Our Stay At Disney's Pop Century Resort

It took 13 trips for us to try out a "Value Resort" at Walt Disney World.  Resorts on property at Walt Disney World are divided into categories based on price, amenities, size, and location--Deluxe, Moderate, and Value.  We've stayed at "moderate" resorts for all of our other trips to Walt Disney World, but on our most recent trip, to celebrate my BIG Birthday, we wanted to give a Walt Disney World value resort a try.  Why?  Well, I knew we were going to purchase Annual Passes, so I didn't want to wipe out the budget with a resort, our stay was a short one comparatively speaking--5 nights, and we wanted to give a different resort a try.

What we liked:

• We enjoyed the theming.  When we did our online check-in we requested the 80's themed buildings but we were assigned to the 90's.  That was okay as there is only one 90's themed building according to the resort map and it was in close proximity to the 80's buildings so we got to see them rather than stay in them.  
• We had a ground floor room, even though we had requested a top floor room.  It really didn't matter as our room was ready upon our arrival.  I got a text message as soon as I turned on my phone when we landed in Orlando with the info--building number and room number.  It was slick!
  
• The proximity of the food court/shopping to the bus stops.  We had breakfast a couple of times at the resort before venturing to the parks and we really liked how close the organized bus stops were to the food court and shop.  This worked well at the end of the day too if needed to pick up a package at the resort shop.  This also meant bathrooms were nearby in case we needed to make a pit stop after getting off a bus and walking to our room or prior to getting on a bus to the parks or Disney Springs.
• Refrigerator in the room.  We hadn't expected this so it was great to be able to chill juice boxes, water bottles, and soda.

What we didn't like:

• Double beds.  We need bigger beds.
• No ceiling fan.  We missed the white noise at night.
• No motorized cart to come get us and our luggage when checking out.  It's funny that when I called about our next Disney vacation and the Cast Member on the phone asked us where we wanted to stay I said Coronado Springs.  I explained that we had just returned from a stay at Pop Century and I missed the queen size beds, the ceiling fans, and the modified golf cart that would tote us and our luggage at check-out.  He laughed and said that we were seasoned guests as most do not even recognize the presence or absence of those amenities.  We DID have someone from luggage services come to the room with a large two-wheeler that stacked up our luggage and we walked with him to Resort Airline Check-in, so there is assistance available.  We just called the night before we checked out.
• Limited products.  We had shampoo and bar soap.  That was it.  No lotion, no conditioner, no body wash.  Good thing I had brought some of those with us.
• No clock.  I don't think this is just Pop Century but is a grander experiment across all resorts to not have a clock in the resort room and install one only upon guest request.  We did request a clock and had one installed promptly.  Why would Disney do this?  To save electricity.  Clocks are plugged in all the time.  Now multiply that usage across thousands of resort rooms--it would add up.  If a guest doesn't miss a clock enough to call and get one, then why have it there in the first place?  With many people using their cell phones for time and alarms, a clock in a resort room becomes less of a necessity.  Not for us, Walt Disney World.  We will always ask for a clock!
  

Would we stay here again?
Yes, we would.  Pop Century offered us value and that is what we wanted.  We had great access to bus service--minus a glitch on one day--and there were parts of the resort we didn't try such as the pools.  If staying during a peak or holiday period for a few nights, we would definitely stay here again.

Bell Services at Walt Disney World Resorts

Have you ever arrived at your Disney resort and wished you could be magically transported to your resort room just like your luggage?  Well, Disney is great at granting wishes.  Voila!  Bell Services.

At Disney Resorts, guests can find Bell Services and Luggage Services.  While they may seem similar, each is poised to handle various tasks that guests may need.  Luggage services handles storing, airport check-in, and delivery of luggage to your resort room after it arrives from the airport via Magical Express.  Bell Services caters to you, the guest.

We have used Bell Services to come to our resort room on check-out days to retrieve us and our luggage prior to boarding Disney’s Magical Express back to the elevator.  Not having to navigate our luggage and ourselves across the resort, even though we have seen other guests do just that, is much appreciated.  The service is free though Bell Services does appreciate a tip of $1-2 per bag.

Engaging their services is easy.  Just call from your resort room phone the evening prior to your departure and arrange a time for pick-up, usually 15 to 30 minutes prior to your Disney’s Magical Express boarding time—click here to read more.  A capable Bell Services Cast Member will knock on your door with a large two wheel cart, load up your luggage, escort you to the waiting motorized cart (a golf cart built for 6 plus luggage), and load your luggage onto the cart.  Then you take a seat and enjoy the ride to the Magical Express pick-up location at your resort.  You can even arrange for Bell Services to come for you earlier than your Magical Express departure if you would then like luggage services to store your bags or use Resort Airline Check-in while you enjoy the parks or the resorts on your check-out day.

