Resort Review - Pop Century Resort

Ok I will admit this to all of you....I am a resort snob!  Yup I said it.  I was one of those, only liked to stay at the best of the best and blah blah blah.  Well recently we went to Disney and I finally tried out a value resort.  The one I decided to try was the Pop Century and I really enjoyed it!  I don't have anything negative to say about it.  And my kids - well ask them where they want to stay and the answer - "The one with the BIG doggies!"  They are referring to the incredibly large Lady & the Tramp statues.

Just as I did with the Wilderness Lodge I will share with you a video done by one of my favorite Disney based sites - allearsnet.com.  Double click to enlarge and you will be sent to youtube.com.

Pulling up to the Pop Century you will see fun signs welcoming you to the resort!  Find a parking spot - if you have a car - or hop on out of the Magical Express bus and walk into the lobby.  The lobby area is themed based on the decades.  It is retro and bright.  There is an area for the kids to watch a show while you check in.  After checking in walk around and check out your surroundings.

Hippy Dippy Pool - The main pool at Pop Century

Down the hall from check in is the resorts mercantile store, the arcade, and the large quick service restaurant.  The quick service restaurant has many stations and array of options.  There are several beverage bays and TONS of seating.  Some seating even has flat screen TVs surrounding them with Disney Channel favorites playing.  If you walk out the back of the seating area you will be at the Hippy Dippy Pool - the main pool of the Pop Century Resort.  This is also the 60s building - one of the preferred buildings if you book that option.

So where is your room?  Well what did you book?  For a little extra you can get a preferred room category, which I do recommend for this resort.  It isn't a big cost and you will be in either the 60s or the 50s building.  Why is this worth it?  For one you are a very short walk to the many pool, mercantile and quick service as well as the lobby.  Also you are a close walk to the only bus stop for the resort.  This is located out the front doors and to the right of where you originally walked in.

Our large Lady statue!

When we stayed we were in the 50s building - which is where the Lady and The Tramp statues were, as well as the bowling pin shaped pool!  The stair cases were also encased in bowling pins and there were 50s style sock hop dancers decorating the buildings.  We were a short walk from the elevator.


The rooms are on the smaller side and the beds are definitely a bit tighter than the queen I sleep in at home, but I was very satisfied with it.  It was clean, nicely decorated, and had the right amount of space for our group - 2 adults and 2 small children.  Rather than go into detail with words, allearsnet.com also happened to post a video of the interior of the room:

This gives you a good idea of what to expect!  You enter from the outside - motel style.  You will see a nice feature offered is the curtain that can be pulled to separate the bathroom area from the rest of the room.  Perfect for having the privacy needed in small quarters for dressing.  The sink is outside of where the toilet and shower are.  There is no closet but there is a hanging area and shelf by the sink.

We were only there for 4 nights and 5 days, so I did not get to overly explore as most of our time was spent in the parks.  But that was one of the main reasons this resort is so perfect for us.  We are park crazies!  There morning til night and really only using our rooms to sleep, shower and dress.  So for us being in the lap of luxury is not as necessary as it once was.  Also for me I wanted the extra money to use down there, rather than have it out into my room.

If you have never stayed at a value, but have been thinking of giving it a try and just weren't sure, I say go for it!  Like I said the kids LOVED it.  It is where you will find us in the fall while we take advantage of the kids stay and play offer (have you booked your trip yet???) and may be where we are for years to come!  Although I will still be making stops at my other must stay locations...ahem Wilderness Lodge...ahem!

Happy Reading Disney friends and have a magical day!!