Six Reasons to Stay at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
One of the cheapest places to stay at Walt Disney World is also one of the best. In fact, when it comes to bang for the buck, you’ll struggle to match the value at this hotel. Here are six reasons to stay at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
The Location
Pop Century is one of the best resorts for fans of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You’re only two miles away from the park entrance, and the bus trip can take as few as five minutes when you catch all the lights. It’s legitimately one of the shortest bus rides at Walt Disney World.
The resort is advantageous for sports fans, too. ESPN’s Wide World of Sports is only 2.4 miles away, although the path isn’t as straightforward. To be safe, you should expect this bus ride to take 10 minutes or so. Believe it or not, Epcot takes about the same amount of travel time even though it’s 4.3 miles away from the resort.
Pop Century is close to most major tourist destinations on the Disney campus. Both water parks require 10 minutes or less of travel time. And Animal Kingdom is that close, too. Even Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs are less than 15 minutes of bus time from the hotel.
When you stay at Pop Century, you’re close to everything.
The Lobby
Perhaps no Disney resort’s lobby better demonstrates its theme than the one at Pop Century. When you enter this building, you’ll notice what looks like posters on the wall. As you approach, you’ll realize that they have a three-dimensional quality. They’re shadow boxes filled with pop culture memorabilia from different decades.
Each of these shadow boxes has a theme. My favorite is a series of items from the opening of Walt Disney World. News clippings, brochures, pictures, and keepsakes are all a part of the oversized collage. There’s even an adorable Snow White lunchbox from the era.
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While I love the Disney relics, many of the shadow boxes have little to do with Mickey and friends. Instead, they feature popular toys and gadgets from various eras. You’ll find flash cards, Play-Doh, and dominoes in one of the collections.
Others highlight favorite songs/musicians, television series, and movies from previous decades. There’s even a pair of shoes from Saturday Night Fever on display. The randomness of the selections is part of what I love about it. You can easily spend an hour examining all the shadow boxes. It’s a smart way to pass the time while a member of your party checks in or discusses a matter with Guest Services.
Credit: TripAdvisor.com
The Themed Sections
Think of each region of the Classic Years part of Pop Century as a gigantic shadow box. Imagineers structured the hotel into sections and themed them by decade. Each building is like an individual motel stylized with unforgettable elements of a specific generation.
For example, the 1950s section has a Classic Fifties theme. Building-sized displays appear like jukebox song selections, and 45 RPM records adorn some walls. As a nice touch, the staircases here look like bowling pins. And a Lady and the Tramp statue gazes down over the pool.
Credit: PopCenturySuite.com
In the 1990s section, the staircases look like cellphones, albeit old-timey ones. For that matter, computers and technology are the overriding themes here. Even the pool here has a giant floppy disc as a backdrop. When you walk around the area, you’ll realize that the area outside the fence is a Qwerty keyboard, too.
To their credit, Imagineers have built a series of fully realized themes at a single resort campus. It’s incredibly impressive. At some point, I’ll write an article about many of the best details at Pop Century. The items I’ve just mentioned barely scratch the surface of what you’ll discover during a visit here.
Credit: TripAdvisor.com
The Restaurant
Frequent Disney vacationers know about one of the real gems on the campus, a place called Everything POP Shopping & Dining. Given the name, you can guess the selling points here. The hotel management team has literally combined a general store and a Quick Service restaurant in one location.
On one side of Everything POP, you’ll have your choice of apparel, mugs, snacks, sundries, and all the other goodies that you’d expect at a hotel shop. On the other end, you’re at a glorified mall food court. Each of the counters serves a specific kind of food such as sandwiches, burgers, and pizza.
This setup is clever because it’s a great use of space. On the food side, it’s also a time-saver. You don’t have to wait behind everyone in line, just the people ordering the same kind of entrée as you.
Of course, Disney’s recently improved the process even more. This restaurant accepts Mobile Ordering, making it one of only a handful of Disney resort eateries to do so. You’ll save plenty of time by taking advantage of this service. Plus, you’re more likely to get the order exactly right since you’re not yelling above the crowd.
The Transportation
Due to its location, Pop Century has always come with terrific logistics for hotel guests. You can generally take a bus to any park and get there in less than 20 minutes. The only aggravation has stemmed from waiting on a bus at the hotel. Due to the spacious size and spread out location, you may wait longer for a bus than you will during the bus ride itself.
In 2019, the Disney Skyliner will transform Pop Century into one of the most desirable hotels at Walt Disney World. This property will share a Skyliner station with Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.
When that happens, guests are only a gondola ride away from two different theme parks, Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You’ll only need 7-12 minutes to reach your preferred destination. The Skyliner promises to be the most efficient form of travel in Disney history, even including the monorail.
The Price
Despite all the amenities discussed here, Pop Century is still part of the Value Tier of Disney resorts. These hotels are the least expensive in the Disney lineup. Nightly rates vary, as Disney’s pricing structure fluctuates a great deal, but you’ll frequently be able to stay here for less than $200 a night.
Sometimes, you can stay for substantially less. The remarkable part is that you could find a room that’s cheaper than non-Disney hotel rooms in the area, ones that lack Disney resort benefits.
As always, the best way to secure the lowest rate is by speaking to a professional Disney travel expert at MickeyTravels. Their free service will help you unearth the lowest possible price for your vacation.
