Disney Pop Century vs All Star Resorts
Disney Travel USA || Tags: Disney, USA ||On our last trip to Disney World we stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort for the first time. Being a value resort we knew what to expect as we have stayed at other value resorts on property. I had often heard from other Disney goers that Pop Century was the best of the value resorts so I was excited to see if that was the case as I have stayed at all 3 All Star Resorts. I’ll share with you our review of Pop, and then compare it to the other value resorts on property!
Pin it!
Important Info
Pop Century is a value resort, meaning prices fluctuate between $175-$370 a night for a standard room, depending on the season ($370 is for the week between Christmas and New Years Day, it’s not usually that high).
Rooms sleep up to 4 people and are arranged motel style, meaning you enter your room through outside hallways.
Pop Century is located in the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, and like all Disney resorts there are buses to take you to and from the parks & Disney Springs area. The Skyliner connects Pop and Art of Animation with Epcot and Hollywood Studios with a gondola system.
Lobby / Main Building
When we arrived we went in to the main building to store our luggage. I would recommend checking in on the app, which can give you your room number when your room is ready and you can enter using your Magic Bands. The lobby area is nice and open with lots of memorabilia from different decades. When you head into Everything Pop there is a small gift shop which also has anything you may have forgotten at home like toothbrushes, aspirin, bandaids, etc.
Pop Century Food Options
Everything Pop is also the food court for Pop Century. Open from 7am to 11pm (check the app for specific hours when you visit) so you can get breakfast before you go to the parks, or get a late night snack when you come back! There are 4 different options for quick service hot food, plus a cold section where you’ll find things like drinks, fruit, desserts and baked goods.
There are no table service restaurants at Value Resorts.
Want to know more about dining at Disney? Check this one out!
Pop Century Rooms
One of the best things about Pop Century are the rooms have been recently renovated. Each room has 2 queen beds, however one of them is a murphy bed that forms the table when in an upright position. Both beds have the same mattress, so no need to worry about quality. The bathroom has a tub and a toilet, and then there’s a separate sink area. The sink area has tons of storage and little cubbies to keep all your family’s things organized.
The room also has a coffee maker with takeaway cups, sugar and non dairy creamer and there is a mini fridge.
All in all we found the rooms to be very comfortable and a perfect size for the 2 of us.
Pool
Pop Century has 3 pools, all themed to their area. The main pool is the Hippy Dippy pool, near the main building, Classic Hall, and the 60’s buildings. It is the largest and also has a kiddie pool nearby.
The bowling pool is outside the 50’s buildings, it’s in the shape of a bowling pin! The computer pool is outside the 80’s & 90’s buildings. Both of these pools are a bit smaller and are just regular pools. There are deckchairs around the pool for lounging.
No pools at Pop Century (or any value resort) have slides.
Compared to All Stars Resorts
If you are choosing a value resort for your Disney vacation, then one of the most common questions is Pop Century vs an All Star Resort. Having stayed at all 3 of the All Star Resorts, and Pop Century I feel I can give you a good comparison.
Amenities
Overall these value resorts have very similar amenities. They all have food courts that are similar and serve similar food. No value resorts have table service restaurants. The layouts of the buildings are similar except that Pop’s main building is more in the center, so no matter which building you are in the walk to the main building is not too far. At the All Star Resorts, the buildings in the back will be a 5-10 minute walk to the main building. A bit of a pain in the morning to get breakfast!
Pop has 3 pools, and each of the All Star resorts have 2 pools. However they are all similar in size and none of slides. The 3rd pool at Pop simply accommodates the higher amount of people staying there.
Rooms
Since the All Star Resorts have recently had room renovations and upgrades (as of 2023) there is very little difference between All Stars and Pop Century. The rooms are almost identical with the same murphy beds, USB plugs, and bathroom layout.
All Star Sports photos from 2022
Transportation
Transportation is the biggest difference to me when comparing these resorts. Pop Century is in the ESPN Wide World Of Sports area of Disney. It is about 15 minutes to Animal Kingdom and 20-25 to Magic Kingdom. The All Star Resorts are in the Animal Kingdom area, so they are less than 10 minutes to Animal Kingdom, about 15 to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and 20-25 to Magic Kingdom.
Pop Century has The Skyliner to get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It takes approximately 12 minutes to get to Hollywood Studios and 18 minutes to get to Epcot. Add on the fact that you almost never wait to take the Skyliner it is a much better mode of transportation if you aren’t scared of heights!
Another thing to consider with transportation is the amount of people at each resort. The line for Pop Century buses can be quite long at peak times. Pop Century is a larger resort (2280 rooms at Pop, vs 1920 at All Star Sports/Movies, 1604 at Music) which means more people going to/from the parks. Contrary to popular belief, the All Star resorts do not usually share buses. The exception being during slow times usually mid afternoon when there are only a few people taking the buses. I have never seen them share at peak times in the morning/night.
Price
Sometimes the deciding factor may be price. On average Pop Century is $15-$20 a night more expensive than the All Star Resorts. This of course adds up if you are staying for a week or more. Usually both Pop Century and the All Star resorts are included in promotions like free dining or room discounts.
But What About Art of Animation?
The 5th Value Resort on Disney property is across Hourglass Lake from Pop Century. Art Of Animation is primarily made up of family suites, so most rooms accommodate 6 people and also have 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette. However the Little Mermaid section of rooms in the back are regular value 4 person rooms and are very similar layouts to Pop Century. Art of Animation does have a biggest pool on Disney property, as well as 2 other smaller pools. The Little Mermaid rooms are quite far from the main building, so that is something to keep in mind. The Little Mermaid rooms are often (or always) excluded room discount promotions.
Final Thoughts
So which is better? I guess it depends. I enjoyed our stay at both Pop Century rooms and All Star Sports. The updated rooms with all the storage and the coffee maker are a big plus at both resorts. Either way, you’re at Disney so I don’t think you can go too wrong!
Pin it for later:
4 responses to “Disney Pop Century vs All Star Resorts”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Right now? I’d choose Pop….the refurbishment looks amazing!
I choose all star over pop for the sole reason of bus congestion getting a bus back to popat night can be miserable
I would go with All Star Movies my favorite keep in mind that you should get preferred room it’s closer to lobby especially if you have little ones.
Great tip!! The preferred room is really nice, especially at the end of the day.