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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Do you remember...
When you saved every penny of your allowance to buy the latest 45 rpm record?
When "walkin' the dog" wasn't about canines, but the yo-yo craze? When you
solved (or at least tried to solve) your first Rubik's Cube?
When the Sony Walkman revolutionized music on-the-go? Maybe a day when tie-dyed
shirts and bellbottoms were fashion crazes? How about when everything was
"tubular"?
Walt Disney World guests can take a spin back in time at Disney's Pop Century
Resort, the newest value hotel at the Florida Vacation Kingdom. Guests of all
ages groove to pop culture from the past in this 2,880-room time capsule. And
they do it at Disney's value-category rates.
With rooms starting at $99 a night (based on season), the hotel brings the total
number of Disney-owned-and-operated value-category rooms across the
47-square-mile Walt Disney World Resort to more than 8,500. Disney's Pop
Century Resort opened Dec. 14, 2003.
Larger-than-life icons of 20th century popular culture are found all over the
sprawling resort property -- four-story Rubik's Cubes and Duncan Yo-Yos,
65-foot-tall bowling pins and 55-foot cellular phones, to name a few.
Individual lodge buildings pay tribute to popular culture from each decade.
Three feature pools sit within a "pop," skip and jump from each other, offering
a way to beat the heat while taking a walk down memory lane.
Highlights include:
Be-bopping in the 1950s
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
guests a cool dip. Or they can choose to relax on the bowling alley-inspired
pool deck. The 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.
A swirl of color in the 1960s
Amidst tie-dyed hues and psychedelic colors, the 1960s buildings bring out the
fun in everyone. 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. Sharp-eyed guests will 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.
Big Wheel, Big Cheese in the '70s
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.
Popular puzzles, tunes "on-the-go" in the '80s
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.
Technology advances in the '90s
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. 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.
Disney resorts offer something for everyone
With the addition of Disney's Pop Century Resort, Walt Disney World Resort
features nearly 25,000 Disney owned-and-operated guestrooms across the
47-square-mile vacation kingdom.
With 21 resorts, there is something for everyone -- from "value" to "deluxe" and
even "home-away-from-home" accommodations -- all with special perks afforded to
guests who stay in the middle of the magic.
Guest benefits include special motorcoach, monorail and water taxi
transportation to Walt Disney World theme parks, water parks and entertainment
areas; guaranteed entry, with select tickets, into the Disney theme parks even
when the parking lot is full; preferred tee times on Disney golf courses; and
central billing to the guest's room key card.
One of the most popular resort perks is the "Extra Magic Hour." Each day, one of
the four Walt Disney World theme parks opens exclusively for Disney resort
guests one hour early, providing extra time in the parks to experience select
attractions and meet and greet Disney characters.
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