Disney Pop Century Resort Review

Disney’s Pop Century Resort is a value hotel owned and operated by Disney Resorts. Located conveniently on the grounds of Walt Disney World Resort, its quirky design make it a destination in itself aside from the theme parks.

The hotel’s theme was all about the latter part of the 20th century: The 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. On the check-in building, there are framed memorabilia from past decades, like old video game consoles (some of them we can relate to), and photos of famous stars.

Our family stayed for one night just to try out the hotel and its facilities. Here’s an honest review of Disney’s Pop Century Resort.

Checking In at the Pop Century Resort

Check-in is located in a building separate from the guest rooms. If you are driving your own car, park in the check-in spots located across the street. Don’t bother bringing your stuff in yet, otherwise it would be annoying to lug bags to the check-in building from your car and back again.

There’s multiple tables where the check-in agents are located, and you’ll have to queue and wait your turn for the next available agent to assist you. Every single table has plexi-glass and staff were wearing masks.

Because of the pandemic, the hotel was not accommodating advance requests so we had to request for a crib when we checked in. We called in advance before we checked in but were advised any requests will be handled upon check-in.

We got assigned room 430, which is located at the ’70s building, on the fourth floor, overlooking the lake – sort of. It is a partial lake view from outside the room, with no extra cost!

Disney’s Pop Century Bedroom

Pop Century is very family-friendly. Every room comes with two double beds: one that’s set on the floor and a murphy bed that converts conveniently into a table, making it a room for 4 or 5.

There’s a TV, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker, but no coffee pods were available in the room. Since we brought a baby with us on this trip, we requested for a crib. Before the pandemic, housekeeping will have the crib set up and ready for you in the room. In the current setup, housekeeping will deliver you the crib and sheets from outside the room and you’ll have to set the crib up yourself.

It wasn’t that hard to set up the crib and pretty soon we were on our way to explore the resort. I do like that they provided crib bumpers, and our son had one of the most pleasant night’s sleep he ever had.

The room is small, with barely enough room for a couple and a baby to walk around in. There is a huge window overlooking the corridor outside. It may be a negative for others having people who can easily look inside your room but our son loved playing and looking out the window.

The bed had 8 pillows on it, 4 of which is meant for the standalone bed, while the other 4 can be used if people need to sleep on the murphy bed. We had fun sleeping with all 8 pillows on our bed.

Disney’s Pop Century Bathroom

The bathroom is standard. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were provided but were in huge pump bottles located in the shower area. A bar of soap was also provided.

There is a shower/tub combination in the bathroom, perfect for those who are wondering how you’re going to bathe your babies after a swim in the pool.

The bathroom was a bit small, but the sliding doors with the mirrors entertained our baby, so it was a nice touch. It’s also a good spot where we can plop him down to play while we’re brushing our teeth.

There’s plenty of closet/cubby space available in the bathroom. This can help make your room more organized when you’re staying long-term.

The Hippy Dippy Pop Century Pool

There are three pools on the Pop Century resort area: one shaped like a bowling pin, the main pool called Hippy Dippy has water jets coming out of it and a small pool located in the ’90s building area.

We personally did not swim in any of the pools so can’t judge if they’re heated or not. The bowling pool was closed for the duration of our stay, but the Hippy Dippy pool and the kiddie pool were open and manned with lifeguards.

There were plenty of chairs available in the pool area, and the Hippy Dippy pool seems big enough for social distancing.

Pop Century Dining & Store Options

The dining and souvenir store area is conveniently called Everything POP. Because of the pandemic, dining was only available through mobile order and pickup. We opted not to eat in the resort since the food options were a bit poor and pricey.

If you do want to dine in, we would recommend getting the cupcakes. From our stay at the Disney All Star Movies resort, the cupcakes are seasonal and vary from resort to resort. It’s a bit expensive at almost $6 per cake, but good for photos!

The souvenir store was also a bit overpriced. However, there were a few sections that had a 30% or BOGO items, which are perfect for those on a budget. Pop Century themed merchandise were very expensive though, with a rubber magnet costing $7.42, which is the cheapest themed merch one could get.

There are sundry items also available, where one can pick up snacks, bottled water, soda, and candy. Expect to pay exorbitantly for them. A band-aid pack of 5 costs around $3!

Note: if you’re looking for a great Disney hotel-themed merchandise, head to the Riviera Resort and get a plush keychain. It’s around $13+tax but is definitely unique.

Pop Century Design & Things to Do

What we love about this resort is the design! One can find a lot of spots where great photos can be had. Our building has a huge Mickey with a landline statue on it. Directly in front is a huge foosball table, complete with soccer ball, and a children’s tricycle.

In other buildings, one can find Lady and the Tramp, Baloo from the Jungle Book, huge yo-yos, transistor radios, and more. There’s also Mr and Mrs. Potato Head located near the parking lot of the ’70s building.

Walking around the hotel is definitely fun, and I spent a lot of time taking photos with our family and enjoying our walks around the resort.

The map includes a 1 mile walking trail around the complex but there is a long paved road that goes around the lake, to the Art of Animation Resort, and back to Pop Century, which would be great for a longer walk or run. There were plenty of people walking around the lake early in the morning.

Disney Skyliner at Pop Century

The biggest bonus we had at staying in this resort was the Disney Skyliner! The Skyliner is the newest transportation hub of Disney which connects various resorts to Epcot or Hollywood Studios. There was a skyliner station conveniently at Pop Century, which is shared with Art of Animation.

This skyliner station takes you to the main hub located at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, where you will have to disembark. You can then opt to take the cable car to Epcot with a stop at the Riviera Resort, or to Hollywood Studios.

During the pandemic, every family was assigned one gondola, and strollers are more than welcome on the Skyliner! We rode on it with our toddler, and it was more than enough space for a couple, the stroller, and a baby.

Best of all, the Skyliner is free! There is no need to pay extra for this attraction, unlike other places we’ve been to. You can even ride the Skyliner unlimited times to various resorts if you want to. It is a pretty cool cable car ride, and the longest one goes from Caribbean Beach to Epcot.

There are pretty epic views from the Skyliner, but for photo buffs, I found it hard to get a decent photo of the outside from inside the Skyliner as its moving.

Noise Levels at Pop Century

We did have an incident during our stay at the Pop Century. The room next to us seems to have a lot more people than required, and they were noisy, at midnight. This group of folks were playing music and were talking very loudly. Not good if you have a baby already sleeping.

We immediately called the front desk and complained about our noisy neighbors. It turns out we were not the only ones since security went to their room twice. It finally became silent after the second warning.

Not sure what happened with our neighbors, but it is something to be mindful of. The motel-like setup of the hotel means it could get noisy, something to note.

A value resort with a lot of amenities and no resort fees

For an overnight stay, we think that there was plenty of things to do within the Pop Century Resort area that there is no need to venture further. The only time someone from our party actually left the resort area was to grab food since the options were limited and the prices were exorbitant.

However, we love that this hotel has no resort fees on top of the hotel room that you already paid for. There is a $15 parking fee per night if you’re driving a car, which is an annoying fee, but has to be paid if you’re driving a car.

Overall, the Disney Pop Century Resort is a great option for those on a budget and for families too. If you find a good price, then don’t hesitate.

Have you stayed at the Pop Century Resort? Let me know your thoughts on the comments section below.