Disney’s Pop Century Resort Review and Guide
If you’re looking for a value resort at Walt Disney World, Pop Century might be a great fit for you! This resort is fun and family-friendly, with great Disney transportation options and updated rooms.
While it’s not perfect (the rooms are small and can be loud) we actually really loved our stay here. I especially loved that it’s on the Skyliner and the rooms felt so clean. I would definitely stay here again!
So here’s a full Pop Century Resort review with all the information you need if you’re thinking about booking Pop Century for your Disney trip.
Looking for a way to save money at Pop Century? Book through Undercover Tourist!
Pop Century At-A-Glance
Resort Category: Value
Date Opened: December 14, 2003
Rooms Last Renovated: 2017-2018
Number of Buildings: 11 (including Classic Hall)
Number of Rooms: 2,880
Number of Pools: 3
Disney Transportation: Disney Skyliner and Buses
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Pop Century Lobby & Check In
When you first arrive to check in to Disney’s Pop Century resort, you’ll enter the Classic Hall. This is where you’ll find most of the resort amenities, including dining and shopping.
It’s a huge lobby, with polished floors and lots of desks to get you checked-in. Immediately to the right when you enter there is also a small children’s area where your kids can watch cartoons while you check in.
Because the theming of this resort is different decades, you’ll find the walls in the lobby decorated with memorabilia from years past. These can be super fun to look at, especially if you are old enough to remember some of the items. (I’m pretty sure they have a Pocahontas book included that is exactly the same as one I had as a kid.)
In the very back of the lobby, you’ll find the resort’s dining and shopping and more…but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Pop Century Location & Layout
Pop Century is located in the Southeast corner of the Disney property. The parks you’ll be closest to are Hollywood Studios and Epcot. You also won’t be too far away from Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park and the Disney Springs shopping and dining area.
The layout of the resort is pretty spread out. There are 11 building at Pop Century, including the Classic Hall where the lobby is located. These building are grouped into different sections, each one themed after a different decade.
- Buildings 1-3 are the 1950s section
- Buildings 4-5 are the 1960s section
- Buildings 6 and 10 are the 1970s section
- Buildings 7-9 are the 1980s and 1990s section
Because this is such a big resort, be prepared to walk (it’s really not too bad though). If you want to stay closest to the Classic Hall and transportation options, you can request a room in the 1960s section. This is where we stayed, and I thought it was great, minus the noise from the movie by the pool at night.
Pop Century Theming
The theming at Pop Century is big and bold and super fun!
In Classic Hall, you’ll find nods to all the decades represented at the resort, while each section of the resort has its own themed décor. There will be designs decorating each building, but the big draw are the larger-than-life statues that greet you in each section.
In the 1950s section, you’ll find bowling pins and poodle skirts decorating the buildings. Plus there are two giant statues of Lady and the Tramp, whose movie came out in 1955.
In the 1960s section, all the theming is very groovy, with peace signs and flowers. The giant statues here are of of playdough and Jungle Book characters.
In the 1970s you’ll find the popular giant foosball table, and you can run between them as if you were on the foosball table. There’s also a giant Mickey Mouse and a huge tricycle.
The 1980s and 1990s sections are decorated with Pac Man and roller blades. Here you’ll find statues of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Roger Rabbit, a Walkman, and a computer.
Pop Century Resort Rooms
Since Pop Century is a Value Resort, the rooms can be a mixed bag.
The good: They are updated and clean and an efficient use of space!
The bad: The walls are thin and the rooms are small.
There are two types of rooms at Pop Century: Preferred and Standard.
Generally the Preferred rooms have better locations and better views. But there are still Standard rooms in good locations (like in the 1960s section) with what I still consider to be good views. (I’d rather face Hourglass Lake than the pool to be honest.)
Other than location though, there isn’t a difference between room types.
Rooms at Pop Century are 260 square feet. They feature either two double beds or one king bed. If you get a room with a double bed, the second bed pulls down from the table as a Murphy bed.
