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REVIEW – Disney’s Pop Century Really Pops with Family Fun and Convenience

Dani , 
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Want a Disney on-site hotel that pops with value, fun, and convenience? Disney’s Pop Century may be the right fit for you. Chrissy on our team stayed in this nostalgia-fueled Value Resort last week. Our team is in the parks daily, and we love to stay up to date on experiencing Walt Disney World hotels and restaurants first hand so we can continue to be your experts in smart travel. So what makes Pop Century a popular choice for many families, and couples too? In a word, value. Let’s take a look at Chrissy’s stay, in a Standard View Room.

1970s Area Building – Disney’s Pop Century Resort
1980s Building – Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Disney’s Pop Century Resort Review – The Facts

Chrissy stayed in Pop Century, Room 9440. This is a Standard Room located in Building 9 which is part of the 1980s theme section. Disney’s Pop Century has five themed sections, based on decades in the 20th century:  1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. You’ll find décor and larger-than-life icons connected to each of these decades throughout the resort, and a few Disney touches in the rooms.

Room 9440 has some new touches in it, including a pull-down bed with one standard queen-sized bed. This gives a lot more space for families with kids who can sleep on the pull down bed, but then have more room during the day. There is also no longer any carpeting in the room.

Room 9440 at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century – Pull-Down Bed

 

Details and facts of our one-night stay on April 6, 2021

  • Room 9440
  • Rate $211.06 after all taxes and fees
  • Measurement of room from vanity area to front door: 18 feet 3 inches long by 10 feet 3 inches wide
  • Vanity area: 5 feet 1 inch wide
  • 1 Queen bed, 1 Queen pull down / wall bed with a pillow top mattress
  • Pod coffee pot, mini fridge, safe, hair dryer, iron and ironing board
  • No microwave
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century – Pull-Down Bed
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century – A Peek at the Pillow Top

Now, you may have noticed the room is not that big. This is definitely a drawback of a Value Resort. With the new pull down beds there is more breathing room during the day, but it’s still a small room. Disney has done a good job of clever storage and use of space to make the rooms comfortable and functional. The vanity area has a decent amount of room thanks to the redesign of the sink area. And the shower was converted to a glass door shower to provide a little more room as well.

Room 9440 Standard Room at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room Vanity Area and Bathroom at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room Vanity Area at Disney’s Pop Century
Room 9440 Standard Room Bathroom at Disney’s Pop Century

Disney’s Pop Century Resort Amenities

There are three pools available to hotel guests.

  • Hippy Dippy Pool – largest of the 3 pools
    • Capacity = 260 guests
    • Zero entry
  • Pool hours 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
  • Towels provided
  • Life vests provided
  • The Bowling Pool – capacity 158 guests
  • The Computer Pool – capacity 158 guests
  • No key or MagicBand needed for entry, but there is fencing all around the pool area
  • The main pool can reach capacity during peak periods, a text message wait list is utilized
  • 1 kiddie pool / splash area is near the main pool.
  • 1 arcade – closed as a COVID-19 precaution
1950s Pool (Bowling Pool) at Disney’s Pop Century
Hippy Dippy Pool – Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Hippy Dippy Pool Kids Splash Area – Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Kids Splash Pad at Disney’s Pop Century
  • 3 laundry rooms
    • Vending machines for laundry soap and fabric softener sheets
    • $1.00 for one load / 1 box of soap
    • $1.00 for two dryer sheets
    • $3.00 per wash or dry cycle
    • No cash accepted – card dispensers are located inside each laundry room
    • Guests with only cash can go to the front desk to purchase a card – no fee for exchange
    • MagicBand required to enter the laundry room
Laundry Room at Disney’s Pop Century
Laundry Payment Machine at Disney’s Pop Century
  • 1 bar – Petals Pool bar near the Hippy Dippy Pool
    • Hours noon – 10:00 p.m.
    • No food served at the bar
    • 2 drinks per adult, valid photo ID required
  • 1 playground
    • Hours = dawn to dusk
    • Max capacity = 10 guests
Recreational Offerings – Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Petals Pool Bar at Pop Century
Pepperoni Pizza at Everything POP Food Court
Playground – Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Disney’s Pop Century Resort Transportation

One thing that has majorly elevated Pop Century is the addition of the Disney Skyliner. Now instead of only offering bus transportation, you can enjoy the most magical ride on Earth to get to EPCOT or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This Skyliner station is shared with Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and is located in the middle of Hourglass Lake. It is quite picturesque. For the kingdoms, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, you will utilize Disney’s bus service. There are also buses offered to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios during peak transportation times in an attempt to relieve the Skyliner of some demand.

