Great info - thanks @dunegirl !!! 
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We arrive at the Pop in a few days, looking forward to the trip. In another thread, I was checking on refurbishment and all buildings 4 and up are refurbished, so request 60’s or later and if honored, you will be set. Only suggestion I can think of is if you are getting breakfast, earlier the better, the cafeteria can get overwhelmed close to park openings It’s made the difference between a leisurely relaxing start to the day vs. getting a bit frazzled before even hitting the parks. If you are rope-drop inclined, you are already set 
will
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This is true about the food court. It can get overwhelming. Try to get there as early as possible if you are RD’ing
Thanks for the tip! We plan to order some groceries to be delivered for breakfasts, so we probably won’t use the food court too much. If we did it would be early because we have an 8am start most days
Grab & go is open at 6am. Drinks, muffins, etc.
The rest of the food options don’t open until 7am (eggs, waffles, etc).
To make rope drop for 8am, you should be at the bus as close to 7am as possible. It’s about 20-25 min by bus to MK and then bag check, etc.
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Just checked into the POP last night (too late to post last night)
WINNER! Refurb from my standpoint is great. Old rooms were “tolerable”, new rooms are great. I count 14 outlets and 12 USB charging stations! Bigger beds do make things feel a bit more cramped when both are down. Only major casualty I see with the murphy bed is that you have to choose between second bed and a desk. I like to get up and do some work on my laptop while others are still sleeping. Can’t do that. Minor quibble compared to all the upsides though. NIce to have a place to make morning tea too. Coffee maker for those that like coffee.
Bathroom is bright and very functional. They do a good job of making what is clearly limited space more useful. The weird double sliding door to the bathroom is pretty cool.
will
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Which section/building are you in? Any idea how much is left to be renovated?
TIA!
Saw posted elsewhere that they just finished building 4, so 4 and higher is what I beleive.
Wrapping up a trip now and wondering the grounds a couple days ago revealed that building 1 is now being refurbished. Pretty impressive refurbishing too, they must be moving electrical/plumbing as I could peek in some of the rooms (from a distance) and they are jack-hammering up a lot of concrete.
will
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We stayed at POP a couple weeks ago.
I hate the theming, but inside the renovated rooms I was pleased. They are very small, but pack in a TON of storage space and a ton of charging ports, both USB and regular.
I also got a $100/nt-or-so rate from MVT, and their park tickets are cheap too.
Be aware you may not be able to decline housekeeping to get a gift card if you book through MVT. I found that out at POP.
One tip I have is, if like us, you are given a non-refurbished room at check in (ASK!), you can request one and if you have to wait for it to be ready but want to hit the parks, you can store your carry-ons and extra stuff with Bell Services and they will deliver it to your room when it is ready, along with your checked luggage from the airline.
I did notice some bugs in the room but it doesn’t freak me out. Seemed to be baby mosquitos over the coffee/fridge station and a few over by the sink. A small cockroach on the floor near the sink.
PS. The coffeemaker isn’t a Keurig, it’s the kind that uses the little Joffrey’s pods like at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I love Joffrey’s!
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Ack, the cockroach would freak me out! I know they are all over, but I don’t want to see them!
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I’m from Texas and ours are twice the size.
We love Pop Century!
There is a great variety at the food court, however we found that the late night selection was not as fresh or tasty as breakfast/lunch time.
We never had any issues with bus service TO anywhere, but often times waiting for a bus to come at park close was a longer wait than we thought it should be. When you’re tired after touring all day and 1 of every 12-15 busses that pulls up is Pop Century it got a bit frustrating. However, I did not even think to hop on the Art of Animation busses which seemed to be coming quicker and in more numbers than Pop. I am def using that trick on our upcoming trip this fall!
I will also advise caution if you have light sleepers. Unless they ramped up the insulation, you can def hear your neighbors- the water running, coughing, loud talking or giggling, children crying. I now know to bring a noisemaker with us next trip to help drown out those noises. Granted, I get that it’s a value resort and neighborly noise to an extent is to be expected. But one of our neighbors on our honeymoon had a terrible cough and it would wake us up in the middle of the night as would the water starting to run for showers at 6 AM. So just a heads up from our experience!
We enjoyed the pool and pool bar, and there’s a small arcade that was great for a wind-down activity. We weren’t quite ready to call it a night so we loaded up the arcade card and spent an hour playing games. The arcade isn’t anything super special, but the hubby and I had a good time.
You will enjoy it. We can’t wait. 175 days away…
Did they say why not? They are having a shortage of housekeepers that is the reason for the gift card, nothing to do with room rate. So not sure how booking with MVT affects declining housekeeping. They must clean your room?
They said we were staying on a group rate and therefore ineligible. They could see on their computer at reception that it was a “group” rate.
We always travel with a sound machine. It’s a must with young kids!
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A couple of weeks ago, on another blog, someone posted a picture on which a CM wrote the refurbished building. As of the end of April 2018, the refurbished sections are:
70-80-90 are all done
60: building 5 is done and building 4 just reopened.
50: building 3 is closed and building 1 is closed and starting next. Building 2 is is opened but not refurbished yet.
Hope that helps!
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Does building 4 being reopened mean that it is done being refurbished as well?
I think so.
We’re going in September of this year, so if anyone hears of any new updates for the refurb, please, please let us know on this thread.
Thank you!!!
