I’ve got a ressie for late April 2021. Family (DW and DD12 team-up) made me select Pop Century when what I really want is Caribbean Beach. I think CB is beautiful, but they cruelly call it generic and boring.
Sell me on Pop… or tell me how to manipulate these chumps into doing the right thing, for once in their lives.
I don’t like Pop, so I can’t help sell you. The rooms at Pop are smaller and when the murphy bed is down it’s a narrow walkway that lends itself to busied shins. I think the pool at CB is better than Pop’s. But due to it’s sprawling size you could have a long walk to the food court. I also like the beaches w/ hammocks around CB. I love the colors of CB too… never thought of it as generic??? Good luck though!
The bed at Pop was one of the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in. Otherwise I didn’t love it (the food court is very loud and chaotic) but haven’t stayed at CBR so I can’t compare.
Pop is more compact, with four-story buildings (with elevators) and only one bus stop. Refurbed rooms with good lighting and lots of storage. But smaller rooms, no table when Murphy bed is used as a bed, no TS, no pool slide. Two skyliner legs from HS/EP (must do a transfer which is usually quick).
CBR is sprawling, with two-story buildings without elevators, and multiple bus stops. Bigger rooms with a table, has TS, has pool slide. Only one skyliner leg away from either HS or EP.
I stayed at both within the past year. Pop is better for bus service by far, and is more compact so easier to get to the main building. We would pass through to fill our water bottles in the food court on our way to the bus stop every morning, no need to buy bottled water. Room is a bit smaller but newly refurbished. I liked the bathroom better at Pop. There wasn’t a table with both beds down, but there is a long bureau you can set things on.
CBR has a better pool and has a hot tub. The main building also got crowded and loud, on the rare occasion we were there. It was a hike from our room so we only ventured there a couple of times in the week we were there. The rooms were ok but could use refurbishment again soon. They still have carpet which is pretty dirty. If you aren’t at the beginning of the bus loop be prepared to be passed by by full busses. The TS is supposed to be good at CBR, it’s still on my bucket list. You can get a room for 5 at CBR due to the fold-down beds but I’m not sure an adult would be very comfortable on it. Or a small child, too easy to roll off.
We plan to stay at both later this year again since we need a room for 5 on one trip. On the whole however for the price difference I would go for Pop, unless you plan on lots of pool time.
One bus stop at Pop means you won’t have a bus fill up at the other stops and then bypass your stop. It is so close to AoA that when you’re leaving a park you can just hop on whichever bus comes first.
Oh, also I think I remember from somewhere you can get Dole Whips at Pop
Plus, you will save some money that you can spend on other stuff.
Since this has been mentioned repeatedly, I’m not replying to anyone in particular: are full buses passing by a common occurrence? I thought that when things got tight, they routed dedicated buses for just Jamaica/Aruba (the two stops at the end of the most commonly used loop).
We had a car so usually drove to the park. We were in Aruba which was the last bus stop and each of the maybe 3 times we tried to use the bus (to MK) the bus would pull up full or almost full and we were not going to get on. We just bailed to our car. If we had walked to an earlier stop we might have had better luck. But that was pre-Skyliner, I hope it is better now.
Was at CBR 4th of July week 2018 - Jamaica - did not notice full buses passing our stop.
We’re early early people - like to arrive at the park at least 45 min before opening. We did use the bus arrival time on the MDE app. We did have a private vehicle but it stayed parked.
As for Pop vs CBR.
Pop is better if you’re afraid of pool slides. 
Note to yourself: quiet pool at Jamaica does not have a slide. Main pool has the slide. Be sure to leave pix of CBR main pool lying around unattended.
We Love CBR … but … the rooms are getting dated, and need some TLC. Not horrible, but dated (worn furniture and carpet). We stayed at CBR Sept 2019 and Jan 2020 (pre-covid). POP rooms are very recently refurb’d and more up-to-date. Our June 2020 at Pop was cancelled. If they open reservations for fall 2020, we’ll be going back to Pop.