Which is Better: Disney’s Pop Century vs Caribbean Beach Resort

Both Pop Century and Caribbean Beach Resorts are resorts with the sky liner stations to take you to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. The sky liner is the reason we booked these resorts for our trips to Disney. We tend to not spend a lot of time at the resorts when we visit Disney as we like to take full advantage of the parks while there. So with this reason, we look at usually staying at either value or moderate resorts.

Value vs. Moderate Resorts

Pop Century is a value resort so it is cheaper than Caribbean beach and does not have all the features of Caribbean beach. Moderate resorts have bigger rooms. They also offer more dining options. While at Pop Century you have to walk back to the main building if you want to eat at a quick service restaurant.

Caribbean Beach however has more than one quick service restaurant at the resort in addition to a table service restaurant. We had refillable drink mugs included in our dining plan so we could walk to a quick service restaurant in a few minutes to fill our coffee every morning. We were staying in the very last building on the back of the property so the fact that we had a restaurant so close was super helpful. When we were at pop century we were at least 10 minutes from the main building and it was out of the way on the mornings we took the skyliner.

Caribbean Beach Resort

What we liked the most about staying at Carribean beach is the skyliner and the spacious room. When going to Hollywood studios, it is the first stop. If you stay at a value resort such as pop century, you have to get off at Caribbean beach and switch to a different car. When going to Epcot, there is one stop at Riveira resort and then you’re at Epcot. So it’s much closer. The sky liner only takes you to Epcot or Hollywood studios.

If you are planning on visiting animal kingdom or magic kingdom during your stay, you will have to drive, take a bus or a taxi to the parks. We opted to drive to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. While buses are available, we do not enjoy the chaos of getting our double stroller and 2 small children on and off buses. At Magic Kigdom you have to park at the transportation center and take the monorail or ferry to the park. Our son loves all modes of travel so we sold this to him as a special ride. It is a factor if you need to add in additional time to get to the parks for early entry.

Another positive staying at Caribbean Beach is you can see most of the Epcot fireworks from the resort. Obviously we could not see the whole show just what appeared a love the trees but it was a nice treat since our kids were too tired after a day at the park to stay.

We stayed in the Trinidad portion of Caribbean Beach Resort which has renovated Under the Sea themed rooms. We requested these rooms as they have the pull down bed. This gave us more floor space for two cribs. We felt much less crowded in this room with two cribs than we did at Pop Century with one crib.

Disney’s Pop Century Resort

This was our sons first trip to Disney World, so everything was exciting to him. When we arrived at the resort we were early so they had a place that you could drop your bags and begin venturing around. They do not have a table service restaurant at this resort, but there is a generous sized food court with multiple options. We had an early flight into Orlando, so it was nice to be able to check the bags and grab something quick to eat while we waited for our room.

There is a large shopping area in the main building area as well where you can purchase all kinds of Disney apparel. The Pop Century theme and large character displays really thrilled our son. The pool was pretty good for a value resort in my opinion equipped with life jackets for the young ones.

Perks for Staying at Disney Resorts

Both resorts offer early entry 30 minutes early to all parks. We find this is a great time to ride the popular rides before the crowds get there. Our kids wake up early so we’re up anyway. The other thing we liked about both resorts is they offer double rooms with a bed that folds out of the wall. Since our kids are both in cribs or pack n plays, we do not need a second bed. We enjoy the extra space the rooms provide with the second bed folded into the wall. Our room at Caribbean beach was a 5th sleeper room and our room at pop century wasn’t so if you are traveling as a family of 5, that could be a deciding factor.

We did not do a resort day while at Disney but if we had, Caribbean beach definitely is the better option. The resort has small beaches along the water with hammocks. Also the main pool is nicer than the one at pop century.

As stated before, we did try the bus route, but sometimes the lines are long and dragging kids and a stroller onto the bus were not ideal. But a perk for staying at a Disney Resort, is the parking is free. All you need is a magic band or the Disney app to have the security scan at the gates.

Some Negatives from our Trips

It was not all perfect at the Caribbean Beach though. We checked in online which was super nice so we were able to just head straight to our room on arrival. But once in the room we found there was a water leak caused by the A/C unit because our infant child crawled through the standing water. We called the front desk and they said they would have someone come fix it, but the initial fix was just putting towels down over the water. The 2nd night, the handle on the shower did not work and we had to have maintenance come again after 8 p.m. to fix this issue as well. We felt like the maintenance man was extremely apologetic, yet the front desk staff were unconcerned. The water leak was never fixed the entire stay either.

I’m not sure if the other buildings had one or not, but the building we stayed at Caribbean Beach did not have an elevator which made getting the stroller and kids up to the 2nd floor a little difficult. We did not have this issue at Pop Century as they did have an elevator.

The negatives of Pop Century are more just our preferences over issues with the rooms. The Pop Century’s room was a little on the smaller side, especially with two younger children. Only having one centralized location to eat, shop, etc. made for longer walks.

Final Opinion

Our family is extremely go go go, so when it comes to deciding where to stay normally when we travel is what’s the most convenient, affordable, and has the basic needs. Both of these resorts had everything we need. In the end, I believe the convenience of being closer on the skyliner to get to two parks and a more spacious room gives the nod to Caribbean Beach Resort. The cost was not really too much higher considering you have more dining options and easy access to the parks. We felt like we could spend more time at the parks due to the amenities offered at Caribbean Beach.

We would love to hear which Disney Resort is your favorite. Leave it in the comments below!

Bon Voyage,

Our Crew