hangers, and a shelf over the closet
rack along with two extra pillows.
The bedspreads are a chaotic print encompassing something from
each decade. I’d imagine that they are the same for each room,
regardless of which area.
There is an alarm clock and a remote that is so basic one needs
to use the television controls for such things as setting the timer
to turn the television off. It changes the channels in sequence,
not allowing for numeric direction to an out of sequence channel.
It does feature volume control.
I notice that there are no Disney or Family magazines in this room
as there are in the DVC resorts and deluxe resorts.
After a second trip to the car, and use of the much appreciated
elevators, I had a quick dinner of chicken that I had picked up
at Publix on my way to the resort. Along with some cheese and grape
tomatoes, I was fortified and ready to look around the resort.
There is an enormous jukebox, in the style that was once on diner
counters. Lady and the Tramp are here too.
The ‘50’s area pool is shaped like a bowling pin, and
there are huge bowling pins accenting the outside areas.
People are swimming in the pool. It is unseasonably warm so I am
not surprised. It is an easy walk back to Classic Hall where the
resort shop and food court are, along with the arcade room.
Passing through the ‘60’s section, I take in the pool
in the shape of a flower, and a pool bar. The huge decorative pieces
change here, and Mowgli and Baloo are featured.
The ‘70’s area has the world’s largest Big Wheel.
The handle bars reach the fourth floor. There are also two twister
games (useable) and an enormous fooseball set up in the lawn area
(not useable). There are eight tracks for decoration as well. They
are so large that it took me a minute to figure out what they were!
There are computer discs and cd’s for the ‘80’s
and ‘90’s. Music plays outdoors. The songs are from
each decade and add to the mood. The ‘70’s area pool
(also used by the ‘80’s and ‘90’s) is a
huge disc.
All in all, walking through the outside areas of this resort is
fun experience. It is neat to take in all the memorabilia and surprising
how much one may have forgotten. Disney’s affinity for detail
is upheld in this resort. Look closely at everything!
I spent a few minutes wandering around inside. The resort shop
is much like any other, with the exception of sundries. There are
no food items, except for candies available here. There are some
cute key chains on offer. They are miniatures of board games that
were popular through the decades. I find my old favorite, Boggle,
but decide I can live without it.
Directly behind the shop is a seating area for the food court and
a lounge. The food court has four stations and a refrigerator section
of prepared foods, drinks, breads, morning pastries etc. Refillable
mugs are $12 and come in both styles. A sign near the soda machines
proclaims that the mugs are good for the duration of the visit during
which they were purchased ONLY! No more lifetime of free sodas.
There is a bakery station that offers sandwiches and sweets. They
have a low carb, no sugar cheesecake. I’ll be trying that
later. The food choices seem a little more limited than those of
All Stars. There are burgers, and hot dogs, pizza, limited Asian
selections, meatloaf and some fish (salmon on this Friday night).
The refrigerator items include tossed salad, chef salad, Harry’s
worms n’ dirt, other desserts and assorted drinks, both alcoholic
and non.
Time is passing so I head out to the bus stops, each clearly marked
for the park which it serves. I get in line for the MK bus. This
is one of the few times I actually enjoy going to the MK. Taking
the resort bus directly to the MK is so much more convenient than
any other way, isn’t it?
After a less than five minute wait, I board the bus for a fifteen
minute ride to the MK.
The return bus trip to the resort was a little more challenging
than the trip to the park. There were many, many folks waiting to
return and I was not able to board the first bus.
It was a fifteen minute wait for the second bus which was made
a little more palatable by the EWP which passed by during this time.
The return ride totaled twenty five minutes.
The bus driver was a little quirky. He attempted to close the rear
doors on some exiting guests who went on to object loudly to this
idea. He loaded a wheelchair and ECV in a most unique manner. I’m
not so certain I would have been too happy with his assistance,
but the folks he helped did survive.
It was SRO and I was the last person allowed on the bus. Lucky
me, I got to talk with this driver on the way back, although I fervently
wished he’d keep his eyes on the road and mind on his driving.
A deer startled him and he swerved the bus. Folks weren’t
too happy about that either. He did ask me what I thought “they’d”
say if he announced that our next stop was Wet and Wild. I suggested
anything would be ok as long as it wasn’t Universal Studios.
He laughed so hard he swerved again. I shut up.
Disembarking at the resort I headed straight for the lounge and
ordered a classic martini. It was served in a really neat multi
colored glass. There were splotches of bright colors mixed in with
the basic green. Easing my nerves with the concoction, I then returned
to the room and prepared for bed.
The bed was quite comfortable as were the lovely fat pillows. The
room temperature was a little hot. I turned down the thermostat
as far as it would go (sixty eight degrees) but was still uncomfortably
warm off and on throughout the night.
One thing I do need to mention before I forget. The room is fairly
quiet, but one can hear people as they pass by outside, especially
if those folks are loud. The flushing of the commodes can be heard.
These babies rival those on board ship. Loud and powerful. Frighten
little ones, they would, I’m certain. One can hear doors banging
shut too. But none of this disturbed my sleep.
