Disney's Pop Century Resort Information: Rooms, Pools, Dining, and More

On this page is information on Disney's Pop Century Resort, including pictures of the view from every hotel room, pictures and video from inside Pop Century rooms, a list of amenities, restaurant reviews and dining menus with prices, pool photos and reviews, reader comments, childcare options, and more. Last updated: November 14, 2024

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Disney's Pop Century Resort Overview

Pop Century hotel map

On Century Drive, near the ESPN Wide World of Sports is Pop Century Resort. A near-clone of the All-Star Resorts—that is, four-story, motel-style buildings built around a central pool, food court, and registration area. Decorative touches make the difference. Where the All-Star Resorts display larger-than-life icons from sports, music, and movies, and Art of Animation is inspired by Disney cartoons, Pop Century draws its icons from decades of the 20th century and their attendant popular culture: building-sized Big Wheels, hula hoops, and the like, punctuated by silhouettes of people doing the jitterbug and the twist.

The public areas at Pop Century are marginally more sophisticated than the ones at the All-Star Resorts, with 20th-century period furniture and decor rolled up in a saccharine, those-were-the-days theme. A food court, a bar, a playground, pools, and so on emulate the All-Star Resorts model in size and location. A Pop Century departure from the All-Star precedent has merchandise retailers thrown in with the fast-food concessions in a combination dining-and-shopping area. This apparently is what happens when a giant corporation tries to combine selling pizza with hawking Goofy hats. (You just know the word synergy was used like cheap cologne in those design meetings.) As at the All-Star Resorts and Art of Animation, there’s no full-service restaurant.

The resort is connected to the rest of Walt Disney World by bus. In addition, the Disney Skyliner transports guests to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, as well as Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and the Disney’s Riviera Resort. During less busy times of year, the Skyliner may be the only transportation option offered between Pop Century and EPCOT and Hollywood Studios; bus service may be added to those destinations during busier periods.

Due to the resort’s limited dining options, you may want to consider having a car.

Guest rooms at Pop Century are small at 260 square feet. The decor is upbeat, with white bedspreads and white walls. Wall art depicts pop art version of Mickey Mouse. Sleek modern furniture and hardwood flooring provide an upscale touch, but these are not rooms you’d want to spend a lot of time in. Bathrooms are tiny and counter space a scarce commodity. Worst of all, we’ve received many complaints from readers that the soundproofing between rooms is inadequate. A lake separating Pop Century from the Art of Animation Resort offers water views not available at the All-Star Resorts.

Look for building-sized Big Wheels, 8-track tapes, and Disney characters, punctuated by silhouettes of people dancing the decade's fad dance.

The biggest visual difference between Pop Century and the All-Star Resorts is the decorations in front of each building. The All-Star Resorts have larger-than-life icons from sports, music, and movies, while Pop Century draws its icons from the 1950's to 1990's.

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How Pop Century Compares to Other Disney Value Resorts

Pop Century is a little more expensive - and a little bit better - than Disney's 3 older value resorts, the All-Star Movies, Music and Sports resorts; Pop Century is slightly less expensive than the newer — and better — Art of Animation value resort.

Where To Check-In, Get Theme Park Tickets, and Make Dining Reservations

A security gate guards the entrance to Pop Century's grounds. If you arrive by car, you'll need to provide photo ID at the gate; it's not necessary to provide your reservation number or paperwork. A dedicated parking lot across from the lobby serves as temporary parking for those who need it while checking in. Check-in time at Pop Century is 3:00 PM, and check-out time is 11:00 AM. Pop Century strongly encourages use of Disney's Online Check-In program to assist with social distancing. The Online Check-In program allows you to you provide name, address, and credit card information up to 60 days before your arrival on disneyworld.com or the My Disney Experience app. If you've checked-in online and provided a mobile phone number or email address, you will receive your room number electronically. Then you can go straight to the room and use your smart phone or MagicBand to open the door, skipping the lobby altogether.

Pop Century's registration staff can provide MagicBands for your stay, if you don't already have them. Beginning January 1, 2021, guests will no longer receive complimentary MagicBands but will still have the option to purchase them.

Get theme park tickets and dining reservations at the Concierge Desk, to the right of the Registration Desk. If you need to check in and obtain theme park tickets, you can save some time in line if one adult gets in line for tickets just after another adult starts the registration process. The Concierge Desk can also make Disney dining reservations, and you can avoid a wait there by making them online prior to arrival.

Left: The hotel's lobby, called Classic Hall, features 20th-century period furniture, photos, and toys presented in a saccharine those-were-the-days theme. Right: Kids can play in a special waiting area while parents check in.

Pop Century's Rooms

Pop's rooms contain two queen beds. One can be folded up (becoming a table!) when not in use.

