We stayed at Pop Century!

We drove into Disney from Marco Island on July 7th. We arrived at Pop Century around 7:30am. Our plan was to park at Pop, hop a bus to Animal Kingdom, spend the day in the park and then come back to Pop and get into our Room. That plan worked perfectly, and our room was actually ready for us at 7:30am. We could have moved all of our stuff in but we wanted to get to the park quickly.

Pop Century, from what we saw when we first arrived, was beautiful. Granted we were only in the Classic Hall briefly. The transportation situation was par for the course for a value resort. When we drove up initially, the waiting area for Magic Kingdom was crowded. It’s always crowded, no matter what resort you’re staying at.

We all had to use the restroom in the Classic Hall and once we were done, we were able to jump on the Animal Kingdom bus and, shockingly, it was not crowded at all. There were maybe 10 people on that bus including my 4.

After our day at the park, we returned to Pop on the bus, got out and made our way to our car, which we had left in the original guest check in lot. When I had checked in with concierge earlier in the day, she gave me a paper map with the lots I should park in since they were closer to our room. We made our way and actually parked relatively close to where our room was.

We got our “Disney” bag, which had our sleep wear for that night, toiletries and clothes to go home in for the next day. This was easier because we wouldn’t have to haul ALL of our luggage in, we’d just have to grab that specific bag and go to the room. Now, of course we brought in our Park bags (book sacks we bring into the parks) and the stuff we bought in the park, but it still wasn’t too bad.

We left the park around 4:30pm, and once we got showered enough to get the sweat off, we changed and went to the pool for a bit. The bowling pin pool was very relaxing after the park. At only 3 feet 9 inches at the deepest, it was nice to just be able to relax in and hang around. We hung around the edge of the pool but noticed that there were a lot of adults just hanging out by the steps, so it made it a bit uncomfortable / awkward when we got up to leave.

After we cooled down in the pool for about an hour, we took real showers and ordered some food from the food court and went to pick it up. Menus appear to the be the same in all the value resorts, so the food options were the same as when we stayed at All Star Movies back in February. Consistent food and good food. We split two orders of chicken tenders and a burger between 3 people and our daughter got a piece of pizza.

We stayed in the 50’s Building 2 which is the “farthest” away from the Classic Hall. It’s the closest to the tip of Hourglass lake. This did not bother me because we weren’t far from the busses, the food court, a pool and even the Skyliner had we been going to Epcot or Hollywood Studios.

That night, it was quiet. Very quiet. My wife even commented on how quiet it was compared to All Star Movies in February. I don’t know if it was time of year, room location, or what. It was just a very pleasant night.

The rooms were/are the same at the value resorts as well. It’s basically a standard hotel room except that you have 1 standard queen bed and 1 queen murphy bed (bed that literally folds up into the wall. The room’s table serves as the murphy bed’s support. Both murphy bed and standard queen beds are super comfortable. I’ve also head rumblings that the rooms don’t get cold enough. That wasn’t the case for us. I immediately set the thermostat to 70 degrees when we got in and it cooled down quickly and stayed cool. No problems there for us.

I have a very crudely drawn map of the room. The bathroom is spacious and the toilet and shower/bathtub are separated by a door from the main sink and closet area. While they are a tad less than 300 sq feet, to me there is plenty of room in those value resort rooms. The only thing I think I’d say may be a problem is if you decide to eat in your room with more than 2 people, you’re gonna have to eat on the bed and if you’re mess like my kids (and me), that may be a problem. We solved that by simply raising the murphy bed and eating at the table!

Room

We didn’t ride the Skyliner until the next day on our way back from Disney Springs, but let me tell you, it’s worth it. It isn’t a far walk from the loading area to the Classic Hall and even to the majority of rooms at pop. I think we explored a bit more of Pop than we did of All Star Movies, and it was 100% worth it. We cannot wait to stay at Pop again!

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