This is a really efficient use of the small space (which is great), but we also found that we couldn’t leave the bed down and still function in the room, so we had to only pull it down when it was time to sleep.
Across from the beds there is a large TV with a dresser and counter for storage. There is also another smaller cabinet with a drink fridge and a coffee maker.
The bathroom has a single sink, but it has some great touches to maximize the space. There are lots of shelves for storing clothes and bags, plus the bathroom uses sliding doors so you don’t have a door sticking out into the room.
I really appreciate the special touches Disney adds to even their Value Resorts too, like extra towel/coat hangers outside the bathroom door and making sure each side of every bed has some kind of nightstand table.
And since these rooms were last updated in 2017 and 2018, they feel modern and clean. I appreciate that there isn’t any carpet, and the room felt bright and airy despite the small space.
All that being said, size and noise are problems.
The room is cramped. We had two adults and one child in the room, and I can’t imagine having much more than that and still having space to move around in. It was fine for us, but it definitely felt small.
Noise was also an issue. We stayed in the 1960s section with a view of the lake (so NOT the pool) and yet the movie playing at the pool at night was still incredibly loud in our room.
We also easily heard the people next to us. Eventually, we turned on a sound machine app on our phone to go to sleep and that did the trick.
It’s also important to note that doors at this resort open to the outside (as opposed to a hallway). So outside noise is more likely to carry in to the room (hence, the issue with the movie sound).
Pop Century Dining & Restaurants
Because Pop Century is a Value Resort, the dining options are somewhat limited. There aren’t any Table Service restaurants here or anything particularly memorable. But, if you’re looking for quick options for your family (that are still pretty good quality), then you’ll be happy with what Pop Century has to offer.
Everything POP Dining
Everything POP is the food court where you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Pop Century.
For breakfast, you’ll find standard breakfast offerings like waffles, pancakes, omelets, and bagel sandwiches.
For lunch and dinner, you’ll find standard theme park fare like burgers, hot dogs, and pizza. But they also have some healthier entrees like Citrus-Basil Salmon, Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry, and roasted chicken.
Overall, the food here is pretty decent. It won’t blow you away, but fries are fries (and sometimes you really need that salt after being out in the heat!) and I had a grilled chicken sandwich here that I thought was pretty good.
Petals Pool Bar
Just outside Classic Hall next to the pool, you’ll find Petals Pool Bar. Here you can get frozen specialty drinks, wine and beer, smoothies, and some food and snack items.
They have chips, a pretzel, a Greek salad, and a couple of basic sandwich options. You can also get ice cream bars here.
Pop Century Pools & Amenities
Pop Century has three different pools, plus several other entertainment options for your family!
Pools at Pop Century
The main pool at Pop Century is the Hippy Dippy Pool. This is just outside Classic Hall in the 1960s area of the resort. While it doesn’t have a water slide (because this is a Value Resort), there are some fun flowers that shoot water out. And the area is always lively and honestly lots of fun!
If you are looking for a quieter pool experience, you can head to one of Pop Century’s other two pools. The Bowling Pool is shaped like a bowling pin and it’s located in the 1950s area. The Computer Pool is in the 1980s/1990s section. Both of these pools have lower crowds and less going on, so they are a better place to relax.
Fast Forward Arcade
Inside Classic Hall you can find the Fast Forward Arcade. It’s across from Everything POP Shopping & Dining.
There are all kinds of video games in here, and you can play them by purchasing a Game Card and then adding game points. The bonus here is that you can use these cards at any Disney Resort arcade.
Pop Century Recreation and Activities
Pop Century has no shortage of entertainment options, which are perfect if you want to spend a day relaxing at the resort.
Free activities at Pop Century include poolside games and activities, nightly campfires, and bingo and trivia on select nights. There is also a “Movie Under the Stars” each night, where they show a Disney movie at the Hippy Dippy Pool.