Each Pop Century room is furnished with the following:

• Two queen beds (1 normal bed plus 1 pull-down bed that converts into a table) OR one king bed (mostly in ADA-accessible rooms)
• Dresser
• Small table with 2 chairs
• Nightstand with telephone
• Coffee maker
• Full-length mirror (on bath door)
• WiFi wireless Internet access
• Flat-panel TV
• Mini-fridge
• Ironing board and iron
• Hair dryer
• Digital thermostat
• In-room safe
• Shower-mounted shampoo, conditioner, and body wash; bar soap

The mini-fridge is a dorm-style unit that sits under a counter or desk. It's more like a beverage chiller than a refrigerator in that it'll keep drinks cool, but you're not going to freeze popsicles or make ice cubes in it. What you won't find in your Pop Century room is a microwave.

Pop Century Room Layout

Pop Century bathrooms are tiny. Almost all feature a tiled tub with shower, while some wheelchair-accessible rooms have a roll-in shower without tub. One nice feature in the standard bathrooms is a shower curtain rod that curves outward, so you're not always elbowing the shower curtain while shampooing. Water pressure in the shower is average - probably less than what you get at home, but still enough to get your hair clean. Eventually.

A separate dressing area next to the bathroom includes one sink, but not much counter space. A 1500-watt, wall-mounted hair dryer is provided, but it's not very powerful; bring your own if you've got lots of hair. The dressing area includes a curtain that separates it from the sleeping area. Combined with the bathroom, this means that 3 people can get dressed at the same time.

Bathroom and deressing area in Pop Century's rooms.

Handicap-Accessible Room Options

Pop Century has around 200 handicap-accessible rooms. Some feature roll-in showers, while others include assistive hearing devices. A subset of these rooms have been converted to comply with Florida's Accessibility Code, with changes to everything from bed, counter-top, and dresser drawer height, to door widths, wheelchair ramps, and more.

Some of Pop's accessible rooms have the standard setup of 2 queen beds; most rooms with roll-in showers have 1 king bed, although a small number of roll-in shower rooms have the normal 2 queen beds. Use our hotel room finder to see which rooms have which features.

Standard Rooms and Preferred Rooms, Standard Views and Pool Views

Disney knows that some hotel rooms are better than others. Most people prefer to be close to the lobby and dining, and want something pretty to look at from their hotel room window. To capitalize on this, Disney categorizes all of Pop Century's hotel rooms based on how long it takes you to walk to the lobby, and what you see from inside the room.

Here's the system Disney uses:

• A Preferred Room with Standard View is a room in buildings 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 10 that is close to the Classic Hall Lobby and Everything Pop Food Court. The view from your window may include landscaping and trees, other buildings, maintenance areas, or be blocked almost completely by a giant decoration.
  
  While all Preferred rooms are in buildings 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, not every room in those buildings is categorized as Preferred; some rooms at the far ends of these buildings are distant enough from the lobby to be considered Standard rooms.
  
  
• A Preferred Room with Pool View is a room in buildings 4 or 5, also close to the lobby and food court, and which faces the Hippy Dippy Pool area. First floor rooms here tend to have views of the backs of lounge chairs sitting around the pool, so upper-floor rooms generally have better views. Like Standard View rooms, some Pool View room windows are blocked by Pop's decorations.
  
  
• Standard Rooms with Standard Views are found in all Pop Century buildings. These Standard/Standard rooms are either a slightly farther walk to the lobby (an extra 3-5 minutes), and have generally unremarkable views of landscaping, parking lots, or signs. These are the cheapest rooms at Pop Century, but there are some gems to be found in this category, though, using our Pop Century Room Finder. For example, room 9308 has a good view of the Computer Pool, but it's a Standard/Standard because a tiny part of one of the building's signs is visible in the upper left corner of the window.
  
  
• Pop's Standard Rooms with Pool Views are found in buildings 1, 2, 3, 7 and 9. Pool view rooms in buildings 1, 2, and 3 face the 1950's-themed Bowling Pool, while rooms in buildings 7 and 9 face the 1990's Computer Pool.

There are plenty of exceptions to Disney's room category system. Knowing what to look for will help you get a better room at a cheaper price.

For example, rooms 1x65 to 1x72 in Building 1 are Pool View because they face the 1950's Bowling Pool. However, room 1163 also faces the pool, but it's a cheaper Standard/Standard because the rooms around it have unexceptional views. To find these kinds of rooms, use our Room Finder to search for Standard Rooms with Pool Views, and click on the rooms not highlighted in red, just next door to the rooms which are highlighted in red. This will help you find the "borderline" cases where Disney was hesitant to upcharge for a better room.

Dresser, TV, and cabinet containing a fridge and coffee maker.

