Inside Cool KIDS' SUMMER: A First Disney World Trip at Pop Century

By entgrove · July 20, 2026

Walt Disney World's Cool KIDS' SUMMER layers free resort activities, arrival gifts, and a nightly pajama party onto a standard stay. A cast member tested it with two cousins, ages 9 and 5, on their first visit, covering Disney's Pop Century Resort, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and a Wilderness Explorers day at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Walt Disney World's Cool KIDS' SUMMER program adds free resort activities, a nightly pajama party, and complimentary arrival gifts on top of an ordinary summer stay. A Disney cast member put the program to the test on a weekend trip with two young cousins, ages 9 and 5, taking their first Walt Disney World visit.

A value resort welcome at Pop Century

The trip started at Disney's Pop Century Resort, where the oversized decade icons in the courtyards did the work before check-in was even finished. A Value Resort suited the group for the reasons it usually does: bus and Skyliner transportation from the doorstep, quick-service dining and pools within a short walk, and no long internal shuttle between rooms and the lobby.

Children in the group were handed complimentary Cool KIDS' SUMMER drawstring bags at arrival, one of several touches Disney layered onto resort stays for the season.

Water slides on check-in day, then a lobby pajama party

Disney Resort hotel guests get free water park admission on their check-in day, and the group used it at Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park, reached by complimentary Disney bus. That perk is easy to overlook because arrival days are usually written off to travel, but it turns a half-wasted afternoon into a full one.

Back at Pop Century, the Cool KIDS' SUMMER pajama party took over the lobby. Coloring and drawing activities ran alongside a classic Disney film, which gave the adults in the party a stretch of downtime after a travel day. Mickey Mouse appeared for meet-and-greets in his own pajamas, and for the two boys it was a first meeting with the character.

Dinner came from Everything Pop, the resort food court, where the tie-dye cheesecake drew the loudest reviews of the night.

Day one: Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood Studios

The Disney Skyliner runs directly from Pop Century to Disney's Hollywood Studios, which put the group in the park without a bus queue. The five-year-old is a committed Star Wars fan, so most of the day went to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Both boys rode Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which now features an adventure involving The Mandalorian and Grogu. It was the trip favorite, largely because both children were assigned gunner roles and had something to do rather than watch. Star Tours followed.

The other Star Wars goal was building lightsabers. A cast member at Tatooine Traders walked both boys through assembling custom sabers, a souvenir that tends to outlast most others from a first trip.

The day closed with the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Between the headline rides, the moments that landed were smaller: walk-up shows, park details, and, according to the group, the ducks.

Day two: badge collecting at Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom filled the second park day, and the group started with Wilderness Explorers, the free park-wide activity where children work through a book of badges by completing short learning stations with cast members. Both boys collected more than 20 badges each without finishing their books, which is roughly the point: the activity is designed to pull families into corners of the park they would otherwise walk past.

Between badges, the group rode Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw the Feathered Friends in Flight show, both of which slow a park day down rather than speed it up.

Conservation Station, Jumping Junction, and a Bluey cameo

The train to Conservation Station added more conservation badges and a stretch of air-conditioned indoor time in the late afternoon, which is the practical reason to save that area for the back half of a summer day. The nine-year-old went looking for a gecko and found one.

Jumping Junction, the wallaby and kangaroo habitat, gave the group a first look at the marsupials, including a joey riding in its mother's pouch. Bluey and Bingo touches are scattered throughout that area, which lands well with the preschool crowd.

What this means for families planning a summer trip

Cool KIDS' SUMMER does not change what a Walt Disney World trip costs, and it does not replace park time. What it does is fill the two windows families usually lose: the arrival afternoon, covered by free water park admission, and the evening after a travel day, covered by the resort pajama party. Both are included with a Disney Resort hotel stay.

For first-time visitors with young children, the pattern that worked here is worth copying: a Value Resort on the Skyliner line, one high-energy park day at Hollywood Studios, and a slower Animal Kingdom day built around the free Wilderness Explorers activity rather than a ride-by-ride plan.