Value - Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Address: 1050 Century Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Phone: (407) 938-4000
Fax: (407) 938-4040

The Pop Century Resort span 20th century Pop cultures, the way people lived, played and communicated. It is similar to the All Star Resorts with large oversized icons. Silhouettes illustrating dances of the decade will adorn the front of each building and the roofs will be lined with catch-phrases of the time.

Disney Imagineers worked with some of the original manufacturers to recreate the icons of the 1950’s to the 1990’s. Original toys and objects were obtained and then digitized. A machine then created a full size foam replica based on the exact measurements of the icon. Fiberglass covers the foam, which is then replaced with a steel armature. The final coverings complete the creation of the icon.

Resort Layout:
Announced in December 1999, the Pop Century Resort is Disney's newest value accommodation resort. It is located near the Disney MGM-Studios at Osceola Parkway and Century Way and encompasses 177 acres. Once fully completed with both Classic Years and Legendary Years, the resort will have 5,760 rooms, 20 (4 story) buildings, 6 pools and 8 courtyards.

Phase I, the Classic Years, opened on December 14, 2003. Reservations were accepted beginning April 22, 2003.
Phase II will be the Legendary Years 1900s-40s and also have 2,880 rooms, but there is no projected opening date for this section of the resort.

The Classic Years area has the Classic Hall and the Legendary Years area will contain the Legendary Hall. Both Classic Hall and Legendary Hall will feature: Check-in lobby, Food court with different venues offering dine-in and take-out, Merchandise location, Game arcade (Fast Forward), and an exterior waiting area for bus service to and from the attractions.

Each of the 2 phases will feature 3 pools and one playground. The Classic Years has a Bowling Pin Pool near the 1950's buildings, the Hippy Dippy Pool near the 1960's buildings and a Computer pool near the 1980's buildings. The Legendary Years pools will be shaped like a crossword puzzle, a soda bottle, and a highway sign.

The resort is built around Hourglass Lake and features a bridge called Generation Gap Bridge that joins the Classic Years and the Legendary Years together.
There will be 16 miles of railing, 2.5 acres of window surface, 14 acres of roofing, 36.5 acres of carpet and over 230,000 gallons of paint!

Themes:
The 1950s area features giant sock-hoppers dancing on the sides of the lodge buildings, possibly be-bopping to rock-and-roll tunes from the 40-foot-tall tabletop jukebox that anchors the courtyard. A bowling pin-shaped pool provides a cool dip. he canine character stars from Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" animated feature film (released to theater audiences in 1955) gaze at each other across the courtyard.

The 1960s - Amidst tie-dyed hues and psychedelic colors are the focus of the 1960s buildings. Play-Doh Pete, the artful child that adorned Play-Doh labels in the 1960s, is featured on a giant can of the popular modeling compound. Peeking out the top of the can are several Play-Doh animal creations, including a blue elephant and a yellow giraffe. See if you can spot the "thumbprints" on the elephant's ears, seemingly created by the child who modeled the Play-Doh pachyderm. Baloo and Mowgli from Disney's "The Jungle Book" (released in 1967) are hand-in-hand across the courtyard. Giant Duncan Imperial-model yo-yos, with "strings" that measure more than one-foot in diameter, bookend each 1960s building. The centerpiece of the area is the Hippy Dippy Pool, a flower-shaped pool complete with squirting petals on the periphery.

In the 1970s courtyard, the colorful Big Wheel riding toy gets ready to roll, while a classic Mickey Mouse rotary-dial telephone calls from across the courtyard. Between the two towering icons, table soccer players stand at the ready for guests to wander amidst their imaginary game. Eight-track tapes, the popular musical medium of the decade, corner each building.

