Pop Century Resort

 In December 2021, I stayed at Pop Century for the first time. Well, technically, I spent one night there in 2007, but I don’t count that. It’s a very popular Value resort and is one of the more expensive ones especially now that it has the Skyliner. I’ve stayed at the All Star Resorts multiple times and I’ve always been happy there. So, I’ve never seen the point in paying extra for another value resort. But I went for it this trip.

Now that I’m home I wanted to talk about the resort, room, and my experience. I never ate at the food court so I have no commentary on that. But below are my thoughts and opinions.

The Rooms

The rooms at Pop Century are standard for a Disney Value resort. They’ve also been refurbished so there’s no carpet and they have a pull-down instead of a second bed. I’m a huge fan of the pulldown beds. It’s especially nice as someone who is often in a room by myself and doesn’t need the extra bed.

Overall, the room felt very clean and bright. Disney has pulled back on the over-the-top theming, but you still know it’s a room on Disney property. The bathroom vanity area is great. It has a ton of storage and counter space. You can sleep four here, but if it was four adults you might feel cramped. It’s particularly noticeable when the second bed is down. Now, let’s talk about amenities and comfort. I love the beds. They are just perfect for me. It’s the goldilocks of beds-not too firm and not too soft. I’m less of the pillows. They’re very squishy. Like they completely engulf my head. There was also no shortage of them. Part of that is there being two beds and me being only one person, but it’s still a lot. I liked it because I’m used to sleeping with my cat next to me. So, I just cocooned myself in pillows to try and simulate that.

Transportation

One of the selling points of Pop Century is the transportation.

Like the All Star Resorts, it does have buses. They go from the front of the resort to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the water parks. I find the buses run fairly often. One downside is that the bus stops have no shade. There are some benches under a cover, but someone else in your party would still have to wait in line. 

Pop also shares a Skyliner with Art of Animation. This will take you to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. You do have to transfer at the Carribean Beach resort which can add to your travel time-especially in the early morning. I find it to be a beautiful and relaxing ride with nice views.

My Final Thoughts

I’m glad I finally stayed at Pop Century. It lived up to the hype and the Skyliner is a nice addition. Although I don’t think the Skyliner justifies the price increase from the All Stars. When it comes to Value Resorts, I’ll probably stick with the All Stars-especially if I’m staying in the room alone.

Thanks for reading!

Holly

So You Want to Go to Disney World Part II

Where to Stay

The first part of this series can be found here.

Where to stay when you go to Disney World can be an intimdating decision. There are a ton of options.

First, you have to decide if your going to stay onsite or offsite. I've only ever stayed onsite so that's all I can speak to. But I know a lot of people stay offisite at hotels or vacation homes and love it.

Before I go into the Disney hotel options, I want to explain why I like to stay onsite.

1) You can make FastPass+ reservations at 60 days (versus 30 for offiste)

2) Free transfers to the hotel from MCO with Magical Express

3) Extra time in the parks with morning and evening Extra Magic Hours

4) You don't have to leave the Disney bubble 

5) You don't have to drive if you don't want to

If you decide to stay at a Disney hotel you then have to decide which one. There are 32 resorts (according to Disney) and they are divided into four categories. I haven't stayed at every hotel, but I have stayed at all the different levels.

The two main deciding factors are budget and style. Design and style are very personal. So, I highly suggest checking out the Disboards/WDWInfo, Touring Plans, AllEars, and YouTube videos for detailed descriptions, pictures, and reviews.

The first tier is Value. These are the least expensive resorts. You can find current pricing on the Disney World website. these hotels are the ones with the smallest rooms. The rooms are also the most plain-generally. The overall themes also tend to be really dramatic and over-the-top.

These are the value hotels:

Pop Century

 

All-Star Music

 

All-Star Movies

All-Star Sports

Art of Animation

Fort Wilderness Campsites

The second tier is moderate. My family often stayed in these resorts when I was younger. But we are a family of five so we eventually grew out of them. The moderate resorts have bigger beds than the values and slightly larger rooms. The resorts also tend to be more spread out than a lot of the others. While my favorite resort is a Deluxe, I owuld love to stay at Port Orleans Riverside every visit. You can find current pricing on the Disney website.

These are the moderate hotels:

Caribbean Beach

Port Orleans Riverside

Port Orleans French Quarter

Coronado Springs

Fort Wilderness Cabins

Next, are the Deluxe resorts. These are the most expensive and lavish resorts. They have the biggest room size for a stard room and will typically sleep a family of five instead of four. All the Disney hotels are well-themed, but there's something particularly refined about these ones. A lot of the Deluxe resorts also have transportation options that aren't busses like the monorail and boats. They also have some of the best pools and kids'splash areas. You can find current pricing on the Disney website.

These are the Deluxe hotels:

Animal Kingdom Lodge

Polynesian

Grand Floridian

Wilderness Lodge

Beach Club

Contemporary 

Yacht Club

Boardwalk

The last set of hotels are the Villas/DVC/Home away from Home. So, being a Disney Vacation Club member is a completely different thing. These resorts come in studios, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom grand villas. The studios are similar to a traditional hotel room, but have a kitchenette. The other room options have a full kitchen and laundry. For the most part, these "hotels" are attached to the existing Deluxe resorts. 

You can pay cash for these rooms direct from Disney. You can find prices on the Disney World website. But you can also rent DVC points form existing vacation club members. This will often save you money but you have to rely on the person you are renting from. We have never rented points since my parents are DVC members, but people seems to like it. I would just suggesting doing a ton of researching before committing.

These are the DVC resorts:

Saratoga Springs

Old Key West

Polynesian Villas and Bungalows

Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary

Grand Floridian Villas

Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani and Jambo House

Boardwalk Villas

Beach Club Villas

Wilderness Lodge Villas-Copper Creek and Boulder Creek

So, those are your hotel options if you want to stay onsite. You really can't go wrong. Lately, I've been staying at the All-Stars because that's what I can afford and I'm happy with that.

If you have any hotel recommendations let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Holly