Pop Century Photo Update: Mobile Order, Fireworks, and More!
It’s been a while since we dropped in with an update from our favorite Value Resort at Walt Disney World, so we decided to do exactly that. In this Disney’s Pop Century photo tour, we’ll share the latest changes at the hotel, including new merchandise, sunset & night photos, and more!
The good news is that, for the most part, there’s not much to report from Pop Century. The room refurbishment that we showcased in our Photos & Video: New Rooms at Pop Century post is entirely finished, and has been for a while. While this has been divisive among some Walt Disney World fans, we love the new style.
Additionally, the gondola station construction that we’ve featured in our most recent Disney Skyliner Gondola Construction Update has been fairly uneventful for a while. This station has been in near-finished form since the beginning of 2019, and testing of the gondolas is fairly quiet and unobtrusive. With that said, a few things have changed…
First, there’s now Mobile Ordering at Everything Pop, which is Pop Century’s incredibly popular food court. Given the multiple ordering bays and the lines that can form for the more popular ones, this is a huge win. As always, we highly recommend Mobile Ordering, and it puzzles us that so few Walt Disney World guests use it.
At Pop Century, there’s a dedicated Mobile Order pick-up location outside the main food court area, over by the dessert station. This is a quiet area, with a nice (and underutilized) overflow seating section by it. I would illustrate all of this with a photo, but while we were there, a family on the verge of a meltdown was waiting for their food…and I didn’t want me taking photos in their general direction to be what pushed things over the edge.
Moving on, there’s new resort merchandise at Pop Century.
In our first New Hotel Specific Merchandise at Walt Disney World post from earlier this year, we featured the previous design (which is still pictured on the water bottles).
I had planned on buying that previous coffee mug, but I guess that isn’t happening now.
On the plus side, it’s good to see the Value Resorts (other than Art of Animation, which normally has great merchandise, but currently doesn’t have anything) starting to receive unique designs. Pop Century has a loyal following, so I’d assume there’s an appetite for this stuff.
This magnet is definitely better than the old, boxy design.
Ditto the keychain and ornament.
I also really like the cup, which has a bright and fun tie-dye design.
The tie-dye shirt isn’t too my tastes, but it’s certainly appropriate for the resort, and is on the low key end of the tie-dye spectrum.
I get stir crazy pretty easily, which often leads me to pacing around the exterior walkways when we stay at Pop Century.
Not to be too much of a Skyliner cheerleader (although I totally am), but another thing I’m looking forward to is watching them glide over Hourglass Lake. It’s unfortunate that Pop Century’s rooms don’t have balconies…but if they did, they’d probably be twice the price!
Speaking of wandering around aimlessly, I’ve actually never done this full loop.
Granted, I wander between Art of Animation and Pop Century with regularity, and my meandering route is probably more like 2 miles. Nevertheless, I’d like to do the actual loop at some point. I’ve done almost all of the rest of them at other resorts.
If you look closely, you’ll see IllumiNations in the middle of this photo, directly over the pool’s jukebox.
This spot offered a decent fireworks view, and was better in person than my wide-angle lens demonstrates. If you want to watch IllumiNations from Pop Century, the upper floor of building 1 (on the opposite side) will be your best option, but any of these three buildings (on the upper level) should work.
The waterfront walking path in that area is also an option if you don’t want to go up into one of the buildings. Finally, Generation Gap Bridge will also work once the Skyliner opens and that wall comes down.
I love all the cultural references at Pop Century. Even though it resonates less with kids than Art of Animation, I think it’s a clever concept.
I appreciate the 1998 references on this laptop screen, including the opening day of Animal Kingdom, “Disney-MGM Studios,” and a photo of the infamous Castle Cake from Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary.
As far as Walt Disney World pool bars go, Petals is a solid option. It’s located by the Hippy Dippy Pool, which is Pop Century’s flower-shaped feature pool.
