One of the best value resorts on Walt Disney World property has to be POP Century. Originally planned to to have buildings themed from the 1900’s all the way to the 1990’s and completed in two phases (Phase 1 1950-1990s Classic Years and Phase 2 1900-1940s Legendary Years).
The September 11th attacks and a slow down in tourism only had one phase being completed. The second phase (1900-1940’s Legendary Years) would not be completed for many years and would end up becoming a different resort all together. That new resort would be the Art of Animation Resort. Both Pop Century and Art of Animation are across from each other on Hour Glass lake and are connected by the Generation Gap Bridge.
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POP Century finally opened up on December 14, 2003. To this day it is still a very popular resort for guest who want to visit Walt Disney World and save a little bit of money while staying on property. POP Century is one of the 5 value resorts at Walt Disney World. The others are All Star Music, All Star Sports, All Star Movies and Art of Animation. POP Century may just be the BEST value resort on Walt Disney World Property. Read on and let us know if you agree in the comments below.
ROOMS
The rooms over at POP Century use to be nothing special. However, back in 2017 Disney started a major refurbishment job on all the rooms. They replaced the carpet with hard wood floors. Two queen sized beds were added with one being a Murphy-style bed.
The room is a great size for 2 people. Once you flip down the Murphy bed it can get a little tight. Still not bad for just using the room to sleep in and get ready to head to the parks. Also be aware the room is lacking in drawer space. If you like to completely unpack your suitcase it may be hard if there are a few of you staying in the room.
For my daughter and I the room was great. I could use the table to have my laptop on when the Murphy bed was not pulled down. OH and don’t worry, Pulling the bed out and putting it back in was a breeze.
The bathroom was also very nice and clean. The water pressure could’ve been a little better but overall I was still happy with it. I could never seem to find the right temperate with the shower either. It was always either a little too hot or too cold. I just couldn’t seem to find the Goldilocks zone for me.
Maybe it was just because I spent all day walking around the parks and just wanted to rest my feet. Now the one thing I was a little unhappy about before I got here was Disney no longer giving out the little bottles of shampoo. They replaced that with pump bottles in the shower. I must say it was a nice addition that I didn’t like before I tried it.
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I think one of my favorite things about this updated room was the prep area (that’s what I am going to call it). This is the area that has your mini fridge. Boy is it a mini fridge. Not able to put a lot of water bottles in there. I think I was able to put like 6 water bottles and a powerade bottle in the fridge.
This spot was great for storing our snacks and breakfast items. The coffee that you can make it the room isn’t have bad either. It sure is better than walking down to the food court with your refillable mug and grabbing coffee. Cause than you are either walking back to the room or heading to the park and who wants to be carrying there mug around all day?
Overall, the room is great for 2 people. It would even be good for two adults and two younger kids. It would be really tight with 4 adults. But if you are just showering, changing and sleeping in the room, how much do you really need?
FOOD COURT
Everything POP Shopping and Dinning is the gift shop and food court for the POP Century resort. Nothing really jumps out as a must get at any of the food locations. You have pizza, pasta, burgers, soups and salads.
For breakfast you can find eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes and waffles. In the bakery area you will find cinnamon rolls, croissants, cereal and fruit. Nothing at POP Century’s food court is a must have in my opinion. But the food is good.
This food court is usually pretty busy at all different hours of the day. I’ve gone at 6:30am, 11am, 2pm, 7 pm and even at 11:30pm. You may be waiting in line for a couple minutes (what do you expect it’s Disney), but they usually move fast. Even with how busy it would be you never had a problem finding an area to sit at.
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They only problem I usually had was trying to find ice for my refillable mug. There are 3 different soda filling areas and usually one would be out of ice. It just so happened that it was the one I was trying to use.
The food court at POP is a great place to grab something quick on your way to the parks. I don’t remember seeing anything in the snack case that WASN’T a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan. If you are looking for a good value or fantastic food. I would hit up one of the many quick service locations at one of the theme parks or Disney Springs. Also note that Everything POP Shopping and Dinning is now available on the app for mobile ordering.
Do you think it is the best value resort yet? The updated rooms at POP Century and the food at Everything POP hasn’t convinced you yet? Maybe the transportation and overall feel of the resort will help change your mind so keep on reading.
TRANSPORTATION
POP Century has 2 things going for it over one of the All Star Resorts. They have there own buses. POP Century does not share buses with any other resort. The other is the soon to open Skyliner. And with that you are already seeing the increase in price for both POP Century and Art of Animation.
If you didn’t already know, when staying at a Walt Disney World resort you get free transportation to the theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs. The buses run about every 20 minutes or so. Check the My Disney Experience app or the board near the bus stop.
A thing to note. In the mornings about an hour before the parks open the buses will be full. Most likely standing room only. Same thing goes for at the end of the night after the fireworks and the different parks the buses will be packed. Hopefully the skyliner helps a little bit with the packed buses.
RESORT
Disney’s POP Century resort is made up of 10 different buildings with over 2,000 rooms. The resort is themed after the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. There are also 3 different pools to check out along with a small playground.
Each decade has a unique theme to them and an interesting staircase. The 50s have bowling pin staircases, 60s sport yo-yos, 70s has a disco vibe with an 8 track tape, 80s has the coolest with a Rubik’s cube, and 90s has a cell phone stair case.
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This resort has some amazing theming. I just love walking around at night.
Everything is lite up beautifully.
During the week I was here they had some cool actives to sign up for. Beside the free movie under the stars by the main pool. You could spend a couple dollars at the campfire and make some smores. One afternoon they also had a tie dye station set up.
Even if you take a break from the parks for a mid day rest you will find stuff to do at POP Century. But of course how could we forget the pool.
POP Century has 3 different pools. The Hippy Dippy Pool which is the main pool. They also have the Bowling Pin Pool in the 50s section and the Computer Pool in the 90s area.
Both the Bowling Pin and Computer pools will be less crowded than the Hippy Dippy Pool. All of the actives (Dance party, trivia, ect) however, are only at the Hippy Dippy Pool.
This resort is really great for teaching and showing kids the toys and electronics we had when we were kids. From the old brick cell phones to the Walkman or a giant Jukebox. No where else will you find a resort like this one.
POP Century is a fabulous value resort at Walt Disney World. While it is not the newest. It is not the oldest either. The food court is good just not great. The updated rooms are comfortable. While the temperature control could be a little better in the shower.
The resort is easy to walk and get around. The resort is a little large. If you are staying in the 90s building you could be looking at a 5 plus minute walk to the food court and buses. Overall I prefer staying at POP Century over the Little Mermaid rooms at Art Of Animation.
One other little bonus of staying at POP. Art of Animation is right over the Generation Gap Bridge. AOA has one of the best food courts out of any Disney resort. While you can’t use the pool, you can visit the food court and get some great eats.
What do you think of POP Century? Do you agree with us now that it is the best value resort at Walt Disney World? Have you stayed here before? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Be sure to follow kozmophotos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. By following kozmophotos you will be the first to know when a new post is up.
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