The Vibe and the Value
Our Nov. 2025 trip to Disney World marked the first time we stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Prior, we had only ever stayed at the All Stars resorts. I think we actually collected them all, having stayed at Sports, Music, and Movies. Since this was our first trip with Skippy, 13 months old at the time of the trip, we wanted a resort that offered something a little extra when it came to transportation (i.e. the Skyliner). While the trip ended up costing us a little more than it would have if we had stayed at one of the All Start resorts, the extra cost was well worth it! We feel like Pop Century is the best value resort at Disney.
In a nutshell, Disney’s Pop Century Resort sports a “Pop Culture” theme with representation from various decades. From the 1950s to the 1990s, you’ll see throw-backs to toys, electronics, and (of course) Disney films from these respective eras. It’s bright, it’s colorful, and it’s just kind of super fun? Skippy was certainly intrigued by the vibrancy everywhere.
Our rooms were in one of the 1980s buildings and were blessed enough to wave to Roger Rabbit when we came and went from our room. Such fun! We had read that “ideally” you want to have a room in the 1960s block for more direct access to the Skyliner, but we actually kind of liked the walk each morning (which honestly wasn’t that long.) We found this resort to be perfect for families on a budget (i.e. most of us), Skyliner fans, and rope-droppers who just need a clean, efficient place to sleep.
The Rooms: Modern, Functional, and Refurbished
General Space
The rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort are identical to those at all of the All Stars resorts. Across 260 sq. ft, you’ll find two queen-sized beds with one of them as a Murphy bed that folds up into a table. There’s a station with a coffee maker and beverage cooler, as well as a dresser. There are also three night-stand-escque shelves with cabinets on either side of both beds.
Important note: It is a beverage cooler that’s in the room; not a refrigerator. There is no temperature control, and it’s not possible to set these coolers to levels low enough to store perishable food. Keep this in mind if you plan on making a hefty grocery order and/or if there’s someone nursing in your travel group because they won’t have a place to store breast milk.
There were no less than a dozen or so USB-ports and lots of outlets. We actually packed an extra USB brick just in case because Skippy needed several extra supplies like their sound machine and rechargeable stroller fan. We didn’t need it. Also, though we didn’t make extensive use of it, as of 2025, the rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort come with a new voice assistant (think Amazon’s “Alexa”) that you can’t prompt with “Hey Disney.” How cool!
In our room, we also requested a pack-n-play for Skippy, which fit perfectly with the Murphy bed up. For the record, it also would have fit if the Murphy bed had been down as well!
Restroom & Adjoining Room Functionality
Past the beds is a split-style bathroom. On one side is the sink and some extra storage space. On the other-side with its own doorway is the toilet and shower. The shower also had a bathtub. We’ve heard that some resorts have rooms without bathtubs, so if that’s important for you (i.e. littles who aren’t at the point where they’re taking showers yet), be sure to ask. We appreciated the split-style design as it meant one of us could brush our teeth while the other went to the restroom or shower.
We had also requested adjoining rooms with our travel party (Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt). This is an important tip for folks planning a multi-generational trip to Disney! When we wanted, we could swing both of those doors open and each walk in and out of each other’s rooms. We didn’t do this often, but it was super nice when Grandma and Grandpa offered to watch Skippy while Nicole and I went to eat around the world in EPCOT. They were able to put Skippy to bed and then retire to their own room right next door while keeping them up on the baby monitor.
Location & Transportation: The “Skyliner Factor”
As mentioned, access to the Skyliner was the deciding factor between Disney’s Pop Century Resort and one of the All Starts resorts. The All Star resorts, for reference, offer bus transportation exclusively. All of the All Stars resorts also share bus transportation. For example, if you’re staying at All Star Sports, when you’re returning to the resort after a long day in Magic Kingdom, guests staying at All Star Movies and Music will both get dropped off before you.
In comparison, Pop Century offers bus transportation to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and water parks. Even better, Pop Century has its own dedicated bus transportation that the resort does not share with another resort. If you hop on the bus to go back to Pop Century, the bus goes straight to Pop Century.
The real highlight for the resort though is that for both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios transportation, the resort offers the Skyliner.
The Hyper of the Skyliner
As someone who had exclusively taken the bus from resorts to the parks, the Skyliner is such a gamechanger. This is especially true since we had Skippy (i.e. Skippy’s stroller). If you have a single stroller (i.e. not a double-wide one), you don’t need to break down the stroller when you board the Skyliner gondolas. It is SO nice to not need to pack everything up, grab a diaper bag, grab a kid, AND break down the stroller when you’re going to and from a park. You can just wheel the whole thing onto the gondola and then off. EPCOT is our favorite park, so it’s one we always visit more than once. It’s SO nice.