In the 1980s area of Disney's Pop Century Resort, the most "puzzling" toy of the decade, the Rubik's Cube, towers more than 40 feet tall on each building. (Walt Disney Imagineers designed the different cubes to represent different stages of the solution process.) Across the courtyard, one of the original Sony Walkman models, and accompanying headphone set, anchors the building. In the middle of the courtyard is a computer-shaped pool, complete with a spongy keyboard that offers guests an alphabet-filled pool deck area.
Closing out the century, the 1990s area pays tribute to two personal technology marvels -- the cellular telephone and the computer. A giant laptop computer is the centerpiece, while early-model cellular telephones stand at each corner.

Services & Amenities:
 In-Room pizza delivery
 Concierge desk
 Babysitting and child services
 Pak-n-play crib available
 Room and facilities for guest with disabilities
 Laundry facilities and service
 Self Parking

Guest Rooms:
Rooms are 260 square feet, with two double beds or one king bed, a table and two chairs, vanity area and sink with separate bathroom, 27-inch color television, in-room wall safe, telephones with voice mail and data port. Available on request: non-smoking rooms, rooms accessible to guests with disabilities, hearing-impaired TDD telephones, visual smoke alarms, bed boards and bed rails, refrigerators (extra charge), cribs, iron and ironing board. Room furnishings include custom-designed and themed bed coverings, wall art and wallpaper borders.

Check-In & Check-Out:
Check-in time is 4pm, and check-out time is 11am. This means that your room isn't guaranteed to be ready for you before 4 p.m. and the resort needs you completely out of your room by 11 a.m. on the day you check out.

If you arrive early, go ahead and check in at the Front Desk. If your room is not ready, the luggage assistance will store your bags for you and deliver them to your room when you return. The Front Desk will give you a resort charge card, even if your room is not ready. The Guest Services desk will provide your room key when you return and your room is ready.

Late Check-out of 1:00 pm can be requested without additional cost. If you need Late Check-out, inquire at Check-In when you should request this. Most resorts ask you to call the morning of check-out because the number of eligible rooms are limited.
Express Check-out is available upon request (easiest to do when you check in) to all guests paying with a credit card. A detailed hotel bill is delivered to your door by 7am. If the bill is correct you simply leave. Your room key serves as a Disney souvenir.

Dining:
Offerings include Everything Pop, a 640-seat food court area; Classic Concoctions, a quick-service lounge; pizza delivery to guestrooms; and Petals Pool Bar (located adjacent to Hippy Dippy Pool).

Everything Pop, the Food Court, has five stations: Bakery and Café, Market, Grill, East meets West, and Pizza and Pasta plus a self-serve quick food area.

Tip:
The best beverage deal is the refillable mugs, available for approximate $12 at any of the food court vendors and through pizza delivery. ; The mugs are 16-oz, sturdy, dishwashable safe containers with lids. ; Mugs are refillable for the length of your stay at a self-service beverage island in the center of the food court. ;

Beverages include soft drinks, coffee, tea, iced coffee and tea, and hot chocolate (but not milk or fruit juice).

Recreation:
Pools
Three feature pools -- the Bowling Pin Pool, the Hippy Dippy Pool and the Computer Pool; a kiddie pool; playground; and the Fast Forward arcade. Goofy stands watch over Pop Jet Playground, a playland of popping water located near the 1970s lodge buildings.

Playground
Climb, slide and play to your heart’s content at a ‘play’ space especially for kids.

Arcade
Play a variety of video and pinball games at the Fast Forward Arcade, located across from the Food Court.

Shopping
A 5,000-square-foot retail center in Classic Hall offers resort-specific merchandise and Walt Disney World souvenirs.

Transportation:
Each All Star Resort has one bus stop located outside the main building facing the parking lot. There are signs which indicate where each bus will transport you. For All Star Movies, the bus stops are right outside Cinema Hall.
Normally, each All Star Resort gets its own bus. But in times of large crowds (i.e., park closing time) or unusually small crowds a bus may stop at more than one All Star Resort in one trip.

