Pop Century Resort Review and Guide – Walt Disney World
Out of Walt Disney World’s five Value Resorts located on Disney property, Pop Century continues to be our top choice! This resort offers all of the value level amenities, along with special activities, fun theming, and newly refurbished rooms. Below is our full Pop Century Review and Guide to help you learn more about this blast from the past resort!
Currently, Disney’s Pop Century Resort Standard Rooms start at $158 per night before tax according to Disney’s official website. Out of the five Disney owned Value Resorts, Pop Century is generally the second highest in price with Art of Animation Resort Standard Rooms usually costing a little more and the All Star Resorts’ Standard Rooms often costing a little less. While all five value level resorts are great options for a budget-friendly stay, we think Pop Century offers one of the best resort experiences out of all the resorts we have stayed at in Walt Disney World – both Value and Moderate (for more info on Moderate Resorts, take a look at our full Caribbean Beach Resort Review and Guide).
As always, we encourage you to visit Disney’s website for all official information and to make sure that none of this information has changed since this article was written. We update our website and articles as often as we can, but it is always a good idea to double check Disney’s official website before booking any resorts stays or visiting the Walt Disney World Resort.
Pop Century Resort Overview
Every Walt Disney World resort has its own unique theming which can be found in every corner of the resort from the lobby to the rooms. The theme of Disney’s Pop Century Resort features decades spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s, and each section of the resort showcases iconic items, phrases, and people from each of these eras.
Pop Century is located nearest to Hollywood Studios, and Epcot can be found just a little farther down the road. Pop Century is connected to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort by the Generation Gap Bridge across Hour Glass Lake, making both resorts within walking distance of each other. Guests can also drive along the private road that circles around the Pop Century and Art of Animation to travel between the two.
The Generation Gap Bridge is also home to one of the new stations for the Disney Skyliner system, which transports guests to and from Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach Resort, Riviera Resort, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Pop Century is also quite close to Disney Springs and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, making this resort’s location a prime spot for easy access to a large portion of Walt Disney World.
Classic Hall
The main building of Disney’s Pop Century is the location of the Classic Hall, which is where the lobby and check-in are located. On nearly every wall, guests will find framed memorabilia from five decades showcased at this resort, from the wooden toys of the 1950s to the video games of the 1990s. References to famous celebrities, hit songs, and well-known films can also be found throughout the halls of this building, all representing the era of time with which they are most closely associated.
In this main building just around the corner from the lobby you will find the Fast Forward Arcade. Like other Disney resorts, Pop Century has its own arcade full of classic games like Pac-Man and Air Hockey for guests of all ages to enjoy. You will need to buy tickets to play these games just as you would in a traditional arcade, but you can easily purchase the amount you would like right inside the arcade room.
Just outside the front doors of Classic Hall is a large parking lot for those who are checking in or visiting the main common areas. Disney bus stations that transport guests to and from other Disney properties can be found along the front entrance of the resort. Disney’s Magical Express transportation pick up and drop off is also conveniently located just outside of Classic Hall for guests who have traveled via the Orlando International Airport.
Everything POP Shopping & Dining
Everything Pop Shopping & Dining is the resort’s only gift shop and restaurant, but both the shop and dining area are actually quite large. When guests enter the lobby through the front entrance of the main building (where the Classic Hall lobby and check-in are located), they will first come to the gift shop on the left. This large gift shop offers all sorts of Disney merchandise, including apparel, souvenirs, and park necessities, as well as snacks and care items that guests might need, such as medicine and sunscreen.
Guests can then walk through the gift shop to visit the dining hall, which offers a good amount of quick service food options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A variety of snacks, pastries, and desserts are also available throughout the day. This dining area features multiple large seating areas for guests to relax and eat their meals, which they can either order from the numerous quick service counters or bring themselves.
For guests who want to bring their own meals to eat at their resort, the dining hall offers microwaves and water stations for preparing any food items that need to be cooked. Otherwise, guests can choose from a whole host of meal options offered at the quick service counter including various pizzas, sandwiches, pastas, breakfast platters, and full dinners complete with sides. Disney World resorts also offer many Gluten Free and Vegetarian options now, so there are often great options for different dietary preferences and needs.