So, that is how to use Bell Services at the end of your vacation, but what about the beginning?  Some Disney Resorts are spread out and the maze of room numbers can be confusing.  Have you circled an entire resort building to find the exact location of your room even after consulting the resort map?  As I told the husband, this was my least favorite part of a Disney vacation.  Here we were either tired from travel or anxious to get the vacation started, still toting carry-on bags, and have to find our room, sometimes in the dark!  Well, no more!  Now, we retain the services of Bell Services upon our arrival at the resort.

After we check-in at our resort, have room number and Key to the World Cards ready, we find Bell Services and ask for assistance.  Sometimes the husband is sitting near their location with our bags just to make it easier while I head to Guest Registration and take care of check-in details—which go quickly as we have already checked in on-line prior to our stay.

The carry-on bags and possibly groceries, if we used GardenGrocer.com for a grocery delivery (click here to read more), are then placed in the cart, we tell the Bell Services are resort room number, take a seat, and off we go.  The tip is well worth this service to easily locate our resort room and be magically transported, just like our luggage!

On our last trip, after being safely delivered to our resort room via Bell Services, we walked back to the main building to enjoy lunch, explore the resort, refill our mugs, etc.  We came upon a couple, older in years, slowly traversing a bridge, commenting that they didn’t know how far it was to their room.  Though they were going the opposite direction, I stopped to ask if they needed assistance.  Our conversation ended with them following us back to the main building and eliciting the help of Bell Services to find their room.  Too bad the Cast Member at Guest Registration didn’t recognize that walking the distance to their resort room across the sprawling resort was going to be a hardship and suggest the use of Bell Services for these guests; possibly even calling for Bell Services’ assistance for the guests.

The "On Property" or "Off Property" Choices Uncovered

Just after making the decision to go to Walt Disney World, when you are going, and how you are getting there, comes the inevitable decision about where to stay.  Typically this question is the simple “on or off property” question, but there is more to it than that.  Let’s explore. . .

If off property is your answer, there are many options to choose from—vacation homes, condos, resorts, and hotels in various price ranges.  Some offer shuttles to/from parks at predetermined times throughout the day.  Others include suite accommodations, free breakfasts, and on-site water parks.  The list of amenities is as long as the list of hotels and is only limited by your wallet.

Speaking of paying, at an off site hotel, payment is handled like any other hotel.  Use your credit card to hold your reservation, then pay when you arrive. Your entire stay could be added to your credit card when you check-out.  Usually it is charged each day or every other day.  Some offer room charging for purchases made in shops and restaurants at the hotel.  Not having to pay until you arrive allows for budgeting the cost of your travel right up until the moment you leave for vacation.

Also, guests staying off site can collect or redeem points or rewards from various frequent stayer programs that match the hotel of choice. 

Depending on the location of your off-property accommodations, shops, restaurants, and other entertainment venues abound.  And, of course, there’s the option of visiting those “other” parks.  You just have to determine your transportation options and ticket needs.

We have stayed off-property and went to those “other” parks before and yet to have to rent a car in Orlando.  A town car service was needed to get us from the airport to our off-site hotel which was a block off of International Drive and access to the I-ride Trolley.  So between walking, taking the hotel shuttle to/from the parks, and using the I-ride Trolley system, we were able to get anywhere we wanted/needed to go and didn’t have to pay for a car or parking.

Staying on Disney property at Walt Disney World also has a variety of options, too.  There are “room only” stays where guests reserve a room at a Disney resort by paying the deposit of the cost of a one night stay with the balance due upon arrival.  Guests using this option may or may not want theme park tickets.  They may have an Annual Pass and not need to purchase tickets or want to purchase tickets from an outside source or purchase tickets upon arrival.  Any of the ticket options can be added to a “room only” reservation upon arrival, including any of the Disney Dining Plans, Park Hopper, or Water Parks and More.  Use of Disney’s Magical Express is available for guests with a “room only” reservation.  This type of reservation may be best for anyone who still isn’t quite sure of their vacation dates but wants to have a room reserved.  Double check cancellation policies prior to making a “room only” reservation.

