Disney's POP Century Resort

As a family of four with a limited vacation budget, whenever we travel to Walt Disney World, we always stay at a value resort. As I've previously stated, on our first trip we stayed at the All-Star Music Resort and on our family reunion trip we stayed at the All-Star Movie Resort. On our last trip, we wanted to try something new (Sports is not our thing) and so we opted for POP Century.

At a first glance, I did not want to stay at this resort because it is far away from all of the...well, everything. It seems like it is off in a corner of the property and that it would take forever to get anywhere. Well, we decided to take a chance and booked our trip and I have to say, while it wasn't my favorite "theme" wise, it was certainly a great place to stay.

Per Waltdisneyworld.com:

Guest rooms are located in 10 brightly colored and whimsically decorated 4-story buildings—trimmed with huge letters representing iconic sayings from the decade they represent. Different sections of the hotel represent the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s.

The Resort's central building is named Classic Hall, and the facility includes the Main Lobby check-in desk, the Fast Forward Arcade and the Everything Pop shop and food court.

Unwind and enjoy 3 swimming pools—the main flower-shaped Hippy Dippy Pool, the smaller bowling pin-shaped Bowling Pool and the monitor-shaped Computer Pool. Younger Guests can cool off at the Goofy Kiddie Spray Area, an interactive play fountain located between the '60s and '70s section.

Disney's Pop Century Resort has been designated by the Florida Green Lodging Program, recognizing the Resort's environmentally responsible practices.

My husband is a child of the 70's so we asked for a room in the 70's complex. The building was adorned with all-things-70's like Mood Rings, platform shoes, leisure suits and 8-Track tapes. It was wild! We got a corner room on the third floor right on the lake. It was quiet and the scenery was lovely. We even saw fireworks from Epcot each night. The walk to and from the main building was not long and the bus service to and from the parks was amazing. I had stayed at deluxe resorts with my sister that didn't have such wonderful bus service!

The rooms were clean - housekeeping was great - and in general, it was a lovely place to stay. The only negative that I'd have to say is that there is a whole second phase of POP Century that construction has halted on and we could see it all from our room. I mean, I understand progress and all that and it wasn't like there was a any noise coming from the construction site, it was just a bit of an eyesore. Picky, right?

Our check in was speedy and the main building housed the lobby (obviously), the food court, gift shop and arcade. Once you walk out the back doors of the main building it's like stepping in to a colorful new world. With giant icons and Disney characters all around you, you almost can't wait to see what is waiting for you around the next corner. We found a larger than life Foosball court, a giant Big Wheel, giant yo-yo's, Goofy getting ready to go surfing in his shiny new sports car, a giant Twister game spot...I mean, we could have spent a sold half a day just exploring the resort property!

I have to admit, when we go on our next visit, I am torn between staying at POP again and perhaps giving the family suites at the All-Star Music a try. I guess it depends on how many are in our party. Bottom line is that this is a great value resort that is a lot of fun to stay at. The average cost is $89 per night. It is sort of like a upscale motel with the doors leading directly to the outside - there are no interior hallways or rooms, really. But again, most of us that are going to Disney are going for the parks and that's where we'll spend the bulk of our time, not in our rooms. So if you are looking for a good value resort, I would highly recommend the POP Century. It has it's own buses as opposed to the All-Star's which share their buses so that is a plus in travel time - less waiting.

Why a Value Resort?

Because the Walt Disney World Resort has so many resorts and room options, most people assume that they must all be expensive. They are not. Then you get some vacation planners that want the full-on Disney experience and want to stay at one of the deluxe resorts because they figure that the value ones must not be any good. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The first thing to take in to consideration is that you are hardly EVER in your room when vacationing at the Walt Disney World Resort. Our family gets a wake-up call every morning between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. and we are all showered, dressed and at the bus stop by 8:00 a.m. We want a FULL day in the parks. On an average day, the parks open at 9:00 and close at either 8:00 or 9:00 pm - on average. We will stay in the park the entire day. Then, by the time the park closes and you fight the crowds, get a bus and get back to the hotel, it's pretty late. Essentially we are just sleeping in our rooms so why would I spend $250 a night when I could spend $89?

I've stayed at three of the four value resorts with my husband and kids and I've taken a few trips with just me and my sister where we've stayed at the deluxe resorts and to be honest, yes, the deluxe resorts are beautiful and the rooms are bigger, essentially, I'm still just sleeping in the room.

Disney value resorts are not like off-site "value" resorts. These are not cheezy motels. There are three All-Star Resort: All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies. The fourth value resort is the POP Century Resort. All of these resorts have great themes and have these larger-than-life icons all around the buildings and complex. Their colors are all bright, primary colors that just grab your attention! POP Century has icons based on some of the biggest pop-culture icons of the last 50 or so years and each section is based on a different decade: 50's - 90's.

The All-Star Sports is completely sports themed, All-Star Music features all different kinds of music genre's, and All-Star Movies is based on some of Disney's best movies. We've stayed in the Rock n Roll building of All-Star Movies and in the Toy Story section of All-Star Movies - actually, we were right outside of Andy's room where there were three-story tall Buzz Lightyear and Woody! That was back in 2001 and the kids LOVED it! There was even a life-sized RC Racer that the kids could sit in and pretend to drive. I have GOT to scan those pictures in!

The rooms, in general, are pretty small. You can only fit four people in them and even then it's a little tight. You get two full-size beds, a dresser, a table and chairs, TV, night stand and your standard bathroom and vanity area. Like I said, if you are just going to be using the room to sleep in and crash for the night, then you would have no problem here. But if you need a little space to sprawl out...well, the All-Star Music Resort does now offer family suites! These suites sleep up to 6 adults and have a queen size bed, a full-size pull-out sofa, and convertible ottoman and chair sleepers. There are two bathrooms, a kitchenette, mini-refrigerator and microwave. There is a private master suite. This is a nice option because you can fit more people and it is still less expensive than moving up to a deluxe room which is the only option if you have more than 5 people in your party.

There is plenty to do on all of the Value Resort complexes, as well. Each resort/complex has at least two pools. Each resort is also equipped with a food court, gift shop, arcade, playgrounds and plenty of places to explore! Each resort has bus service to and from all of the theme parks, as well.

One down side to these resorts is that they not as close to the parks as some of the others. You can see Blizzard Beach from some, or Epcot's fireworks from others but for the most part, they are a bit remote. Another down side is that these resorts are usually the most crowded because they are such a great deal. Because of that the buses are more crowded and actually, the three All-Stars do tend to share bus service which slows things down even more at the busier times of year.

But if you are looking for bang for your buck, you cannot go wrong with a Disney Value Resort. The cost, the themes, the service...you never leave the magic of the parks because you are surrounded by it even back in your room.