Is Pop Century Worth the Extra Money? An Honest Review
Is Pop Century worth the extra money compared to the All-Star Resorts? It’s one of the most common questions I see families asking when they’re comparing prices between Disney’s Value Resorts, and for good reason: Pop Century almost always costs more, sometimes by a lot.
We stayed at Pop Century in the 80s section this past January, and I came home with a pretty clear answer. Here’s my honest breakdown of what that price difference actually buys you, including the one perk that made the biggest difference for my family, and a few things that might not matter to yours.
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Pop Century vs. All-Star Resorts: The Price Difference
Let’s start with the number that brings most people to this post in the first place. Rack rates for standard rooms at Pop Century currently start around $213 per night, while the All-Star Resorts (Sports, Music, and Movies) start closer to $149 per night. That’s a gap of roughly $60-plus per night, which adds up fast over a week-long trip. (Art of Animation is also a Value Resort and offers some standard rooms along with family suites. This resort comes at a higher price tag than the All-Star Resorts as well.)
They are all considered Value Resorts, put you in a Disney bus zone, and come with the same standard Disney perks: Early Theme Park Entry and the 7-day Lightning Lane booking window. On paper, they’re similar enough that the price gap is a completely fair thing to question. So where does that extra money actually go?
The Rooms
We stayed in the 80s section on an upper floor, and honestly, the room itself is where I noticed the least difference. Pop Century’s standard rooms run about 260 square feet with the renovated pull-down Murphy bed setup. That bed is a genuine, comfortable bed (unlike some pull-down beds with a thin foam mattress), and my teen daughter and I had zero complaints. Having it fold up during the day gave us noticeably more room to spread out, which matters when you’re sharing a Value Resort room with teenagers and all their stuff.
Compared to the moderate resort we stayed at later on the same trip (Port Orleans Riverside), the Pop Century room was smaller, but it was clean, cozy, and honestly all we needed since we spent most of our time in the parks anyway. I didn’t stay at an All-Star Resort on this trip to compare directly, but the room configurations and square footage are very similar across all of the Value Resorts. If small rooms are your main hesitation about staying at a Value Resort at all, that concern applies pretty equally no matter which resort you pick.
Standard rooms come with the basics you’d expect at this price point: a mini fridge, coffee maker, flat-screen TV, in-room safe, and a hair dryer. The vanity area sits just outside the bathroom, which made mornings easier with four of us getting ready at once. If you want to be closer to Classic Hall, the food court, and the Skyliner station, it’s worth paying a little extra for a preferred room. We didn’t book preferred and still found our upper-floor 80s room to be a very manageable walk to everything we needed.
That’s an important point: you are not paying extra at Pop Century for a bigger or nicer room. The room itself is nearly a wash.
The Skyliner: Pop Century’s Biggest Advantage
This is where the extra money starts to make sense. Pop Century has its own Skyliner station, with gondola service directly to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. None of the All-Star Resorts have Skyliner access at all; they’re bus-only.
We had full use of the Skyliner during our stay (it does typically close for a short scheduled refurbishment period each January, so it’s worth checking dates if you’re planning a winter trip), and it genuinely changed how our park days felt. Instead of waiting on a bus that might be making stops at other resorts first, we could hop in a gondola and be at EPCOT or Hollywood Studios in a matter of minutes. For a trip that included multiple EPCOT and Hollywood Studios days, that convenience alone went a long way toward justifying the price difference for us.
Buses: A Small Detail That Made a Big Difference
Here’s something I didn’t expect to care about, but genuinely did. At Pop Century, waiting for a bus means standing in an actual queue, similar to what you’d see at the parks. At Port Orleans Riverside later in our trip, guests just gathered on benches near the bus stop with no real line, and on a couple of cold mornings that turned into some genuine pushing and shoving as people tried to get onto the warm buses first.
It’s a small thing, but after experiencing both, I’d count it as a real point in Pop Century’s favor. A proper line makes waiting for transportation so much less stressful, especially with tired kids or teens who just want to get moving.