As a note for anyone planning a trip, the Skyliner has regularly scheduled maintenance every year for a brief period of time in January. If you’re planning on booking a trip due to access to the Skyliner, double-check that it’ll be in and running. As another general note, the Skyliner does go down from time to time. One of the mornings during our stay, we were headed to the bus stop to head to Magic Kingdom and saw that they needed to start up bus service to Hollywood Studios because the Skyliner was down. So rest assured, you will have a way to get to either of Hollywood Studios or EPCOT even if the Skyliner goes down. You may just need to get extra cozy with your new bus friends more frequently than you previously expected.
Dining
If you’re looking for a bite to eat at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, there are a couple of options. Those are Everything POP Shopping & Dining and the Petals Pool Bar.
Everything POP Shopping & Dining
The food court has a ton of options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Whether you want to grab a bite before heading into the park or want to grab lunch during your off day, they’ve got you covered. For breakfast, there’s the tried-and-true Mickey waffles as well as some healthier options like overnight oats. I always hit a point on my Disney trips where I crave something “good” for me (i.e. not fried, loaded with sugar, and/or starchy). My go-to in this case is the overnight oats. I think they’re pretty tasty with blueberries, walnuts, and chia seeds. Yum!
For both lunch and dinner, you can find turkey sandwiches, burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, nachos, salads, sesame chicken, and more!
Everything POP Shopping & Dining also has several Instagram-famous treats like their tie-dye cheesecake and PB&J croissant. Nicole tried the croissant. While beautiful and certainly worth the post, she thought it was overall a little too sweet for her.
As a special tip, we strongly recommend using the My Disney Experience app to skip meal-time rush. With the app, you can create a mobile order that you can either grab and go, or grab and find a table to enjoy. No waiting required!
Petals Pool Bar
While we didn’t personally try this option out, Petals Pool Bar is a great choice to grab some pool-side cocktails and snacks. The bar is located adjacent to the Hippy Dippy Pool, so the vibes are totally groovy.
To keep you fueled up during your swim day, you can find salads, sandwiches, pretzels, and smoothies. For drinks, they offer a standard assortment of wines and beers, and traditional cocktails like margaritas and mules.
Pools & Recreation
Pools
There are three pools across Pop Century Resort. The Hippy Dippy Pool is the largest, main pool. The resorts other two pools are the Bowling Pool near the 1950s block of rooms and the Computer Pool located near the 1990s block of rooms.
We spent out pool time at the Computer Pool. While the vibes were nowhere near as groovy as they would have been at the Hippy Dippy Pool, it was SO much quieter. For our pool day, we got there are a little after 11AM and there was only one other family there. It made for an extra nice pool day, and we think Skippy enjoyed the not-quite-so overstimulating scene.
As a special note, there’s also a kiddie pool right behind Classic Hall. We felt like “pool” was a strong word for the kiddie pool. It had maybe 6 inches of water and not very large. When we came across it, there were a bunch of littles splashing around. While it looked like Skippy might have really enjoyed it, it kind of looks like hand-foot-and-mouth waiting to happen. We stuck to the regular pool for this reason.
Park
While not super big, the Pop Century Resort has a nice park to help burn off some toddler energy. It’s located near the 1970s block of rooms. With some dedicated space to romp around and a slighted padded foundation, this made for a great activity. Staying in a stroller for a good chunk of the day meant Skippy has quite a bit of pent energy. On both our half day and off day from the parks, we made multiple stops to this playground and they loved it.
Activities
If you’re interested sticking around the hotel for your off-days, there’s a consistent schedule of activities that are great for the whole family. Every night at 8PM, you can enjoy Movies Under the Stars where they screen a different Disney film each night. Before you catch a movie between 6PM and 7PM you can make smores over by Surfer Goofy.
If the timing of your trip allows, there’s also tie-dye activities, paint-you-own bowling pin or vinyl record, trivia, and bingo events. Before your vacation, check out the activities schedule to see what’s going on.
As an added bonus, don’t forget a perk that’s sticking around for resorts guests in 2026. On the day you check-in, you get free water park admission. If your flight gets in early enough, what a great way to start your Disney vacation!
The Verdict: Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Skyliner access to 2 parks | Rooms can feel cramped for 4 adults |
| Dedicated bus transportation | No table-service dining |
| Most affordable “Skyliner” resort | If Skyliner is down, busses may be slower |
| Fun, nostalgic photo ops | Can be noisy near the main pool |
Conclusion
We honestly loved our stay at Pop Century. We feel like it’s the best value resort at Disney. The vibes were more fun than they were at the All Star Resorts, and access the Skyliner was life-changing with Skippy (i.e. Skippy’s stroller). Pop Century is really the best bang for your buck if you value transportation and modern room features over more luxury amenities.
