Pop Century, price wise, is right in the middle of the value resorts, but in my opinion, is the best. See my post about my stay there, here. It is located in the Wide World of Sports area and the closest theme park is Hollywood Studios. The theming is really cute and shows off the fads from each decade starting in 1950 and ending with 1990. The rooms just had a complete refurbishment and are absolutely gorgeous, plus they feature queen size beds instead of full size like its neighbor, Art of Animation. This resort is great if you want a value and will not be spending much time at the resort. One rest day is enough to do everything at this resort and still have time to explore Disney Springs or other resorts.

Number one perk of Pop Century? It is one of the stops on the new skyliner. Therefore, you have an alternative to bus transportation when going to and from Hollywood Studios and Epcot. This is huge if you have small children and will be traveling with strollers as most do not need to be folded up to board. More on the skyliner below.

Pop Century is a great option year round and does not really do anything special for the holidays. It is also not used as a convention resort like the All-Stars so you will not be competing with sports teams or dance squads. As with the All-Stars, all the corridors are outside, so if you don’t want to deal with the rain when going to and from transportation or to and from the main building, I would skip this resort during the summer and fall or opt for one of the preferred sections.

Pop Century Resort

BOOK MY STAY

RESORT LAYOUT

Pop Century has an almost identical layout as all of the value resorts. There is a main building, Classic Hall. This is where the bus transportation, Magical Express, and ride services all drop you off. Inside Classic Hall, is check-in, the arcade, a cafeteria style dining area, and the gift shop. Walk out the back doors of Classic Hall and you will find the main pool area, the Hippy Dippy pool. Surrounding this are are the preferred buildings. As you branch out from these immediate buildings, you'll find yourself in the standard section where the quiet pools are located. Pop Century is situated on Hourglass lake. In the center of Hourglass lake is the skyliner station for Pop Century and Art of Animation. You can hop on and go to the main transfer station at Caribbean Beach. Pop Century has ten buildings total and four floors in each building. All buildings are equipped with stairs and elevators for your convenience. Pop Century is not a large resort and no buildings are that far from Classic Hall or transportation, but if you would like minimal walking to both the buses and the skyliner, I suggest booking a preferred pool view room. I also just really like walking out and seeing the colorful pool and the vibe it has.

ROOM CATEGORIES

There are four categories you can book at Pop Century: Standard, Standard Pool View, Preferred, and Preferred Pool View. The only difference in each of the categories is the distance from the main building, Classic Hall, and whether or not you’ll have a view of the pool. People mention that the pool view rooms are a little louder than the others, but I did not notice this during my stay. I stayed in a Preferred Pool View. I was on the top floor and we brought white noise machines for sleeping, but noise was never an issue and I loved waking up every morning to a view of the Hippy Dippy pool. The preferred rooms will run about $20 more per night than their standard equivalent.

All rooms are completely refurbished. You will find one queen size bed and one queen size murphy bed in every room. When the murphy bed is folded up, you have a table and two chairs. With both beds down, you have very little room to walk around and fitting a pack n play would be a little difficult. Each room also has a pod style coffee maker, a mini fridge, storage, TV, and safe. The bathrooms now have doors to separate the space from the main area and another door to give privacy to the toilet. The theming inside the rooms is very clean and minimal with Mickey faces above the bed.

TRANSPORTATION

Pop Century offers two forms of transportation: buses and the skyliner. The buses, which are found in front of the resort between Classic Hall and the 70’s section, will take you to any of the four parks, two water parks, and Disney Springs. Pop Century has designated buses so there are no stops between the resort and the parks and vice versa. Also, if the bus lines are long at the parks for Pop Century, just take the Art of Animation bus. The walk over isn’t bad and totally worth it if you have small children and do not want to wait. Normally, these two bus stops are close to each other so you’ll be able to catch easily the other one if needed. Note: There is very limited bus service to Hollywood Studios or Epcot because of the addition of the skyliner. If you do not wish to ride the skyliner, I suggest skipping this resort. However, the skyliner is easily my favorite mode of transportation.

The skyliner will take guests to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It also allows access to Caribbean Beach Resort, Riviera, the Disney Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin, and Beach and Yacht Club. The skyliner station is located on Generation Gap Bridge in the center of Hourglass Lake. While Pop Century does not share a bus system with any other resorts, it does share the skyliner with Art of Animation. If your stroller is smaller than 30 inches by 48 inches, you do not need to fold the stroller to enter the skyliner, as you do on buses. Each cart fits up to 10 people, unless traveling with a wheelchair or ECV and then the limit is 6. Having the skyliner is definitely a positive for Pop Century and will cut down on the time it takes to get to the parks. Just note that the skyliner will drop guests off at the International Gateway entrance of Epcot and not the main entrance where the buses and monorail are located.

DINING

As with all of the values, there is only one quick service dining cafeteria at the resort for food, Everything Pop. It offers quick service meals from 6am to midnight. There are also grab and go options available and a gift shop area. You can purchase specialty cocktails at Petals, the pool bar by the Hippy Dippy pool.

AMENITIES & RECREATION

Pop Century has the same basic perks of all on site hotels: ability to select fastpasses 60 days out from check-in, to book dining 180 days out from check-in, transportation to and from Orlando International Airport, and free transportation around Walt Disney World Resort. Just like with the other resorts, there are many options for recreation at Pop Century. Make sure the check the daily schedule found near the Hippy Dippy Pool.

There are three pools at the resort. The main pool is the Hippy Dippy pool located right outside Classic Hall. This pool is 60’s themed and shaped like a large flower with fun flower water jets. There is always something going on at this pool, including trivia and movies under the stars. Around the pool, there is tons of seating, rec games like ping pong, and the Petals pool bar. Just behind the Hippy Dippy pool is a children’s pool and a small splash area. The other two pools are quieter. There is a bowling pin shaped pool located in the 50’s section and a computer shaped pool in the 90’s section.

For other outdoor recreation, you’ll find a jogging trail and a playground. The jogging trail is a 1.3 mile loop around Hourglass Lake. You’ll be able to see the back sides of both Pop Century and Art of Animation. Along the path, are fun facts about the different decades on the Pop Century side and about animation on the Art of Animation side. The playground is located in the 70’s section.

Looking for something else to do? Walk over to Art of Animation. The theming is cute and there are numerous photo ops. I, personally, love the Cars section the best, but there is also Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. You cannot use their pools, but you can use their dining option and fill up your resort mugs. Also, Art of Animation features free drawing classes open to anyone, not just guests staying there (though preference is given to the resort guests).

Finally, there is Flash Forward Arcade inside Classic Hall right before you exit to the Hippy Dippy pool.

As I’ve already stated, this is my favorite of the value resorts. For a little bit more than the All-Stars, you have the benefit of the skyliner to two parks and can walk to Art of Animation to see the fun theming. Also, unlike the All-Stars, all the rooms are completely refurbished. I highly recommend this resort if trying to stay on site on a budget.

Some amenities may be reduced or unavailable during your 2021 stay as a result of safety measures to stop the spread of COVID 19. Please always check Know Before You Go on the Walt Disney World website before traveling for the most up-to-date information.