We returned from our FIRST ever stay at Pop (and my first ever stay at a value) on Saturday, February 26, 2022. A few thoughts and some rambling about our two day stay.
I had requested a room in either 60s or 70s on the first floor. We received 80s but did get a first floor corner room next to the parking lot. Initially, we were not pleased although it suddenly dawned on us that we would not be schlepping luggage through the resort since the car was basically within eyesight of the room. Yep, the walk to anywhere was quite the hike, but we were okay with that since it was a short, two day stay on our way home. I had scored an AP rate for the standard room and our room was ready within 15 minutes of our arrival at 1:30 p.m. (darn I-4 traffic put us way behind schedule).
We did NOT purchase Genie + and it is doubtful that we will do so in the future given the track record of inability to book the "good rides" early in the day AND its constant failure/glitches.
The Skyliner, as previously noted, garners quite the queue in the pre-park ETPE times. We arrived plenty early and the queue was all the way down the lake path to the bowling pins. All worked out and we made DHS by 8:10 a.m. or so and we were queued for our first ride on TOT by 8:15 a.m. Clearly, the early arrivals were already through security/gates and at their first attractions as well. TOT and RnR were our only goals for the day and we accomplished that and nothing more due to the exceptionally long queues for every attraction by 9:00 a.m.--yes, it was packed and as noted all over the boards--crazy busy! As noted above, no Genie + and, from reports on the same days we visited; we did just as well getting these two rides within a one hour time period with a short wait than most did with scheduling Genie + LLs.
The Skyliner will get you to your destination timely provided you are willing to get there early. While I am not sure exactly the time we queued, it was definitely after 7:00 a.m. due to my DH's pokey morning.
We did not rope drop EPCOT since that was our arrival morning, but we did ride the Skyliner to EPCOT both evenings of our stay and it was an unremarkable trip both ways. We did exit EPCOT prior to the end of HarmoniUS so we did not have to encounter the mass exodus at park close.
Our bed was comfy, the room clean and we had no noisy neighbors out there in the boondocks. We were pleasantly surprised at the space and LOVED the shower heads! We did need more coffee and sadly had to walk to the front desk to get it requested--no one would answer the phone when we called from the room.
No one did a room inspection and our trash was not removed while we were guests.
We also had issues with charging on our MBs even though all the information was copacetic in
MDE. We went to the desk and it was allegedly all fixed. You can guess what happens next--went to EPCOT and it didn't work when we went to Hurricane Hanna's for a visit/cocktail with our favorite bartender. Finish our vist/drinks and off to EPCOT guest services. The charging error was quickly resolved and it was noted that Pop GS did not "fix" the problem, but created more of an issue. Once the EPCOT GS rep worked his magic, we had no further charging issues.
Our weather was spectacular--record highs and the pool was nice and warm. We did not like the Skyliner and the amount of time it took to transport to and from--it is not a great deal of time, but just not pleasant for us. We are used to Boardwalk area resorts and the ability to walk to EPCOT or DHS--we control our own destiny for at least two parks. We are not fans of buses from any location, but an evil we tolerate. We did not experience the bus service from Pop due to our short stay.
We really have no complaints about the resort, but I highly doubt we will return--never say never, but I don't envision it. Thanks for the thread! It was helpful in getting us around the unfamiliar resort on a first visit!
