Pop Century Legendary Years

Disney's Pop Century Resort is a great place to stay in Disney World if you want to be close to the "magic" (that is, close to the theme parks), but still stay on a budget. As one of Disney's value resorts, Pop Century offers all of the amenities of a Disney World resort at a relatively low cost.

Pop Century Resort Background
And staying there is fun! The resort's theme promotes some of the greatest accomplishments and pop culture memories from the second half of the 20th century, from sock-hops to cell phones and everything in between, through colorful design and giant icons around the resort. For instance, you might find yourself walking next to a 4-story laptop computer or a Mr. Potato Head figure twice your size, or you could even weave your way through a giant foosball match where you're the approximate size that the ball should be! Whether you stay in the 1950's section or any other section up through the 1990's, you're sure to recognize some of the most prominent ideas of the 20th century.

The "Ghost Hotel"
But should you wander down by Hourglass Lake and perhaps cross over Generation Gap bridge, you might not know what lies beyond. Hidden behind overgrown foliage and a breath of tall grasses is another group of buildings -- almost the mirror image of the hotel where you're staying. But these aren't quite as bright; in fact, they're downright dingy. Painted in a pale taupe color, you can just barely make out the giant numbers: 00, 10, 20, 30, 40. What is this place?

These are the buildings of the Pop Century Legendary Years. When Pop Century was first envisioned, there were to be two mirror image sections of the resorts; the Classic Years -- the 50's-90's -- on one side of Hourglass Lake, and the Legendary Years -- the 00's-40's -- on the other. The Classic Years were finished first, and work had begun on the Legendary Years when the travel slump of 2001 hit, along with a wealth of other economic and environmental factors that effectively halted work on the Legendary Years.

Nothing has been done on the construction site for almost 10 years now, and the half-built hotel rooms, lobby, food court, and gift shops remain empty and in various states of completion. The Legendary Years have been called the "ghost hotel" of Disney World, due to their resemblance to a ghost town of the old West. Everything stopped, mid-production, and hasn't been touched since.

The Future of the Pop Century Legendary Years
There have been rumors of continuing construction several times throughout the last several years, including a rumor about turning the site into something called "Disney's Animation Family Suites," which would provide low-cost suites for families with kids -- a model that's been working well at one of Disney's value-level All-Star Resorts. Nothing has been finalized for the Legendary Years, however, and so the "ghost hotel" remains a silent reminder of things, we hope, will come soon.