Pop Century Resort

 Back in December I stayed at Pop Century Resort.  Before the Art of Animation this was the most popular Value Resort at Walt Disney World.  I should give my frame of reference before I checked into Pop.  I had stayed at All Star Sports several years ago and since then stayed at a Boardwalk 1 bedroom Villa, Port Orleans French Quarter, Polynesian, Art of Animation family suite and the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  I had gotten a bit spoiled.  I was also with my sister who had only stayed at the Polynesian, which didn't help with my frame of mind.  I had booked this room when I was planning on going by myself and when my sister decided to come I did offer to upgrade to a better resort, she said this was fine.

When we arrived at the hotel my sister was shocked to see that the resort was "motel" style.  I was like duh, but then realized that having only stayed at the Poly and only really seeing other Deluxe Resorts this probably wasn't obvious.  It of course meant she hadn't listened to me talking about other resorts with much attention.

Anyway, I'm not sure she's gotten over the shock of the "motel" style, but I think the lobby impressed her more then she was expecting.  Although we were able to check in, we were not able to get into our room.  This was the first time this has happened to me and although it's a bit of a pain, I thought Disney did a good job of notifying us when our room was ready and the room number so we wouldn't have to go back to the check in desk.

When we returned to the resort it was dark and my sister was still not feeling the motel style with the big giant windows that everyone walks by.  While I guess they're good for light, they are a little weird too since I can't imagine leaving the blinds open.

When we walked into the room I think we were both surprised by how small it was, the space was well laid out, but the room was small. 

Aside from the small aspect the room was highly functional.  There were 2 full sized beds, a flat screen TV, coffee maker, table with 2 chairs, 1 sink that was separate from the shower/toilet.  In the sink area there was also a bar for hanging clothes, a safe and a shelf for storage.  There was also a dresser with 3 drawers so there was plenty of storage for 2 people.  I have to say the room might have been small but I"m pretty sure the shower/toilet area was bigger then the one at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I thought was interesting.  But don't get excited, I only noticed because I had been at AKL 2 weeks earlier and was taking note of such things.

One complaint I've had about several Disney resorts and I had here too is poor lighting, why is it so hard to make a well lit hotel room?  As for the room themeing, I thought it was weak.  I expected something in the theme of the years I was in (50's) instead it seemed there was one generic Disney design with Mickeys' on it.  I wonder if this is an area where they might improve the resort during the next refurbishment.

We didn't spend too much time in the common areas of the resort.  Actually, I had planned to take a walk around the resort, but when I got sick half way through the trip I was lucky I got out of bed, I certainly wasn't going to walk around the resort.  And after being at Art of Animation I understood the layout of the resort anyway.  The main pool area was large with lots of seating and a bar like area.  We didn't get to go to the pool, we were way too busy on this trip, but it seemed pretty typical of a Value Resort.

The food court was great though.  It was pretty typical for a value resort, but I could tell that before the Art of Animation, this was probably the best food court on property.  We mostly ate breakfast here, which offered pretty much anything you might want in some way - waffles, pancakes, breakfast burritos, or eggs.  Nothing exotic, but all the basics.  For lunch and dinner they had the usual stuff: burgers, salads, pasta, pizza and some special items.  There is also an ice cream station.  I didn't try the Twinkies Tiramisu or the tie-dye cheesecake, I'll leave that up to you!

Overall I liked the resort, there were no giraffes or views of the Magic Kingdom, but it certainly offers all the necessities at a low price.  When I stayed at All Star Sports for a week I felt like it was too long in such a small room, on this trip I was only there for 5 nights and was barely in the room so it was fine.  But if you're a larger family or staying on a long trip you should keep in mind that the rooms are small and it could get a little tense after a few days.

Has anyone else stayed at Pop Century, what did you think?

Swim To The Left

On my September trip to Walt Disney World I stayed at the new Art of Animation Resort.  This is the last post in a series on the resort. The first post was a general overview of the resort and the common areas. The second post is about the layout and function of the family suites, it is loaded with photos of the Lion King suites.  In this post I want to discuss the theming of the resort with an emphasis on the Cars and Little Mermaid sections.  I wont be covering the rooms at the Little Mermaid section, they are the same as at Pop Century and I didn't get to see them to see the enhanced theming there.

After checking in to the resort the directions to my room were to swim to the left, it seems the Finding Nemo section is outside the lobby.  Disney really embraces the theming of the resort, even down to telling you to swim through the Nemo section and calling the buildings in the Cars section Garages.

Wheel Well Garage

Tow Mater Garage

Luigi's Garage

 As a Value resort Disney did stick with the larger then life icons that are used at the other value resorts, but they've stepped it up a notch here.  At each area the icons are to scale of one of the main characters in that theme and include more decorative items then at other value resorts.

