Pop Century vs Art of Animation: Which Value Resort Should You Book in 2026?

Pop Century and Art of Animation sit across a lake from each other, share a Skyliner station, and get lumped together as "the Value resorts with the gondola" so often that people forget they're actually two different bets. Pop Century is the cheaper, simpler option. Art of Animation is the one with the Family Suites that solve a real problem for bigger groups, at a real price jump to match. Here's how to pick.

The Skyliner Is the Reason Either One Beats a Regular Value Resort

Both resorts share the Community Hall Skyliner station, which puts them in a different category than All-Star Movies, Music, or Sports. From that station you ride to Caribbean Beach's hub, then transfer to a second gondola for EPCOT's International Gateway or Hollywood Studios. No bus wait, no bus loop stops at three other resorts before yours. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are still bus-only from both properties, same as every other Value resort, so you're not getting full Deluxe-style transportation. But two of your four parks reachable by gondola at Value pricing is a real edge, and it's the single biggest reason to pick either of these over the All-Star trio.

Pop Century: the Straightforward Pick

Pop Century opened in 2003, themed around decades of American pop culture, with giant Rubik's Cubes, yo-yos, and Big Wheels scattered around sections for the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Every room here is a standard room, no Family Suites, which keeps the whole resort simpler to book and price. Rooms were redone a few years back with a pull-down bed that frees up floor space, so the "tight and dated" complaint that used to follow Pop Century around is mostly out of date.

The flower-shaped Hippy Dippy Pool is the feature pool, and the Bowling Pin Pool and Computer Pool cover the other sections, so you're rarely more than a short walk from water. Everything POP Shopping & Dining is the food court, big and functional, not a destination in itself. Petals Pool Bar handles poolside drinks and snacks.

Standard rooms generally run roughly $200 to $300 a night depending on view and season. That's the cheapest way onto Disney property with Skyliner access.

Art of Animation: the Family Suite Play

Art of Animation opened in 2012 and splits into four sections themed to Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Here's the part that trips people up: only one of those sections has standard hotel rooms. Little Mermaid is standard rooms sleeping up to 4. Finding Nemo, Cars, and Lion King are Family Suites, sleeping up to 6, with a kitchenette (mini-fridge, microwave, coffee maker), a separate living area with a sleeper sofa and a pull-down table bed, and a divided sleeping arrangement that actually gives parents a wall between themselves and the kids. For a family of five or six who'd otherwise need two rooms at a Moderate or Deluxe, one Family Suite at Value pricing is the best space-per-dollar deal at Walt Disney World.

The catch: Little Mermaid standard rooms are among the most expensive standard rooms in the Value tier, often noticeably more than an equivalent Pop Century room for essentially the same layout. If you're booking a standard room and not a suite, Art of Animation's premium buys you newer construction and Little Mermaid theming, not more room. Family Suites cost a lot more than a standard Value room, which sounds steep next to a Value rack rate until you compare it to booking two rooms anywhere else on property.

The Big Blue Pool, Finding Nemo themed with a splash zone, is the feature pool, plus the Cozy Cone Pool in the Cars section and the Flippin' Fins Pool in Little Mermaid. Landscape of Flavors is the food court here, and it has a real reputation for being a notch above standard Disney quick service, better produce, more scratch cooking, worth seeking out even if you're not staying on site. Drop Off Pool Bar covers drinks poolside.

Which One to Book

Book Pop Century if you're two to four people, want the cheapest Skyliner-connected room on property, and don't need the theming to be a main character in your trip. It's a perfectly good base camp resort, and the room redo removed most of the reason people used to steer away from it.

Book Art of Animation's Family Suites if you're five or six people and the alternative is two rooms somewhere else. Run the math before you decide: two Value standard rooms often costs close to what one Family Suite runs, and the suite gives you a kitchenette and a real living space instead of two separate hotel rooms with no shared area.

Skip Art of Animation's standard Little Mermaid rooms specifically. You're paying a premium over Pop Century for a nearly identical room with slightly newer theming, and that money is better spent either staying at Pop Century instead or stepping up to a Moderate.

Both resorts share the same limitations: bus-only to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, a food-court-and-pool-bar dining scene with no table service on site, and Skyliner service that pauses for scheduled maintenance and weather closures a few times a year. Neither one is trying to be a destination resort. They're both trying to get you a clean, cheap base near the Skyliner, and on that job, they both deliver.

Trying to figure out whether a Family Suite actually saves you money over two Value rooms for your group size, or want a hand comparing Pop Century against the other Value resorts? Reach out through the contact form and I'll run the numbers with you.

Prices and schedules change often; confirm current details with your travel advisor before booking.