Seven Reasons You Should Stay at Pop Century
Every official Walt Disney World resort exceeds your wildest dreams for what a theme park hotel can be. That’s a fact.
So, deciding where to spend your vacation comes with that natural bit of FOMO.
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You don’t want to pick one place but then spend your trip wishing you’d booked somewhere else.
Thankfully, you really can’t go wrong at Disney anyway. Even the least expensive resorts here will blow away your expectations.
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Here are seven reasons why you should stay at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
The Cost
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Let’s start with the obvious advantage of choosing a Value Tier Disney resort.
You’re saving money right off the bat on your vacation. Since the pandemic, hyperinflation has impacted all our bank accounts and disposable income.
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Similarly, Disney tracks the amount of money the average guest spends per day.
While you’re in complete control of your vacation budget, most guests are paying more per visit.
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One way to sidestep the problem involves booking one of Disney’s least expensive resorts.
Pop Century falls into a fascinating sub-category, as it’s arguably the nicest of the Value resorts.
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So, you’re saving money overall but booking a better hotel than the various All-Star hotels!
The Disney Skyliner
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A few years ago, the Disney Skyliner opened. Its presence fundamentally changed the logistics at Pop Century.
The Disney Skyliner transports guests via a gondola system to two Disney theme parks.
This interconnected system allows you to leave your hotel and ride a kind of ski lift to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The Disney Skyliner also connects to several other Disney resorts as well. That’s important in that it provides you with more shopping and dining options.
Most importantly, you can skip the bus system entirely while riding the Disney Skyliner to these places. It’ll save you tons of time and aggravation.
Everything POP Shopping and Dining
I’ll never forget the first time I walked into this place. The size and utility of it blew me away.
Like the name implies, Everything POP provides two services. One part of this section is a general store that sells your favorite Disney merchandise.
You’ll also discover standard hotel gift shop items as well in case you accidentally forget to pack something.
In the same general vicinity, you’ll also discover a massive Quick Service restaurant.
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This place feels like it belongs at the food court at the Mall of America. It’s that spacious.
Plus, the menu includes anything you could possibly want. By my count, 30 entrees are available for lunch and dinner, presuming we count salads.
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If not, you’ll still find more than 20 entrees that can satisfy your hunger. It’s a sneaky-good place to eat because there’s always an open table.
Also, once you’re done, you can go back to the gift shop!
The Hippy Dippy Pool
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That’s really the name of the pool. I don’t claim to remember it, but people apparently used to say “hippy dippy” in conversation.
Apparently, when someone says this about you, they’re calling you a hippy. And that sets the tone for what you should expect at this pool themed to the 1960s.
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This pool overlooks what I call the flower power building. It also features an oversized, attention-grabbing Baloo statue.
While Pop Century operates several pools, the Hippy Dippy Pool is where you’re most likely to spend time due to its cavernous size.
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Disney indicates that this pool holds 235,613 gallons of water! It also celebrates a long-forgotten prank from that era.
In the 1960s, people would wear a flower on their lapel that would squirt water into someone’s face.
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I think the Joker is the only one who still uses that prank, but there’s a spray water feature at the Hippy Dippy Pool that’ll amuse your child to no end.
The Hotel Lobby
Photo; Disney
I was a Sega Dreamcast guy back in the day. So, it amuses me to no end that this part of my life is now on display in the hotel lobby.
That’s the brilliant conceit of Pop Century. Many pop culture phenomena take their place in the cases across from the check-in desk.
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Depending on the decade of the collector case, you could find a Rubik’s Cube or a lava lamp or a View-Master or a Trivial Pursuit game board.
Kitschy items from past generations populate the walls and provide a lovely way to reminisce.
Photo: WDW Prep School
Parents can bore their kids to tears with the old “Back in my day, this was our smartphone!”
They’ll point out a Simon game while they do it, and their kid rightfully won’t believe a word. It’s Dad Joke bliss.
The Proximity
Sure, the Disney Skyliner will take care of your transportation needs for two parks.
However, the hotel’s location positions you to avoid some of the most aggravating parts of the bus system.
Credit: Disney
Conveniently, you’re less than two miles away from ESPN Wide World of Sports and three miles away from Walt Disney World’s water parks.
Google suggests that the bus rides to Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom should take an average of ten minutes.
Once upon a time, the biggest complaint about the Value tier resorts was their location.
The Disney Skyliner has absolutely changed that perception for Pop Century.
The Themed Buildings
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I mentioned the 1960s building a moment ago. That’s one of the quirks of this hotel campus.
Imagineers have themed each building to the appropriate decade. For example, at the 1960s building, a giant can of Play-Doh stands several stories tall.
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You’ll also notice a giant yo-yo and bowling pin because that’s when people bowled more, I guess?
The 1980s building features a novelty-sized Walkman, a Computer Pool (which seems like a bad idea for electronics), and Roger Rabbit.
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You’ll discover the “newest” décor at the 90s Building. It includes a too-large cellphone, as was the style at the time.
Also, the buildings reference horrible phrases from each era like “Da Bomb” and “You Go Girl!”
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The whole thing is ridiculous in the best possible way. You should definitely roam the grounds at Pop Century while you’re staying there.
In fact, if you’ve never been, you should, at a minimum, ride the Disney Skyliner to the hotel and look around some afternoon.
Credit: PopCenturySuite.com
You’ll discover a delightfully charming resort and place you should seriously consider for your next visit!
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