Pools and Playgrounds at Pop Century

Pop Century has 3 pools. The largest, The Hippy Dippy Pool, sits directly behind the Classic Hall lobby and food court, between the two buildings dedicated to the 1960's. The flower-shaped pool is painted in bright colors that match the surrounding buildings. Adjacent to the Hippy Dippy Pool is a water play area, where small children can play in gentle fountains of water bubbling up from the ground.

Pop's 1960's-themed Hippy Dippy Pool and Water Play Area

The three buildings of the 1950's section contain the Bowling Pool. As its name suggests, this pool area is themed like a bowling alley, and features bowling ball racks and oversized shoe racks. The Bowling Pool is considered a "quiet pool," meaning that loud play and splashing around are discouraged.

Pop Century's third pool is The Computer Pool, found in the 1990's section. (We hoped for a pool shaped like "The Rachel" - Jennifer Aniston's haircut on Friends.) The Computer Pool is shaped like a gigantic laptop PC and, like the Bowling Pool, is considered a quiet pool.

The 1950's Bowling Pool and 1990's Computer Pool. Both are quiet pools, free from loud play and splashing around.

Pop Century's pools range in depth from around 3 feet 6 inches/1.1m to 4 feet 9 inches/1.4m. Pop's pools are open every day, including during winter. Pools are heated to 82°F/28°C throughout the year. Pop Century does not have a hot tub or jacuzzi; those are found at Disney's moderate and deluxe resorts.

There are no water slides at Pop Century's pools, nor at any of the value resort pools, but guests can find showers, storage lockers, restrooms, and laundry facilities at each of the three pools. Pool hours are at least 9AM to 8 PM, extending to as much as 7 AM to 11 PM during busy times. All three pools will have lifeguards during the pools' operating hours. For more information on the pools at WDW resorts, including towels, entertainment programming, handicap access, kiddie pools, life vests, and much more, see our Walt Disney World Resort Pool Fact Sheet FAQ.

Playgrounds at Pop Century

A small playground set is located between the 1970's building 10 and Classic Hall. The set has two small plastic slides and a couple of sections with a few steps for toddlers to go up and down. Safety seems to be Disney's concern here - there are no swings, and the entire area is covered in a springy, poured rubber surface.

A small water play named Goofy Pop Jet Playground area sits at the end of Building 5 nearest Classic Hall in the 1960's section. This play area is also surfaced with poured rubber, and has water jets bubbling up from the ground. "Surfer Goofy" and 1960's sports car statues are nearby for photo opportunities.

Restaurants and Dining

There's no full-service restaurant at any Disney value resort, including Pop Century. Instead, Pop Century has the Everything POP food court that's unfortunately attached to Pop Century's gift shop. If you're walking through the lobby, there's no way to get to the food court without going through the gift shop.

Everything Pop is set up like a food court at a mall. There are 7 different stations, each selling one set of meals. For example, one station sells pizza and pasta; another sells burgers; another is dedicated to sandwiches, and so on. If your kids each want something different, you'll have to line up several times. The good news is that some of the food is prepared on demand, so you'll at least be getting your burger cooked to order.

Prices range from $6 to $15 for an entree so you won't break the bank. None of the desserts are particularly interesting but there is a nice assortment of ice cream sundaes and shakes. One of the resort's few signature items is the Tie-dyed Cheesecake, which gets mixed reviews from our readers.

Everything Pop is set up like a mall food court. Seven different stations each serve a different type of food.

Everything Pop's breakfast menu has the usual combinations of eggs, potatoes, bacon, ham, waffles, pancakes, and biscuits, either alone or in various "platter" options. An omelet station serves veggie, egg white, and Western omelets, plus "Floridian" (with shrimp, tomatoes, and guacamole), "Italian" (with sausage, peppers, and mozzarella cheese), and "Southwest" (with shredded beef, black bean salsa, and chipotle sour cream). Other tasty breakfast options include corned beef hash, Spanish quiche, and a variety of yogurts. Kids' breakfast choices are essentially the same, only with smaller portions. There's also a breakfast turkey sandwich option.

For lunch and dinner, Everything Pop serves typical food court fare such as pizza, pasta, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, and salads. That menu is usually supplemented with nightly or weekly specials, such as burritos, nachos, and quesadillas, fish and chips, and other easily identifiable cuisine. Even the pickiest eaters should be able to find something on the menu. And, like at breakfast, kids' choices at lunch and dinner are generally the same as adults, with smaller portion sizes.

Guests looking to snack or enjoy a meal at Everything Pop are also encouraged to mobile order using My Disney Experience app. After selecting an arrival window, you can scroll through the menu and build your order, connect a method of payment, and then pick up your meal at a marked designated location at the food court when notified.

Everything Pop Food Court Hours

• Breakfast Dining Hours 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM Breakfast menu / Kids' breakfast menu
• Lunch Dining Hours 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM Lunch menu / Kids' lunch menu
• Dinner Hours 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM Dinner menu / Kids' dinner menu

When the dining plans are offered, Everything Pop participates in the Disney Dining Plan; meals cost 1 Quick Service credit, and there are a wide variety of snacks to use as Snack credits on the Dining Plan.

