I walked until I reached a mountain then i tried to dig into it (without a pick) and I carved out a small cave home for myself (it took about six minutes and was ugly as f***. Then I learned what the wiki was...
Start a creative world with cheats on, and once you build whatever challenge map or creation you want, you type in the command /gamemode 0 and you will turn into survival. then you position yourself in the best place for your map.
I have no problem with the pop reel, nor do i think there should be a side pop reel. My project got on the pop reel for one day and i ain't complaining.