A Review of Disney's Pop Century Resort

Disney's Pop Century Resort is a great place to stay while visiting Walt Disney World. The service and staff were great, and so were the amenities.

If you are planning to visit the Disney World theme parks I highly recommend staying at a Walt Disney World resort. The convenience and customer service cannot be beat. My husband and I went to Walt Disney World in July of 2011. When checking the rates and amenities for the Disney Resorts we found that the value resorts were just right for our budget. At first when we tried to book online none of the value resorts were available for our date range. We were given some alternatives for those dates which were the more expensive hotels. This trip was only planned a few weeks in advance so we were not surprised. As we were debating on where to stay, possibly outside of Disney, we checked the dates again and one room became available but appeared to be gone only a moment later. My husband called and we were able to book a room and our tickets at the Pop Century Resort. We were very pleased with the customer service reps, and how much they were able to assist us. In fact, they were able to hold the room for the amount of one night's stay, and we were able to call them back later on that night when we had decided on the type of tickets we wanted and to finalize the booking process. In fact we had the option to wait a few days to finalize everything and call them back with our payment, and we had the option to use a debit or credit card to finish booking the trip.

Normally the check in for the hotel is at 3 p.m.; however we were able to check in as early as 7 a.m. that morning. This was the information we were told from the representative that assisted us on the phone and she was true to her word. We got to the hotel much earlier than 3 and we were able to check in right away. Upon check in we were asked if we wanted to let them keep our credit card on file to charge items to the room. The great thing about this was we were able to use our room keys, which were cards that had each of our names on them, to charge items from the food court area and souvenir shop in the hotel. Even better, the room keys work as your tickets to the parks. We were also able to charge food and gifts at the theme parks and Downtown Disney using that card. Also, when staying at a Disney hotel you can shop for gifts at both the theme parks and Downtown Disney and have those items shipped to your room free of charge so that you don't have to carry them around the rest of the day. Also when staying at a Disney resort you can take shuttle buses free of charge that run approximately every 20 minutes from the hotel to the four main theme parks, the two water parks, and to Downtown Disney.

The hotel had a pop culture theme that is separated into sections ranging from the 1950's to the 1990's. The d©cor is very whimsical and fun, and everything is very well taken care of. Each of the buildings has a theme from a different decade; we stayed in the 1980's building. They had decorations all along the outsides of the buildings and in the walkways that had to do with the different years. We spent a good bit of time just walking around and admiring the d©cor and taking pictures of it. There is a walking trail that has signs up all along the way with different interesting facts on them from 1950 to 1999. They also have three pools which have an average depth of about 3 and half feet, and there is also a food court, arcade and store, which sells both souvenirs and toiletries. The food court and restaurant area were open from about 7 a.m. to midnight daily. In the food court area, there were about 5 different restaurants that had different types of food from hot dogs and hamburgers to Asian cuisine. Also there was a section that had refrigerators full of different types of drinks '" everything from alcoholic beverages to milk, juice, bottled water and sodas. In this same section there were also items such as fruit, vegetables, cookies, and small cakes. There was definitely something for everyone. Not only was the variety of foods and drinks great, you didn't have to pay until you had made all of your selections, so you could get food from more than one area and only have to check out one time. They also had an option to purchase a souvenir mug and get free refills at the soda fountain during the rest of your stay. Past the checkout line there was an area to get your refills, napkins, utensils and condiments. There is plenty of seating inside and outside of the food court area. There are also some tables and chairs with umbrellas out by the pools if you would rather eat there.

Our room was nice; we had a standard room with two queen beds, a small table with two chairs, a dresser, a nice flat screen TV and a full bathroom. As a nice surprise upon entering the room we found an animal made out of washcloths waiting for us. There were also plenty of towels and washcloths waiting for us, and some soap and shampoo that even had Mickey Mouse on them. We were given an information packet as well that had information on all of theme parks and water parks as well as Downtown Disney and other attractions nearby, such as the Fantasia Gardens miniature golf. The only downside to the room is that they don't come with a small refrigerator unless you pay extra for it. Also the rooms don't have microwaves; however there are microwaves in the food court area that can be used by the guests.

The room service provided was great as well. The housekeeping staff did an excellent job cleaning the rooms, and when we needed some extra towels they came quickly to bring some more. We were able to park our car pretty close to our room as well. I will say that you need to be prepared to do plenty of walking though unless your room happens to be very close to the main building where the shuttle busses pick you up to take you to the parks. You can drive to the parks with no parking fee if you are staying at the hotel however there is quite a distance from the parking lot to the main entrance because the parking lots are huge and fill up fast.

Checking out was very easy and in fact we didn't have to go to the front desk to do so. Since we had our credit card on file, the day of check out we were given an invoice that was sent to our room that had all the charges on it from both the hotel and the parks. All we had to do was pack up and head out before 11 a.m. I would highly recommend staying at Disney's Pop Century Resort '" it's a great place for the whole family and a lot of fun!