Our Review of Everything POP Shopping and Dining
Every time we’ve stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, we’ve always had a great experience at Everything POP Shopping and Dining. For a Value Resort, the shopping area is actually quite spacious and has a surprisingly large selection of items. We found souvenirs, apparel, accessories, ears, hats, toys, park essentials, and even snacks at the Everything POP gift shop.
Having a nice size shop located right where you are staying is a great benefit of on-property Disney resorts, and we tend to browse the resort gift shops often – both when we are staying at a resort as well as when we are visiting a resort for the day.
Like all Disney resort gift shops, you can sometimes even find specialty items that you won’t find at most other shops at the resorts or the parks, including resort-specific merchandise. It’s always a good idea to stop by resort shops if you’re looking for a specific item or a particularly unique find. You never know what you might see at a resort shop that you won’t see anywhere else!
The food and beverage options at the Everything POP quick service dining hall are top notch in our opinion, and it is consistently at the top of our list every time we visit Walt Disney World. A lot of the portions we received were larger than we expected, and the quality was excellent. Interestingly, we actually prefer eating at Pop Century’s quick service dining than we do at Caribbean Beach’s Centertown Market, which we didn’t expect given that Caribbean Beach is a Moderate level resort. If you’d like to read our review of Centertown Market and learn more about how it compares to Everything POP, check out our full Caribbean Beach Resort Review and Guide.
Everything POP’s dining area tends to also be a bit less stressful for us than Art of Animation Resort’s Landscape of Flavors across the way. Both offer similar menus, but Art of Animation’s dining hall often feels much more busy and loud compared to Everything POP at Pop Century. Of course, there are always certain times of day that all Disney quick service locations are more crowded than others, such as at breakfast time before the parks open, so that’s good to keep in mind. However, we have always felt more relaxed at Everything POP overall, and the layout of the seating area just doesn’t feel quite as cramped to us as Landscape of Flavor at Art of Animation does.
1950s
Once you step out the doors of the Classic Hall building and are facing the resort’s main feature pool, the section located directly to the right is the 1950s. This is the only section on this side of the resort, and it is also the only section with three separate hotel buildings.
The 1950s also has its own pool – the Bowling Pool – which is shaped like a large bowling pin and matches the three-story bowling pins that sit outside each of the buildings in this section. Other decorations include silhouettes of sock-hop dancers, a large jukebox, and fun fifties phrases.
Disney’s Lady and the Tramp is the classic film featured in this area, which originally debuted in 1955. Just before reaching the Bowling Pool, you’ll find Tramp and Lady sitting across from each other outside of two of the three 1950s buildings.
1960s
The section located directly outside the doors on the backside of the Classic Hall building is themed to the 1960s. This section is decorated with icons related with this decade, including giant Yo-Yo’s and Playdoh, and phrases like “Can you dig it?” and “Out of Sight”.
Two large buildings filled with hotel rooms sit on either side of the resort’s main feature pool, which is the Hippy Dippy Pool. This flower-shaped pool is the largest of all the pools at this resort and features water jets, lounge chairs, and beach umbrellas.
Located between the Hippy Dippy Pool and the main building is the Petals Pool Bar, which serves both alcohol based drinks and non-alcoholic drinks. On the opposite side of the Hippy Dippy Pool is the Kiddie Pool, which is a smaller, shallow pool play area designed for families with younger children.
The Disney movie featured in this area is The Jungle Book, which was originally released in 1967. You can find Baloo and Mowgli standing between the two pools next to one of the buildings.
On the side furthest away from the main building is Generation Gap Bridge, which connects Pop Century Resort to Art of Animation Resort. This bridge is also where one of the new Disney Skyliner stations is located, which is shared between these two resorts.
1970s
After exiting the Classic Hall facing the Hippy Dippy Pool, turning to your left will lead you into the 1970s area. If you grew up in the era of disco, mood rings, and pet rocks, then you’ll instantly recognize the icons and phrases of this decade. Interestingly, you won’t find any Disney movies featured in this section, which is surprising since several Disney classics like Aristocats, The Rescuers, and Pete’s Dragon were all released in the 1970s, just to name a few. However, you will find giant 8-Tracks, a Big Wheel tricycle, and a Mickey Mouse telephone in this section, all of which make great photo-ops!
