Resort Review – Pop Century

Hello! Today I am going to post a review of the Pop Century resort. I had the occasion to stay there in September 2011 for a Mousescrappers meet. I was hesitant to stay at a value resort, but since it was a room share I decided to go with the flow. You see, my last stay at a value resort was less than stellar so I was really hoping that the POP would live up to all of the hype I have read about it on-line. At the very least I knew it would be a great place to take some photos!

My roommate told me that check-in was smooth and effortless. The group I went with were picking me up at the airport later in the day, so they arrived first and did all of the check-in for me. This is on par with most of my other resort stays in WDW. After a long day of travel and dinner with MouseScrapper friends, I finally got my first view of the resort very late at night. It was very easy to navigate the parking lot and find a parking space. We had a room in the 50s section and our walk to the room wasn’t too far from parking. We stayed in room 3307, which was located just behind the statue of the Tramp and overlooking the bowling pin pool. I have read on-line that sometimes the pool view rooms can be noisy, but I did not find that to be the case. There were a lot of people in the pool when we got back to our rooms late in the evening, but the noise levels were pretty low and never penetrated our room. Here is the view from the balcony outside of our room and from ground level:

The room was clean and tidy, and certainly big enough for me and my roommate. There was a flat screen TV on top of a dresser with 3 drawers and a few shelves. There was also a table with 2 chairs and a nightstand between the beds. We found that there was enough storage for the two of us. A family of 4 would be comfortable here, as long as they didn’t have too many bags to take up space.  The bathroom was an adequate size. There was only a single sink, so that area got a little crowded with the toiletries for two women. A hairdryer was included in the sink area, so it was nice to not have to pack one in our suitcases. The closet space was adequate as well and included a room safe that was big enough to hold 2 small laptops. The room theming was clean, simple and modern. The carpet had Mickey heads in the design. The bedspreads were color blocked with character silhouettes, and there was one piece of artwork on the wall with a montage of elements from the 50s. While there were certainly no frills here, it was definitely comfortable and clean.

I finally got a chance to check out the lobby and main area of the resort on the first morning of my trip. I am a fairly early riser, so everyday after getting up I went over to the food court to get some tea and breakfast. My first impression of the lobby was that it is huge, and surprisingly not very crowded. It was 7:30 in the morning though. I was impressed with the wall of memorabilia that they had there.  All along the wall across from the check-in desk they have several large shadow boxes for each decade with all kinds of items found in their respective decade. I found myself drawn to them and looking in wonder over all of the items I remember from my childhood. At the far end of the lobby there is a cute kids’ area with Disney videos playing on a cool retro designed TV. It was one of the biggest kids’ areas I have seen at a Disney Resort. Considering the potential volume of guests though, it seemed adequate. At the other end of the lobby is the huge food court and shopping area. The whole area is called Everything Pop, and certainly has just about everything you might need on vacation – from toiletries and sunblock to bathing suits and souvenirs. The food court is made up of several different food stations, where you can get what you like and then you go to check out at a central set of registers. This again was typical for a lot of Disney resorts just on a larger scale than most. Most prices are fairly reasonable. I spent less than $5 every morning for a cup of tea and a banana or pastry. I splurged on the last day of my visit and got a kids Mickey shaped waffle with two pieces of bacon and applesauce with my tea for about $7. I keep hearing good things about the mickey waffles and was really excited about trying one. It did not disappoint. It was very fluffy and light and tasty. The only other meal I ate in the food court was a late dinner I got one night. I ordered a tuna salad sandwich and that was also very tasty. The service was good and I had no complaints about the food court at all, though I would like to see how smoothly it would go getting a meal for my whole family there.

The bus area is just outside the front lobby and is huge. From our room in the 50s section it wasn’t a bad walk, only about 5-7 minutes. There are large queuing areas for each park stop, and for Downtown Disney. My biggest complaint about the whole resort is that there is no cover for the waiting area for the buses. I am very fair-skinned and definitely felt a little cooked after waiting in the hot sun for 10-15 minutes for a bus. I would definitely advise putting your sunblock on before waiting in the queue area. Though the lines could seem long at times, they were really good at at keeping buses coming to the park stop we were at until they got everyone waiting loaded up. On our return trips from the parks they were the same, and I felt that the buses were pretty consistent overall at showing up every 10-15 min, sooner if the lines were huge.

I had the occasion to try out the laundry facilities. It was right across from my building next to the pool area. I was up especially early one morning and decided to do a small load. I think the cost for a wash was $2 and $2 for a 30 min drying cycle. I only had a small load to do, so one drying cycle was fine for my needs. If you have a larger load of wash you may need more drying time. The area was clean, had a change machine and the option to purchase laundry soap and fabric softener. I always bring my own laundry soap and dryer sheets, so I did not need to purchase these. If you go outside of the regular opening times for the laundry, just make sure you have your room key to get you into the laundry room. They lock it late in the evening until the morning. It is nice that it is right by the pool. I was able to run and get some breakfast and sit at a table by the pool to enjoy the view while I waited for my laundry.

Every morning after I had my breakfast I would take short strolls around the other areas of the resort to see some of the other icons and details.  Here is where I really enjoyed the resort the most. Like most scrapbookers I know, I love taking pictures and this resort did not disappoint with all of the photo opportunities. Each pool has its own unique theming and the larger than life icons were such fun to take pictures of.  What I didn’t plan on was feeling the same sense of wonder and joy I did as a kid when seeing all of the toys I played with as a child. It really took me back to that time in my life. Aside from all of the toy icons, they have a lot of other neat items there. The front of the resort has large displays of the years and the resort signage is not to be missed. They also have a 50s style golf cart and luggage carriers that look like real luggage. If you have time for a stroll as I did on my last morning at the resort, you can walk along the path next to hourglass lake which has signs with facts about each year from 1950 to 1999. I was also able to catch a few glimpses of the new Art of Animation resort across the lake on my stroll and I can’t wait to see what that place will be like when its finished. I also loved how amazing night time at the resort was to take photos too. Everything is all light up and it really makes for some fun photo opportunities too.

Overall I have to say I really enjoyed my stay at the Pop Century resort. It has great theming, service, friendly staff, and fabulous photo opportunities. The only downsides for me on this trip was the lack of shade at the bus stop and the long lines that can develop at the bus stop making travel time seem longer than it is at some of the other resorts I have been to. I would definitely stay here again sometime. I also had a chance to scrap a few pages from my stay here.

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I hope you enjoy them!

Julie