Crush

King Triton

Ursala

Ariel

The exerior of the buildings are unique in this resort too, this is contingent on the fact that it is the only value resort with interior hallways.  On the sides facing out of the resort there are larger then life black and white animations.  On the sides facing in there are colored images representing the films, my room was placed right where a giraffe was drawn, it's like someone called ahead and told them who I am.  The public places in each section of the resort are themed, in Cars the walkways are roads, in Lion King they are trails, similar to what they did in the Animal Kingdom. 

Little Mermaid Exterior

Mermaid building end

Lion King Building end

Cars building end

Cars drawings

Exterior of a Finding Nemo building

Inside the buildings the carpets were special to the theme, in the Lion King it was a dirt trail with different animal prints.  There is also art work representing the films in the main entrance areas of the building and on each floor. The cars rooms have traffic cones and the hallway carpet has hubcaps and checkered flags.  The hubcaps are from the cars in Cars.

Lion King Hallway Carpet

Cars Room Carpet

Cars Hallway Carpet

Inside the rooms the layouts are exactly the same, but the furniture and fixtures are different for each theme.  Typically in a value resort there would be a picture, the comforter and maybe a few other little touches designed around the theme of the resort area.  However, at the Art of Animation, every piece is themed to the resort.  Lamps, mirrors, carpet, even the furniture and shower tile is specific to the theme. 

Cars room number signs

Cars Living Room, notice the couch, Lamp and Coffee Table

Cars Shower Curtan

Cars bed, notice the headboard and lamp

Cars Bathroom

Cars Bathroom

Cars Kitchenette

Sleepy Mater

Cars Kitchen Table

Cars Hallway Lights

Lion King Living Room Lamp

There are some other nice touches at the resort.  One example is the license plate of Mater, it'a  reference to the Animation 101 course all Pixar animators must take.

This might be my new favorite resort.  Depending on my group size and prices, I would always put this resort on my list for my travel agent to look into.  I hope this resort sets a new standard for Disney for improved functionality and theming.  

And for those of you who are wondering at the orignal plan for this resort as the second half of Pop Century, the Lion King would have been the 70's and Mermaid the 40's.

Art of Animation Resort Family Suites

This is the second post in a series of posts about the Art of Animation Resort, there really is that much to say. The first post was an introduction to the resort and covered public areas.  The last post will cover the theming of the resort.

Here are some of the basics of this resort: it's a value resort on the opposite side of Hourglass Lake from the Pop Century Resort.  The resort has traditional value resort guest rooms and family suite guest rooms.  There are 4 themed areas of the resort: Cars, Lion King, Finding Nemo and the Little Mermaid (traditional value resort rooms).

On my trip I stayed in a Lion King suite, it was about 640 square feet and had 2 bathrooms, a bedroom, kitchen, living room and can sleep up to 6 people.  The buildings that house the suites all have interior hallways and you require a room card to the building to gain entry via RFID, a very nice security feature.

When you walk in to the room (my room at least) on the left is a full bathroom and the living room with the kitchenette.  On the right side is the kitchen table, and bedroom with full bathroom. 

The first bathroom has a pocket door leading to the sink area, then there is another door separating the toilet and tub with shower head.  I love this set up as it allows multiple people to use the bathroom at the same time. 

Sink Area

Shower Curtain

I LOVE the tile work

The living room has a kitchenette, it has a small refrigerator, small sink coffee maker, microwave, and some plastic and paper goods.  It's nothing fancy, but enough to warm up bottles or make a quick breakfast.  Next to that is the couch, which folds out into a bed and will sleep 2 people.  There is an additional chair, coffee table, TV on a TV stand/dresser and a rack for hanging clothes.  Under the rack is a box you could use the top of the box for storage, or sitting on.  The box opens from the front (not the top) and is storage for the pull out coach bedding. 

Coffee Table

Kitchenette

Living Room fixtures

The reason I picked Lion King

Opposite the bathroom is the kitchen table, it seats 4 and has night tables on either side.  The table folds down creating another bed, a full size bed for sleeping 2 people.  This bed has a regular mattress, the same as they use at Pop Century Resort.  I was going to sleep on it, but couldn't be bothered with moving all my stuff from the bedroom. 

It's a table

and a bed!

In the bedroom there is a queen sized bed with night stands on each side as well as a dresser/TV stand.  There is a full bathroom off of the bedroom, it has a sink, toilet and shower, but no bathtub.  It's large and spacious with ample hooks for your towels.  But the sink is not separated from the toilet and shower. 

Bedroom

Master Bath

Overall the rooms were well laid out and spacious.  I'm not sure I would put 6 adults in here, but 2 adults and 4 children would work, assuming you don't require too much counter space.  I will talk about theming in a future post and about the tour of the resort in yet a third post. 

Hallway Artwork

But who do I recommend the resort to other then everyone?  Obviously families, but I would also suggest it to young woman or woman traveling alone.  With the number of families at the resort the potential for a creepy person seems like it could be lower, but more importantly the card access to the buildings and the interior hallways adds a layer of security you'll only get at deluxe resorts and for the price, this is a better deal.