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Credit: Inside the MagicChaos ensued at Disney’s Pop Century Resort on Wednesday evening as guests returned from Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort is one of Walt Disney World Resort’s Value Resort hotels and is connected by a pedestrian bridge to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. The two share access to the Disney Skyliner, which offers expedited transportation to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT via a transfer at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
Since opening in 2003, this decades-themed hotel has hosted millions of Walt Disney World Resort guests. After over twenty years, Walt Disney World Resort has spent the last few months modernizing and refurbishing parts of the Resort hotel, including its oversized Baloo statue and the Everything POP Shopping & Dining area.
Half of the gift shop remains closed at the time of this article’s publication. Most of the food court remodel is done, with only the former ice cream stand still covered by construction walls. However, it appears that the ongoing refurbishment is impacting the Quick Service food location’s ability to function.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22, an Inside the Magic team member entered the Everything POP Shopping & Dining area and found at least 30 people in line for each of the three individual food stalls. One queue extended past the food court entrance, nearly to the gift shop.
Another line looped into the grab-and-go area, where guests can select bottled beverages, baked goods, frozen treats, and more.
The Inside the Magic team member spotted at least one manager running around the food court, attending to guests and helping cast members serve families as efficiently as possible. Notably, almost every check-out line was open, and there was a short wait to purchase food after the much longer wait to pick it up.
It’s unclear whether the food court chaos was caused by the ongoing construction or another unrelated issue, like staffing shortages or inventory problems.
Have you seen any chaotic scenes at the Disney parks or Resort hotels? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments.