The Best Rooms at Disney's Pop Century Resort
Disney's Pop Century Resort is a great place to stay for families and couples who are looking for a fun and affordable Disney vacation. But Pop Century is a large Resort with close to 3,000 rooms spread over 175 acres. Booking the right room here should be an important part of your vacation planning process. So, where are the best rooms at Pop Century? Let’s get started.
Typical 2 Queen room at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Disney's Pop Century Resort is a value-priced hotel located in Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It is themed to the pop culture of the 1950s through the 1990s, with each building decorated to represent a different decade.
The resort was originally going to open in December 2001, though the opening was delayed until December 14, 2003, due to the tourism crash that followed the events on 9/11.
Only half of the resort opened while the other half sat abandoned for years - eventually becoming Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in 2012.
Watch the video on Best Rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Pop Century Resort is also on the Disney Skyliner Transportation System, a terrific perk. This overhead gondola system flies guests to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
It’s on the southern spur of the network so you’ll need to change gondolas at the Caribbean Beach station depending on which theme park you want to visit.
There could be long lines to board the Skyliner during peak times, and then more long lines when you need to transfer gondolas but they do move quickly.
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is the Skyliner hub, so if you stay at this resort, you won’t have to transfer gondolas. But it does cost more than Pop Century.
The feature pool, known as the Hippy Dippy Pool, is located directly behind the lobby and food court, known as Classic Hall.
Guide to Pop Century Rooms
Pop Century is made up of 10, 4-story buildings. Rooms are about 260 square feet. How does this compare to other Disney hotels?
Well, Moderate Resort hotel rooms are about 315 square feet and Deluxe Resort hotel rooms are about 380 square feet. So yeah, they are a little small.
The vast majority of rooms come with 2 queen size beds… sort of.
One of the beds is a Murphy Bed (or “Table Bed’) that also doubles as a table.
This is a genius move on Disney’s part because, with one of the beds out of the way, your 260-square-foot room suddenly feels much larger.
Pop Century Standard Room Floorplan
There are some rooms that have king beds - these rooms can sleep up to 2 adults plus 1 child up to age 3 in a crib.
Does Pop Century have elevators? Yes, there are elevators at Pop Century so if you have strollers you’ll be able to access each floor with ease.
However, if you have a scooter I would recommend that you make a request for a ground-floor room - it’s just a lot easier.
Rooms are accessed via exterior hallways. Rooms have central Heat and air conditioning.
I have a room tour video on Pop Century rooms that I’ll link to in the description below.
How does Pop Century Compare to other Disney Value Resorts?
Well, it’s nearly identical in layout and size to Disney’s All Stars Resort, also in the Value category but Pop is more centrally located on Walt Disney World property.
All Stars tends to cater to youth groups and while Pop Century is sometimes used for this too, it’s not as common.
Having the added benefit of being on Skyliner, Pop Century tends to cost slightly more per night than Disney’s All Stars Resort.
If it’s within your budget, I would recommend Pop Century over All-Stars.
Art of Animation is Pop Century’s sister hotel, they even share the same Skyliner station.
But Art of Animation is primarily a family suite resort. But that’s a different show.
Art of Animation has a limited number of standard rooms and I would consider them to be the flagship value rooms of Walt Disney World.
They have a Little Mermaid theme and they are larger by nearly 20 sq feet. They also cost more.
There are 2 additional pools at this resort located in the 1950s sections and in the 1990s section that are more convenient to the outermost buildings at the resort.
There are 10 buildings at Pop Century, divided into 5 sections named after decades from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Pop Century Room Categories
Standard Rooms are the most economical room category within Pop Century and can be furthest away from the feature pool and amenities, but not necessarily.
Views won’t be too impressive - likely landscaping, a service area, or a parking lot.
Standard rooms are found throughout the entire resort, in every section.
Where you’ll find Standard Rooms
I wouldn’t put a lot of emphasis on view at a value resort. These resorts are so big, it’s better to book your room by location.
Standard Pool View are run-of-the-house rooms close to one of the resort pools - but probably not the feature pool.
Most people select this room category not because of the view but because they are guaranteed to be close to one of the pools.
Where you’ll find Standard Pool View Rooms
You’ll find Standard Pool View rooms in buildings 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9.
Buildings 1 and 3 are more desirable because they are a little closer to Classic Hall and Skyliner.
But Buildings 7 and 9 are a little closer to the bus stop where you can catch the bus to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.