Other times of year, we’d bring our food from Everything Pop out here to eat, escaping the loudness and chaos of the food court. Even at night, it’s simply too humid for that in the summer. We’ll take the noise…if it all comes with A/C!
Now for a photo stroll around Pop Century, presented without commentary:
That’s it for our visit to Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Like we said at the beginning, not a whole lot to say as not much is happening or different from our last visit. In this case, that’s a good thing. Pop Century has new rooms and will soon have a new transportation system. At this point, it doesn’t need much else! (Okay, maybe we could get some Coke Freestyle machines for refillable mugs in the ice/vending rooms of each building?!)
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Any thoughts on the latest from Pop Century? Are you looking forward to staying here once the Skyliner goes live? Do the new pieces of Pop Century merchandise appeal to you? What about the new rooms? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Please tell me where I can get the tie dye t shirt for pop resort in your photo? I have asked everywhere to no avail! I stayed there and meant to go back and purchase the shirt and got busy and ran off and forgot to get it! Please tell me there is a way to order one! I would’ be forever grateful!
Faith Reed
We stayed at Pop in April. It was VERY loud. Teens were everywhere for Spring baseball practice and they were running all over yelling all night. One night they banged on our door at 2am and ran away. We heard them doing it to our neighbors too. Room felt VERY cramped.. but it did seem clean THANK goodness. We did not enjoy the total chaos that ensued every night. Won’t ever stay there again.
I have stayed at POP several times and we are big fans of the resort. I am also excited about the new skyliners. Will be staying here again March 2020. I am a little upset with the increase in prices to stay here because this is suppose to be a value resort. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.
The posts about Pop being unclean make me really nervous. We stayed at Pop 15 years ago and loved it. Since then, we have stayed at AoA and AKL. Every experience we have had so far has been great, including Pop 15 year’s ago.
The posts about Pop being unclean make me, really nervous. We stayed at Pop 15 years ago and loved it. Since then, we have stayed at AoA and AKL. Every experience we have had so far has been great, including Pop 15 year’s ago.
We have stayed at POP 3 times – in the 90’s section – and LOVED it. It has never been anything but spotless and charming. We are staying there again next month. The room upgrades last year are great. You should not be nervous – you will love it again!
We are going to Pop first time on Aug 3. We have never used mobile ordering. Do you pay when you pick up food, or is your credit card automatically charged from your MDE app?
Your card is charged automatically.
My family of 4 just left Pop Century today, and we experienced similar issues as other posters. I’ve stayed at Pop maybe 5-6 times over the past 10 years or so, so that’s what I’m comparing to. For example, the walls of the newly renovated rooms are now paper thin, or maybe sound just gets amplified now that the carpet is gone?? Prepare to hear your neighbors using the toilet, not just flushing. Also they seem so much smaller somehow. It’s really a tight fit. The partition and bathroom doors are already beat up. The seams of flooring, walls, tile don’t join up, so lots of dirt has collected in cracks and the room seems unfinished. Floors aren’t being mopped between reservations. We removed a soiled pillowcase and put it among our bathtub towels. Sure enough, that wet, dirtier towel was put right back on the pillow and set under all the others. Same with a soiled blanket (it rained A LOT and someone put their shoes up on the bed without thinking). It was quincinera time, and the teenagers were up until 3-4am every night running the corridors, yelling, and literally screaming. We had to make multiple calls to the front desk. Each time we were assured security was handling it since we were one of several guests to complain. Security was unreliable and ineffectual, to put it nicely. Most nights I had to call 3x, and every morning I went to the front desk to beg for them to make it stop. Our final night I desperately walked out our room door and yelled at every kid in sight to shut up and get in their rooms. I can see how a first time family or one with young kids would have had their vacation ruined over it. Also, mobile ordering was great when they had it up and running, but we noticed that during peak times the app did not allow orders.
Positives: pools seemed super clean and well maintained. Cast members at guest services are top notch (with the security exception). The arcade rocks. Food court is the best, both in variety and quality.