Free refills are available for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and fountain drinks (including juice and milk) during your meal at Everything Pop. A huge beverage station sits just beyond the cash registers, and this station also provides toaster ovens, hot water, ice, condiments, and napkins. Everything Pop also participates in Disney's Rapid Fill refillable mug program, where you purchase a souvenir plastic mug once, and get free refills for the remainder of your stay. The cost is a flat $19.99 for your length of stay.

Pizza delivery service to your resort room is unavailable at this time. But guests can still order pizza from Everything Pop and take it to their rooms. The food quality is often below average, though, so you're probably better off with something else or calling Domino's.

Petals Pool Bar Just outside of the food court and on the way to the Hippy Dippy Pool is the Petals Pool Bar. Petals has outdoor seating and a limited drink menu, with several beer selections, a couple of wines, and a small selection of spirits. It's fine if you want a Budweiser or strawberry margarita to relax with by the pool, or to get a nightcap on the way back to your room for the night. Petals Pool Bar is usually open 12 PM to 9 PM daily, weather permitting.

Transportation to and from Pop Century

Driving Your Own Car Disney's Pop Century Resort is just off of I-4 in Lake Buena Vista. Take I-4 Exit 65 - Animal Kingdom / Wide World of Sports and you'll end up on Osceola Parkway. Stay on Osceola for 0.9 miles/1.5 km, then turn right on Victory Way. Go about 0.6 miles/1 km down Victory Way, then turn right on to Century Drive, which is Pop Century's entrance road. You'll see Pop Century's sign well before you need to turn.

Pop Century's GPS address and location are:

Disney's Pop Century Resort
1050 Century Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32807

Latitude: 28.350444 North, Longitude: 81.541198 West

From Orlando International Airport See our Walt Disney World Transportation Options page for information about how to get to and from Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World.

From Sanford International Airport It's about a 40-minute drive from Sanford to Pop Century. If you're not renting a car, be aware that Sanford's airport offers fewer transportation options than Orlando's, and Sanford's options are generally much more expensive. A taxi from Sanford International Airport to Pop Century will cost between $120 and $150, depending on traffic. Mears Transportation offers 3-passenger towncar service to Pop Century for around $140 each way, plus tip; 5-passenger SUV service or 10-passenger van is around $190 each way. That means round-trip transportation will run you somewhere between $240 and $380, plus tip, between Sanford and Pop Century. At those prices, it may be less expensive to rent a car and park it at the hotel.

Getting to the theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs

The Disney Skyliner gondola system has a station on the bridge in between Pop Century and Art of Animation, which makes these resorts a good base for visiting Hollywood Studios and EPCOT, the two theme parks connected by the Skyliner. The hub station is located at Caribbean Beach Resort, so you have to take the Skyliner there first and then switch to either the EPCOT or Hollywood Studios line. From the station, the ride to EPCOT's International Gateway entrance is about 20 minutes while the ride to Hollywood Studios is about 12 minutes, although those times don't take any lines to get into the gondola into account.

Disney provides free bus service from Pop Century to Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, and Disney Springs. During busier times of year, bus service to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios supplements the Skyliner.

Pop Century's bus stops sit along the front wall of the Classic Hall lobby, between the lobby and check-in parking lot. Each theme park has its own bus stop somewhere along the wall. Animal Kingdom's bus service is shared with Blizzard Beach, while Disney Springs and Typhoon Lagoon also share a stop and service. Pop Century does not share bus service with any other resort, including Art of Animation.

Pop Century's Bus Schedule

Ask a Disney Castmember about Pop's bus schedule, and they'll tell you that buses run about every 20 minutes. In reality, Pop's bus schedule varies considerably depending on the time of day and where you're headed. Due to social distancing measures, bus wait times may be longer than anticipated. This is especially true first thing in the morning.

For example, if you're headed to the Magic Kingdom between 8 AM and 11 AM, you'll wait around 12 minutes, on average, for a bus to arrive. The bus schedules for EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios are about the same early in the day, with a bus arriving every 13-17 minutes, on average. Bus schedules to the water parks and Disney Springs are a little less frequent, and you could wait anywhere from 16 to 34 minutes for a ride.

Buses run a little slower from around 11 AM to around 4 PM, when most people are already in a park. Disney's evening buses are scheduled around the theme parks' closing times, where most of the fleet is deployed to get guests back to their hotels. Your waits to return to your hotel from a theme park should average out to around 20 minutes under most circumstances.

If you've got your own car, it's faster to drive yourself to Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks, and Disney Springs. Disney's transportation system is faster to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Each theme park has its own bus stop for Pop Century. Pop does not share bus service with Art of Animation.