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Intro to Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Hi everyone. It’s Tyler here from TheTravelingToddler.com . So you’ve probably been reading my articles about our recent trip to Walt Disney World (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/), such as my Top Five Disney Attractions for Toddlers and my Top 3 Tips for Visiting Disney with Toddlers. Today I’m posting a Disney’s Pop Century Resort Review (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/pop-century-resort/)
Location
Pop Century is close to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, with both just a 10 minute bus ride away. Animal Kingdom is about 15 minutes away, while Magic Kingdom is the farthest park, about 25 minutes away.
Transportation
Transportation to Pop Century is provided to all 4 parks by bus, with occasional shared service with Art of Animation resort, which can lead to slightly longer bus rides and wait times.
Dining
Pop Century has a large food court with standard American fare, including hamburgers, pizza, pasta, and salads. In addition, Art of Animation (located within walking distance) has it’s own food court, with slightly different fare. Entrees range from $10-$15.
There is no table service restaurant at either resort. The dining at Pop Century will definitely appeal to toddlers.
Lodging
Guests are lodged in one of ten buildings with outside facing doors. Each building is three stories tall and has an elevator. Housekeeping is provided daily. Two double beds are located in each room as well as a small safe and mini fridge.
Bell services can help you with moving your luggage. There is also an option for express check in where you can skip the front desk entirely. There is also a self service laundry room by the main pool.
One of the most appealing aspects of Pop Century if you have toddlers is that it is a very compact resort. It’s never a long distance to go between you car, the buses, the food court, and your room and that is definitely a life saver when you’re dealing with an exhausted toddler.
Cost
Pop Century is considered a value resort, with rooms ranging from $100 to $200/night. It’s about $10-$15/night higher than the comparable All Star resorts.
Pool
There are three basic pools scattered throughout Pop Century, with lifeguards stationed at all 3. The pool is open 12 hours a day, but there is no water slide in any of the pools.
While many Pop Century guests do use the Art of Animation pool which is better (larger, more decorations, zero entry), technically this is not allowed.
Vibe
Pop Century is definitely geared toward families with young kids and the theming and clientele reflect this. If you don’t have kids, you’ll want to avoid Pop Century. Conversely, the resort if perfect for families with young kids.
Other
Currently, Pop Century is undergoing renovations one building at a time, but that should not affect your stay in any way. In fact, if you stay here in the near future, you might even get one of the newest rooms in all of Disney World.
Summary
Being a value resort, only the basics are offered: a basic pool, quick service dining, bus transportation to the resorts, and a clean place to sleep. Don’t expect any amenities like live music, a sit-down restaurant, marina rentals, etc.
However, if you’re looking for an inexpensive (by Disney standards) place to stay on Disney property with your kids, Pop Century is definitely a good option.
Thanks for reading.
What are your thoughts about Disney’s Pop Century Resort? What Disney resorts do you recommend for toddlers? Leave your comments below.
Pop Century is my favorite value resort. It’s a little more than the All Stars, but also a little higher quality. I like the fact that it’s compact and easy to walk with children and with kids we don’t really eat sit down meals so having just a food court is no problem. And since our kids are still really young not having a fancy pool is fine.
Our thoughts exactly
I stayed here a long time ago when my girls were little. It was just fine since it was close to the parks. And with little girls it was good to spend a day at the pool and get the counter service food, but it is sometimes a bit costly compared to other off Disney hotels on SR 192.
You can definitely get a better deal staying off site. Hopefully we’ll have a post in the future with a more detailed off site versus on site comparison.
This is a good summary of Pop Resort at Disney.
I have not yet stayed here, but I’ve heard grea things about this resort.