I used to love staying here, but the positives are starting to be eclipsed by the negatives. And with the big jump in rates for Pop in 2020, I think this may have been our last stay.
We just checked out yesterday and had the same experience! I love Pop, but we definitely noticed that we heard everything going on in the room right above us. They sounded like a herd running back and forth (we were in building 1). Other than that we love Pop! Affordable, clean, and the beds are comfortable.
Hi Tom, We haven’t been to pop century in 2 years so we are looking forward to our visit in September and just by seeing your picture of the rooms, we know we are going to love them. We are very hopeful that the skyline is open by then. Keep up your good work on reviewing all things at WDW. Thanks, Dave and Ruth
I know you have several posts on photography. Curious, which camera and lens were used for these shots at Pop Century? Good stuff!
One comment that does not pertain to this review, but rather, what to pack. We have been going to Disney for the past 33 years. The most we ever went was 18 times in one year. If I took as much junk with me as you recommend for a trip, I would not bother going. So many of your items are non-essentials. We pack as light as possible and get all of our stuff into our room in one trip
Your full of
shit we just loved it there we will only stay there rooms were great food was great and over all was great planning on going there soon dont say bad things about pop if you dont like it dont go there we just loved it and I was a family of six
Hello there Anna! Just because you enjoyed Pop Century does not mean other’s opinions aren’t valid. I am happy you had such a great experience; but that is not always the case. Maybe you can be a reasonable person and accept that other people have differing opinions, and contribute helpful advice instead of calling names. (Also maybe proof read your comments before posting as there are many spelling errors in each of them.)
Nothing in his review has ever been negative of Pop?? In fact it is because of Disneytourist Blog that I would consider staying here if we went to WDW. Also other commentators have the right to express their opinion on the experience of their stay, I like to know the positive and negatives so I can be prepared. No need to use profanity multiple times.
Note about your mobile ordering comment – my husband and I have attempted to use the mobile ordering feature through MDE on multiple trips. Most recently 2 weeks ago. We can never get it to work as there is always a technical error – we both have Android devices. Other family members with iPhones haven’t had issues apparently.
That stinks you kept having issues. I’ve an Android device and used it over Mardi Gras back in March. It was wonderful!!
We were at Pop Century in June for AAU Nationals Gymnastics. We did the dining plan, and tried to use mobile order. It was still glitchy, so mobile order would have charged us 2 quick service credits to use it instead of standing in line. It was really the only problem we had with the dining plan or mobile order!!
We just stayed there a couple weeks ago. I’ll start with positives: comfortable beds, quiet rooms, clean rooms, great housekeeping service, good food court, and nice televisions. But we will not stay there again. He have not been to Disney on 10 years, it’s a big expense for us. So we knew we were going with a “let’s just pay for a place to last our head.” But anyone paying for a Disney resort deserves better. The rooms are super tiny. The second bed is a huge a bed and when that is out there’s not much room… But since it’s a hide a bed it is nice to get it out of the way. The laundry facilities are way too small for a resort that size. An elevator was out in our building. Really and truly, the nicest part was the lobby and the lobby bathrooms… They obviously try to give the facade that it’s nicer than it is. It truly is just a “value” resort. You are literally paying for a place to last your head… And that’s it.
Your full of shit we just loved it therr
Anna, please stop. This isn’t Twitter – we don’t use that kind of language to voice opinions.
I love the idea of the running trails and just looked up what others are around WDW. I’d love to see one full loop around the Seven Seas Lagoon (if there isn’t something already). What a great morning run that would be! It could be utilized for the runDisney races too!
We have loved Pop in the past but had a poor experience April 29 to May 2. It started out with our room not being ready until 4:45 pm. (Check in is 3:00pm and I had done the online check in.) I didn’t receive the text notification it was ready so we waited until 5:00. I just happened to check email and see a notification. Somehow the lady who checked us in entered a digit of my phone number wrong. The gal working in the Pop gift shop said that was pretty typical and she seemed to think check in time was 5pm! We were very hot and tired from travels. I would’ve taken kids to the pool, but on check in they told us less than an hour wait, so we figured we would set up in room first. The check in area was full of guests camped out looking frustrated and laying on luggage sleeping etc like when everyone’s stranded in the airport. Not exactly what you hope to see on arrival for the start of a Disney stay.
