Disney’s Pop Century Resort is a value hotel in Walt Disney World. The hotel takes guests on a trip through the different decades, with larger than life icons representing the 1950’s through the 90’s. Pop Century is just across from Art of Animation, with Hourglass Lake and a Skyliner station resting between them. In this post, we’ll review the hotel’s rooms, amenities, location and value.

In the 10+ years of this site’s existence, we haven’t hid our love of Pop Century. That love has only grown with the updated rooms and addition of the Skyliner Station. While not my absolute favorite hotel in Disney World, no other place comes close to the value that Pop Century offers. Because of that, it’s the hotel we stay at the most and are most eager to recommend to people.

I should qualify that value statement – the All-Star Resorts are cheaper than Pop Century but don’t offer as good of a deal. Most of that comes down to location, which is always a big factor for us when considering a Disney Parks hotel. The hotel sits a few steps away from a Skyliner station, which is our favorite mode of WDW transportation. Getting to Epcot or Hollywood Studios only take a few minutes and there’s no need to think about busses. Whenever you can avoid a bus, especially one going to or coming from a value resort, you do it.

The Skyliner alone is worth the uptick in cost from any of the All-Star Resorts. Pop Century also offers better rooms and a food court that we like more. This is while being at a lower price point than the neighboring Art of Animation. When considering all of that, Pop Century is easily our favorite value resort.

There’s also the theme to consider. I happen to love Pop Century’s odd, oversized figures. All of the hotel rooms are organized in different sections that represent decades from 1950’s-1990’s. The youths may call those eras ‘retro’ while I prefer to think of the 90’s as just a few short years ago. Even if you think I’m old, who doesn’t want to climb up stairs encased in a Rubik’s Cube or swim in a computer pool?

Like all value resorts, I wouldn’t call the theme transportive but it is fun with bits of zany. The further we get from those decades, the weirder it becomes that this hotel exists. But as long as they keep the rooms and amenities up to date then I think Pop Century will age well. Art of Animation has a broader appeal, being full of Disney franchises, but I prefer the approach here.

Moving on, let’s take a look at the rooms. These have been redone in the past few years and the layout is well thought out. That said, they are very similar to the All Star Resorts.

The rooms feature one bed and one murphy bed that folds up into a table. The space is used well, although the smaller square footage (approximately 260) makes it crowded when both beds are out. I do like the Mickey art above the headboard even if these rooms don’t go hard on theme or decor.

Here’s a view with the murphy bed down. Pluto’s dreaming of some bones and is going to wake up to an empty dog bowl that will leave his stomach growling. Regardless of Pluto’s hunger, the murphy beds in the value resorts have been an excellent addition.

The opposite side of the room is a clean design with the wood and white scheme. That large light on the wall has always struck me as a bit strange but I can’t say we’ve used it enough to make me think of it as positive or negative. This side of the room is just a typical hotel room without any flourishes but it does look nice.

The sink and closet are outside of the toilet and shower room. This is separated from the beds by a sliding door that does a decent job of keeping the light out in the morning if there are different wake up times.

Here’s a toilet and shower. It’s fine! The shower is an average size and looks nice enough. Again, more of just a typical hotel room than anything.

I like the rooms at Pop Century, more for functionality than aesthetically. There are a couple of slight changes to the decorations from the All-Star Resorts but otherwise the rooms are alike. For being a few of the cheapest rooms on property, these are quality places to stay.

There are 3 pools at Pop Century – Bowling Pool, Computer Pool and the Hippy Dippy Pool, which is the main one. All of the value resort pools rank similarly for me. I like how colorful the Hippy Dippy Pool is though and it’s nice that there are 3 different swimming options as that spreads the crowds around.

Along with the zany decorations, I like the grounds at Pop Century. There’s a path all the way around Hourglass Lake that guests can walk or run on. Pop Century also doesn’t feel as crowded to me as the other value resort options. Other amenities include the Everything Pop Shop and Dining (which is a fine counter-service option), an arcade and a pool bar. All of that pales in comparison to what the Skyliner offers guests but they’re nice to have!

That brings us all of the way back around to transportation. Every on-property Disney World hotel has their positives and negatives when it comes to getting to the parks, that is still true of Pop Century. But there do happen to be more positives here. This resort ends up being one of the closest to Hollywood Studios thanks to the Skyliner. Epcot is just a little past that. Bus rides to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom aren’t terrible because of the more central location of Pop. In other words, you’re getting at least moderate hotel level transportation services at a value price. Honestly, I’d take the transportation here over every hotel in the moderate level that’s not Caribbean Beach.

Considering that, and Pop Century’s other qualities, this becomes one of the best places to stay at Walt Disney World. Rooms are regularly had for under $200/night and, if you find that deal, it’s worth booking. Pop Century is easily our favorite value resort and one of our favorite hotels in WDW in general.

Overall Rating – 9/10

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