The 1970s is the only section without a pool nearby, although there is a small playground for children located on the outer edge of the building closest to the parking lot.
1980s and 1990s
The 1980s and 1990s are the only decades that cannot be directly accessed from the Classic Hall. In order to walk to these sections from the main building, you’ll have to pass through a little bit of the 1960s and all of the 1970s area first.
The first of these two decades that you will enter is the 1980s, which has two hotel buildings. Giant Rubik’s Cubes sit at the ends of each of these buildings, and walking to the middle of this section will bring you to the common area with a huge Sony Walkman on one side and a towering Roger Rabbit on the other. While Roger Rabbit isn’t technically a Disney classic, it was produced by Touchstone pictures – a film studio that was a part of the Walt Disney Company.
Located at the end of this common area is the 1990s section, which is the only decade with one single building. Just like all the other decades, icons and phrases from the era decorate the outside of the building, and the continuing technology advancements of the times is represented by building-sized cell phones and a laptop.
These two sections share a pool, which is the Computer Pool. The pool itself is actually just a rectangle in shape, but a large QWERTY keyboard is printed on the concrete on one side of the pool. Ginormous Floppy Discs sit at one corner of the pool area, fully tying the tech of these two decades and these two sections of the resort together.
Pop Century Resort Rooms
Disney’s Pop Century Resort offers both Standard and Preferred Rooms. All of these rooms include basic amenities such as a hairdryer, coffee maker, mini-refrigerator, in-room safe, an ironing board and iron, and a telephone.
A regular Standard Room is available with either one king bed or with two queen beds (one regular queen bed and one queen-size table bed that folds up into the wall and has a fold-out table attached). These rooms have views of either the parking areas or the resort in general. Standard Pool View rooms are also available and offer a view of either the Bowling Pool in the 1950s area or the Computer Pool in the 1980s/1990s section.
A Preferred Room at Pop Century has the distinction of being located near the Classic Hall and Everything POP Shopping and Dining. Like the Standard rooms, Preferred rooms at this resort are available with either one king bed or with two queen beds (one regular queen bed and one queen-size table bed). These rooms also offer views of either the Courtyard or the landscaping between the resort sections.
A Preferred Pool View room is the final option guests can choose from at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which offer the same room layout as all other room options but with a view of the Hippy Dippy Pool. These Preferred Pool View rooms are only available in the 1960s area and offer close access to the main common areas just as the regular Preferred Rooms do.
Because of their central location, all Preferred rooms are quite close to Disney’s complimentary transportation options. Disney buses and the Magical Express all have pickup and drop-off locations at the Classic Hall, and the Disney Skyliner can be accessed from the Generation Gap Bridge located on the lake near the back of the 1960s section.
As always, you can expect to pay a bit extra per night if you’d like a pool view, a Preferred room, or a combination of both of these upgrades. Regardless of what type of room you are looking for, though, you should still be able to find some great deals at Pop Century compared to most other Disney resorts on property.
Pop Century Resort Room Types:
- Standard Room – One King Bed OR Two Queen Beds (one regular and one Murphy-style table bed); View of Parking Areas or Resort
- Standard Pool View – One King Bed OR Two Queen Beds (one regular and one Murphy-style table bed); View of Bowling Pool or Computer Pool
- Preferred Room – One King Bed OR Two Queen Beds (one regular and one Murphy-style table bed); View of Courtyard or Landscaping; Close Proximity to Classic Hall, Everything POP Shopping and Dining, Bus Transportation, and Skyliner Transportation
- Preferred Pool View – One King Bed OR Two Queen Beds (one regular and one Murphy-style table bed); View of Hippy Dippy Pool; Close Proximity to Classic Hall, Everything POP Shopping and Dining, Bus Transportation, and Skyliner Transportation
Our Review of the Standard Rooms
Now that Pop Century’s hotel rooms have been fully refurbished, they all have a fresh, modern new look. Even with this new design, though, you’ll still find fun Disney details featured throughout, including a portrait or two of Mickey Mouse himself! The rooms aren’t really decade specific inside, but rather more generic and similar in style no matter what section of the resort you may be staying in.