Another option is the “Package” option.  This includes a room reservation at a Disney Resort, tickets, and use of Disney’s Magical Express from the airport to the resort.  Packages usually offer some type of discount, have a $200 deposit, and are required to be paid in full 45 days prior to your trip.  The “Magic Your Way” tickets can have as many options added to them as you like. . . Park Hopper, Water Parks and More, Disney Dining, etc.  Guests using this type of reservation can still add on to their park tickets once they arrive.  For example, let’s say you have a package that includes park tickets for 4 days with the Park Hopper option and you are staying 5 days.  You decide you want to add an extra day to your ticket—no problem, or maybe you want to go to a water park, so you figure out if it would be more cost effective to add the Water Parks and More option to your ticket or just pay for a day’s admission to the water park.  There’s still flexibility to ADD options to your package after you arrive. 

A Package reservation is best for those whose plans are most likely not going to change and for folks who enjoy the discount a package purchase provides along with the convenience of knowing your vacation is paid in full prior to your arrival.

Then there’s the Disney Vacation Club stay at a Disney Resort.  Points are used to pay for a stay.  Park tickets and Annual Passes can be purchased at a discount either prior or during your stay.  It is my understanding that if the Dining Plan is added to a ticket for a Disney Vacation Club stay that the cost of the Dining Plan is due in full at the time of the resort reservation.  If this is not accurate, please let me know with a comment.  Use of Disney’s Magical Express is available for transportation to/from the airport to your resort.

Even as a Disney Vacation Club member, the other options are still available.  It just depends on whether or not you are using points for your stay.

The simple “on or off property” question can be a bit more complex than it seems.  It’s great that there are so many options available to meet people’s needs.  We have friends who are Disney Vacation Club members and regularly use their points for stays.  They have Annual Passes and enjoy the deluxe accommodations that DVC provides.  We also have friends who enjoy stays off-property and use a year’s worth of points earned through credit card purchases to pay for their stay in a resort chain associated with their credit card company.  We also have friends whose travel dates are likely to change and a “room only” reservation with park tickets added on when they arrive would be the best option as they won’t know for sure they are going until their bottoms are on the seats of the plane.

For us, the Package reservation works well.  We budget for our vacation to be paid in full 45 days prior to our trip, and once we purchase plane tickets our plans are pretty firm.  We enjoy the discounts and convenience of knowing that even our dining is paid for ahead of time.  And, we have discovered that if there is a discount that becomes available even after we had made our reservation, our reservation can be adjusted to reflect the discount. . . even if we are paid in full the difference would be refunded to us!  Just more reasons that keep us coming back!

We Have A New Favorite On Property Resort--Coronado Springs!

Coronado Springs is our new favorite on property Walt Disney World Resort.  We have stayed at Caribbean Beach twice, Port Orleans Riverside five times, Port Orleans French Quarter once, and Coronado Springs on our most recent trip.  A few days into our trip, we began to consider if we wanted to stay at Coronado Springs for our next trip to Walt Disney World.  The husband and I agreed yet we let the boy have a say, too.  It was unanimous!  I called our travel agent as soon as I could to make the change.  We are officially booked at Coronado Springs for our next trip.

Coronado Springs is a moderate resort, which means that the rooms are larger than a value resort, a refrigerator is included, and the themed pool will have a slide.  All true for Coronado Springs.  Yet, Coronado Springs is also a resort with a convention center and was Disney’s most recent attempt at a moderate resort.  Many of the kinks of some of the other moderates—such as the need for an internal bus system at Caribbean Beach and the inefficient food court of Port Orleans French Quarter have been worked out.  Disney has combined the magic for their resort guests with the efficiency needed for business travelers for Coronado Springs and it worked for us.

The resort has 4 main sections.  El Centro is where you will find guest registration, the resort store—Panchitos, the Pepper Market food court/restaurant, Café Rix Lounge, Maya Grill, and Café Rix.  The conference center, business center, and ballroom are all located in El Centro.  Bus stop 1 along with Magical Express drop off and pick-up all take place at El Centro.

Upon our arrival, we checked in which went smoothly and quickly due to checking in on-line before leaving home.  We were given our Key to The World Cards which included our dining credits, park tickets, and room key all in one.  The boy headed to the store, the husband held down a chair, and I then headed to Café Rix to get our mugs and fill them.  Since we were using the Disney Dining Plan, refillable mugs were included with the plan.  Café Rix had the mugs as well as the soda dispensers.  The bill would have been $46 had the mugs not been included in the plan.  We got our first refill, grabbed our resort map, and headed to our room.

Café Rix also has a limited quick service or counter service menu with sandwiches, etc.  Snacks, pastries, fruit, and other food items are available for purchase here and it is quick and convenient.

