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Pop Century is one of the value resorts at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida It’s themed around 20th century American pop culture, in particular the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s (there are individual sections at the resort for each decade). You can see a virtual tour of the hotel here:
As a value resort, it has cheaper rates than most other Disney hotels. I have found the pricing, though, to be a bit higher than Disney’s All Star Resorts (All Star Sports, All Star Music, and All Star Movies). It should become apparent why it costs when you keep reading this blog entry. But even if the price is higher than the All Star hotels, you still can get some pretty good rates if you book your room here.
1Skyliner System
So here’s a big reason why Pop Century costs more than the All Star hotels: this hotel has access to the Skyliner System!
Disney’s Skyliner System allows you to get special transportation to the World Showcase entrance of Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It is one of the best ways to get to a Disney park. You generally don’t have to wait as long because the Gondolas are continually coming. Disney doesn’t pack the Gondolas the way they pack the busses. The Gondolas seat around eight so you often get to sit with just your family or maybe one other family. There’s no standing way too close to others in an overly stuffed bus.
We go into more detail about Disney’s Skyliner System here.
You can see a video of the Disney Skyliner here:
2Nostalgia
1950’s
1960’s
1970’s
1980’s
1990’s
If you love nostalgia, then you’ll love this resort. All over the resort are huge icons fitting to the themed decade, such as:
- A giant bowling ball in the 1950’s
- A giant yo yo in the 1960’s
- A giant 8 track in the 1970’s
- A giant Rubic’s Cube in the 1980’s
- A giant floppy disk in the 1990’s
There are also huge quotes on the building that fits the era.
And then I really love the facts they have up on signs all over the resort as you walk around.
It’s really a nice trip down memory lane for the stuff that you lived through and quite informative for things before your time (and in that sense it’s actually perhaps the most educational Disney hotel).
You’ll also love the pictures in the lobby.
The first time I stayed at Pop Century, I found myself just walking along the lobby looking at all the pictures. They all brought back such great memories.
3Modern rooms
Now, full disclosure, I first stayed at this hotel years ago. I did not love my room.
But once Disney refurbished the rooms, I had a completely different experience every time I have stayed there since.
Now, why did I love the refurbished room? Well, a few reasons. For one, the new room makes a great use of space. If you’ve ever stayed in a room at a deluxe Disney hotel (like Boardwalk Inn or Polynesian Village) or a moderate (like Port Orleans French Quarter or Caribbean Resort) then you should know the rooms at Pop Century are a lot smaller.
But the new rooms helped make up for the lack of space. If you are staying in a room for 3 or 4 people where you need 2 beds, you’ll notice when you walk in that you’ll see 1 bed and a table. That’s because one of the bed is a pullout bed, which really adds to the space of the room when you’re not sleeping!
My family was even able to bring a pizza back to the room and eat at the table, which was nice. The other really nice feature I like about the new rooms was is how many USB-charging ports there were around the room. If you have a lot of devices you need charged, then you will love this feature. I wish more rooms at Disney had this feature.
The only negative I would have about these rooms is that if you are going thinking that you’re going to have a room that fits the section you’re staying in (like a room that looks like the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, etc.), well, you’ll be disappointed. There is nothing decor distinguishing any room in any section from other sections.
The only neat feature that is different depending on your room is the TV station that is on when you enter your room. They have a welcome message, a picture of the resort, and generic music is playing that fits the style of your section. So that is pretty neat.
And at least now you know not to expect say a shag carpet or a lava lamp in your room. And there is still great stuff up all over the resort to make your nostalgic heart happy.
4Food court
Everything Pop Shopping & Dining is a combination gift shop and food court (because there is no getting around going through gifts shop when you are at Disney World).
But this really is a great food court. The food court is huge, which I like because every time I’ve been there I’ve been able to find a seat. That even includes when I was there over the 4th of July weekend.
The food court also plays great music, with hits from the different eras. In my opinion, it’s some of the best music you can hear at a Disney food court.
The food’s also very good, too. We especially recommend the pizza (which we mentioned earlier). It is extremely affordable because you can share the pizza. And it is really good pizza, too.
5Easy to understand bus system
Now I mentioned the Skyliner transportation to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. But for the other parks and areas (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, the Wide World of Sports & Disney Springs), you can take a bus.
And while there are drawbacks of the busses I mentioned earlier, it is so much better than staying at an offsite hotel. Disney busses typically come around every twenty minutes, which is so much more than offsite hotels. This is one of the advantages of staying onsite at a Disney hotel (we talk about other advantages of staying onsite at Disney World here).
But one thing I like in particular about Pop Century over other Disney hotels is the ease of the bus system. All the bus stops are right outside the main lobby. It’s extremely easy to find, which is nice.
And there are signs up so you know where to line up, which is extremely convenient. At some of the other resorts, like Old Key West or the Port Orleans resorts, you can sit down and wait for the bus but then once the bus comes everyone jumps up and runs to the bus and it gets quite chaotic. That does not happen at Pop Century because everyone’s already in a designated line.
The other nice thing about their bus system is that because there’s only a bus stop at the front of the resort that makes the bus stop quicker. If you were staying at say Coronado Springs you might get a bus station right outside your room but then because there are so many bus stops around the resort it makes the bus ride quite long. Not a problem at Pop Century
6Proximity to Art of Animation
One of the neat things about Pop Century is how close it is to Art of Animation. You only have to walk across the Generation Gap Bridge to get to Art of Animation.
Now, why is that a cool feature? Well, a couple things. First of all, Art of Animation has a really nice food court If you have a long stay at Pop Century, it’s neat to be able to eat at both the food court at Pop Century and Art of Animation to shake things up.
The other neat thing is the bus system. If you are getting a bus back to your hotel and you are sick of waiting for the bus to come for Pop Century and you see the bus for Art of Animation, then you can take that bus to get back to your room. There’s more walking involved, but it is nice to have a backup option if your bus is late or you just miss the bus back to Pop Century and you don’t want to wait for the next one.
7Amenities
Pop Century may be considered a Disney “value” resort, but it certainly is not lacking in extra fun features that can make your family trip a lot of fun. There are multiple pools: a 1960’s Hippy Dippy Pool with flower-shaped water jets & a children’s pool nearby with a pop-jet water fountain, plus a smaller 1950’s bowling pool & 1990’s computer pool. There’s also fun activities at the Hippy Dippy pool, like Movie Under The Stars, pool parties, trivia, games, etc. There’s also an arcade right off the lobby, Fast Forward Arcade, and a jogging trail & playground.