We have stayed in Pop Century’s Standard rooms several times and find these rooms to be a nice size, particularly for shorter stays. While we have certainly stayed at Disney’s Value resorts for longer trips, you may want to consider a Moderate or Deluxe resort if having more space is important to you – especially if you are staying for five or more days. You can learn more about what you can expect in a Moderate level resort stay in our full Caribbean Beach Resort Review and Guide.
Both the regular queen bed and the pull-down table bed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort were quite comfortable, and we didn’t notice any difference between the two in terms of quality. Depending on the hotel, Murphy-style beds can often be harder and more uncomfortable than standard beds, but we haven’t found this to be the case at the Walt Disney World hotels we have visited. Folding one bed into the wall and using the fold-out table is also a great benefit of these newly refurbished rooms as it can provide some extra space. This is especially helpful if you are spending some time in your room during the day or if you do not have a need for a second bed.
The bathroom area is a decent size for a Value resort, but unfortunately there is only one sink. This can make getting ready quickly a bit of a challenge if more than one person needs to use the sink area – especially if you’re trying to make it to the parks before opening. Our room at Caribbean Beach Resort did offer two sinks with a larger counter space, so having only one sink in Pop Century’s rooms is somewhat of a downside in comparison. While this isn’t really a deciding factor for us personally overall when choosing a resort, you may want to keep this in mind if having more space is a higher priority for you.
There is a sliding door that separates the bathroom from the bedroom area, which is a major upgrade from the curtain separator that used to be in these Value rooms. This helps provide both a bit of a sound barrier and a light barrier – at least in comparison to a thin curtain.
Standard Room Review Summary
Pros
- Nice size room
- Comfortable beds
- Extra space with table and chairs when Murphy-bed is not in use
- Sliding door to separate bathroom
- Recently renovated
Cons
- Only one sink
- Rooms are quite a bit smaller overall compared to Moderate and Deluxe resorts
Review of Our Complete Resort Experience
– Pop Century Resort Review
Out of all of the resorts we have stayed in at Walt Disney World, Pop Century continues to be one of our favorites. The theming is full of color, and fun icons are dotted throughout the entire resort. We especially enjoyed seeing all of the vintage toys, games, and Disney characters from the different decades in the main common areas and in each section. Each area has larger-than-life decorations that will bring back memories for many and make for fantastic photo ops.
The layout of the resort is spread out, but most buildings in the 50s, 60s, and 70s sections could still be considered to be within walking distance to Classic Hall, Everything POP, and Disney’s transportation options. The 1980s and 1990s buildings are the farthest away from the main common area, so this is something to keep in mind when booking a room. If you book a Standard room, we highly recommend asking for a room in the section you prefer to stay in, especially if walking a longer distance to the main building and transportation might be a concern for you. While requests aren’t 100% guaranteed to be fulfilled, we have always found the Cast Members to be very helpful and accommodating, and they really try to meet guest requests if at all possible.
A unique benefit of Pop Century is that it is one of four resorts that offers Disney Skyliner transportation to and from Hollywood Studios and Epcot (as well as the other Skyliner resorts). It is also within walking distance to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which shares the Skyliner station located on the Generation Gap Bridge connecting these two resorts.
As we detail above, we are also very pleased with Everything POP Shopping and Dining and frequent both the shop and dining hall during our stays. The shop is a nice size and has a good selection of items. The quick service restaurant is also a good size with multiple large seating areas and a great variety of food and beverage options.
Every room we have stayed in has also been great, and the recent refurbishments have made these rooms even better than before. With these room refurbs came several upgrades from the previous rooms, such as a door to separate the bathroom from the bedroom area and a queen size pull-down table bed that allows for extra space and an additional seating area (see our detailed Standard Room review above).
Watch our Pop Century Resort Review Video Walkthrough Tour to See a Complete Overview of the Resort!
Overall, Disney’s Pop Century offers great value for anyone visiting Walt Disney World on a budget. It is consistently one of our top choices for staying on property and our top pick of Disney’s five Value level resorts. Even if budget isn’t as much of a concern for you, we still recommend considering staying at Pop Century – we’ve always had a pleasant experience and a great stay at this resort!
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