My Honest Review of Disney’s Pop Century Resort; Should You Stay Here?

My family and I had been planning a trip to Disney since 2019, so when the 50th Celebration was announced, we knew we had to go! Because of the pandemic, not all resorts had been reopened, so we chose to stay at Disney’s Pop Century for our 7-night stay. Today I’ll be sharing my thoughts on our experience, as well as providing tips and suggestions on choosing the best resort for your family’s vacation.

We’ll cover:

• The location and theming of Pop Century
• The Pros of staying at Pop Century
• The Cons of staying at Pop Century
• Tips for choosing a Disney Resort

Location and Theming

Pop Century is a Skyliner resort, meaning that the skyliner transportation route includes a stop at this resort. This allows guests to use a stress-free mode of transportation to both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Pop Century shares a Skyliner station with neighboring Art of Animation Resort. (Note that during my visit in 2021, there were no buses running from Pop Century to Hollywood Studios or Epcot. The Skyliner was the only mode of transportation to those parks.)

Situated in the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, Pop Century is conveniently located for sports teams. It is also in a great location for catching a ride-share service to local non-Disney attractions, such as The Mermaid Gift Shop, and other souvenir stores on the Irlo Bronson Highway (an Uber ride to this gift shop from Pop Century cost me about $10 in 2021).

Pop Century has larger than life theming, with each section of the resort representing a different decade: 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. There are three pools at this resort; in the 50s area is an average size pool shaped like a bowling pin, in the 60s is a groovy flower pool along with a kids’ splash pad areas and in the 80s is a square pool meant to resemble a laptop. Each building is adorned with large statues and wall ornaments that embody that building’s designated decade. For instance, in the 50s section are huge (20 foot tall?) statues of Lady and The Tramp, in the 60s is a ginormous tub of Play-Doh, in the 70s are football field sized foosball men, and so on.

Pros of Pop Century

There are several perks to staying at Pop Century, the first is that it is a Value Resort, meaning the accommodations are more budget friendly than some of Disney’s other resorts. A “standard” room will cost, on average, $200 per night. This price can fluctuate based on the time of year and around holidays; for example, during peak seasons or during the Halloween and Christmas seasons, prices may be higher. For comparison, the rate for a Moderate Resort may be closer to $300 per night during peak seasons.

The second perk of staying at Pop Century is the access to the Skyliner. This transportation is relatively new and provides a unique and futuristic way to travel to some of the parks. The views from the Skyliner are stunning, as long as you don’t mind heights or frequent stops (sometimes over bodies of water).

I was surprised to see both a coffee maker and refrigerator in the room, which were convenient for making coffee before rope dropping and for storing leftovers from dinner. The Murphy bed is a great way to add space during the day as well, so you can have a table and chairs to eat your leftovers! The best perk was the size of the safe; it was large enough to fit my small DSLR camera, and all my batteries and phone chargers (as opposed to the typical safe Disney puts in some of its resorts that is built into the wall and is only a few inches deep).

Cons of Pop Century

Unfortunately, from my experience at this resort, there were many more cons than pros. For starters, the rooms did not offer much quiet at night after a long day in the parks. The walls were very thin, allowing us to hear other guests talking in the rooms next to us, walking above us, walking outside our room, and we could even hear all the toilets flushing in the neighboring rooms. The air conditioning unit was also very noisy and, like many resorts I’ve stayed in, there was no way to turn the unit off so we could sleep in silence. Our family enjoys rope dropping, so we like to have a good night’s sleep so we can wake up super early and take advantage of resort guest early access to the parks. Having a quiet resort is critical for getting that much needed rest.

The trash can and recycling bin in the room were very small, and because housekeeping only visits your room every other day (during COVID) the single trash and recycling bins get full quickly. If you do most of your dining at restaurants or in the parks, you may not have that much trash. But, if you’re frugal like me, you may be stopping at the store to get sandwich ingredients and snacks and doing a lot of eating in the room (resulting in more trash).

Unlike Moderate Resorts, Pop Century was not equipped with an alarm clock, so in addition to relying on your phone for the time, you must rely on your phone to wake up in the morning, so make sure it’s charged! I personally like having an alarm clock in the room so that when I wake up in the middle of the night I can see what time it is, plus I inevitably sleep through my phone’s alarm and like to have a secondary alarm.

This next con may just be a consequence of resource constraints during the pandemic, but the room did not have any hand soap. Instead the room was provided with a bar of facial soap, which did not state it was antibacterial soap. If you are missing toiletries, you can call housekeeping for replenishments, however in this instance only more facial soap was provided.

The resort does not have any sit-down dining restaurants. Pop Century does have the cafeteria-style food court called Everything POP Shopping & Dining. This food court is a quick-service location with lots of seating for quick eating. At peak busy times (breakfast, dinner) mobile ordering is your best option to avoid long lines, but even this order-ahead option can take 20 or more minutes. The food service at Pop Century does not seem as efficient as other Disney Resorts, but the cast members are always in good spirits and make delicious food.

This final con is very subjective depending on your family make-up: but Pop Century seems to be very kid-oriented. So, if your family has older children or if your party is all adults, then this resort may not be as modern or may not have the mature aesthetic you’re looking for. The food court has televisions on playing Disney movies, the pools are small and can be overrun by children, and the crying children can be overwhelming at night (due to the thin walls I mentioned before).

Tips for choosing a Disney Resort

I think one of the best things to do if you’re choosing a Disney resort for the first time is to watch as many POV videos and review videos as you can. But, I would try to look for videos where the reviewer actually stayed the night at the resort so you can get a full picture of what staying at that resort looks like. Sometimes, Disney Vloggers may do a tour of a resort but they don’t stay overnight, so their videos won’t provide you with all the pertinent downfalls of that resort.

I also recommend making a list of what you are looking for in the resort. If you’re looking for something a little more quiet or luxurious, try a Deluxe resort. If you want quiet but not necessarily luxury, your budget might appreciate a Moderate resort. I have had great experiences at Port Orleans Riverside — there is a food court as well as dine-in restaurant, there is one kid pool and several ‘quiet’ pools, and the rooms feel more secluded and quiet at night. If a dine-in restaurant at the resort is important for you, be sure to look at the menus of the resorts you’re looking into.

Remember, you are spending a lot of money to take your family to Disney World, and you don’t want to compromise on your resort if you really enjoy comfort and relaxation at the end of the day. You may hear some people say that you’re just using the resort to sleep and so the resort doesn’t matter — but I think a bad resort experience can make or break a Disney trip. It’s the difference between feeling well rested and ready to drag the kids around, and feeling both physically and mentally exhausted halfway through the trip.

Disney Food Blog and AllEars.net have some great tips and insights into each resort as well, so they are worth checking out to make sure you make the best decision for your family.