By Bus:
Most areas of the Walt Disney World Resort are accessible by bus from other areas within the Resort, including Theme Parks*, Water Parks, the Disney Resorts and the Downtown Disney® area. Buses travel on routes throughout the Resort and do not provide direct service between all destinations.
*Magic Kingdom® Park is not accessible by bus from Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney's Polynesian Resort. These Resorts provide monorail transportation to the park.

By Boat:
The Magic Kingdom® Park is accessible by water launch from Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The Disney ferryboats connect the Magic Kingdom Park to the Transportation and Ticket Center (adjacent to Magic Kingdom parking).

Epcot® and Disney-MGM Studios are accessible by boat from Disney's BoardWalk Inn and Villas Resort, Disney's Yacht Club and Disney's Beach Club Resorts and the Walt Disney World Swan and Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotels.

Downtown Disney® is accessible by ferryboat from Disney's Port Orleans Resort and Disney's Old Key West Resort.

By Monorail:
Disney's monorail runs between the Magic Kingdom Park, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort and the Transportation and Ticket Center (adjacent to the Magic Kingdom parking lot). A connecting monorail takes Guests from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Epcot.

Rates:
The room rates will be the same as the All Star Resorts. Just like the other WDW hotels, there are Value Season, Regular Season, Peak Season and Holiday Season rates. Rates begin at $77 a night. These are regular rate prices and do not include the 6.5% Florida Sales Tax nor the 11.5% county resort tax. Rates are based on double occupancy. No charge for children under 17 years old when in the same room as the adults. ; For each adult over 2 there is a $10 per night charge per person. Maximum of 4 persons per room.

For reservations, call (407) WDISNEY or contact a travel agent.

Extra Information:
From mood rings to 8-track tapes, surfboards to pet rocks, Superman to saddle shoes, so much nostalgia pours from Disney's Pop Century Resort that a lobby hobby for guests could be "Walkin' the Wall."

The Wall, in this case, is a memory lane of wall-mounted "shadow boxes" brimming with the fads, fashions, music, toys and trinkets from the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s. It's across from the check-in desk.

The bowling pin icons tower more than 65 feet high. A regulation bowling pin is 15 inches tall.
If you count the giant bowling pin icons, there are nine standing around the resort. Where's the tenth? It's actually the bowling pin pool in the courtyard!

Take a closer look at the pool deck around the bowling pin pool and you'll spot the triangular lane markings that are seen on bowling alleys everywhere.
The Rubik's Cube icons reach a peak of 41 feet off the ground. By comparison, a Rubik's Cube puzzle toy stands nearly four inches at its tallest point.

The resort's 8-track tapes are more than 35 feet tall, with "tape" that is more than one-foot in width. A real 8-track tape is a mere five-and-one-quarter inches tall, with a tape that is only one-quarter inch wide.

The table soccer players are more than 12 feet tall, and the "toy" ball is more than two-and-one-half feet in diameter.
Nearly 125,000 gallons of paint were used to create the bright colors and tie-dyed hues on the buildings' interior and exterior walls.
In the 1960s area, giant "thumbprints" can be spotted on the ears of the elephant peeking out of the giant Play-Doh canister. And can you name the child depicted on the Play-Doh can? That's Play-Doh Pete!

The giant Big Wheel icon can "accommodate" a child rider that weighs up to 877 pounds (or so says the sticker on the towering riding toy). That matches the stickers that were affixed to the original Big Wheel toys of the 1970s that designated a "recommended child weight."

Service and equipment buildings are cleverly disguised all over the resort. At the 1950s bowling pin pool, the laundry looks like a bowling shoe storage bin. In the 1990s, an equipment building appears to be a larger-than-life stack of computer floppy disks.
The 1970s courtyard pays tribute to the age of disco, with a motion-based disco light mounted in the middle of the courtyard. This color-changing light sends streams of light across the '70s-inspired outdoor "dance floor."

"Peace of Pizza" delivery trucks resemble old Volkswagen vans complete with roof-mounted surfboards.