Pop Century vs CBR About This Page:

[Arnir]

Howdy,
I'll try to make this short. I'm going to WDW in August for 11 days (with travel only 9 days to tour). I'm currently booked at Pop. For about $400 more I could stay at CBR. Pop is a preferred room, CBR wouldn't be. I'm not sure which to do and for this thread assume those are the only two options, please.

I've stayed at POFQ and AsSports. I loved FQ. Sports was just okay. FQ was great because it was small, etc. Sports got the job done, but I get brutal blisters (nothing to do with Sports) so I was in pain the whole trip. I think this has prejudiced me against values. I'm travelling solo so I don't have anyone to save a table while I'm in line, etc., so I get a bit uptight about that, etc. (I'm DxDP so I will probably not dine much at the food court). I thought I would try Pop to give values another shot, but I am attracted to mods. (And the Poly, but way out of my budget).

Anyway, any pros/cons for either place? Recommendations? Thoughts? I'll probably come up with more thoughts/issues soon.

Thanks.

[ilovedisney247]

Your decision is really based on what you want to spend--if you can swing the mod room at CBR I would do it, but the mod resorts are very large and have just as much walking time as the values.

[austinsmommie]

We have stayed at Pop twice. On your last trip we stay at CBR after staying 1 night at AOA. We had decided to goto a Moderate because free dining was being offered and after we paid the money to upgrade from the quick service at the values there wasn't much price difference between staying at CBR(my son turned 10 so he is now an adult in Disneys eyes). We have decided we will never(hopefully our budget can afford it) go back to values. We thought the Pop was great before we stayed at CBR. Yes the place is big, but we didn't find the walk to bad. We stayed in Jamacia. We ate at the food court most days at some point. We found it so much more relaxing at CBR.
With all that being said if we could only afford a value I would stay at the Pop, we have stayed at Sports before, but preferred Pop. If we planned to spend most of our time at the park I would have to look at the price difference before making my choice. We have 2 kids (6 and 11) so we do spend time at the hotel. Sometimes we goto the parks in the afternoon, sometimes we leave for an afternoon break. My kids enjoyed the pool and beach areas at CBR.

[luvnwdwgal]

Definitely Pop Century. No matter what building you're in, you're not far from the main building and bus stop. The food court is MUCH better than CBR and Pop has the best bus transportation of any resort I believe. Plus, don't forget the savings!

[thinktink79]

I LOVE Pop. CBR was Ok to us. I mean as far as mods go. I say stay at Pop and spend the extra monies on park purchases.

[Roxie2006]

We do love the POP. My family has stayed there our last 4 trips. Not sharing the buses did play a big part in our decision. All the buildings being close to Food Court and the buses was the second reason for our stay. The food court also had food we all liked and when coming in from the Parks I would spoil myself with a hot fudge sunday. If we were to spend more time in our room, I think I would consider staying at a Moderate. This is just the right place for us.

[sakana]

My vote would be the preferred room at Pop. Personally, I think Pop is nicer, and I also think you'll do less walking in a preferred room at Pop than in a non-preferred room at CBR. I also think the extra 400 dollars will buy you little more than a fancier pool and a sub-par table service restaurant.

Of course, everyone will have their own opinion, but CBR just did not impress me (my answer would have been different if your choice included POR or POFQ). Also, FWIW, I thought the food court food at Pop was quite delicious. I suppose one drawback of staying at Pop is not having anyplace to use your abundant deluxe DP TS credits.

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[HiddenMickey]

Those are my two least favorite resorts in their categories. (POR and CSR, ASMu and ASSp are my favorites).

To me, staying in a moderate for the queen size beds and a bit larger room might be worth spending the extra money (but CBR still has double beds). I never reserve preferred rooms. Since all the rooms are basically alike, I like paying the standard rate and saving a bit there.

I think in your case, I'd probably go with the PopC room.

[DisneyMamaSarah]

We have stayed at Movies and Pop (twice) in the Values category.

We absolutely LOVE Pop. Would have stayed there again last year, but it wasn't available with free dining when we booked. So, we went with CBR instead.

I wouldn't NOT stay at CBR again, but I still think we prefer Pop.

I do agree that in comparison to the 3 resorts we've stayed at -- Pop's bus service wins hands down.

[DsnyDiva]

Another vote for Pop...we love Pop... we are staying there again in August...good luck deciding!!!!

[luvnwdwgal]

If you do go with Pop. Don't waste your money on a preferred room. Just book a standard.

[Huntermom]

I have never stayed in a value but have stayed at CBR, CSR (multiple times) and POFQ as well as several deluxes. I was quite happy with CBR -we were in Jamaica and just a short walk to everything. I love CSR and think it compares psoitively to the lower priced deluxes.

I was at CBR over MLK weekend and the first night we got in the food court was a mess. Other than that we had no problems with cleanliness or wear and tear.

I like to get value for my money (I think the rack rates are way over priced) so usually stay where I feel I get the best deal. I also always have a rental so can't comment on bus transportation other than to say I don't like it from anywhere.

[disney_duke]

It depends on transportation. If you have a car, then CBR is awesome. If you're using Disney buses, then POP may be easier.

Personally I love CBR, having stayed there twice. First in a standard room, and I requested and received a room in the Aruba section. The walk to the food court wasn't bad, but I usually drove there on the way out of the resort. I used the bus once to/from MK and the drive back was annoying with the multiple stops. Second time was in a pirate room, so it was further away, but again I just drove the car.

POP I've been to twice. First time in the 70's section and I did not have a car. It worked out great. Short walk to the food court and bus stops. Second time in the 50's section and I did have a car. A bit of a further walk to the food court but still not terrible.

I think you just have to really consider the little things (like walks to/from various places) and your transport options and then go from there. Theming is great at both places, but CBR gets my vote overall for the laid back atmosphere and beaches!

[joelsmom]

Well, only you can decide what's most important to you. Having said that, if walking less is important, then I'd go with Pop Century. In a preferred location, you'll be quite close to the buses. In a standard room at CBR, while you can always request, your chances of walking more are, IMO, a good deal higher. If I planned to be doing a lot of park time and TS dining, personally I would not waste my money on a moderate resort, especially when both of these resorts have full beds instead of queens.

For $400 difference, the only reason I could see booking CBR standard would be that (1) the money didn't matter to me and (2) I just really wanted the more grown-up feel of a moderate. Okay, I know that was actually two reasons.

Good luck with your choice!

[Arnir]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Lots of things to think about. I don't mind walking when I don't have blisters, and I've avoided that the last 3 trips. If I win the lottery I'll just go Poly.