Rooms are located in three sections—Casitas which are connected to the convention center.  Guests staying here can make it from their room to El Centro without going outside.  There are various Casitas buildings ranging from 3 to 4 stories.  Ranchos are next again with various buildings.  Ranchos are 2 -3 story buildings.  Cabanas are between Ranchos and El Centro and are 2 story buildings.  We stayed in Cabanas, building 8A on the first floor.  The majority of Cabanas rooms offer lake and beach views.  We were less than 200 steps from bus stop 4 and the boy could sprint to the Dig Site main pool barely touching the ground.  Each section also includes a quiet pool.

Our room had two queen size beds, a TV, refrigerator, desk, bathroom, etc.  It was clean, well themed, and just right for us.  A noticeable difference was that there was carpet in the sink/vanity area.  In all the other resorts we have stayed at, this area was tile.  Our room was kept tidied throughout our stay and bonus—the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion was part of the H2O line which is also found on the Disney Cruise Line ships.  We brought enough home to last us for a while!

We spent more time at a pool this trip than we ever have.  Our first afternoon we took some time to enjoy the Dig Site pool.  It took us a while to figure out why we liked it, but then it hit us.  Everything was right here.  The playground, the arcade, the kiddie pool, the hot tub were all within eyesight of the pool.  At other resorts, the pool would be in one location and the hot tub down the path and around the corner, or the playground in another area.  Siesta’s, the pool bar, was also located here and in addition to being able to order adult beverages, there was a location next door where guests could refill their refillable mugs and order snacks and sandwiches.  We took advantage of this offering!  Each afternoon, Cast Members would host games and activities poolside.  The boy joined right in on our arrival afternoon.  Another day, there was a Disney trivia contest.  Team Williams took first prize!  We would also hit the pool and hot tub when returning from the parks later in the evening.  Movies would be shown on an inflatable screen in the playground area near the pool.  The boy would go from pool to playground to arcade while the husband and I soaked in the hot tub all the while being able to keep a parental ear and eye on the boy.  By the way, Coronado Springs boasts having one of the largest hot tubs with a capacity of 22 guests.

Buses at the resort were quick and efficient.  We even had an opportunity to compare then to some other resorts when we ventured off to eat at different locations.  Coronado Springs topped the comparison.  One day we had an EPCOT bus all to ourselves!  Another day, only us and another family were headed to Hollywood Studios.  Know that the busses make 4 stops.  Here is the order:  stop 2 which is Casitas, stop 3 for Ranchos, stop 4 for Cabanas, and stop 1 for El Centro.  Knowing this is also important as if you are staying in Ranchos for example and want a ride to El Centro, you can hop on any theme park bus for a ride.  Just get off the bus at stop 1 or El Centro.  Now, it is a bit different if you want a ride from El Centro back to Ranchos.  If that is the case, you want to grab a Downtown Disney bus which starts at stop 1 and proceeds through the rest of the stops ending with stop 4.

Another draw for us was the Pepper Market.  We discovered the breakfast buffet a few days into our stay.  The cost is that of a quick service or counter service meal.  Yet, you are seated by staff, have cloth napkins, and are served your drinks.  The buffet is expansive and breakfast includes made to order omelets.  The buffet is also offered for lunch.  Dinner is a la carte. 

We made a quick comparison to Cape May Café as we had eaten breakfast there the day before.  Cape May Café counts as a table service credit and is twice as much as the Pepper Market breakfast buffet.  Still cloth napkins, still get served your drinks, but the buffet does not include made to order omelets and is much smaller in selection than the Pepper Market.  Yes, Cape May Café offers three Disney characters.  Our vote is for the Pepper Market.  Note:  whole fruits were available at the Pepper Market buffet along with individual cereal boxes.  This would be a great place to eat and grab a few snack items for a day of park touring or traveling home.  We already had plenty of cereal but we did take a couple of apples with us to put in our bag.  Another plus:  since we used the Disney Dining Plan quick service credits for breakfast and it comes with two drinks, we were offered small bottles of cold water to take with us.  We did not use our refillable mugs at Pepper Market.  We could have refilled them at Café Rix and brought them with, but since we were headed to the parks we did not bring them with.  (That’s another story—seeing guests tote their refillable mugs with them while in the parks.)

So why is Coronado Springs our new favorite?  Theming, efficiency, convenience of having the pool and playground in one location, and the value of the Pepper Market.  It just seemed that everything was easier this trip.  Maybe it was that this was trip #9 and we have information and experiences under our belt.  Maybe it was the great resort.  Maybe it was Disney Magic.  Whatever it was, we want a bit of it back for our next trip.  Coronado Springs, here we come again!