Dining
The Everything Pop food court was easy to get to from our building and became our go-to for breakfast before heading to the parks. It’s split into several stations, so everyone in your group can grab something different without a fight over where to eat, and mobile ordering meant we could put in our order while we were still getting ready and just walk over to pick it up. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s convenient, has plenty of variety, and got us out the door quickly on early park days, which matters more than people expect once you’re actually on a Disney trip.
We didn’t make it to Petals Pool Bar this trip since we weren’t swimming, but it’s right next to the Hippy Dippy Pool and serves drinks, pretzels, and a few grab-and-go snacks if you want to stay poolside without a full food court trip.
I can’t compare this directly to All-Star dining since I haven’t stayed there recently, but the All-Star Resorts also rely on a single main food court model, so the dining experience itself likely isn’t a major factor in the price gap either.
The Pools
We visited during a cold spell in January, so we didn’t actually get in the water this trip, but the pools at Pop Century looked fantastic from what we saw walking by. The main pool, Hippy Dippy, sits right behind Classic Hall and is themed to a giant flower with a fun 1960s vibe.
There are two additional pools tucked into the 50s section (Bowling pool) and the 90s section (Computer pool), so depending on where your room lands, you may have a quieter pool option closer than the main one. That’s on my list to actually try next time we’re there in warmer weather. All the Value Resorts have decent pools, so I wouldn’t call this a deciding factor between Pop Century and the All-Stars either way.
Location and Getting Around
Pop Century sits near ESPN Wide World of Sports, and it’s actually Disney’s closest Value Resort to Hollywood Studios, which paired nicely with our Skyliner access. The resort shares its Skyliner station and a walking path with neighboring Art of Animation Resort, so if you want to explore a second resort or grab a treat at their food court, it’s an easy stroll over the Generation Gap Bridge.
Beyond the pools and Skyliner, Pop Century also has two 5,000-square-foot arcades, a playground near the 70s section, a jogging path around Hourglass Lake, and nightly Movies Under the Stars. None of that is unique to Pop Century among the Value Resorts, but it’s worth knowing it’s all there if your family likes to fill evenings with something low-key after a long park day.
What My Teens Loved
One thing I didn’t expect: my daughters, who were teens on this trip, absolutely loved the theming. We spent our entire checkout morning just walking the resort and taking pictures in front of the giant icons from each decade. It’s easy to assume oversized Rubik’s Cubes and boomboxes are more of a kid thing, but my girls had just as much fun with it as they would have at seven or eight years old. If you’re traveling with tweens or teens and worried a Value Resort might feel too young for them, I wouldn’t count Pop Century out on that basis.
So, Is Pop Century Worth the Extra Money?
Here’s my honest verdict: if EPCOT and Hollywood Studios are on your itinerary more than once or twice, yes, I think the Skyliner access alone justifies the price gap. Combine that with the better bus-queue experience and a resort that photographs beautifully and appeals to kids and teens alike, and Pop Century earned its place as our favorite Value Resort stay to date.
If your trip is centered mainly on Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, or if you’re traveling on the tightest possible budget, an All-Star Resort is still a perfectly good choice, and you shouldn’t feel like you’re settling by booking one. Buses to those two parks run just as reliably from an All-Star Resort, and you’ll pocket the savings for something else, like an extra table service meal or a few more souvenirs.
But if EPCOT and Hollywood Studios are anywhere near the center of your itinerary, or you simply want fewer bus waits over the course of your trip, I think Pop Century earns its price tag. For us, the extra money bought real, tangible convenience, not just a nicer theme, and that’s the difference that actually matters when you’re evaluating whether a price gap is worth paying.
A few quick questions to help you decide for your own family:
- Are EPCOT or Hollywood Studios on your itinerary more than once or twice? Lean toward Pop Century for the Skyliner.
- Is your trip mostly Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom days? An All-Star Resort will serve you just as well for less money.
- Do you have older kids or teens who might roll their eyes at a Value Resort? My girls proved that theory wrong at Pop Century, so don’t count it out.
- Is every dollar accounted for in your budget? The All-Stars are still a completely solid, comfortable choice.
For the most current room availability and pricing at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, be sure to visit the official Walt Disney World website.
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