Preferred Rooms are guaranteed to be centrally located within the resort.
These rooms will be close to the lobby known as Classic Hall, the Disney Skyliner station, the bus stop, and dining.
It's worth noting that these rooms cost only slightly more per night than a Standard Room and are well worth the extra cost.
Many times the cost is only $20 more per night but it makes a big difference.
You’ll have a lot less walking to do. Preferred Rooms at Pop Century are all about location.
Where you’ll find Preferred Rooms
Preferred Rooms are located in Buildings 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10.
These are the most popular rooms at Pop Century and tend to book up before other categories, even though they cost more.
Preferred Pool View rooms located in Buildings 4 and 5 are centrally located within the resort and guaranteed to be near the Hippy Dippy Feature Pool.
I recommend requesting a higher floor so you can actually see the pool from above and for some added privacy.
Where you’ll find Preferred Pool View Rooms
Pop Century Sections (Decades)
The 1950’s (Buildings 1, 2, 3) have their own neighborhood pool.
There’s a mix of Standard and Preferred rooms here.
Buildings 1 and 3 are close to Classic Hall, somewhat close to Skyliner, but far from the bus stop.
The 1960s and the 1970s (Buildings 4, 5, 6, and 10) are the most requested sections at Pop Century.
They are all close to Classic Hall and Skyliner Station.
This section houses Standard, Standard Pool, Preferred, and Preferred Pool View rooms.
Buildings 7 and 9 make up the 1980s section. You’ll find mostly Standard and Standard Pool View rooms.
While some rooms in this section can be far from Classic Hall, they have their own pool and they are close to the bus stop.
The 1990s has just one building - Building 8. This is the furthest away from Classic Hall, Skyliner, but somewhat close to the bus stop.
But everything else will be a hike.
Rooms on the east side of the building tend to have noise issues with nearby Osceola Parkway, just on the other side of the trees.
If you book your room through a travel wholesaler like Priceline, odds are your room will be in the 90s.
Remember that Preferred Rooms are only slightly more than Standard Rooms most of the time, so I would begin my search with a Preferred Room at Pop Century.
Preferred Pool View rooms are closer to the pool, yes, but they can also be noisy. They are also the priciest room category at this hotel.
Best Locations at Pop Century
There’s no doubt that the 1960s are the most convenient.
But these rooms are in high-traffic areas with people walking by to get to the pool and Skyliner.
I recommend a higher floor because you’ll have more privacy and better views.
Rooms Close to Skyliner
If you prefer to be close to Disney Skyliner, I recommend booking a Preferred Room and requesting buildings 4 and 5.
Many of these rooms have good views of the Hour Glass Lake and the Skyliner gondolas.
Rooms with a view
The best views at Pop Century will be the Standard Room and Preferred rooms that overlook Hourglass Lake and Skyliner. Buildings 3, 4, 5, and 6 all have rooms that overlook the lake.
Remember that at Disney World Value Hotels, Preferred rooms are more about location, than view.
Standard Rooms in the 1960s tend to have better views, while Preferred are more convenient.
Why is it better to book a Preferred room versus a Standard Room? Well, even though many buildings contain both Preferred and Standard, a Preferred Room is guaranteed to be in a convenient location.
Room requests are not guaranteed so you could end up with a standard room in the 1990s even if you have made a request for the 1960s.
If you prefer not to roll the dice, book a Preferred Room.
I help my clients with room requests all the time so feel free to contact me for your next Disney World vacation. Together we can come up with the perfect room request.
Room requests have a better chance of being honored if you make them within the category you booked.
For example, if you booked a Standard Room and made a request to be near Skyliner, your request would have very little chance of being honored.
Preferred Rooms are located close to Skyliner and they cost more. So essentially you’d be asking for a free upgrade and that is unlikely to happen.
Keep in mind that room requests cannot be guaranteed but Disney tries hard to honor them.
My Recommended Rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort
For Standard Rooms I like Building 3, especially Room 3435. It has terrific views of the lake and Skyliner and it’s nice and quiet.
For PReferred Rooms, Room 4436 in Building 4 has a view of trees and a partial view of Building 5.
I also like room 6112 in building 6. It’s a ground-floor room just steps away from the classic hall
Have questions about planning your Orlando vacation? I have answers! Contact me now to get more out of your vacation.
Since 2010, Darren has been making Orlando vacations easy! As an Orlando resident, he is able to provide insider, expert advice on Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Florida-based cruises.
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