There are also activities you can pay to participate in. Usually these are special crafts like tie-dye or yo-yo making.
Pop Century Shopping
Everything POP Shopping
There is one main shopping area at Pop Century, and you’ll find it in Everything POP adjacent to the food court.
They have a good selection of t-shirts, ears, stuffed animals, and other park and resort merchandise. Plus they have every day essentials (we definitely had to buy some sunscreen here when we ran out on our trip!).
Pop Century Transportation
One of the things I love most about Pop Century is its easy access to my favorite mode of Disney transportation: The Skyliner!
And for parks that aren’t on the Skyliner, Pop Century has frequently running buses.
Disney Skyliner
From Pop Century, you can visit either Epcot or Hollywood Studios via the Disney Skyliner. This gondola system is SO relaxing and a great way to start or end your Disney day. Plus, it kind of counts as your first ride of the day!
To access the Skyliner, just walk past the Hippy Dippy pool toward Art of Animation Resort. The Skyliner station is on the bridge between Pop Century and Art of Animation.
The line can get pretty long in the morning, but don’t worry. Once the gondolas starts moving, the line moves quickly.
We actually made the mistake of waiting in the wheelchair line once when the line was super long thinking it would be quicker when I was in a wheelchair with an injury (but capable of getting up to transfer). But the long regular line moved way faster than the 2 people in the wheelchair line for stationary cars!
Also, note that to get to both Hollywood Studios and Epcot, you will have to exit the Skyliner at Caribbean Beach Resort and get on a different line. But it’s super easy to do and the directions are very clear.
Buses at Pop Century
If you are visiting Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom, you will need to take a bus to get to the parks. Since these parks are further away, it will take a bit more time and you will have to wait on a bus. The drive time to both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom from Pop Century is about 15 minutes.
There are boards at the bus stop located in front of Classic Hall that will tell you when the next bus for each park is estimated to arrive.
And the good thing about Pop Century is they don’t share a bus route with any other resort! So once you get on the bus you’ll be headed straight to the parks!
Pros & Cons of Disney’s Pop Century Resort
There is really A LOT to love about Pop Century! But it is by no means a perfect resort experience. Here’s our list of pros & cons.
Pop Century Pros
- Budget-friendly resort, which helps you save money at Disney
- Super fun, larger-than-life theming
- Easy access to the Skyliner for Hollywood Studios and Epcot days
- Clean, well-maintained roomed
Pop Century Cons
- Small rooms
- Thin walls with lots of noise (nothing a sound machine didn’t fix for us though!)
- Limited dining options
Our Pop Century Resort Review
So what’s the bottom line of our Pop Century review? In general, we REALLY liked this resort. We loved the theming, enjoyed the pool, and just generally had a really pleasant stay.
BUT to be honest, I’m glad we did a split stay during our trip and were only there for a couple of nights. I found the room to be a little bit claustrophobic, especially when the Murphy bed was folded down.
Sound was also definitely a problem, almost comically so. We we were able to turn a sound machine app on to sleep peacefully, but we definitely have a memory!
So would I stay here again? Absolutely. BUT I wouldn’t prioritize it over other hotels if I had the opportunity to stay at a Moderate or Deluxe Disney Resort.
Pop Century Resort FAQs
Are there elevators at Pop Century?
Yes. Each building at Pop Century has its own elevator.
Are there suites at Pop Century?
No. There are no suites at Pop Century, only rooms.
Can I request a specific room at Pop Century?
Yes. You can request a specific room or building. Some options for room requests are available in the app, but you can also make your request by contacting Disney before you arrive.
What’s Next?
- Get Our Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Disney Vacation
- Read All About Dining at Pop Century Resort
- Strategize How to Save Money at Disney World
- Consider a Stay at Old Key West Resort for Deluxe With a Smaller Price Tag
- On the Other End of the Spectrum, Consider a Stay at the Grand Floridian
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