Just Press Go Travel

If you’ve been pondering whether you should stay on property, stop reading now – and go read my blog all about the benefits of staying on property – and then come back and read all about Disney’s Pop Century Resort.

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Overview

Resort Name: Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Location: Epcot Resort Area

Type: Value Resort

The Resort

Pop Century is a groovy celebration of eras! Each set of buildings is themed to a decade, 50s – 90s, decorated with larger-than-life pop culture icons including yo-yos, bowling pins, and cell phones.

Pop Century’s lobby is finishing renovations and is home to the Everything POP Shopping and Dining – the resort gift shop and food court – and an arcade. 

Outside the lobby is the Hippy Dippy Pool, the largest pool at the resort, the kids’ splash pad, and Petals Pool Bar. Quiet pools, aka pools without lifeguards, can also be found in the 50s and 80s/90s building sections of the resort.

Other amenities available at Pop Century Resort include a playground, a running trail, movies under the stars, and outdoor games such as corn hole (bags) and table tennis.

Pop Century Resort is a sister resort to Art of Animation, sharing a lake and Skyliner station. If you are interested in resort hopping, it’s a quick walk across the bridge from Pop Century to Art of Animation, or you can use the Skyliner to visit Caribbean Beach, Riviera Resort, and those near the Epcot station including Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts and Disney’s Boardwalk Inn.

Dining

Everything POP Shopping & Dining: Gift Shop and Food Court. The food court has  4 different dining sections to order from, grab and go, and an option to mobile order. There is extensive seating indoors and outdoors, and you can always pop in to fill your water cup or resort soda mug. 

Petal Pool Bar: Quick service restaurant and bar located at the Hippy Dippy pool. Open 11 am – 10:30 pm.

Amenities

Rooms

Disney’s Pop Century Resort has 4 building sections – 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s/90s. Room options are either Standard or Preferred, and you can choose between Resort View and Pool View.

The 60s and portions of the 50s and 70s are considered “Preferred Rooms” – which are rooms closer to the Skyliner, Hippy Dippy Pool, and Classic Hall – the main building with lobby, shop, food court, and park buses.

Rooms can have either 1 Queen Bed and 1 Queen Table Bed (Murphy Bed) or 1 King Bed.

I stayed in a Preferred Room Resort View, which was in the 60s building. I think it was worth the upgrade to be so close to food and transportation, especially after a long day and knowing I was traveling during a rainy time (Note: It is Florida. It’s going to rain.) I think I liked not having a pool room as the pools are open until 10 pm and have music playing, so I didn’t have that additional sound when trying to have my baby nap. If you have kids that are going to want to go to the pool – a pool view may be better for you.

My room had one queen bed and one table queen bed. I was traveling with just my baby, so we didn’t use the table bed – and there was decent room for the pack n play.

Additional parts of the room: bathtub, closet, 6 dresser drawers, closet, door to separate the bathroom, plus a tub/toilet room.

Features of the preferred room that I loved:

1. Was in a 60s building and it was very easy to get to food and transportation, and not too long a walk at the end of the day, or back to the room in the heat of the day for a nap.
2. The double shower head in the tub that allowed for either a standard shower head, or for the handheld to rinse the kiddo during a bath.
3. The height of the beds allowed for suitcases and storage under the bed. The room we were in was a fair size, but could be cramped with many suitcases and additional items needed for traveling families (Strollers – looking at you) – but the additional storage under the bed makes life easy for families.
4. Decent storage for a hotel room. Closet to hang clothes, closet with shelves, pantry area with shelves, and then a 6-drawer dresser.
5. So. Many. Outlets. Three prong outlets everywhere, and many USB and USB-C outlets throughout the room and next to the bed.

Note: All Walt Disney World Hotels have pack and plays and cribs on site. Pack and plays are a bit easier to request and are easy to assemble. We always travel with a Slumberpod (not sponsored – just highly recommend) and there is a Disney provided pack and play inside.

Transportation

A key feature of this resort is Skyliner access. The Skyliner runs from Pop Century and Art of Animation to the Skyliner transfer station at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, where guests then transfer to go to either Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Riviera Resort, or can explore Caribbean Beach Resort. This is a gondola system that operates across the Epcot resort area. It is an omnimover, so it can be quicker than waiting for a bus – and when it is operational, buses do not run from Skyliner resorts to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Personal opinion: I really enjoy the Skyliner. I love that I don’t have to wait for a bus. I do not love having to transfer, but I still take that over a bus. I also love that when I’m traveling with my single stroller, it does not have to get broken down to get on the bus – this is huge when I’m transferring during nap time. I chose this resort for my stay to reduce the number of times I would need to break down my stroller, as I was traveling solo with my child.

WDW Bus transportation is then available for all other Disney Parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the two water parks. The bus stops are located at Classic Hall. In the event of bad storms the Skyliner will temporarily cease operations and bus transportation will be provided to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

Minnie Vans are available for order through the Lyft app. This is a ride share offer driven by Disney Cast Members if you prefer to take a private car on property, whether it is to another resort for a dining reservation or to a park if you would rather not take the bus or boat. All Minnie Vans have multiple car seat options available for use, and the cast members are trained on install.

Parking is free for hotel guests at official Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, additionally, hotel guests can also park at the theme parks for free if they choose to drive.

Summary

Overall, I enjoyed this hotel and would recommend to anyone:

• Wanting to stay on property
• Looking for over the top theming
• Those traveling with single or front/back strollers to reduce the amount of effort to transport littles around property

Sound off in the comments and let me know your thoughts!

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