Breakfast is uninspired for a low carb diner. There are waffles
with and without toppings, pancakes, wide variety of sweets, oatmeal
(and a sorry, gooey pasty mess it looked) grits (oh yuck, ick, and
super blech) a vegetable fritatta (had potatoes in it) and omelets
as well as the standard scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. I settle
for the eggs and bacon. Nothing outstanding, but nothing objectionable
either.
I did indulge in a slice of the low carb cheesecake. It was so
good that I sincerely doubt that the carb count was very low. Thick,
creamy and a little heavy, it made up for the lackluster eggs and
bacon. I spent about nine dollars on breakfast.
The other menu selections ranged in price from $1.89 to $6.00.
Not bad for Disney.
Breakfast is served until 11:30. The stations switch to lunch starting
at 10:30. This is accomplished by changing the stations to the next
meal one at a time and at staggered times. Lunch is served from
10:30 til 4 pm when the switch is to dinner. The last station closes
somewhere around midnight or a bit earlier.
I wandered out to explore the Fast Forward arcade. It is quite
large. There are change machines and token machines so no one need
go without the funds to play. Many of the games accrue points that
are collected and then turned in for prizes which range from tiny
plastic things to stuffed animals to match box cars to transistor
radios! The prizes are quite like those of any small town carnival.
Children did seem to have a lot of fun making the selections though.
Further exploration of the grounds reveals a corked ground water
play area for children, a Surfer Goofy, an old ‘vette, and
room number plates that change in theme with the decade. Some have
a computer mouse, some have flowers, and so on. The walkway railings
are also decorated with decade appropriate themes. Shoes, bowling
balls, CD’s, records (old forty fives) etc.
I strolled the pathway along the lake. All along the walkway are
signs, one for each year, which have an important event from the
depicted year imprinted upon it. Some years have more than one event
and it was fun, sometimes funny to see which events were paired
together. A nice walk that will only be better when the other side
is finished.
Pop Century is a good value. The AP rate made it particularly good.
The food court is serviceable, but I’ll reiterate my preference
for the All Star’s food courts. The theming is big, bold,
Disney. It is entertaining and can certainly form the topic of many
a reminiscent based conversation.
I’ll stay there again someday. Someday soon, I hope."
(1/04) OKWTink
"I was privledged enough to get a tour of Pop Century today.
Let me just say, WOW. This resort is impressive. It is soooo groovy!
LOL I have a photographic memory, but I left my film at home, so
I'll see what I can recall.
Construction Crews are putting up the sign at the main entrance.
They started yesterday, and Im guessing they will finish today or
tomorrow.
As I was driving to the main building, I got to see some of the
decorated buildings. They're really not as tacky as one might think,
after seeing them on the highway.
Bus stops are at the Main Building. They are very similar to All-Stars,
but have slightly more shelter.
Classic Hall is the main building. Although the outside of the building
is brightly colored, the insides of Pop Century are very subdued.
Lots of browns, blues, grays, and mustard. It works well. It houses
the front desk area, the arcade, and the merchandise/food court
area, named "Everything POP." You walk into this area,
and it starts off as the Merchandise Shop. Walk further, and it
becomes the Food Court. The food court itself is HUGE. Tons of tables,
lots of soda fountains, and it looks like there will be a massive
selection of food.
The Front Desk area is called "Memory Lane" because on
the walls are glass boxes with all sorts of pop icons from the past
50 years. Just walking down, I could point to a few things and say,
"I had one of those!!!" Behind the front desk are enlarged
photos from the past 50 years. Very nicely done.
The front desk will have THIRTY stations, which include Guest Services,
and Check In/Out. There is also a separate kids room in the lobby,
with couches, toys, and a 60's themed big screen TV.
Lil trivia factoid: Pop Century will have the largest luggage room
on property.
Just outside the main area is the 60's buildings, and the Hippie
Dippie Pool. There are two other pools, one shaped like a bowling
pin, and another as a computer monitor.
Everything is VERY close to the main building. We walked over to
the 50's to see the demo room, and it was really close. I think
the furthest building might be a 5 minute walk to the front, if
that.
The rooms themselves are similar to the All-Stars - but modified.
They looked at the All-Stars, and made them better. A few changes
include:
- Lowered night stand - so that you won't hit your head on it when
sleeping
- Data port near the table for your laptop
- BAR SOAP with separate shampoo
- Redesigned sink area
- In room safe that can hold laptop
- Fitted bed sheets
- Modernized climate control panel
- Beds are mounted on pedestals, so that you can't loose things
under them.
- Curtains overlap, so that NO light will get in.
Cast member costumes will be very plain. Either gray and white,
or dark blue with mustard top. They look very nice. Instead of golf
carts, cast members will drive around on '57 Chevy styled carts,
complete with Fuzzy Dice.
For those of you who have reservations for Pop Century -- It is
one swingin' resort, and you will have a groovy time!
For those of you knocking Pop Century -- wait until it opens, and
you actually experience it before knocking it. It really is a fabulous
resort, give it the chance it deserves." (9/03) Tyler
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