In my previous blog you know I posted about the difference between at VALUE and a MODERATE resort. Today I’ll be going over at recent stay at the Pop Century value resort, and there is a video at the end to get a quick grounds/room tour.

Pop Century resort is described as:

Experience the unforgettable fads of the 1950s through the 1990s all over again. From yo-yos and Play-doh to Rubik’s Cube and rollerblades, this Resort hotel salutes the timeless fashion, catch phrase, toys and dances that captivated the world through the decades.

Considered part of the “Wide World of Sports” resort area, this resort opened in 2003. Originally the resort was supposed to divide the century into two parts, the “Legendary Years and the Classic Years”. After tourism dropped in the wake of 9/11, the “Legendary Years” became the 5th value resort, Art of Animation. This 2,880-room resort has areas themed for the 50s all the way to the 90s in ten separate buildings. Each building is 4 stories and is a “motel style” resort, and each room is 260 square feet. My favourite feature was the second bed, it was a murphy bed and was a table area when folded up and not in use. Most rooms at Disney’s Pop Century resort have one queen size bed plus a Murphy-style pulldown. Other standard rooms have just one king sized bed in the room. Having a bed that can go into the wall when not in use really does make the room seem much bigger. When it became a table it was a great place for my kids to eat and play. The resort also has 3 pool areas, and one main building called Classic Hall. Classic Hall is where you will check in and where the arcade, gift shop and food court are located. The main pool, the Hippy Dippy pool, is located just outside Classic Hall by the 60’s building. One pool is located in the 50’s section and is shaped like a bowling pin. If you don’t like tons of kids or noise, then this is the pool for you. The third pool is located in the 80’s and 90’s and it is computer shaped, so pretty much it is a rectangle. There are laundry facilities located near the Hippy Dippy pool and requires a room key to enter. Petals Pool Bar, we had so much fun with the bartenders there, is located beside the Hippy Dippy Pool. The other pools do not have a bar area or drink refill station at them. The Hippy Dippy pool is also where all the kid activities will happen for 2 hours daily and is where they host the movie at night. You can find that schedule outside the pool.

Now that we have all the details and amenities out of the way, let me tell you about our personal experience. As I said earlier, this was our first stay at a Disney value resort. I have heard nightmares about them being super noisy, chaotic, and super packed. I will start this by stating that we went during Christmas week in 2021, and I am not sure if pandemic reduced numbers were happening. I do know that no major sporting event was happening at Wide World of Sports. Rumor has it that when there are tournaments or competitions there, you will see tons of outnumbered adults to kids. I will say that I also feel like room location can make or break your experience at this resort. When I walked the grounds, buildings like the 90’s were far from the Hippy Dippy pool and the Skyliner. If being far from the crowd is what you’re looking for, then maybe those buildings are for you. We were room 4242 in the 60’s building and it was perfect. Second floor facing the Skyliner, close to the stairs and elevator. Short walk to Hippy Dippy pool, Classic Hall, and the Skyliner. It really was in the perfect location. We never heard any noise from the pool area, and it was just easy to get to everything. Nothing ever seemed like a hug hike.

This resort is also very in your face Disney, heavily themed and larger than life characters. There was a tree in the lobby area, but besides that it wasn’t decorated too much for the holiday season. We loved having the two transportation options, and really only used the Skyliner to get around. I loved how convenient it was to hop on it and go to another resort to grab a meal if you wanted. If you didn’t have a car, which we didn’t, it was easy to explore and not have to wait for a bus to get your somewhere. We used it to get to the monorail and did an entire monorail resort tour to see the holiday decor. The Skyliner is constantly running, so a line is in constant movement. It was easy to get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and they never made us fold up the stroller, we could just wheel it right on. As someone who has taken the kids by myself before, not having to fold up a stroller was a huge relief. You do have to exit at the main hub, and that is where you will grab your Hollywood Studio or Epcot Skyliner. It was really easy and simple.

Having the Skyliner really added to the appeal of this resort. The Skyliner is located between Pop Century and Art of Animation, we experienced a line one morning. It did keep moving constantly and went by super-fast. Taking the Skyliner also guarantees that your travel party will stay together, unless you have a large group. With the bus I have had to split up kids and family in whatever seating was available. We did order pizza a couple times and enjoyed it by the pool. We did do grab and go breakfast, people standard offerings. I did get the turkey dinner at the Classic Hall the one night, and it was surprisingly good. Please keep in mind there is no table service restaurant at Pop Century, its all quick service. We bought the $19.99 refillable resort mugs and loved that they had a station right at the Hippy Dippy Pool. I was able to quickly grab a drink without having to go far. I filled that thing about 15 times a day, and it was a lifesaver. Now if only they had coffee that close, you had to grab that in Classic Hall. We did decorate our window for Christmas. This was my first time doing it and it was so fun. There were tons of other rooms that did it. It was also a great way for the kids to know which door was ours, and not have them running ahead to the wrong door. We also got to see Goofy one of the days and he was dressed in his Christmas best. We did do pool/relaxation days between our park visits. One day was too cool to swim, so that is when we went and did the monorail loop. The second resort day was perfect. The pool had so many lifeguards on duty. The daily kids’ activities were so fun and if you participated you got a small prize. My kids did notice that the pool didn’t have a slide, but they were over that once they found other kids to play with. There is also no hottub, because it is a value resort. The arcade, which is in the Classic Hall, was also super fun. Check with the frontdesk because one of the nights it did have a “free” night. All the games were free, you just had a wait about 5 minutes between plays. My kids never seemed to notice and just kept hopping around games.

This being our first stay at a Disney value resort I will say that I was surprised. I will no longer turn my nose up at the value resorts. Our trips are all about the kids! My kids loved this resort. They knew our stairs were the huge Play-Doh container ones. Keep in mind I have kids aged 5 and 7, and honestly, they seemed to like this resort as much at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I don’t know how this resort would be in the summer with more people, but from our experience I give it a 7.5/10

What resort do you want us to stay at next?