Pop Century Resort: A Review

So my recent trip to Walt Disney World was over the July 4th weekend. And yes, I know that's probably the WORST time to visit Uncle Walt's place, but a promo special made it possible to take my 9yo niece Bianca for a weekend trip for her 1st visit to The World.

With every trip to Disney World, the 1st question that needs to be answered is "Where do I Stay?" (the question 'When should you visit Disney World?" should always be answered ANYTIME!) My niece is a huge fan of 80's pop culture staple POKEMON. So it only made sense that we stay at the Pop Century Resort. This was a good decision for two reasons: 1) I have never stayed here before and 2) I know that this resort will be getting a face-lift once the new Art of Animation resort opens, which is being built adjacent to what was supposed to be the second half of the Pop Century resort.

So on July 1st, we arrived around 10:30am via Disney's Magical Express. I had used Disney's Online Resort Check-in prior to our arrival to the resort. As I enter the massive lobby of the resort, I looked for the designated line for those who used the Online Check-in process. We step up to the counter and the cast member asks for my name, ID and verifies the credit card I have linked to my reservation. The cast member hands over a resort folder that has info we may need for our stay. Our room is not ready, so the cast member tells me that they can either call me or text me when our room is ready. We decide to head over to Disney's Hollywood Studios to start the vacation and to wait till we hear that our room is ready. Around 3pm I get a text message that our room is ready. We head back to the resort to get our room keys and to make sure that our luggage was delivered to our room by Magical Express.

About two days before our trip, I called Disney to add a building request to my reservation. Pop Century is comprised of 5 buildings/sections that are themed to five decades of pop culture, the 50's to the 90's. I have requested a ground level room in the 80's section. While these requests are not guaranteed, my requested was honored.

Pop Century is designated a Value Resort among the many Disney resorts. Basically its Disney's version of an upscale motel. While this resort offers families a value option to visit Disney World, it offers plenty more than your average motel.

After verifying that our room cards worked, we checked out the room and verify that our luggage had arrived. Our luggage was in the room waiting for us. The room had a basic set-up: two queen sized beds, a small table with two chairs, a dresser with a flat-screen TV on top, a sink & counter area located outside of the bathroom. The only decor in the room that let's you know that your in a Disney resort is a framed collage of items that were popular in the 80's. In our room, this collage represented the release of Disney's The Little Mermaid movie. While I travel a lot and enjoy staying at beautiful and luxury resorts, for my trips to Disney World I prefer staying at a Value Resort because the main reason of these trips is touring the Disney parks. The Value Resorts serves my 3 main needs: Showering, Storage and Sleeping!

One of the things that makes the Value Resort a great place to stay is the food court located in the main building of the resort. The food court consists of various food counters and stands where you get your food. The food offered varies from salads, sandwiches, pizza, snacks, deserts and specialty foods that change on a daily basis. There is plenty of seating available next to the food court, plus there is additional seating outside of the building with views over-looking the main pool area of the resort. The food court is located right next to the main gift/souvenir shop of the resort. The seating area is so large that there was one area sectioned off for people who wanted to watch any of the World Cup games on a big screen TV. For the July 4th weekend, when the resorts are packed, there was plenty of seating available when ever we ate at the food court.

The food court located at Pop Century offers some great food choices. They offer a daily special that is based on classic comfort food meals. The meals are served in tin trays that resemble old fashioned TV dinners. One day it was meatloaf, another day it was sliced turkey and dressing. Some of the adult choices included Shrimp Lo Mein, Big Bowl of Chicken Soup, Beef & Broccoli, Nachos Supreme and Vegetable Lo Mein. I had the Shrimp Lo Mein one day and it was very good. I was surprised how huge the serving was. It was served in a classic Chinese take-out container. Here's a picture of my meal:

Another great aspect of Pop Century is how the resort is decorated and themed thru-out. Every building is decorated with items that represents the section/decade that you are staying in. The 50's section is decroated with Sock-Hop figures, the 60's section is decorated with Hippie slang and slogans. Our section, the 80's, is decorated with Pac-Man figures from the video game. It was so cool to see this and it made my niece very happy. Here is a pic of the building we stayed in:

As you walk around the grounds, you come across signs listing various pop events over the decades. Here a few that are located along the path leading to the 80's section of the resort:

 

 

Also, you will find larger-than-life sized recreations of classic toys thru-out the resort. Some of my favorite statues were the Mega Big Wheel, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Rubik Cube and a classic Mickey Mouse phone. Here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

The resort also has a couple of pools available for guests to use the main pool is beautifully laid out and has a Jungle Book theme to it. Here are some pics of the main pool area:

Here is the Jungle Book statue:

And another view of the pool:

All in all, Pop Century is a great resort to stay at while on your Disney World vacation. It's a great themed resort, has a great food court, clean and comfy rooms all for a great, affordable price. It will be interesting to see what happens after the Art of Animation resort is built. But if you can on your next trip, I suggest you give Pop Century a stay!

John