Doing your homework before picking the perfect Disney World hotel for you and your family is important, and it never hurts to get some tips from Disney World hotel experts!
Disney’s Pop Century Resort
An incredibly popular value hotel option at Disney World, Disney’s Pop Century Resort is an affordably priced resort along the Disney Skyliner route that offers fun theming based on pop culture throughout the decades. Over the years, the DFB team and I have stayed here, learning all about the resort and coming up with tips that could help you during your next vacation. If you’re thinking about staying here, there are a few tips you should be aware of that aren’t always apparent — even in the fine print.
You’ll Be Outdoors A Lot
Pop Century is set up in a motel style, so unless you’re in your room, you might find yourself outdoors quite a bit.
Pop Century Resort
The buildings here have exterior entrances, outdoor halls, and lots of open space in between.
Pop Century Resort
As a Disney resort, Pop Century doesn’t quite have the same safety concerns as other open-air motels, but it does have a big weather problem. Central Florida is home to hurricane weather, including rainstorms that feature thunder and lightning, as well as some really ugly humidity. Unlike other hotels, Pop Century doesn’t do a tremendous amount to shield you from Mother Nature.
The Skyliner Also Has Weather Concerns
A major perk of staying at Pop Century is the proximity to a Disney Skyliner station. This gondola transportation gets you to other Disney World hotels as well as EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios conveniently and free of charge.
Disney Skyliner at Art of Animation and Pop Century Resorts
There’s one major caveat, however: The Skyliner is useless during inclement weather. If the weather is bad enough, the Skyliner will shut down, and the only other free means of transportation at Pop Century is the Disney World bus. You can also use a rideshare, but that’s certainly not free.
Inside a Skyliner Gondola
The Skyliner is one of the biggest reasons guests stay at Pop Century, and if it’s inoperable for a decent chunk of your trip, then you’re not getting the full value of staying at this resort.
Dining Options Are Limited
Disney World is home to some FANTASTIC hotel restaurants, but you likely won’t find anything at Pop Century on one of our best-of lists. They have surprised us a couple of times, though!
Everything Pop
You’re pretty much limited to Everything POP Shopping & Dining food court, Petals Pool Bar, and in-room pizza on demand.
Petals Pool Bar
Yes, you’ll find options at these locations that are suitable, but the quality here is average. Additionally, these aren’t sit-down table-service restaurants, so if you want something more refined, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
Pop Century Is Big
The hotel resort is certainly large — big enough that you can sufficiently visit each decade and spend a good amount of time doing so. The layout is incredibly spaced out, forcing a lot of unanticipated walking.
Pop Century Resort
You’ll find walks going to and from the lobby, pools, bus stop, and Skyliner. The trick is to request specific decade/building sections at check-in. Essentially, identify what you want to be close to, and go from there.
Hippy Dippy Pool
These requests aren’t guaranteed, but asking doesn’t cost anything. Trust us, after a long day at the parks or during a severe downpour, walking less matters.
You’ll Be Surrounded By Nonstop Theming
At Pop Century, be prepared to celebrate the decades through pop culture! There are TONS of both Disney and cultural references EVERYWHERE, and it can take you days to find everything!
Pop Century
You’ll be able to spot giant props of toys you played with as a kid…
Disney’s Pop Century Resort
And some of your favorite Disney characters, as well!
Pop Century
There are several smaller easter eggs, like the trinkets in the lobby shadow boxes, the fake song names on the back of the giant 8-trax, and more.
Shadow Boxes
You’re paying to stay here, so you might as well explore and hunt down some beloved props and items!
Pop Century
Have you stayed at Pop Century? Share some of your best tips in the comments below, and continue to follow us here at DFB for all the latest Disney World coverage!
Why Disney Adults Can’t Stay Away From Pop Century Hotel
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We love Pop. It’s become our go to because of price and the skyliner. If you are like us and spend most of your time in the parks then Pop is a great pick.
The only thing we hate is the dining options. We wish there were more choice and better food.
I’m researching Pop for my next visit, and I was surprised to learn that there are no microwaves in the rooms!
@Bobby That’s what the skyliner is for!
Landscape of flavors is not far away at AOA
My sister and I always stay at Pop. It’s our Disney home. We spend most of our time at the parks so there’s absolutely no reason to spend Moderate or Deluxe dollars if we’re not there. We love the theming, and I don’t find it a horrible walk anywhere – but we stay in the 50’s or 70’s sections. They are close to the parking lot for packing and unpacking the car, and not as noisy as the 60’s section with the big pool. Yes, the food is okay at best, but it’s inexpensive and available at 11:30 when you roll in from the park.
We stayed at Pop Century during hurricane Irma and faired very well, much better than Art of Animation! The cast members were amazing and we bought extra food for the stay.
I feel the dining options are fine if you are fine with walking across the lake to Art of Animation plus the options available if you ride on the Skyliner
I’m not a fan of this hotel. We had a terrible experience when we stayed there .
@Christina
You are absolutely correct! Pop’s saving grace for us is the Skyliner and how easy it is to hop to one of the other resorts. Why we still tend to go back to Pop.
Since I only use my room to sleep and shower, this would be great for me! I appreciate a bargain and that is what POP is. I can use some of the money I didn’t have to spend on a nicer restaurant.
We stay there every time. We are in the parks most of our days there and we dine in the parks except for breakfast.
Walking? Well, we walk so much at Disney so walking at Pop is no big deal!
The Skyliner is our favorite and so far we have never had an issue with it being shut down. I am sure we have just been lucky!
The theme of this is wrong! I doubt if anyone staying there realizes that it is named and themed after a book of trivia that was released twenty years ago! It should be re-themed to something simple. I think that TOYS makes the most sense. That way, many of the icons can remain in place.