Pop Century Resort Review
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| Big Wheel Keep on Turning! |
I recently had the opportunity to stay at Pop Century Resort. Working with my Destinations in Florida agents, I was able to enjoy a one-night stay at the value resort. The team at Destinations in Florida made this process easy from start to finish and truly worry free on my end. This was a nice break from handling the travel myself. As a DVC member, I typically stay in DVC villas, so it was really neat to stay at Pop Century. I hadn’t actually stayed at this resort since 2005 when I went on a family trip with my brother! Funnily enough, we both now live in Florida (he lives in Orlando), so he popped by when I had dinner and he said it was a total time warp!
But back to my travel experience. First off, check-in was a breeze. I checked in later in the day, and it wasn’t very busy, despite the fact that the Pop Warner cheerleaders and football players were there, which can often mean busier crowds. The cast member who assisted me was helpful and easily got my magic bands connected and ready to go. This was a first for me, as I have had my magic bands shipped to me and activated prior to my stays. The process was much simpler than I anticipated. I did not receive any room keys on this visit, as they are phasing out the keys for the magic bands. I have to admit, I did kind of miss those keys, but the magic band experience couldn’t have been better.
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| Magic Bands! |
Once I got the magic bands set up and the check-in process complete, I headed to dinner at the quick service location, Everything Pop! It is both a dining location and a gift shop. You head through the Everything Pop entrance, through the gift shop and into the quick service dining location. The restaurant contains several different sections the Bakery, Grill, Market, Pizza, and Ethnic. There are a lot of choices for guests. You can read my review of both dinner and breakfast in separate blog posts (click HERE for dinner review and HERE for breakfast review).
The location proved to be excellent at working with guests with special dietary needs, including my gluten free & dairy free needs, as well as guests with other needs as well. For instance, I asked them about kosher food offerings, and they explained that process for guests. Essentially guests who are kosher should contact the Walt Disney World Special Diets Team in advance so that they will notify the resort ahead of time. Kosher meals come from a company in Miami called Weberman Products that are Glatt Kosher and are certified by Orthodox Rabbinical Council of South Florida (O.R.C.) and by the National Koshruth organization (N.K.) (for more information visit their site: http://www.webermanfoods.com/) They are prepared safely for guests who adhere to kosher diets. These meals are pre-made in the kosher facility and re-heated on the Disney premises. The chef whom I spoke with at Pop Century said that they like to make sure guests give advance notice so they can get as much variety as possible. Without advance notice some options just might not be available. It's always wonderful to see how Disney is able to accommodate guests with a variety of dietary needs.
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| Wow, that's a big yo-yo! |
One thing I should note is the theme of Pop Century Resort. It’s set to the theme of 20th Century American pop culture. It was originally set to be two resort areas: the Legendary Years (1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s) and the Classic Years (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s). Unfortunately, this never took shape in the wake of reduced tourism during the early 2000s. Since it opened in 2003, the resort has remained the Classic Years. The land planned for the Legendary Years was later used to build the recently opened Art of Animation Resort. (You can read a review of my meals of breakfast HERE and lunch HERE)The cool part about this resort is that it’s set-up similarly to the All Stars Resorts. This means, they are motel-style buildings that have giant reproductions of phrases and images from the coordinating decade. I stayed in the 1970s area of the resort which meant a giant foosball setup in the lawn, 8 track staircases (how cute is that?!), a giant Mickey Mouse phone and more. I’ve also stayed in the 1950s area which had bowling pin staircases and even a jukebox. Even the swimming pool was bowling pin shaped! Here are some photos from the resort. As you can see, the decor is really fun. The front desk, concierge, arcade, and quick service location are all housed in what’s known as the Classic Hall. It was very close to the room I stayed in.
The rooms at Pop Century are available as a single king size bed or two double beds. I had a room with two double beds. I have a double size bed at home, so size wise it was perfect for me. However, it could be a little crowded if you had two adults. It’s a nice size for a smaller group or small family and it would work really well if you had two adjoining rooms, one with two double beds for the kids and one with a king size bed for the adults.
The room’s decor reflects the same theme of the building exteriors, so as you can expect there were touches of the 1970s in the room. The setup offers a comfortable space for a vacation. And check out the adorable toiletries! Anything Mickey shaped is OK by me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this resort. It was terrific for a single night and as someone who has stayed there on vacation, a great week long vacation spot. In fact, we saw lots of folks decorate their windows with holiday themes, and I could tell they were staying for an extended amount of time. Love that! Though we didn’t use the bus transportation, it seemed to move quickly with lots of buses coming to and from the resort. Bus stops are located in front of the Classic Hall, so it’s very convenient to get your morning cup of Joe and head to the bus for a full day of park touring.And what I really enjoyed was working with the team at Destinations in Florida. They made it super easy from start to finish! Of course, you can find out more information and receive a free quote from Destinations in Florida by going to this link: http://destinationsinflorida.