by Sarah Heller

Created on: November 01, 2009

A vacation in Walt Disney World can be one of the best trips you and your family will ever take! Unfortunately, many people think that taking such a trip will cost a lot of money. Between park tickets, transportation, food, and accommodations, the total price for such a trip can be high, but there are ways to bring the cost down to a reasonable amount. One way is to stay on Disney property at a Value resort. These resorts have most of the amenities as the higher priced Deluxe and Moderate resorts, but can cost less than half of what other on-property resorts cost.

I recently stayed at the Pop Century Resort for a week in October of 2009 with my 54 year old mother, my 20 month old daughter, and my 4 year old niece.

When you arrive at Pop Century resort, you enter into a lobby where the walls are covered with authentic memorabilia from the 50's through the 90's. Check in at the front desk was relatively quick. My daughter and I arrived at 5PM, in the middle of one of the busiest check-in times at the resort. Anticipating a long wait, I had used the online check-in system before we left on our trip. To my surprise, there was no line at the online check-in counter, and the staff was very gracious and well-organized. Even handling the special circumstances of my family; my mother didn't want to be on the ground floor, I needed a crib for the baby, and my niece wanted a room near the giant Mickey Mouse phone; were handled promptly, and all of our requests were met. The only downside was that we were told it would take at least 3 hours for our luggage to be delivered to the room, although we were given keys immediately. We decided to explore the resort while we waited

The 50's building on the east side of the property has gigantic bowling pins that house staircases. An 8-track player and a giant Hot Wheels bike line the sides of the 70's buildings. The 70s building is where our room was located, directly across from the 2-story foosball table and the Mickey Mouse phone that my niece coveted.

Our standard room had two full-sized beds, a table and chairs, TV, sink area and bathroom. The amenities are basic, but for us they were more than sufficient. The room was comfortable enough for the four of us to move around, even with the travel crib which was provided free of charge. Note however, that my family planned to spend most of our time in the theme parks. For families who like to spend time at their resort, this room might be too small. The sink area also had very

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>