Transportation Sign – Disney’s Pop Century Resort

You can use our Room Finder to select options that matter to you, such as being close to the resort’s transportation, and find the best rooms that suit your needs.  In this case, Chrissy’s room was located close to Classic Hall, the lobby area with shopping, dining, and the bus terminal.

Here’s how long it took to walk from room 9440 to the various transportation options at Pop Century:

  • 6 minutes 45 seconds to walk from room 9440 to Classic Hall to get to buses
  • 8 minutes 19 seconds to walk from room 9440 to entrance to the Disney Skyliner station

Here’s how long it took aboard the Skyliner to these destinations:

  • 9 minutes 7 seconds to get from Pop / Art of Animation Skyliner Station to Hollywood Studios (including the required transfer at the Caribbean Beach station)
  • 16 minutes 20 seconds to get from Pop / Art of Animation Skyliner Station station to EPCOT (including the required transfer at the Caribbean Beach station)
Skyliner Station for Art of Animation and Pop Century

Here’s how long it took aboard the Disney buses to these destinations:

  • 15 minutes 33 seconds for bus from Pop Century to Magic Kingdom
  • 11 minutes 7 seconds for bus from Pop to Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Pop Century Resort Review Wrap-Up

Chrissy enjoyed her one-night stay at Disney’s Pop Century with her family because of the overall value and the family-friendly atmosphere. The resort is pretty large, but the layout of the resort enables food and pools being within reasonable distance no matter which section you’re in. The Disney Buses are plentiful to and from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.

It is a noisy resort at the common areas, and during peak periods when folks are coming and going to the parks in the morning and at night. Overall, the resort and the resort were clean. The real shining star amenity is the Disney Skyliner. In a word, the Skyliner access is awesome. Couple that with the new rooms with the pull down beds and laminate floors and Pop Century really is popping with value.

Have you ever stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort? How was your stay? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Dani

Born and raised in the land of sunshine and dreams come true, Dani is a proud Orlando Native who loves sharing her hometown with others. She's worked in nearly all of Orlando's theme parks, on board Disney Cruise Line, and in hotel management. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @thisfloridalife

5 thoughts on “REVIEW – Disney’s Pop Century Really Pops with Family Fun and Convenience”

  • My last trip was my FIRST stay at Pop and we really enjoyed it. My sister and I ended up with the “perfect” room: 5125. It was located in the middle of the 60s but facing away from the pool so we were close to the main building and the Skyliner. Our room was likely also ADA compliant as we had a really cool zero-entry shower.

  • Do you know the dimensions of the area between the Murphy bed and the window wall? If we needed 3 sleep surfaces because someone won’t share a bed, we could try to use an air mattress on the floor. “Will an air mattress fit?” is a common question I see asked on the forum or Lines. I wish you had a photo of that area that helped convey the size. Thanks!

    • Hey Sarah, I will double check with Chrissy, but based on my experience staying there (granted it was over 10 years ago) and based on Chrissy’s pictures, I do not think it really would be possible.

    • We stayed at Pop a few years ago (when it was just two beds). We kept an ECV in that area, kind of behind the door, and it barely fit.

    • We just recently stayed there for a six night 7-day state and couldn’t be happier! Between the skyliner and all the amenities and the decent price its a winner. The rooms are small however there’s ways to make it more comfortable. We traveled with my husband myself and my two teenage daughters. We always take pop-up hampers for organization but there was plenty of storage for clothes and toiletries. The separated bathroom from the rest of the room and the sink and the tub separated was a plus too. The small kitchenette area is super handy as well. The one drawback that I would say and I believe it’s at all the resorts right now is a lack of room service. We don’t need a lot we’re fine with fresh towels every couple of days.
      At least one vacuum during our stay would have been nice. We found that staying for a full week and not having any other room service other than fresh towels it was kind of disgusting to see all the dirt, debris and food on the floor and the sheets got pretty dingy too.

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