WDW Magazine August 2017: Value Resorts at WDW | Page 121

With 2,880 Guest rooms, Disney's Pop Century Resort is one of the largest hotels in
the United States.
The flooring in Landscape of Flavors, at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, is made from
all recyclable materials. Guests dine with real silverware on melamine, reusable
dishware instead of paper and plastic.
It would take more than 20 million 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola to fill one of the
humongous Coke cups at Home Run Hotel in Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort.
When Imagineers began planning Disney’s Pop Century Resort, they wanted to make a
building for each decade from the 1900s, for a total of ten buildings. The original plan was
to have two sections separated by a bridge (to be named Generation Gap Bridge); the
1900-1940 buildings were going to be labeled “The Legendary Years,” and 1950-1990
buildings were going to be labeled “The Classic Years.” After constructing all of the buildings
planned in “The Classic Years” section, and just one in “The Legendary Years,” the tragic
events of September 11th occurred, causing a delay in constructing the remaining four
buildings due to a decline in tourism. Production stopped, and after several years, the idea
for Art of Animation came to life. Imagineers decided to use the property that was meant
for “The Legendary Years” for this new Resort. Three larger than life buildings were
constructed with family suites, and the fourth building, which was originally constructed for
the Pop Century, was utilized as standard rooms - this building is what you know now as
the Little Mermaid section of Art of Animation.