We get into our room and It was dirty 🙁 Floor w debris, surfaces hadn’t been wiped, makeup on vanity items. The worst part being the pillows. The actual pillows hadn’t been changed out in some time. Where they stuck out of the cases they were yellowed from other guest’s body oil and sweat along with food and makeup spots on them etc and were what I call “grungy.” The inner pillow where the case covered was white. I called the main number. I had to tell my story multiple times. A housekeeping manager finally called my phone back. The reception was poor or something, which I told her, so I had trouble communicating with her. She was kind of brash and the tone was not apologetic. At one point, she asked me to meet her in our room, but she would be another 45 minutes. I couldn’t seem to make anyone understand (or maybe care?) about the pillow situation – that they weren’t dirty just from last occupants but because of a housekeeping practice or standard. I had unpacked us before realizing how unclean the room was. So I picked everything up/packed so they could come reclean and took kids to the pool. Returned to room at ten of 8:00pm. Room wasn’t quite done. Waited 10-15 more minutes. So, we didn’t have a room until 8:00pm our first night. The difference in clean was immediately noticeable when we entered. The room was even dirtier than I had realized. They had exchanged our pillows – they were better – but still grungy on the ends and one of the new ones had one with pizza sauce on it 🙁 The length of our stay we removed the cases from extra pillows to double up and cover the end – housekeeping would take them off every day and put the cases back on the naked pillows. We were never offered anything for our troubles. In the course of my phone conversations with housekeeping the attitude was “we will get the room to your standards” instead of get the room clean. I took photos to show that it wasn’t about a picky customer – it was dirty.
This changed our whole evening trajectory because we had planned to be at Animal Kingdom by 7am the next morning and showers and kids asleep at 9pm. Family of four needed to shower, unpack etc. The walls at Pop are very thin. You can hear your neighbor urinate in their bathroom. That we could have ignored – but we had neighbors on the other side of the headboards who were young and partying. Their door was wide open and they screamed and laughed loudly, possibly underage drinking. I finally called desk at midnight because none of us had slept and they were showing no signs of stopping. I was asked several times which room – I was complaining about – but if any security or staff had walked by in the prior 2-3 hours it would’ve been obvious which room and a Pop rep would’ve broken it up without me calling. (This leaves me with questions about Pop staffing and security.) Someone came and told them to be quiet around 12:40am because of my call.) They quieted down around 1am. This really put a hurt on getting up at 5:30am and to Animal Kingdom to rope drop for Flight. We were exhausted and that was also our first park day, so that affected our entire Disney experience . Disney vacation travel and tickets is very expensive for a family when you are flying in.
We have stayed at Pop in the past. I was hoping to stay in the future to ride the gondolas. Now, I’m not sure. We have stayed in a variety of the value and moderates over the last 10 years and I felt I liked Pop as well or more than the rest overall. I like the vibe of the Pop theming, and I like that the rooms aren’t carpeted. We were in Building 8, Room 8266, second floor of the 90s theme. Before arrival, I had been worried about noise or ugly aesthetic from the gondola construction and that was a nonissue.
Pop is the only Disney Resort on either coast where mousekeeping lied to my family about an issue with our room and management confirmed to us thay they had done so and said it wasn’t the first time. It was a trivial issue (about extra hangers or something like that), but it was really kind of disgusting because the manager essentially told us there wasn’t anything they could do about situations like that happening at Pop. This was 2013 and we never stayed at Pop again because of it. I’m completely not surprised that Pop wood assign uncleaned rooms to new guests.
Hi tom we are going to Disney Florida for the first time in 3 rd August we are staying at the pop century there will be 2 adults and 2 teenagers