Art of Animation and Pop Century are two value resorts operated by Disney at Walt Disney World. These two hotels are priced similarly—just above the All-Star resorts but below the moderate resorts.
Because they are located near each other (they’re separated by a bridge of about 200 feet), and priced similarly, people often wonder what the differences between these two resorts are. In this post, we cover minor differences, major differences, and choosing between Pop Century and Art of Animation.
If you haven’t already, you’ll also want to check out our reviews, which have plenty more photos, as well as videos of the rooms (links open in new tabs):
You also want to read our ranking of the Disney World value resorts. We also have a guide to all the hotels of Walt Disney World.
Minor and Non-Differences Between Pop Century and Art of Animation
Right off the bat, it makes sense to clarify some things about Art of Animation and Pop Century that won’t be used to distinguish the resorts.
Not Differences
Perks. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll get all the perks associated with staying at a Disney hotel, including access to Early Theme Park Entry and the ability to purchase and book Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance of your check-in, rather than 3 days in advance of your visit date.
Location. These resorts also have near identical location. They’re separated by a small lake, and you can easily walk across a 200-foot bridge between them.
Transportation. Both resorts rely on buses and the Skyliner to get to and from the parks and Disney Springs. The two resorts share a Disney World Skyliner station, making both great options for visiting Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.
Next let’s cover a few things that are mostly the same but slightly different about the resorts. These don’t influence our analysis, but they’re worth knowing.
Minor Differences
Pools. Both resorts have a feature pool and multiple secondary pools. Back in the day, the Big Blue Pool at Art of Animation played music underwater, and this was a big difference for lots of people. That stopped, and nowadays, the pools are more alike than different.
Hippy Dippy Pool at Pop Century
Arguably, the theming at the Art of Animation pools is better, and the splash pad for small children at Art of Animation is significantly better. With a kid in tow, if I were planning on spending more than an afternoon or two in the pool / splash pad, I’d probably heavily lean toward Art of Animation. But I think other factors matter more for most guests.
Big Blue Pool at Art of Animation
Food Courts. Art of Animation’s Landscape of Flavors food court is definitely the best food court of any value resort, but it isn’t a big difference (and we’re fans of all the food courts).
A slight difference in options and theming isn’t likely to make a big difference in your stay. If it matters to you then you can easily walk to Landscape of Flavors from Pop Century (we sometimes do). Indeed, as we discuss more below, some Pop Century rooms are closer to the Art of Animation food court than some Art of Animation rooms.
Landscape of Flavors at Art of Animation
Major Differences Between Pop Century and Art of Animation
Now let’s cover the major differences between Pop Century and Art of Animation—the rooms and pricing. We’ll go over choosing between the two resorts in the next section.
Art of Animation Family Suites
This is the biggest difference between the two resorts—full stop. Art of Animation offers “family suites” themed to Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and Cars. In fact, most of the rooms at Art of Animation are family suites. Pop Century has no such rooms, and all of its rooms are essentially identical.
So if your family is interested in booking a suite at a value resort, they’ll need to book at Art of Animation or All-Star Music. For more, check out our:
Living room of an Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suite
Standard Rooms at Pop Century and Art of Animation
There are several differences to note between the rooms at Pop Century and the standard rooms at Art of Animation. We’re going to compare three sets of rooms: the standard rooms at Art of Animation, the standard rooms at Pop Century, and the preferred rooms at Pop Century.
Price. In 2026:
Standard rooms at Art of Animation start at $251 per night.
Standard rooms at Pop Century start at $213 per night.
Preferred rooms at Pop Century start at $245 per night.
Many nights you’ll be able to get a preferred room at Pop Century for less than a standard room at Art of Animation.
Theme. The standard rooms at Art of Animation are called “The Little Mermaid” rooms. They are themed to…The Little Mermaid! The Pop Century rooms all have comparatively plain theming. You’ll have little problem discerning these rooms in the photos below…
Space and Bed Configuration. According to the DIS, the standard rooms in Art of Animation are 17 square feet bigger than the rooms in Pop Century.
More than the specific space difference, your bed configuration matters. Both resorts have the option for rooms with a single King Bed. In these, you’re probably not likely to notice much of a space difference. It’s the two-queen configurations, which are more common, where the real differences lie.
A Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation
The Art of Animation beds are both normal queen beds (pictured above). The Pop Century configuration has one normal queen bed and one Murphy bed:
A room at Pop Century with the Murphy bed down
While we love the Pop Century rooms, we do find the space difference noticeable when the Murphy bed is down. The Pop Century rooms get very cramped in this configuration. With the bed up, there’s a noticeable improvement:
A room at Pop Century with the Murphy bed up
There’s no reason you couldn’t switch back and forth between having the Murphy bed up and down. It really is that easy to move. Certainly if, for example, I had to work during the day I’d have no problem popping it up for that time.
