7 Reasons to Stay at Pop Century At Disney

I love Pop Century at Disney World. Every Disney resort has reasons to stay there. While this is great news because it means you will likely never go wrong with the selection of a resort, it can also be overwhelming trying to decide which resort is right for your family and the trip you are taking. Pop Century at Disney is no different. Here are my top 7 reasons for picking Pop Century Resort.

Here are some other posts to help you learn more about Pop Century:

- Complete Guide to Pop Century Resort
- Pop Century Map

Best Value of a Value Resort

I would still vote Pop Century at Disney for my favorite value resort. The newly renovated rooms truly sell it for me. If you were staying at a moderate or deluxe, a lot of your resort time would likely not be in the room. You would be exploring the resort and activities that are going on. At the value resorts, the area you will spend the most time is your room. Staying in a room that we recently updated lets us enjoy our vacation more because it is one less thing to worry about.

The price point is less than Art of Animation, even for the The Little Mermaid rooms. The only other value resort that currently has updated rooms is All Star Music, but not everyone is finished yet. Between the sharing of buses and the small food court, I would pick Pop Century at Disney over any other value resort.

Newly Renovated

Pop Century went under a renovation starting in 2017 and ending in 2018. The newly renovated rooms are why this is my current favorite value resort to stay at. They are modern, sleek, spacious, and have tons of added amenities for convenience.

My personal favorite is throughout the room you have a plethora of outlets that also feature USB chargers. We typically vacation with only two adults in the rooms, but between phones, smartwatches, portable chargers, and more, we need all the outlets we can get! I am sure a family of 4 would greatly appreciate this as well.

The new rooms feature ample space for storage which make long stays easier to manage. You’ll find drawer space and hanging space for your clothing and shelves for any bathroom items you need to store as well.

The rooms now feature one queen bed and one queen murphy bed. When the bed is not in use, you will find a table to plan, eat, and relax at. The murphy bed is comfortable, so don’t be concerned you won’t get a good night sleep.

The rooms also feature a large fridge, perfect for storing any drinks or leftovers. There is no microwave in the room, but it does have something not all value resort rooms have.

Coffee Maker

This might seem silly to have it as one of the reasons to stay at Pop Century at Disney, but I stand by this. Having a coffee maker in your room eliminates the need to go to the food court and wait in line first thing in the morning. If you are traveling with a larger group or with kids, getting ready in the morning can take a lot of time. This means added time in the room trying to get everyone ready to go.

Attempting to help kids get ready or even functioning as a human in the morning without your coffee is a Herculean task for some. The ability to be able to start your morning without walking outside in the humidity or rain to get a cup of joe, is a luxury in my opinion.

It also allows you get skip Joffrey’s or Starbucks when you get in the park! Start your morning off by getting in a ride before the crowds can do wonders for your mood for the day.

You can also pack your own coffee from home or get some shipped from amazon if you are worried about having good coffee in the morning. It should also be stated, you can bring that coffee into the parks, so don’t worry about chugging it on the bus ride over.

Location

Pop Century is extremely close to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Most nights you can see fireworks going off for their nighttime spectaculars! This means once you get on the bus it is less time on it. Those bus rides with kids at the end of the night can make you question why on earth you thought this trip was magical. The shorter the ride, the easier your end of the night will be.

It is also reasonably located to get to Disney Springs! Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom are both a bit farther. Unless you are staying by either of the parks, that is to be expected. Both “kingdoms” are a farther drive for most resorts.

One of the other great things about its location is the proximity to another resort, Art of Animation.

Two Resorts for the Price of One

Being able to hop between resorts may sounds odd or unnecessary, but it truly does come in handy. You cannot use the The Big Blue pool unless you are an Art of Animation guest. However, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy Art of Animation without staying at the resort.

Landscape of Flavors if often regarded as one of the best food courts at any Disney resort. It is definitely the best of the value resorts food courts. There is nothing wrong with Everything Pop Dining. In fact I prefer it to the All Star Resorts dining areas because it has plenty of seating, but Landscape of Flavors provides variety.

You will find each counter has different options for each meal, like Everything Pop does. However, the choices here can be a little more adventurous than your typical burger and fries. You will still find those staples there, but other things like the make your own pasta bar or gelato, are pretty great.

Another reason having two resorts for the price of one is great is the extra space. If you want to rent one of the bikes or just take your kids to wander around and burn off some steam, you have twice the space to do it. Plus, Art of Animation is full of their favorite Disney characters.

The reason that we like the ability to walk to and from Art of Animation is the end of the night transportation. No matter the time of year, we always see the Pop Century’s line go get home at the end of the night is typically longer than anywhere else. It has the most rooms of any Disney hotel, so this isn’t a surprise. However, at the end of a long day when you want to get home, it is not what you want to see.

We often will take the Art of Animation bus home and walk across the bridge to our hotel. The transportation line for both hotels are next to each other at all theme parks. So it makes it pretty easy to see which line is shorter and tends to have more frequent bus traffic.

Theming

Most kids will get a bigger thrill about seeing their favorite Disney characters ginormous at Art of Animation. However, Pop Century’s theming is also impressive. You have a giant Mowgli and Baloo, Roger Rabbit, Yo-Yo’s made for giants, and more!

The charm of the value resorts is that they make everything feel huge for adults, but even larger for kids. The oversized features throughout the resort give a special feeling. From the moment you drive up on Magical Express until the second you have to leave.

Theming is a large part of any Disney resort. Whether it is a value, moderate, or deluxe, but the value resorts do it in a much more kid-friendly way. Most kids will be more excited about the oversized items throughout the value resorts. In comparison to thinking the architecture at Port Orleans-French Quarter is extremely accurate.

Value resorts are great for saving money on a trip while not getting rid of any Disney magic.

Skyliner

Adding of a new transportation system is pretty awesome. Plus, I’m a sucker for a skyline. The Skyliner picks up guests at Pop Century and Art of Animation and takes them to the main hub at Caribbean Beach Resort. The flight over is roughly 5-7 minutes.

Here, you’ll depart your gondola and transfer to either Epcot or Hollywood Studios. If you are going to Riviera Resort, you would board the Epcot gondolas too.

The Skyliner seems to help with the end of the night traffic I already talked about. However, more so than that, it’s another magical way to get to and from the parks. Taking the monorail has long been a staple for many Disney vacations. Even if you are just riding it in a circle with no destination in mind.

There also doesn’t appear to be a price jump for the Skyliner resorts and the All Star Resorts yet either. Hopefully this remains true so I don’t have to find a new favorite value resort.

Size of Resort

Pop Century may have the most number of rooms for a Disney resort, but you would never notice from the size of the hotel. The areas are reasonably spread out. None of them are a far walk from the food court, lobby, or bus transportation. This is great news for anyone looking to save a few extra bucks on your trip. Selecting a standard room instead of a preferred room for its location isn’t as necessary here.

After staying in The Little Mermaid suites at Art of Animation, I realized just how evenly laid out Pop Century is. While none of the value resorts are as large as a moderate or deluxe resort, Pop seems to have mastered the layout a bit better.

This means regardless of if you are walking to the bus, the new Skyliner, heading to Art of Animation, or grabbing a bite at the food court, you won’t have a long walk ahead.

There are also three pools throughout the resort. So if you are looking for a quick dip in the pool, you can usually walk out your door and be there in under 5 minutes.