But if you’re just going to be leaving it down the whole day, the reduced space (and the need to stick the chairs somewhere) is noticeable. It’s never bothered us, personally, though.
Quality. It’s not a stretch to say that the Pop Century rooms are higher quality than The Little Mermaid rooms. Yes—some people find the design of the rooms off-putting (“hospital room” look, they say), but that’s more of a “theme” issue than a quality issue.
This complaint is also somewhat mitigated by the 2025-2026 coloring updates, though I’d now just say the rooms look like “hospital rooms with a Disney theming contract.”
When it comes to quality, the Pop Century rooms—with their better use of space, more prevalent outlets, slightly bigger vanity areas, and bigger television consoles—are better. One small advantage at Art of Animation, as mentioned above, is its not-Murphy-table. The table at Pop Century is built into the Murphy bed, so not accessible when the bed is down.
First three pictures are Pop, second three are Art of Animation:
Location. This is an interesting one and the part where Pop Century’s “Preferred” rooms come into play.
The Art of Animation Suites are the rooms closest to Animation Hall.
The Little Mermaid rooms are the worst location at Art of Animation, about seven minutes (walking) from Animation Hall.
The farthest standard rooms at Pop Century are seven minutes away from Classic Hall.
Preferred rooms at Pop Century are much closer (2 to 3 minutes walking) to Classic Hall
And some preferred Pop Century rooms are closer to Animation Hall (at Art of Animation) than Art of Animation’s Little Mermaid rooms.
Here’s a map:
Map Copyright Google, Fair Use Claimed
The Pop Century Preferred rooms usually include the two 60s buildings (between Classic Hall and the Skyliner) plus the parts of the adjacent buildings that are closest to classic hall and the pool. This means a Pop Century Preferred room is basically a location sweet spot. You’ll be close to Classic Hall, close to the Skyliner, and possibly close to Art of Animation’s Animation Hall (which is useful if you like their food court or you see their bus first when departing a park).
Choosing Between Art of Animation and Pop Century
Many guests—particularly first timers—will be looking to choose between Art of Animation and Pop Century. It’s common to ignore the All-Star Resorts because they’re “too” value. While we think this is a little too simplistic (we’ve had tons of great stays at the All-Stars), the Skyliner and superior bus transportation give Pop Century and Art of Animation a clear edge over the All-Stars.
For starters, if you’re interested in a family suite, you’ll want to book Art of Animation. There’s no comparable option at Pop Century.
The real difficulty comes in choosing between The Little Mermaid rooms and Pop Century. All the discourse above can be boiled down to three points: theme, space, and quality.
Space is a tricky one. There are no couches in either of these rooms. If you’re in them, you’ll either be sitting at a desk or on your bed. When the Murphy beds are open at Pop Century, you lose your desk, but you’ll still have enough surface space around the room for storing things like maps and personal accessories. To us, space just isn’t a huge factor in deciding between these two rooms.
Room quality is a clear but narrow difference. When the Pop Century rooms were first refurbished, they were leagues ahead of Art of Animation. The Art of Animation rooms caught up a bit with 2019-2021 refurbishments that removed carpets and improved some fixtures.
The Pop rooms are still more functional—more vanity space, solid vanity door, more storage—but the Art of Animation rooms are functional enough that I don’t hesitate to book them.
Notably, Art of Animation rooms are set to receive major upgrades beginning in 2027, so we’ll have that to look forward to.
Theme is straightforward, and probably the biggest factor. The photos above (and more in our review) show what to expect from The Little Mermaid rooms. If that’s what you’re looking for, then go for it. Here are a few more:
Why We (Mostly) Pick Art of Animation
I sometimes have occasion to travel solo, and in that case I’m going with Pop Century 10/10. On a couple’s trip, we’d probably do Pop Century, too.
But with a kid, the theming at Art of Animation ultimately wins out. Keep in mind this is a small difference. The theming around Pop Century’s grounds is also a ton of fun, though some of the retro elements may be lost on kids.
Inside the room, though, there’s a very unpretentious, fun feel to the Little Mermaid rooms. Even if they’re imperfect hotel rooms, if there’s a chance for your kid to be “wow”ed by a room, it’ll be at Art of Animation, not Pop Century.
The price difference between these hotels isn’t huge. The Art of Animation rooms are functional enough that I’m not frustrated with them anymore. And Zoe loves them. As long as it’s in budget, we’ll usually take Art of Animation.
Which do you prefer, Pop Century or Art of Animation?
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